Soltek nforce4 finally shows up

[stoutpuppy1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

Please don't get the terms mixed up.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Although I love Soltek, I think they made some serious errors with this board.

1. They are using a 20-pin ATX power connector!!!!! What about the Radeon X800XL that does not have the extra power connector on it? Without the extra juice provided by the 24 pin connector, I worry.

2. They went and used the non-Ultra version of the chipset.

Both of these will keep me from ever buying this board. When I build another nForce4 system, I will spend another $20 and get a EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra, thank you very much. Heck, I would even get the Chaintech nForce4 Ultra board over the Soltek at this point!

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: ChicagoPCGuy
Although I love Soltek, I think they made some serious errors with this board.

1. They are using a 20-pin ATX power connector!!!!! What about the Radeon X800XL that does not have the extra power connector on it? Without the extra juice provided by the 24 pin connector, I worry.

2. They went and used the non-Ultra version of the chipset.

Both of these will keep me from ever buying this board.

I feel the same way ChicagoPCGuy ! I REALLY wanted to buy this board but for the reasons you stated it seems like a poor choice. Will you (or any else) take a look at my thread over here and tell me what you think??? I have all the details worked out now except for the MOBO decision. I'm pretty sure that the Asus Radeon X700 is the way to go with the videocard ! Dont' you agree ???

Thanks,

Greg

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: Fisher999

Originally posted by: ChicagoPCGuy
Although I love Soltek, I think they made some serious errors with this board.

1. They are using a 20-pin ATX power connector!!!!! What about the Radeon X800XL that does not have the extra power connector on it? Without the extra juice provided by the 24 pin connector, I worry.

2. They went and used the non-Ultra version of the chipset.

Both of these will keep me from ever buying this board.

I feel the same way ChicagoPCGuy ! I REALLY wanted to buy this board but for the reasons you stated it seems like a poor choice. Will you (or any else) take a look at my thread over here and tell me what you think??? I have all the details worked out now except for the MOBO decision. I'm pretty sure that the Asus Radeon X700 is the way to go with the videocard ! Dont' you agree ???

Thanks,

Greg

Hi Greg. Yeah, for what you want to do a X700 is totally more than fine. Definitely get PCI-E! As for CPU/Mobo:

While it is true that P4 systems with HT do audio encoding somewhat faster than the A64, they totally suck for gaming. I mean SUCK. Now, with a 939 mobo (I recommend a Winchester core A64 3000+ for you right now for a small $146 PIB) you can go with a dual-core x2 Athlon 64 in a few months and they will totally annihilate the P4 in both gaming AND audio encoding and just about everything else. Even the lower end x2 A64 CPU's will trounce the P4 single or dual core CPU's Intel is releasing. If you should lose your sanity and go Intel, stay away from Prescott unless you want to add a heater to your house, in which case it will serve this purpose (along with the others you stated) quite well. The Prescott core is a slow and overheated dud. The Northwood is the better core, but then you will be limited to Socket 478, and there is NO FUTURE there.

Definitely go A64 939, PCI-E, nForce4 Ultra. I recommend the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra. It is relatively inexpensive, trouble free, and has a good name. Shy away from SLI. Most SLI boards are:

1. Pricey
2. Not what you are looking for
3. Quirky

Take care.

 

[Macro2]

RE:"They are using a 20-pin ATX power connector"

Good, I have a 20 pin power supply. Isn't this 24 pin thing something to do with Intel BTX anyway?

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: Macro2
RE:"They are using a 20-pin ATX power connector"

Good, I have a 20 pin power supply. Isn't this 24 pin thing something to do with Intel BTX anyway?

Yes, I think.

Now, here is my own opinion ..
Right now, I would not care about having a 20 or 24 pins header on my motherboard right now.

If the x800xl would have need more power than the PCIe bus standard allows, then ATI would have include a connector on their board, as they did with other card. If you have a good PSU, it will power up the board and the video card without problems. But a weak PSU would not even start the whole thing. If you have a cheap PSU, and your system do not power up, who are you going to blame? Soltek or any others motherboard manufacturer that still use the 20 pins ATX header? Or ATI because they did not include the additionnal connector? Why not you about being so cheap about the most important component for modern system?

Every motherboard had to follow standards for buses. That assure stability in design. Can you imagine the mess if there was no such guidelines... I'm sure that ATI did test their card with standard PCIe bus and they found it compliant. The card doesnt need extra power. What the PCIe bus provide is sufficient. Bless the new Radeon core for that.


Not being the Ultra once concerns me, but after I realized that all that I would have more is options that I will not utilise now, then I dont care. There is no SATA2 HDD now and NCQ is not really a performance edge that even worth being mentionning. And about the firewall.. well, yeah. Still buggy in some area and incompatible with some router. So, no a big miss for me.

The only thing I dont like about this board is that it has only 2 PCI slots. I really need at least 3.

But I know that some people buy big number, even if there is no or only very small improvement, 939 over 754, dual channel vs single channel, sata2 vs sata1, 24 pins vs 20 pins, ...

 

[Macro2]

I agree about 3 PCI slots instead of 2. Should have sacrificed one of the PCI-X1 slots.
OTOH, the only thing I see for a PCI slot is a high end sound card. I assume the rest of the posibilities will fit in the PCI-1 slot.

There is onboard LAN so don't need a slot for that.

I'll use this with an Antec smartpower 350.

A high end video card is not an issue for me. Maybe a 6600GT at best but probably a 6200TC.

 

[cpush]

any reviews out on this board?

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: Macro2
I agree about 3 PCI slots instead of 2. Should have sacrificed one of the PCI-X1 slots.
OTOH, the only thing I see for a PCI slot is a high end sound card. I assume the rest of the posibilities will fit in the PCI-1 slot.

There is onboard LAN so don't need a slot for that.

I'll use this with an Antec smartpower 350.

A high end video card is not an issue for me. Maybe a 6600GT at best but probably a 6200TC.

Right now, I need dial up, capture card an a hi-end sound card... I will keep my current setup until more PCIe device be available or the internet providers finally decide to have hi-speed internet available in my rural area ..

 

[cpush]

This is basically the nf4 version of the KT890Pro isnt it

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: grooge

Originally posted by: Macro2
RE:"They are using a 20-pin ATX power connector"

Good, I have a 20 pin power supply. Isn't this 24 pin thing something to do with Intel BTX anyway?

Yes, I think.

Now, here is my own opinion ..
Right now, I would not care about having a 20 or 24 pins header on my motherboard right now.

If the x800xl would have need more power than the PCIe bus standard allows, then ATI would have include a connector on their board, as they did with other card. If you have a good PSU, it will power up the board and the video card without problems. But a weak PSU would not even start the whole thing. If you have a cheap PSU, and your system do not power up, who are you going to blame? Soltek or any others motherboard manufacturer that still use the 20 pins ATX header? Or ATI because they did not include the additionnal connector? Why not you about being so cheap about the most important component for modern system?

Every motherboard had to follow standards for buses. That assure stability in design. Can you imagine the mess if there was no such guidelines... I'm sure that ATI did test their card with standard PCIe bus and they found it compliant. The card doesnt need extra power. What the PCIe bus provide is sufficient. Bless the new Radeon core for that.


Not being the Ultra once concerns me, but after I realized that all that I would have more is options that I will not utilise now, then I dont care. There is no SATA2 HDD now and NCQ is not really a performance edge that even worth being mentionning. And about the firewall.. well, yeah. Still buggy in some area and incompatible with some router. So, no a big miss for me.

The only thing I dont like about this board is that it has only 2 PCI slots. I really need at least 3.

But I know that some people buy big number, even if there is no or only very small improvement, 939 over 754, dual channel vs single channel, sata2 vs sata1, 24 pins vs 20 pins, ...

I suggest you look over at X-Bit Labs and check out their PSU article. Sad to say, but a 20-pin power connector is right on the edge of not being good enough when you are using a PCI-E video card like the X800XL without a power connector on it. You definitely better have a high quality PSU. Apparently a 20 pin connector is left with ONE PIN to provide power to the PCI-E bus as opposed to the additional pins a 24 pin connector provides, so it is not just a BTX thing. That pin can actually BURN. Here is the link: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/atx-psu.html

I think I can pretty much safely say Soltek made a big mistake, IMHO.

 

[cpush]

any via k8t90 boards with a 24pin connector besides gigabyte, albatron, and asus?

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: cpush
any via k8t90 boards with a 24pin connector besides gigabyte, albatron, and asus?

Not that I am aware of.

 

[cpush]

lame. I'm not liking the nforce4 boards at the moment and want to upgrade within the month. Was really leaning toward the Soltek boards but with the lack of the 24 pin connector I have to refrain.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: cpush
lame. I'm not liking the nforce4 boards at the moment and want to upgrade within the month. Was really leaning toward the Soltek boards but with the lack of the 24 pin connector I have to refrain.

You can use the Soltek K8T890 board, just be sure and get a video card that has the extra power connector. This pushes you into having to use a higher-end video card, though.

The 6600GT has one, and so does the Power Color X800XL (I think the Power Color one is the ONLY X800XL to have a PCI-E power connector on it). The 6600GT is cheaper, and definitely not slow.

 

[cpush]

nah man I need to rock out the x800xl, and dont feel like throwing down 100 extra dollars for one with a connector on it when I could spend a bit more for a different motherboard. Its just that I havent found an nf4/nf4ultra board that attracts me. So now Im kind of lost. I would go with the soltek but then I have to make accomodations for my psu (different connector) AND videocard. Which shouldn't be necessary and seems rather bothersome. Dunno anymore..

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: cpush
nah man I need to rock out the x800xl, and dont feel like throwing down 100 extra dollars for one with a connector on it when I could spend a bit more for a different motherboard. Its just that I havent found an nf4/nf4ultra board that attracts me. So now Im kind of lost. I would go with the soltek but then I have to make accomodations for my psu (different connector) AND videocard. Which shouldn't be necessary and seems rather bothersome. Dunno anymore..

FWIW, I was in the same quandry as you. I didn't think the nF4 was mature enough, and I thought the K9T890, while good, was too limited and there were no good choices at the time. I got the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra and have been VERY happy with it. The board rocks. Expensive PSU, the mobo, A64 3500+, and a GeForce 6800GT, and now flat broke. But, I don't regret it.

 

[cpush]

Yeah man I've been thinking about that epox board, you like it eh? What memory did you put in it? Tell me more

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: ChineseDemocracyGNR
...The vanilla nForce4 is only missing SATAII and ActiveArmor support compared to the Ultra. It does have Gigabit. In addition to SATAII and ActiveArmor the SLI chipset supports SLI...

Doesn't the ULTRA version of the nForce 4 chip also have support for the NCQ (native command queuing) drives as well as the SATAII support and ActiveArmor (firewall) already mentioned???

Greg

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: ChicagoPCGuy
Hi Greg. Yeah, for what you want to do a X700 is totally more than fine. Definitely get PCI-E! As for CPU/Mobo:

While it is true that P4 systems with HT do audio encoding somewhat faster than the A64, they totally suck for gaming. I mean SUCK. Now, with a 939 mobo (I recommend a Winchester core A64 3000+ for you right now for a small $146 PIB) you can go with a dual-core x2 Athlon 64 in a few months and they will totally annihilate the P4 in both gaming AND audio encoding and just about everything else. Even the lower end x2 A64 CPU's will trounce the P4 single or dual core CPU's Intel is releasing. If you should lose your sanity and go Intel, stay away from Prescott unless you want to add a heater to your house, in which case it will serve this purpose (along with the others you stated) quite well. The Prescott core is a slow and overheated dud. The Northwood is the better core, but then you will be limited to Socket 478, and there is NO FUTURE there.

Definitely go A64 939, PCI-E, nForce4 Ultra. I recommend the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra. It is relatively inexpensive, trouble free, and has a good name. Shy away from SLI. Most SLI boards are:

1. Pricey
2. Not what you are looking for
3. Quirky

Take care.

Sorry I'm so slow in responding ChicagoPCGuy and thanks for looking at my post. I decided Sunday on the Asus Radeon x700 PCI-E card, the Fortron Source P/S (a mistake as it only has passive PFC) and the Patriot 1GB 2-3-2-5 RAM (512 X 2). I went ahead and ordered them. I also decided for sure on the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939 "Winchester" and will order it soon.

I realize that history has shown the P4 to be superior to the Athlon in video and audio encoding (as well as content creation and 3D rendering) but inferior to the Athlon in MS Office apps and Gaming. My new system will be such a significant step up from my RIG 1 that I think I can live with the Athlon's limitations

Sorry I haven't done my own homework on this but does the NForce 4 (standard or Ultra) support the dual core Athlons that will be available ??? I think that was one point you were trying to make - that I could "ditch" the "Winchester" done the road and go for a dual-core Athlon, right ???

Soooooo, the only choice left is for the mobo. I will definetly go with an NForce 4 socket 939. The dilemma is non-Ultra vs. Ultra and the actual board choice which is why I am back to THIS thread. I REALLY WANTED to like this Soltek board and I still am interested in it but I think the reasons you stated earlier just make it a no-brainer to NOT go with this Soltek.

I usually equate Epox boards with low cost/low reliablity. Have you had good experiences with Epox boards? Is it a matter of "you get what you pay for" and I REALLY should opt for the more expensive Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-9 (with nFORCE 4 Ultra Chip) which is about $20 more than the Epox?

What do you think???

Thanks,

Greg

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: Macro2
...Are there any reviews yet?

Macro2:

I searched for a long time Saturday afternoon (almost one month after you started this thread) and I STILL can't find any reviews on this board. Even though I am worried about the placement of the PCI-E slot, the decision to provide only 2 PCI slots (one which may be unusable in some instances) and to NOT utilize support for the 24 pin P/S I STILL wanted to read a review or two on this board. I guess there isn't enough interest !?!?!?

I can tell from your other responses in this thread that you WANT to like this board and so do I !!!

Greg

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: grooge
...the Ultra...the firewall.. well, yeah. Still buggy in some area and incompatible with some router. So, no a big miss for me....

Has anyone heard if the nFORCE 4 ULTRA chip has any compatibility "issues" with cable modems since the ActiveArmor firewall, according to Grooge, is incompatible with some network routers???

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: cpush
This is basically the nf4 version of the KT890Pro isnt it

If you are asking if this board is basically the Soltek SL-K890Pro-939 with the nForce4 chip rather than the VIA K8T890 chipset than the answer is basically yes with some exceptions of course.

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: ChicagoPCGuy
I suggest you look over at X-Bit Labs and check out their PSU article. Sad to say, but a 20-pin power connector is right on the edge of not being good enough when you are using a PCI-E video card like the X800XL without a power connector on it. You definitely better have a high quality PSU. Apparently a 20 pin connector is left with ONE PIN to provide power to the PCI-E bus as opposed to the additional pins a 24 pin connector provides, so it is not just a BTX thing. That pin can actually BURN. Here is the link: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/atx-psu.html

I think I can pretty much safely say Soltek made a big mistake, IMHO.

I wonder what's up with xbitlabs.com ??? The link you provide doesnt' work so I tried just to go to the home page of xbitlabs.com manually and I still got "the page cannot be displayed" error window. Hmm..... maybe their server is down...... will check later... thanks for the information though......

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: ChicagoPCGuy
...I got the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra and have been VERY happy with it. The board rocks. Expensive PSU, the mobo, A64 3500+, and a GeForce 6800GT, and now flat broke. But, I don't regret it.

Chicago:

Sorry I already asked you if you had any experience with Epox boards. I hadn't got this far in the thread to see that you actually OWN the Epox. I looked at the board at Newegg and one thing bothers me - the placement of the p/s connector on the mobo. It's far back on the board BEHIND the cpu socket. I've had experience with that kind of p/s connector placement before and the cabling for the p/s can "hang over" the CPU and restrict airflow. I realize the main cable for a lot of new p/s are the "rolled" kind but I still am bothered by that p/s connector placement and the overall reliability of Epox boards.

I discovered this Asus A8N-E nForce 4 Ultra board at Newegg for $140.50 delivered. The organization of the board looks good and ASUS does make mostly stable boards. It does lack firewire but if I need that down the road I could always add one of the Koutech PCI add-in cards for $20 like this one at Newegg but there goes another precious PCI slot .

What do you think of this board???

Greg