When is Shuttle going to release something using nForce4?

[fs5]

I was going to buy the SN95G5 but it appears the nForce4 board is coming out on the 19th.... anybody know when shuttle is going to release a box based on it?

What's the benefit of 4 over 3?

 

[dfloyd]

Wish I knew myself. I am in the market right now and was just about to purchase something but I heard about this. My problem also is I have decided I want to go with the 6600 GT. The performance just trounces the 9800 xt and for about the same cost to less. But you can only get the 6600 GT in PCI-E.

So I have to either go intel (Which I would rather go AMD, much much much more bang for the buck and a better chipset imo (Love Nforce)) or wait until Nvidia or someone releases a PCI-E board I can use in a SFF.

 

[fs5]

I thought nForce4 is going to have pci-x? or at least the nForce4 Ultra?

 

[coolred]

fs5, nForce 4 will feature PCI express, what brings you to think otherwise? Also pci-x is not the same as PCI express.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: coolred
fs5, nForce 4 will feature PCI express, what brings you to think otherwise? Also pci-x is not the same as PCI express.

sh!^, I"m confused now. I haven't read up on hardware for a few years I thought pci-x = pci-e = pci-express

 

[MDE]

PCI-X is a variant of PCI.
Link

 

[dderidex]

nForce4 brings PCI-Express....and that's basically it. Of course, WITH PCI-E, we get SLI in nVidia cards.

AFAIK, it has 24 'channels', so when Shuttle does do this, I'd bet my current (errr....work) box that they do their two slots as a PCI-E 16x slot and a PCI-E 8x slot.

Which is cool if you don't need a peripheral device (use the integrated sound), since you could then put TWO 6600GTs in it for SLI action and get better than 6800GT performance for roughly the same price!

Or, just buy the 6900 GT when it comes out (AFAIK, this is the PCI-E version of the 6800GT on a die-shrinked process running slightly higher clocks) to use one of the slots, and next year some time, when you want to ugprade, instead of replacing your graphics card, just add another for SLI action!

nVidia's SLI technology will be seriously fun for XPC owners, I think. A LOT of power in a very, very tiny box. (Course, the big concern, naturally, would be power supply requirements. May well limit XPC owners to dual 6600GTs. We'll see.)

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: dderidex
nForce4 brings PCI-Express....and that's basically it. Of course, WITH PCI-E, we get SLI in nVidia cards.

AFAIK, it has 24 'channels', so when Shuttle does do this, I'd bet my current (errr....work) box that they do their two slots as a PCI-E 16x slot and a PCI-E 8x slot.

Which is cool if you don't need a peripheral device (use the integrated sound), since you could then put TWO 6600GTs in it for SLI action and get better than 6800GT performance for roughly the same price!

Or, just buy the 6900 GT when it comes out (AFAIK, this is the PCI-E version of the 6800GT on a die-shrinked process running slightly higher clocks) to use one of the slots, and next year some time, when you want to ugprade, instead of replacing your graphics card, just add another for SLI action!

nVidia's SLI technology will be seriously fun for XPC owners, I think. A LOT of power in a very, very tiny box. (Course, the big concern, naturally, would be power supply requirements. May well limit XPC owners to dual 6600GTs. We'll see.)

Don't forget about space constraints.

 

[TimTheEnchanter25]

There is only 20 channels for PCI-E. For SLI, there is 2 16x connectors and it will run at 16x with one card. If you put 2 cards in, they each run in 8x. Don't wory, that is more than enough bandwidth for years to come.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: dderidex
nForce4 brings PCI-Express....and that's basically it. Of course, WITH PCI-E, we get SLI in nVidia cards.

Hmm.. if that's it then I don't think it's going to be worth the wait. Considering Shuttle hasn't even announced anything yet.

Which is cool if you don't need a peripheral device (use the integrated sound), since you could then put TWO 6600GTs in it for SLI action and get better than 6800GT performance for roughly the same price!

I heard on another board that the integrated sound for nForce4 will be horrendous! Something about them not using SoundStorm?

 

[TimTheEnchanter25]

Soundstorm was a rumor, it won't be on Nforce4. That doesn't mean the sound will be bad though. Lots of mobos have good onboard sound.

 

[imported_rudeboy]

Originally posted by: dderidex
Or, just buy the 6900 GT when it comes out (AFAIK, this is the PCI-E version of the 6800GT on a die-shrinked process running slightly higher clocks) to use one of the slots, and next year some time, when you want to ugprade, instead of replacing your graphics card, just add another for SLI action!

nVidia's SLI technology will be seriously fun for XPC owners, I think. A LOT of power in a very, very tiny box. (Course, the big concern, naturally, would be power supply requirements. May well limit XPC owners to dual 6600GTs. We'll see.)

nvidia's sli technology all but won't be an option for xpc users. nvidia has already stated that sli will require at least a 550W power supply which simply isn't feasable for a sff machine.

"Power requirements are normal for GeForce 6600 GT SLI, but NVIDIA recommends a 550-watt power supply for GeForce 6800 Ultra SLI."

this is all well documented in fireingsquads geforce4 ultra preview

~rudeboy

 

[Gioron]

The SN95G5 only came out fairly recently, and the nForce 3 250 chipset had been around for a while already. I'd estimate roughly the same amount of time to get a nForce 4 box out the door, so unless you're dead-set on a PCI-Express graphics card I wouldn't bother waiting. Also, if Shuttle sticks to having only 2 card slots (1 graphics/1 other), I have to wonder whether the "other" card slot will be PCI or 1x PCI-Express (though it'll amost certainly be PCI). SLI on SFF isn't really an option, just from space constraints let alone power consumption. The rest of the improvements in nForce 4 look to be just minor things, a few improvements on existing features, but nothing dramatic or new.

nForce 4 chipsets won't have SoundStorm on them, but the nForce 3 chipsets don't either. That doesn't mean that the motherboards will have bad sound, but it probably means they don't have a chance at having excellent sound. Nvidea is taking some flack from some people for not bringing SoundStorm back, but I'm not sure if its enough to change their minds on a buisness decision, and people wouldn't really miss it if they had never seen SoundStorm. If its that much of an issue for you, you'll either need to get an nForce 2 board with an athlon XP in it, or wait for a while and see if they change their mind or if someone else steps up to the plate with good onboard sound.

So... in a nutshell, I just bought a SN95G5, and wouldn't recommend waiting. Its good enough, the next generation isn't revolutionary and its available immediately.