One feature that we really like about nVIDIA's nForce3 Ultra is the onboard hardware firewall. With more people jumping onboard broadband, it's important to safeguard your PC against possible worm and hacker attacks.

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nVIDIA has taken it upon themselves to include a hardware firewall with its nForce2-Ultra400Gb, nForce3-250Gb and nForce3 Ultra chipsets. Hopefully this will add a layer of protection to protect users PCs from attack.

To access the Firewall functions, click on the "nVIDIA Web-based Interface" icon on the desktop, or in the programs menu and that will bring up the above window.

The Network Access Manager is organized into three different categories; Ethernet, Firewall and Administration. Clicking on any of the headings or links in the main window changes the menu to the left.

For instance, selecting the Firewall setup gives you the following options above. Users can select predefined security levels (which is recommended) or configure settings themselves. The hardware firewall allows you to configure what ports are opened, closed or in stealth mode.

Once changes are made, the network interface needs to be restarted, so give your PC a few minutes and you'll be all set. If you suspect any suspicious activity you can always look at the firewall logs for clues.

The onboard hardware firewall is not enabled by default, so if you are interested in using it you will need to access the Network Access Manager and turn it on. Although, with WindowsXP Service Pack 2 out right now, the usefulness of this feature really comes into question. Next up, overclocking the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, and the benchmarks you've been expecting!