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
ABIT, C19 and Corsair break the 1000 MHz barrier
The earliest samples of C19 based boards had difficulties moving beyond the 800 MHz memory barrier unlike their Intel 955X based brothers. ABIT has certainly done their homework from that perspective as 1005 MHz was easily attained. The key on this particular sample was to set the memory section of the BIOS to "Auto" and memory voltage to 2.3V. From there, it was a breeze. Again, because of the very relaxed timings, we are seeing another decrease in overall system bandwidth. Clearly, if one desires a highly bandwidth optimized system, the 770 MHz settings are the winner here. Running at 1000 MHz or higher memory speed is purely for bragging rights as the inherently poor latency incurred proves to be a major bandwidth killer, which in turn hurts overall system performance.
The earliest samples of C19 based boards had difficulties moving beyond the 800 MHz memory barrier unlike their Intel 955X based brothers. ABIT has certainly done their homework from that perspective as 1005 MHz was easily attained. The key on this particular sample was to set the memory section of the BIOS to "Auto" and memory voltage to 2.3V. From there, it was a breeze. Again, because of the very relaxed timings, we are seeing another decrease in overall system bandwidth. Clearly, if one desires a highly bandwidth optimized system, the 770 MHz settings are the winner here. Running at 1000 MHz or higher memory speed is purely for bragging rights as the inherently poor latency incurred proves to be a major bandwidth killer, which in turn hurts overall system performance.
Click to enlarge.
ABIT NI8 SLI: Memory Overclocking
ABIT NI8 SLI - Overclocked 3D benchmark performance + SLI verification
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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