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The motherboard is based on the nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipsets (nForce 590 SLI SPP and nForce 590 SLI MCP), so it supports a whole host of multi-videocard gaming arrangements.
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nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset
Feature wise the nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset
that is the backbone of the ECS
PN1 SLI2 Extreme is quite similar to the AMD version. The nForce 590 SLI
Intel Edition chipset is split up into the traditional Northbridge/Southbridge
configuration with the nForce 590 SLI MCP handling the brunt of the workload.
The nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition SPP connects to the processor via a
533/800/1066 MHz FSB. The SPP Northbridge supports a single PCI Express x16 slot
for the primary videocard and the Northbridge also houses nVIDIA's Dual Channel
DDR2 memory controller which also supports SLI-Ready memory (EPP).
The
nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition MCP as mentioned earlier is the busier of
the two and supports another PCI Express x16 slot for a secondary videocard,
one PCI Express x8 connector, four PCI Express x1 slots, five
regular 32 bit PCI slots, dual Gigabit MACs with nVIDIA's DualNet technology, a
7.1 channel High Definition Intel Azalia audio controller, six Serial ATA II
slots and one IDE channel which supports two devices.
| nVidia nForce 500 Series Feature
Breakdown |
|
nVidia nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition |
| CPU |
Socket 775 |
| nVida SLI Support |
Yes, (2 x16) |
| nVidia LinkBoost |
No |
| nVidia FirstPacket |
Yes |
| nVidia DualNet |
Yes |
|
Native Gigabit Ethernet |
2 |
|
Teaming |
Yes |
|
TCP/IP Acceleration |
Yes |
| nVidia MediaShield
Storage |
Yes |
|
SATA/IDE HDD |
6/2 |
|
SATA Speed |
3Gb/s |
|
RAID |
0, 1, 0+1, 5 |
| nVidia nTune
Utility |
Yes |
| PCI Express Lanes |
48 lanes |
| USB Ports |
10 |
| PCI Slots |
5 |
| Audio |
High Definition Audio
(Azalia) | |
nForce 590 SLI Assorted
Technologies
nVIDIA has
upgraded the integrated audio solution to include Intel's High Definition Audio
Azalia standard. With Serial ATA going the way it is, there is only one IDE
channels integrated now. To balance out storage requirements, the number of
Serial ATA II (3Gbps) ports has been increased to six. Continuing on the hard
drive front, nVIDIA's Serial ATA II channels adhere to the Serial ATA 2.0 spec
and support RAID mode 0, 1, 0+1 and 5.
nVIDIA DualNet technology looks very interesting,
and what it does is basically give the user greater control over network
processes. All high end and mainstream nVIDIA chipsets will now by default
support two Gigabit connections. Users can combine the two connections for more
bandwidth, and there is hardware TCP/IP Acceleration which lowers CPU
utilization. Another very cool feature is nVIDIA's FirstPacket Technology which
allows you to prioritize network traffic. So for example, if you are a gamer
that tends to do multiple things while you're online, you can prioritize your
game traffic so that ping times are not affected by the other processes going on
in the background.
On the
memory front, the nVidia 590 SLI chipset introduces something called the Enhanced Performance Profiles or EPP. This is an
open memory standard put forth by Corsair and nVIDIA which takes over where
JEDEC's SPD leaves off. As the Enhanced Performance Profiles description
implies, it adds performance profiles to the memory SPD in addition to the
conservative compatibility settings already programmed in.
EPP compliant memory is dubbed
"SLI Ready" memory on nVidia platforms (great marketing on nVIDIA's part)
and allows the system to dynamically tighten up memory timings and increase voltages
for better performance with no fuss. Whether you're a novice or experienced computer
user, the benefits of EPP are immediate. nVIDIA
has also greatly upgraded its nTune
software which allow users more control over their systems.
Realistically with nTune, there is no longer a need to go into the BIOS to
adjust settings, now you can do everything within WindowsXP!
One thing to note is that the nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel
Edition chipset does not support LinkBoost. If you
remember back to the AMD version, LinkBoost increases the HyperTransport/PCI
Express bandwidth 25% when GeForce 7900GTX
and higher videocards are installed.
Tests have shown that this boost does nil for modern technology, which may be
one of the reasons nVIDIA dropped it from the Intel Edition of the nForce 590
SLI.Overclocking is next!
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