nForce4 Ultra Roundup: Charting the Mainstream
by Wesley Fink on July 5, 2005 10:28 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Winfast NF4UK8AA (Foxconn): Features and Layout
| Specification | Winfast NF4UK8AA |
| CPU Interface | Socket 939 Athlon 64 |
| Chipset | nForce4 Ultra (single chip) |
| BUS Speeds | 200MHz to 300MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| PCI/AGP Speeds | Asynchronous (Fixed) |
| PCI Express | 100MHz to 145MHz in 1MHz increments |
| Core Voltage | Default, 1.20V to 1.80V in 0.025V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 2.5V, Default, 2.7V, 2.8V |
| Chipset Voltage | Default, 1.6V, 1.7V, 1.8V |
| LDT Bus Transfer | 16/16, 16/8, 8/16, 8/8 |
| Hyper Transport | 1x to 5x in 1x Intervals |
| LDT Voltage | Default, 1.3V, 1.4V, 1.5V |
| CPU Ratios | NONE |
| DRAM Speeds | Auto, 100, 133, 166, 200 |
| Memory Command Rate | Auto, 1T, 2T |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR Dual-Channel Slots Unbuffered ECC or non-ECC Memory to 4GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x16 PCIe Slots 2 x1 PCIe 4 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA | 4-Drive SATA 2 by nF4 |
| Onboard IDE | Two Standard NVIDIA ATA133/100/66 (4 drives) |
| SATA/IDE RAID | 4-Drive SATA 2 PLUS 4-Drive IDE (8 total) Can be combined in RAID 0, 1 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 10 USB 2.0 ports supported nF4 2 1394A FireWire ports by Agere FW3226-100 |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit Ethernet PCIe by Vitesse VSC8201 PHY |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC850 8-Channel codec with 5 UAJ audio jacks, CD-in, front audio, and coaxial SPDIF Out |
| Other Features | AMD X2 Support with NF4UK8AA (6/29/05) or higher BIOS |
| BIOS | Phoenix Award Shipping BIOS |
Foxconn may not be well-known to some readers, but Foxconn is the manufacturer of almost every connector that you will find on almost every motherboard on the market. In addition, Foxconn is one of the world's largest motherboard manufacturers. Foxconn makes motherboards for many companies, and counts Intel to be among their clients. The quality of Foxconn boards is well-established, so it should come as no surprise that Foxconn is now interested in marketing their own branded motherboards.
The Winfast NF4UK8AA is another nForce4 Ultra motherboard that is long on built-in features, but is sold at a modest street price of $97. Foxconn includes two Firewire ports, 8-channel audio, a Phoenix Award BIOS with AMD x2 support, Gigabit PCIe Ethernet, and the full implementation of the NVIDIA nForce4 chipset features.
The BIOS feature set also is reasonably attractive with a full range of options for CPU voltage, memory voltage, chipset voltage and HT voltage. There is also a wide range of CPU speed selections from 200 to 300. Frankly, 2.8V is not enough on memory voltage with top memory now going to 3.5V and higher, and 300 looks low when other boards are running at over 300 at a 9X multiplier, but the controls that the enthusiast wants are all here. That is all except CPU ratios or multipliers. The AMD Athlon 64 features unlocked multipliers on all processors downwards, and unlocks up and down with FX CPUs. This is an important feature that differentiates AMD from the competition. However, an unlocked CPU is virtually useless if the multiplier adjustments are not available in BIOS. If Foxconn intends to sell to AMD enthusiasts, then they need to quickly make the same options available to buyers that competitors routinely provide.
Click image to enlarge.
The IDE connectors, 24-pin ATX power connector, and DIMM slots were all in near ideal locations and presented no issues.
Foxconn has placed the 4-pin 12V power connector between the CPU and the rear panel connectors, which can present some cabling challenges in some case designs. It works better at a board edge, but Foxconn Winfast is not alone in using the center of the board location for the 12V connector. The floppy is at the bottom right of the motherboard - a difficult reach in tall cases.
Additional connectors are well located along board edges and out of the way of the slot area. Foxconn also provides a rear coaxial SPDIF connector, which proves that you don't have to give up SPDIF connectors on a $100 motherboard.
While there are certainly several areas that can be improved upon in the layout of the NF4UK8AA, it is a pretty easy board to work with overall. The board is also built with obvious care and quality components, which is not a surprise when you consider the quality reputation that Foxconn enjoys in the motherboard market.
Like every other board in this roundup, Foxconn uses the ALC850 audio codec. Realtek appears to be doing a very good job of convincing Asian manufacturers of the features and value represented by the ALC850.
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra: Overclocking and Stress Testing
Winfast NF4UK8AA (Foxconn): Overclocking and Stress Testing
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yacoub - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
#33 - Wesley, that's awesome news. Can you post that somewhere more important so buyers know to be on the lookout for it? =)kyparrish - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Good article!I'm seriously considering dumping my DFI S754/NC 3200+ setup for that Epox board and a cheap S939 A64 :)
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
#29 and #31 - UPDATE: I have talked with contacts in the Memory Industry and Samsung TCCD is now available again from Samsung. TCCD disappeared for a few months but production didn't really stop. TCC5 is DDR466 and TCCD is DDR500, but both chips come off the same line and are binned for speed grade. Samsung stopped binning for DDR500 grade until recently - and left this job to the memory makers.Recently Samsung has told memory makers they are binning once again for DDR500/TCCD and the TCCD chips are available again. It will take a few weeks for the pipelines to fill but TCCD is not dead. Some companies are staying with TCC5 at a lower cost and binning for the top performance unless the yields start to go down.
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
#24 - The base nForce4 is sometimes called the nForce4 X4 and runs at 800 HTT, while the Ultra and SLI run at 1000HT. When 1000HT was first introduced we found no real difference in performance at 800HT and 1000HT. What the 1000HT did provide was quite a bit more overclocking headroom. A reader may have an example of where 1000HT outperforms 800HT but the real world difference is negligible.#28 - There are now more than 60 BIOS releases for the DFI nF4, many customized for particular memory types. Only 3 have been posted to their website. For the latest DFI nF4 BIOS a good place to check is www.xtremesystems.org or the BIOS Files Forum at www.bleedinedge.com. There is now a 7/04 BIOS that is reported to be more stable in upper memory ratios (433,466,500) with Rev. E chips.
#29 - You are overstating the TCCD situation. Corsair still sells TCCD, as do several other memory vendors. There is no doubt TCCD is drying up everywhere but Corsair, and that will continue. New TCC5 dimms that are said to perform like TCCD are in process in at least one memory company. We have requested these new TCC5-based dimms and will share our findings as soon as we receive the memory. There are also some new BH5 dimms that we thought were gone forever. We have even seen the new BH5 binned and advertised as DDR500 2-2-2 at higher voltages around 3.3V.
yacoub - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Well, while this review -has- convinced me to go with the DFI board over the Chaintech, that is purely due to the audio CPU usage issues of the onboard vs daughterboard. I'm shocked at how much difference that makes.That said, most of the memory testing (and thus most of the review) was meaningless to me (and everyone else who doesn't have access to TCCD memory anymore). =/
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
#17 - Thanks for pointing out the errors. They have been corrected. Do you want a job proof reading :-)yacoub - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Regarding the tRAS recommendation:Can we petition Anandtech to stop using memory that the consumer can't get anymore? (Namely TCCD-based Plat Rev2.) Go pick up some TCC5 and do your tests with what the consumer is actually going to be receiving so your tests actually mean something.
mongoosesRawesome - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
What BIOS version did you use with the DFI? It reads: "Award 7/01/2005 Release" in your list of features for the DFI, but I could not find that BIOS release on their website.AsiLuc - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Sorry I meant: GA-K8NF9http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Prod...
AsiLuc - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
I'd liked to see the Gigabyte GA-K8NP9 reviewed, because it has passive southbridge cooling (silence :) ) and is cheap.