With the introduction of the Socket AM2 some people might be thinking that the 939 is going to go to the wayside, eventually yes it will, but I don’t think it will happen for quite some time. With companies like ECS introducing new 939 boards, there is proof that there is still life left in the socket 939. Personally I haven’t upgraded to the AM2 yet, but I am going to be forced to shortly, due to doing reviews etc you need to be on the cutting edge of things. I’m very happy with my 939 setup, and ECS EliteGroup has sent me their new KN1 SLI Lite Extreme motherboard for review, coming from a DFI NF4 LanParty SLI-DR board, I found that I actually prefer the ECS board, it’s easy to use, easy to setup, and there aren’t as many problems as the DFI board, while it’s not as feature packed as the DFI, I found that I really didn’t actually need or use all those features. So sit back , relax, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the review as we take a closer look at the ECS KN1 SLI Lite Socket 939 motherboard…
ECS EliteGroup KN1 SLI Lite Extreme Motherboard Review
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: ECS EliteGroup
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
KN1 SLI Lite (V1.0A) Motherboard
Features:
WHQL Certificate -WHQL Certificate
PCI 2.3 -PCI 2.3 support!
64bit support -Allows platforms to access more memory and larger files. Large memory intensive
applications, such as audio and video encoding, complex engineering programs and
games, can see dramatic performance increases.
USB 2.0 -Delivers transfer speeds up to 480Mb/s for easy connectivity and ultra-fast data transfers
Dualcore -Dual-core is basically two separate processors on a single chip. Those two processors can
outperform single-core processors on most multithreaded applications while running at
lower clock speeds and consuming less power.
Smart LAN -Smartly detect the status of LAN network link and report the quality of LAN cable.
Serial-ATA 2 -Double bus bandwidth which provides blazingly high disk performance, ensuring your
computing experience will be faster, more reliable, and completely with current and
future hardware and software.
AC Resume -Auto restart after power loss
NVRAID -Uniquely allows users to assign an extra disk to any RAID volume so that should a disk
failure occur NVIDIA RAID will automatically remote the failed disk and replace it with
the spare.
Pro. Magic Plus -PC protection tool kit!
ActiveArmor -Enhances network security while delivers the highest system performance, providing
users with a PC. Networking environment that is both fast and secure.
Dual Channel DDR -Expands memory bandwidth to 6.4GB/s and supporting up to 4GB of memory.
nTune -Easy, safe and high performance over-clocking available for NVIDIA NFORCE. Performance
wizards allow automatic tuning for optimal performance or the quietest operation.
999 DIMM -Makes the DDR eliminate data highway quality issues and support increased
overclocking.
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NVIDIA Firewall -NVIDIA firewall protects your PC from intruders by filtering unauthorized traffic.
Cooling Accelerator -A cooling channel with a fansink placed on top of the PWM controller
8-Channel Audio -Enable premium home theater experience through the PC,with support for all major
audio format
Q-Boot -F11 Hot key to boot from different devices
nVIDIA PCI Express -Doubles the bandwidth of AGP 8X, delivering 4GB/s of upstream data transfer
and 4 GB/s of downstream data transfer.
Giga LAN -Supports a high transfer rate up to 1 Gigabit
Scalable DGE -Enables two graphic engines to work together to generate the dual 3D graphics display
independently, and support simultaneous display on up to four devices.
Round Corner PCB -Rounded corners for strength and safety!
Easy Match -Color-coded pin headers and slots make it easy to match plug
E-class Exterior -Elegant PCB appearance stands out the key insertions and reduces distraction during
installation.
EZ Flash -Flash BIOS from Windows!
Dual Faced Cable -An easy, user-friendly way to plug-in or remove digital devices.
Data Processing Utility -A “time machine” to protect and restore files!
Socket 939 –
Supports AMD 939-pin Athlon 64 FX/ Athlon 64 processors which is based on 64-bit architecture. It provides the latest bus technology “Hyper Transport” which transmits up to 2000 MT/s and dual-channel DDR400 memory support.
CPU:
- Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64/ Athlon 64 FX processor.
- Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core/ Athlon 64/ Athlon 64 FX processor.
- High-performance Hyper Transport CPU interface.
- Support transfer rate of 2000/1600/1200/800/400 mega-transfers per second.
CHIPSET: NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
MEMORY:
- Dual-channel DDR memory architecture
- 4 x184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM socket support up to 4 GB
- Support DDR400/333/266 DDR SDRAM
EXPANSION SLOT:
- 2 x PCI Express x16 slot (SLI mode: x8+x8, single PCI-E is x8 mode)
- 1 x PCI Express x1 slot
- 3 x PCI slots
STORAGE:
- Supported by nForce4 SLI
- — 4 x Ultra DMA133/100/66 devices
- — 4 x Serial ATA2 devices
- — RAID0, RAID1& RAID 0+1 configuration
AUDIO:
- Realtek ALC850 supports Intel 8 channel audio
- Compliant with AC’97 2.3 specification
LAN: Marvell 88E1111 Giga LAN PHY
REAR PANEL I/O:
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard & PS/2 mouse connectors
- 4 x USB ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN connector
- 1 x SPDIF out connector ( Coaxial )
- 1 x Serial port (COM1)
- 1 x Audio port (Line-in,4x Line-out, Mic_in)
- 1 x Parallel port (LPT2)
INTERNAL I/O CONNECTORS & HEADERS:
- 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector
- 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V connector
- 1 x Auxiliary 4-pin +12V connector
- 1 x FDD connector supports two 360K~2.88MB FDDs
- 2 x IDE connectors
- 4 x Serial ATA connectors
- 1 x IrDA for SIR header
- 3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 6 USB ports
- 1 x Front panel switch/LED header
- 1 x Front panel audio header
- CD in header
- CPUFAN/NB_FAN/CASFAN connectors
SYSTEM BIOS:
- Award BIOS with 4Mb Flash ROM
- Supports Plug and Play 1.0A, APM 1.2, Multi Boot, DMI
- Supports ACPI revision 1.0 specification
FORM FACTOR: ATX Size 305mm*244mm