GIGABYTE K8NS PRO REVIEW

"In this article we test the Gigabyte K8NS PRO against the ASROCK K7S8XE+. The following software was used, Half Life 2, Doom 3, Tribes Vengeance, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War, Scrapland, Unreal Tournament 2004, Quake III Arena, 3dmark 2003 and 3dmark 2005."

Supporting the revolutionary AMD AthlonTM64 processor, GA-K8NS Pro brings new levels of performance and features to the desktop platforms. The brand new AMD AthlonTM64 processor is furnished with unprecedented framework consisted of AMD’s 64-bit computing platform, HyperTransport Technology, and the CPU-integrated memory controller to boost the overall performance. Accompanied with the innovative designs of AthlonTM64, the advanced NVIDIA nForce3 platform processor and Gigabyte’s unique technology also contribute to the functionality and stability of this platform. The high speed Gigabit Ethernet interface is equipped for establishing the efficient broadband connection to the internet. The IEEE1394, Serial ATA and IDE RAID provide superior input/output performance and data protection. GA-K8NS Pro represents the best choice for full-function platform applied in home and office environment.

AMD AthlonTM64 Computing Platform - Powered by nForce3 platform processors, this platform supports the brand new 8th generation AMD AthlonTM64 processor to deliver a high performance platform with dual support for 32-bit applications and increasing 64-bit computing needs.

HyperTransportTM technology - A high-speed, low latency, point-to-point link designed to provide excellent interconnect for computation and networking. This Technology not only provides more bandwidth but also reduces the I/O bottlenecks and, consequently, greatly enhances the system performance.

Integrated DDR memory controller - The AMD AthlonTM 64 processor improves the memory performance by integrating a DDR memory controller into the processor. By running at the processor’s core frequency, an integrated memory controller greatly increases bandwidth directly available to the processor.

Superb bandwidth AGP 8X graphics interface - Featuring AGP 8x (AGP 3.0) the new generation VGA interface specification, this platform delivers enhanced graphics performance with high bandwidth up to 2.12GB/s. Allowing users to have a more realistic graphics experiences while gaming or movie watching.

Gigabit Ethernet Connection - The Gigabit network interface delivers a high speed LAN connection with data transfer rate up to 1000Mb/s, providing new generation connectivity for the broadband era. Gigabit LAN is ideally for seamless internet connection such as streaming audio and video contents.

IEEE1394 FireWire - The high performance IEEE1394 interface enhances PC connectivity with consumer electronics audio/video (A/V) appliances, and storage peripherals.

Serial ATA with RAID 0.1 function - Serial ATA is the revolutionary ATA interface that provides scalable performance for IDE device. With up to 150MB/s data transfer rate, Serial ATA is faster than current Parallel ATA and delivers superior input/output performance. In addition, the Serial ATA interface is furnished with RAID 0.1 function for extra performace enhancement and data protection.

GigaRAID IDE RAID Controller - Supporting RAID (0, 1, 0+1), JBOD function and ATA133 interface, GigaRAID Controller delivers completely solution for storage interface to increase fault tolerance, improve data access performance and provides additional interface for more IDE devices.

8 Channel Audio with UAJ - With the function of Universal Audio Jack (UAJ) of ALC 850 AC97 codec, this platform provides superior 8-Channel stereo sound enjoyment without the stress of incorrect installation.

Gigabyte Patent DualBIOSTM - DualBIOSTM prevents BIOS from virus attacks to provide a double security thus assuring the PC stability.

Norton Internet SecurityTM Included - Essential protection from viruses, hackers, and privacy threats. It protects user during the online activities such as e-mailing, shopping, banking, and game playing.

3DMARK BENCHMARKS 3DMARK 2003 7424 7247 3DMARK 2005 2898 2775 GIGABYTE K8NS PRO ASROCK K7S8XE+ COMMENT - "As expected there is not a huge difference when using 3dmark which tests 3D performance more than motherboard performance. Using 3dmark 2003 the Gigabyte K8NS PRO finished 3% ahead of the ASROCK K7S8XE+ motherboard and with 3dmark 2005 the Gigabyte K8NS PRO finished 5% faster." BENCHMARK SETTINGS 3DMARK 2003 1024x768 Resolution No Pixel Processing Optimal Texture Filtering 4x Max Anisotropy Optimal Vertex Shaders No Repeat Tests No Fixed Framerate 3DMARK 2005 1024x768 Resolution No Anti-Aliasing Optimal Filtering HLSL VS Target 2_0 HLSL PS Target 2_0 No Fixed Framerate GEFORCE 6600 GT SPECIFIC HLSL VS Target 3_0 HLSL PS Target 3_0

3DMARK 2003 GAMES WINGS OF FURY 198 175 BATTLE OF PROXYCON 56 55 TROLL'S LAIR 48 48 MOTHER NATURE 45 44 GIGABYTE K8NS PRO ASROCK K7S8XE+ BENCHMARK SETTINGS 1024x768 Resolution No Pixel Processing Optimal Texture Filtering 4x Max Anisotropy Optimal Vertex Shaders No Repeat Tests No Fixed Framerate COMMENT - "The Wings of Fury benchmark is the most basic 3dmark 2003 benchmark so shows the most difference between the two motherboards. Although the ASROCK K7S8XE+ is using the 2.2ghz Athlon XP processor the Gigabyte K8NS PRO using the slower 1.8ghz Sempron 3100 is able to deliver an impressive performance increase of 23fps which is a 12% increase. The other game benchmarks are very video card limited so the results are almost identical which is expected."

3DMARK 2005 GAMES RETURN TO PROXYCON 11.6 10.7 FIREFLY FOREST 8.8 8.5 CANYON FLIGHT 15.3 15.1 GIGABYTE K8NS PRO ASROCK K7S8XE+ BENCHMARK SETTINGS 1024x768 Resolution No Anti-Aliasing Optimal Filtering HLSL VS Target 2_0 HLSL PS Target 2_0 No Fixed Framerate GEFORCE 6600 GT SPECIFIC HLSL VS Target 3_0 HLSL PS Target 3_0 COMMENT - "3dmark 2005 is a very demanding 3D benchmark as the results show, there is very little performance difference between the Asrock and Gigabyte motherboards. Let us see how the two motherboards perform with game software."

GAMES SOFTWARE DOOM 3 89 76 HALF LIFE 2 70 64 QUAKE 3 ARENA 309 290 SCRAPLAND 127 106 SERIOUS SAM SE 167 160 TRIBES VENGEANCE 108 94 UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2004 109 101 WARHAMMER 40K - DAWN OF WAR 63 54 GIGABYTE K8NS PRO ASROCK K7S8XE+ COMMENT - " The Gigabyte K8NS PRO puts in a great performance especially with Doom 3, Quake 3 Arena, Scrapland, Tribes Vengeance and Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War. I am sure the Sempron 3100 memory controller also helped alot here. The Gigabyte K8NS PRO finished between 8% and 17% faster than the ASROCK K7S8XE+ even though the Sempron 3100 is clocked 400mhz slower."