ECS KN1SLI Extreme (nVidia nForce4 SLI)
ECS KN1SLI Extreme Board Layout
At first glance, the board's PCB design seems quite simple - there are many empty spots. However, the assembly operator may come up against the issue of blocking the DIMM slot latches by a video card installed in the first PCI Express x16 slot.
No other problems will come up for the assembly operator: the main 24-pin connector is installed on the board's edge. The additional 4-pin controller is installed in the upper right-hand corner of the board, near the cooling system. Besides, there is another 4-pin Molex connector which has to be enabled in installing two power-consuming video cards.
The connector is installed near the first PCI Express x16 slot, which makes plugging in a power cable a bit difficult.
Now let's look at the processor socket - the orange frame is fastened with metal screws. On the reverse side of the board, there is a plastic enforcement plate.
Near the socket, there is a 3-pin connector (CPUFAN1) for plugging in a processor cooler. Besides it, there are four more connectors like that onboard: CASFAN2 and CASFAN3 near the battery; there is also a NBFAN1 connector, to which a cooler on the chipset is connected. Finally, the CASFAN1 connector installed near the power supply module which is enabled for the cooling system.
Coming back to the cooler, let's look into the respective cooler. Its radiator is made of aluminum, and the fan is 40x40 mm in dimensions. Also note that the fan's noise level does not prevent comfortable operation (perhaps while the bearing is still fresh).
There are four DIMM slots on the board, and the maximum memory capacity makes up 4 GB. Near the slots, there is a red LED which warns the user of voltage on the memory modules.
The memory slots are partitioned into two groups. The first group relates to the first channel, the second one to the respective; the slots are colored differently to facilitate installation of modules.
As regards the expansion capabilities, the board offers two PCI Express x16 slots (both having holders):
It should be noted that between the PCI Express slots a SLI-terminator with which switching between the single-slot and the SLI modes is done is missing on the 1st generation nForce4 SLI boards (or on cheap boards). Like on other high-end boards, the KN1SLI implements a feature for programmatical switching between the SLI modes. In fact, we found no respective item in the BIOS settings (like on Asus A8N-SLI Premium).
Besides the PCI Express x16 slots, the board uses one PCI Express x1 and three PCI slots.
Of note is that near the PCI Express x1 slot and each PCI slot there is a LED which blinks in case a respective slot is not enabled (sort of a gift to modding fans).
One of the PCI slots is colored orange. Therefore, engineers at ECS provide a PCI Extreme slot which is meant for expansion cards of increased requirements for the quality of signals.
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VGA Card:
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CPU & Memory:
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