Roundup tests of motherboards aimed at Intel Core 2 Duo processors
ECS NF650SLIT-A
There are some complaints about the board's design: very inconvenient latches of PCI Express slots, inconvenient positioning of additional power connectors (4-pin and Molex), and blocking the DIMM latches by the first video card.
The board uses three 3-pin and one 4-pin connector to plug in fans. One of them is reserved for the CPU cooler, the other is used to plug in a cooler on the north bridge, with the remaining ones accessible to the user.
Under the north bridge, there are 4 slots for memory modules. The first and second slots relate to the first memory channel, with the second and third - to the second channel. Therefore, to switch the memory to the dual-channel mode the modules should be fitted into slots of the same color.
There are two PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and three PCI slots.
The board offers the following expansion options: 4 Serial ATA II links which are supported by the south bridge nForce 430i (MCP51);
the same chip provides support for 2 ParallelATA links. Therefore, the board allows plugging in up to 8 hard disks (4 SATA II and 4 PATA). Then, on the board there is a Gigabit LAN controller Marvell 88E1116(PHY):
The board offers support for 8 USB 2.0 ports, 4 of which are mounted on the rear panel, with 4 more ports connected with brackets. Besides, the PCB design provides for installation of an additional Firewire controller, but it is not installed on the current model.
Finally, the board offers integrated 8-channel audio on the base of the ALC883 codec.
The configuration of the rear panel is practically standard, except the lack of the 2nd COM port (where the optical and coaxial SP-DIF output is positioned instead), and the lack of LPT port.
The board's BIOS is based on the Award BIOS Phoenix version.
The number of memory settings is standard; there is also a feature for displaying the current timings, which is very convenient.
The memory settings and the set of system monitoring sensors are practically standard. We note the feature for adjusting the rotational speed of the CPU cooler depending on the CPU temperature.
The board also supports a complete kit of overclocking tools, except the raise of voltage on the north bridge:
In particular, the board allows adjusting the FSB speed within 133 to 625 MHz, as well as a multiplier over all the admissible range. Besides, the user can adjust voltage on the CPU within 0.85 V to 1.6 V in 0.00625 V increments, on the memory - within 1.85 V to 1.95 V in 0.05 V increments, on the south bridge - within 1.2 V to 1.55 V in 0.05 V increments, and on the FSB - within 1.2 V to 1.4 V in 0.05 V increments.
Now let's try the overclocking features in practice: But before that we turn to the 4-phased power supply module of the motherboard which contains four 1800 mkF and eight 820 mkF capacitors.
The actual overclocking did not prove impressive: stable operation retained at frequencies up to FSB=360 MHz.
Let's see how precise the board is at setting the nominal FSB speed:
Conclusion: despite some shortcomings, we liked the motherboard in general. Now we should compare the "price/attraction" ratio versus other motherboards based on NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI.
We should note that the board is the most interesting product of all the reviewed and made by ECS (PN2 SLI2+ doesn't count - that is NVIDIA's reference). Although the overclocking capability is not impressive, nevertheless it is quite sufficient for overclocking low-end Core 2 Duo CPUs with the 200 MHz bus.
Pros:
- Excellent stability and performance;
- Two PCI Express x16 slots and support for the SLI;
- Support for the USB 2.0 serial bus (8 ports);
- Support for SerialATA II / RAID 4 (links);
- Support for ParallelATA (2 links);
- Integrated 8-channel audio and LAN (Gigabit Ethernet).
Cons:
Specific features:
- Middling overclocking results.
ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A
Until ECS NF650SLIT-A has appeared in the retail, those who wish to assemble a cheap SLI system can turn to the model nForce 570 SLIT-A which is based on nForce 570 SLI Intel Edition.
As regards the SLI, the board uses two PCI Express x16 slots (i.e. in the SLI mode they enable 8 channels each). Also, there are two PCI Express x1 and three PCI slots onboard.
The expansion options are fully standard: 4 Serial ATA II (nForce 430) links , a Gigabit LAN controller, 8 USB 2.0 ports, and integrated 8-channel audio.
The rear panel looks like this:
Instead of one of the COM ports, there is an optical and coaxial SP-DIF output. The missing COM port is even not provided by the PCB design.
The BIOS of ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A is built on the Award BIOS Phoenix version. The list of available memory latency timings is standard and is made in the section to do with the overclocking settings:
The board keeps track of the processor's and system's current temperature and the rotational speed of all the three fans. Besides, the speed of the processor cooler can be set dependent on the CPU temperature with the Smart FAN feature.
As regards the overclocking tools, only raise of voltage on the CPU to 1.6V and on the memory to 2.2 V have been implemented. Also, ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A allows adjusting the system bus speed within 200 to 325 MHz.
The actual overclocking result is 300 MHz, which was good for the end of the past year, but with the release of the nForce 6xx series it is a poor result..
Interim conclusion: the motherboard offers a good enough "price/performance" ratio; at the same time it supports Core 2 Duo processors and the NVIDIA SLI technology.
Pros:
- High stability and good performance level;
- Support for the SLI (2 PCI Express x16 slots; in the SLI mode, 8 lines per slot are used);
- Support for Parallel ATA ( 2 nForce 430 links);
- Integrated 8-channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller;
- Support for the USB 2.0 (8 ports).
Cons:
- Incompatibility to Corsair DDR2 TWIN2X1024-8000UL1 memory modules.
The board's specific features:
- Good overclocking tools but poor results.
 |
Content: |
 |
|
Page 1 - Chipsets
Page 2 - Roundup table of motherboards
Page 3 - abit AW9D-MAX, abit AB9 Pro
Page 4 - ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe, ASUS P5W64-WS Pro
Page 5 - ASUS Commando, ASUS P5B Premium Vista Edition
Page - ASUS P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi, ASUS P5B-E
Page 7 - P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, Striker, P5N32-E SLI, and P5N32-E SLI PLUS
Page 8 - ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium, ASUS P5N-E SLI
Page 9 - Gigabyte 965P-DQ6, Gigabyte 965P-DS4
Page 10 - Gigabyte 965P-DS3, Gigabyte 965G-DS3
Page 11 - Foxconn 975X7AB, Foxconn P9657AA-8EKRS2H
Page 12 - MSI P6N SLI Platinum, MSI P965 Platinum
Page 13 - MSI P965 Neo, MSI P965 Neo2
Page 14 - Intel D975XBX2 (i975X), Intel DG965RYCK
Page 15 - ECS NF650SLIT-A, ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A
Page 16 - ECS PN2 SLI2+, ECS P965T-A
Page 17 - Performance, conclusions
| |
|
|
|
|
Top Stories: |
|
 |
|
MoBo:
| |
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
