Gigabyte’s K8NXP-SLI Motherboard

Naturally, the K8NXP-SLI is nothing without Gigabyte’s motherboard centering on the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset. Not only is the board a capable platform on which the 3D1 depends, but it’s also the beefiest we’ve seen, perhaps ever. The bundle is so extensive that it requires a double-large box for storage.

Gigabyte’s able to add so much extra functionality, in part, because the K8NXP-SLI centers on the compact, single-chip nForce4 SLI solution. NVIDIA’s nForce4 connects to a Socket 939 Athlon 64 or Athlon 64 FX processor through a 1GB per second HyperTransport bus and in turn interfaces with up to 4GB of DDR400 memory. The four memory slots are color-coded as to indicate the proper placement for dual-channel operation.

The Gigabyte SLI board

Motherboard back plate

Lots of SATA

Of course, the chipset also features SLI support, meaning it’s able to configure the 16 lanes of PCI Express connectivity according to a small onboard module. In one position, all 16 lanes are devoted to the first PCI Express x16 slot, while eight lanes go to each of the board’s two graphics slots in the other orientation. Remaining PCI Express lanes are used to expose two PCI Express x1 slots and one integrated Gigabit Ethernet controller. A second Gigabit controller integrated into the nForce4 chipset enables an extra RJ-45 port as well.

I/O is another of the board’s highlights. Gigabyte uses the nForce4 chipset to expose four Serial ATA II ports (compatible with the second-generation 300Mbps specification), while a Silicon Image Sil3114 controller offers four more with support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and, according to Gigabyte, RAID 5. There are also 10 USB 2.0 ports featured through a combination of back-panel ports and included headers that occupy expansion slots. Finally, a pair of Texas Instruments controllers enables three IEEE 1394b ports – the 800Mbps variety – for high-speed data transfers from compatible external hard drives. Gigabyte even goes so far as to include an 802.11g wireless networking card and a DPS add-in card to bolster the board’s power handing.

Board configured to run in single card mode

Corsair RAM

The PCI Express and PCI slots on the Gigabyte board

An integrated ALC850 audio codec makes eight-channel output possible through a series of jacks on the motherboard’s back panel. Those ports are equipped with jack-sensing technology to determine the connected device and arrange configuration accordingly. The sound system is 16-bit throughout and doesn’t quite live up to Intel’s HD-Audio standard, but it should suffice for most applications.

Expect a more thorough look at the K8NXP-SLI and its accompanying hardware and software features in our upcoming SLI roundup.

Dual BIOS chips

WiFi card and DPS