Page 2

NVIDIA nForce4 SLI - Albatron K8SLI Features

Albatron's K8SLI is based on the NFORCE4 chipset from NVIDIA. NVIDIA basically offers 3 version of this chipset in the nForce 4 series. We see "nForce4", "nForce4 Ultra" and "nForce 4 SLI". For the AMD K8 line, NVIDIA was able to do something simple. They effectively moved all functions into a one-chip solution (MCP), instead of the familiar and traditional mainboard chipset north- and south bridge chips being paired. This is mainly due to the built-in memory controller in the K8 part.

Although considered to be a budget mainboard it still offers all functionality of the NFORCE4 chipset, including the awesome SATA-II compatible ports with RAID 0/1/0+1 support, integrated Gigabit Ethernet controller that can be used with NVIDIA's own firewall solution, up-to ten USB2.0 ports, integrated sound (5.1 channel audio controller with SPDIF out), dual channel memory configuration and of course PCI-Express with 2*PCI Express x 16 ( nVIDIA SLi technology support X8+X8), two free 32 bit PCI slots and two PCI Express x1 slots.

Processor wise this mainboard can handle all Socket 939 CPU's including the new dual core family. Thus you can house AMD's Athlon 64, Athlon64 FX and Athlon64 X2 Dual Core processors. Today we'll be using the way too expensive but oh so sweet FX-57 processor.

BIOS wise Albatron went for a Phoenix BIOS. Albatron also introduced a backup solution called Albatron Bios Security that we'll explain later. In the BIOS all standard functions can be found. For memory you can adjust your memory timings settings between Manual and Auto (which uses the data from the SPD chip on your memory modules).

You can change CAS Latency, Active-to-Precharge Delay (tRAS), Rad-to-Cas Delay (tRCD), and RAS Precharge Time (tRP), which are the usual timings for memory modules. There are many many more settings to tweak in the Athlon64 memory controller, but they are not listed here leaving the real tweakers a little in the blue. On the other hand you are allowed to set your memory divider to change the frequency your memory is running at. Seven different settings can be found, which should cover most situations you would like to run your memory at.

For overclockers the Frequency/Voltage control page will be your habitat to the overclocking options.

All primary factors are present for a decent overclock. Increasing the CPU FSB can be done up to 400 MHz. PCI-Express bus frequencies can be selected from 100 to 145 MHz. Memory voltage then, you can raise your DDR voltage up to 3.0V, the more enthusiast overclockers like to see a higher number here for sure. The DDR voltage level is usually linked to the 3.3V supply line from the PSU, so why not include up to 3.3 volts then? Next, a nice overclocker function is chipset voltage, which can be altered from 1.5V to 1.8V and that's plenty. The allowed voltage adjustment for the CPU core is a little limited. You can select from default, +5%, +10% and +15%. I prefer absolute values.

Furthermore, all standard BIOS functions including hardware monitoring of course can be found. Let's sift through the specifications, courtesy to Albatron.

NVIDIA nForce4 SLI - Albatron K8SLI Specifications

AMD AthlonTM64 / AthlonTM64 FX /AthlonTM64 X2 Dual Core Processor
Socket 939 with FSB 800/1000+ MHz
4 DDR333/400 Memory Sockets (Dual Channel).
Build-in Realtek AC97 6 channel
NVIDIA nForce4 SLI GbE LAN
2*PCI Express x 16 ( nVIDIA SLi technology support X8+X8 ,No support ATi Radeon X300)
2*PCI Express x 1, 2*PCI Slots
4 Serial ATA-II Channels, Serial ATA RAID 0,1& 0+1
2 ATA133 Channels, up to 4 ATA 133 IDE Devices
Dual BIOS (Second BIOS by ABS Card) (Optional)
8 USB 2.0/1.1 Ports (4 ports by optional cable)

Processor

Socket 939 AMD Athlon64 / Athlon64 FX /Athlon64 X2 Dual Core Processor

FSB

800/1000+ MHz

Chipset

Chip : nForec4 SLI ( Single chip)
LAN Chip : VITESSE VSC8201RX (PHY)
Audio Chip : Realtek ALC655
I/O Chip: Winbond Smart I/O W83627THF

Memory

4 * DDR Sockets:
DDR 333/400 NON-ECC DDR SDRAM up to 4GB ( Dual Channel )

Expansion Slots

2 x PCI Express x 16 2*PCI Express x 16 ( nVIDIA SLi technology support X8+X8 ,No support ATi Randeon X300)
2 x PCI Express x 1
2 x PCI slots (PCI 2.3 compliant)

IDE / SATA Connectors

2 ATA133 Channels, up to 4 ATA 133 IDE devices
4 Serial ATAII Channels, up to 4 Serial ATAII Hard Drives

Onboard I/O Connectors

1 x Floppy Connector
4 x USB 2.0/1.1 header (4 ports by optional cable)
1 x S/PDIF in/out header (S/PDIF in/out cable optional)
1 x CPU fan header ( 1 fan rotation detection function )
2 x System fan headers
2 x 5 pin system panel header (Intel spec)
1 x 3 pin Power LED header
1 x Front audio header (Intel spec)
1 x ABS header

I/O via Back Panel

PS/2 keyboard/mouse, 2 x USB(2.0/1.1), RJ45,1 x Com(serial), 1 x Parallel, 1 x RCA,1x Line-in/Line-out(Speaker Out

Power

24-pin ATX power connector, 4-pin ATX 12V power connecto

BIOS Feature

4Mb Flash EEPROM
Award BIOS with ACPI, DMI2.0, PnP, WfM2.0, Green Suspend to RAM (S3), Suspend to Disk (S4) Wake on keyboard/mouse, Wake on LAN/RTC Timer

Hardware Monitoring

3 FAN sensors, CPU/System voltages and temperature monitoring

Special Feature

Zero Jumper Design
Dual BIOS (Second BIOS by ABS Card) (Optional)
Zero Jumper Design
Adjustable CPU frequency by 1 MHz increment, Adjustable Vcore,,VMemory for overclocking.
Watch Dog Timer (auto-reset system when it can not handle overclock configurations)
Special design for CPU Over Temperature Protection.( OTP )

Form Factor

ATX ( 293x198 mm )