Abit NI8 SLI: nVidia SLI for the Intel Gamer
by Randi Sica & Wesley Fink on October 7, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Final Words
From a gaming and workstation performance standpoint, the NI8 SLI is an excellent example of great engineering from the ABIT team. Their efforts in the Fatality line and efforts from the past have culminated in a nice first effort for the Intel enthusiast. Business performance was a mixed bag in our test results, but this was more likely a reflection of slightly different test methods than a reflection of true performance differences. Still, at the very least, Business Performance of the Abit NI8 SLI is still acceptable when coupled with the P4 D840EE.
The big disappointment for this editor was the board's inability to overclock the FSB with stability beyond 220 MHz. Though the board is a clear winner as far as being able to overclock the memory independently, the inability to scale FSB inhibits the NI8 SLI from being able to increase system bandwidth to levels that we know that our test CPU can reach.
The layout of the board leaves something to be desired in regards to the Silicon Image controlled SATA 5+6 ports along with the bottom-mounted floppy connector. From a component standpoint, the inclusion of excellent capacitors and electrical components are exactly what you expect from a premium board that cost nearly $200, and they provided rock stable operation over the course of testing and evaluation. What you may not expect in a $200 board is the missing IEEE1394 ports. There is not a single Firewire port on the board. Abit must have decided gamers don't own or use digital video equipment.
The Silent OTES north bridge cooling solution, while an adequate cooling solution, does get extremely hot and the recommendation to anyone buying this board is to make sure that you have adequate airflow in your case for the long term. Though there were no severe thermal problems over the short term of testing, you are left with the strong suspicion that the generous heat from the C19 northbridge could in time cause stability problems, especially if one is gaming at a LAN party for long periods of time.
Finally, the AudioMAX 7.1 sound solution appears to be a new front runner in low CPU utilization. With its use of a dedicated audio bus and its multiple connection possibilities, it may just be the new OEM bundled audio winner.
From a gaming and workstation performance standpoint, the NI8 SLI is an excellent example of great engineering from the ABIT team. Their efforts in the Fatality line and efforts from the past have culminated in a nice first effort for the Intel enthusiast. Business performance was a mixed bag in our test results, but this was more likely a reflection of slightly different test methods than a reflection of true performance differences. Still, at the very least, Business Performance of the Abit NI8 SLI is still acceptable when coupled with the P4 D840EE.
The big disappointment for this editor was the board's inability to overclock the FSB with stability beyond 220 MHz. Though the board is a clear winner as far as being able to overclock the memory independently, the inability to scale FSB inhibits the NI8 SLI from being able to increase system bandwidth to levels that we know that our test CPU can reach.
The layout of the board leaves something to be desired in regards to the Silicon Image controlled SATA 5+6 ports along with the bottom-mounted floppy connector. From a component standpoint, the inclusion of excellent capacitors and electrical components are exactly what you expect from a premium board that cost nearly $200, and they provided rock stable operation over the course of testing and evaluation. What you may not expect in a $200 board is the missing IEEE1394 ports. There is not a single Firewire port on the board. Abit must have decided gamers don't own or use digital video equipment.
The Silent OTES north bridge cooling solution, while an adequate cooling solution, does get extremely hot and the recommendation to anyone buying this board is to make sure that you have adequate airflow in your case for the long term. Though there were no severe thermal problems over the short term of testing, you are left with the strong suspicion that the generous heat from the C19 northbridge could in time cause stability problems, especially if one is gaming at a LAN party for long periods of time.
Finally, the AudioMAX 7.1 sound solution appears to be a new front runner in low CPU utilization. With its use of a dedicated audio bus and its multiple connection possibilities, it may just be the new OEM bundled audio winner.
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TheInvincibleMustard - Saturday, October 8, 2005 - link
Thanks for clearing that up, Wesley ... here I was thinking that AT had gone off their rockers for a moment :D-TIM
jojo4u - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
A new Forceware was also used in the gaming tests.smn198 - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
Agreed. This is not a motherboard test.TheInvincibleMustard - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
QFT ... what's the point in testing a new board while conveniently slipping a new processor into it as well? That's akin to "Let's compare this Accord versus this Corolla, oh and by the way, the Accord has nitrous, aftermarket shocks, aftermarket brakes, aftermarket muffler ..."Thanks for an article that shows that dual-core is better than single-core in multi-threaded applications ... funny, I thought Anandtech did one of those articles a while back ...
-TIM
PS -- WTF is up with no Firewire on this board? Mobos http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">less than $80 shipped have IEEE1394 connectivity for cryin' out loud ...
TheInvincibleMustard - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
Err ... well ... I tried to QFT, but apparently it didn't work? Whatever, I still agree with you guys.-TIM
ksherman - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
Man, I REALLY like the passively cooled chipset... wish DFI did that in the nF4 boards...mongoosesRawesome - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
eh, not so impressed myself. what ABIT did looks expensive and it doesn't get the job done adequately. DFI includes temperature controlled fans in their BIOS, which makes their fans bearable. A nice thing about Nforce 3/4 boards is that you really only have one chip to cool.Who exactly is Abit targeting with this board? Who games with Intel? A64s are cheap, nforce 4 boards are cheap, and they perform better. I realize that in the corporate world, there are people out there that only use Intel, but I figured gamers were different. I just can't see this board really being that popular.
KristopherKubicki - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
ASUS did it first with the "Premium" series stuff.Kristopher
emc2-1955 - Sunday, August 29, 2010 - link
I got an Abit NI8 SLI with an extreme processor and 4 gig of ram. The problem is that to takes forever to load. I've tried it with windows xp pro and windows 7 can anyone tell me what I chould check any tips