nForce4 Motherboard Chipset
Jesse PrintzBryant Newby
CIS 4622/22/05
Outline
● Socket 939● What is a Chipset?● nForce 4 Chipset● nForce 4 Features Explination● Compeditors● Recommendation
What is Socket 939
● CPU Specification● Supports AMD Athlon 64 Processors● 64-Bit
Why Socket 939?
● 90 nm design● 64-Bit● Future Expansion
What is a Chipset?
● Architecture● Microchips that support the CPU, usually several
controllers that govern how information travels between the processor and other components.
● Tom's Hardware Guide:– If the CPU is the brain of the PC, the chipset is the
heart● Standard Given to Motherboard Manufactures
Chipset Example
What is nForce4?
● Chipset Optimized for Graphics and Video● Standard for Motherboard Manufactures● nVidia's Fourth Installment of Graphics Chipsets
nForce4 Specifications
● One x16 PCI Express Slot● Three x1 PCI Express Slots● 4 Serial ATA Hard Drives● RAID Across SATA & IDE● ActiveArmor Firewall● 10 USB 2.0 Ports
nForce4 Ultra Added Specifications
● nTune for Overclocking● 3.0 Gb/s SATA Transfers● 20 PCI Express Lanes
nTune
● On the fly– Clock Speed Changing
● Monitoring– Temperatures– Voltages
● Automated Troubleshooting● One Place
nTune
nForce4 SLI Added Specifications
● Scalable Link Interface● 2 PCI Express Video Cards Working Together
– Distributed Load Balancing– Automatic Split
● Future Expansion
SLI Diagram
SLI Demonstration
nForce Ultra Modification to SLI
Native Command Queuing
Other 939 Competitors
● Uli● SiS● ATI Radeon XPRESS● VIA K8T800● nForce3
Comparison of 939 MotherboardsGA-K8N Ultra-9 GA-K8VT890-9 GA-K8NS Ultra-939
CPU Type Socket 939 Socket 939 Socket 939
FSB / Hyper Transport2000MHz 2000MHz 2000 Mhz
Chipset Nforce4 Ultra Via K8T800 Pro Nforce3 Ultra
Memory type Dual Channel DDR400/333/266 Dual Channel DDR400/333/266 Dual Channel DDR400/333/266
Memory socket DDR*4 DDR*4 DDR*4
Max. Memory 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB
Graphics interface PCI Express X16 PCI Express X16 AGP 8X
PCI Express 3 (1 x16, 2x1) 3 (1 x16, 2x1) 0
PCI 3 3 5
RAID Function Yes Yes Yes
LAN Marvell Gigabit, 10/100 Lan Marvell Gigabit, 10/100 Lan Marvell Gigabit, 10/100 Lan
Audio ALC 850 ALC 850 ALC 850
Codec Channel 8 8 8
IDE ATA 2*PATA133 / 4*SATA / 4*SATA 2*PATA133 / 2*SATA 2*PATA133 / 4*SATA
USB 1.1 Same as USB 2.0 Same as USB 2.0 Same as USB 2.0
USB 2.0 10 8 (4 by cable) 8 (4 by cable)
DualBIOS Yes No Yes
Form Factor ATX ATX ATX
IEEE 1294 2 x 1294b No 3 x 1394bLowest Price 109 and up Not Avaible in US Yet 113
Reccomendation
● nForce 4 SLI chipset– Advantages
● More Features● From Anandtech: On Average 3% faster than ATI Radeon
XPRESS● Future Upgrades● More Control
– Disadvantages● Cost
Sources
● Anandtech - www.anandtech.com● nVidia - www.nvidia.com● TheTechReport - www.thetechreport.com● Tom's Hardware Guide - www.tomshardware.com● ATI - http://www.ati.com/● PriceWatch - www.pricewatch.com