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Nvidia nForce3 Ultra Motherboard Roundup
[Abstract]
IntroductionFollowing our Socket 939 roundup of VIA K8T800 Pro motherboards, we take a look now at NVIDIA's camp, more specifically the nForce3 Ultra chipset. The nForce 3 chipset as we now kno...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Report Card and Award Ratings
We've now reached the point where we rate each board in the categories shown in the table below. We understand that not all three boards in our roundup are of equal class and should not be directly be compared to each other in terms of price and features. As such, the table below does not influence our final ratings in equal measure. Crucial factors such as performance and stability weigh more heavily in our calculations. However, we feel that this table helps put into perspective the various points and merits of each board individually.
Motherboard Report Card
| EPoX9NDA3J | GigabyteGA-8KNS-939 | MSIK8N Neo2 Platinum | | Performance | 4 | 5 | 5 | | Features | 4 | 3.5 | 5 | | Layout | 2 | 4.5 | 4 | | Cables/Accessories | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | | Overclocking | 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | | Compatibility/Stability | 2.5 | 5 | 5 | | Price(USD) | $99 | $86 | $137 | (Note: 5 = Good, 1 = Bad)
Note that prices are gathered from online merchants and should only be treated as a guideline. Prices are correct at time of publication.
Since the three boards do not come from the same price bracket, we will not give out our Most Value For Money award for this roundup. However, if you're looking for an excellent performer and do not mind the lack of additional functionality, the Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 is hard to beat at a sub USD$90 price.
Our search for the most overclockable product was a hard one as all three boards managed a high overclocking rate. Both Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 and MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum managed to reach the same top overclock of 275MHz while the EPoX EP-9NDA3J topped off at a slightly lower 270MHz. While being able to achieve very good FSB speeds, both MSI and EPoX offerings could only do so with additional tweaks and settings. MSI's K8N Neo2 Platinum for instance, required a special trick which most regular users would not have known about. The GA-K8NS-939 was the most overclocker friendly motherboard and after taking into consideration that the it actually had the best voltage options as well, the decision to give our Most Overclockable Product award to the Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 became clear.
The EPoX EP-9NDA3J was a decent board, holding up well in the performance race even though it was running at lower memory timings. In our gaming tests, the board even managed to keep up and even showed to have good hard disk performance. However, large compatibility issues and horrid component layout marred the score of the board. It didn't help that the board also came with the least bundled accessories, with only one SATA cable (which wasn't quite usable) and a legacy port bracket. Due to these considerations, we gave the board a 3 out of 5 stars rating.
The mark of a good board is usually one that is most well rounded, having excellent performance and stability, while striking a balance between price, features and packaging. In this roundup, both the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 fits the bill. They perform similarly well in all our benchmarks and exhibited excellent stability throughout. Both are also reasonably priced within their respective market segments. The MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum is more expensive, though with the price comes extra features and functionality. The budget minded Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 cuts some corners in terms of its onboard features, but it makes up for it being the cheapest board around. Due to this, we believe that both boards deserve a 4.5 Stars award.
Final Ratings and Awards
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Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 |
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MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum |
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EPoX EP-9NDA3J |
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