W1zzard
07-12-2005, 11:21 AM
[pagE=Introduction & Features]
Introduction
I would like to thank ECS (http://www.ecs.com.tw) for supplying the tested motherboard.
At this year's Computex in Taiwan, ECS announced the big brother of the successful KN1 Extreme Motherboard - the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme. It is based on NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI chipset and aims at delivering an affordable SLI motherboard, while still having features like Dual Ethernet and IEEE1394.
In order to increase cooling performance, ECS has added a small thermal exhaust fan to the back panel. Another handy feature in cases where your BIOS gets corrupted, is the inclusion of the top-hat flash, a small device with an extra BIOS chip on it which you snap onto the existing chip on the motherboard.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/nf4.jpg
Not only does the chipset support PCI-Express and SLI, it also has four SATA-II capable ports with RAID 0/1/0+1 support. Also integrated is a native Gigabit Ethernet controller which can be used with NVIDIA's own firewall solution and ten USB 2.0 ports. On top of that, ECS added another 10/100 MBit Ethernet interface and two more SATA-II ports.
Features
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="resulttable">
<tr>
<th colspan="2">ECS KN1 SLI Extreme</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Processor</th>
<td>AMD Athlon64 / FX Socket 939</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>FSB</th>
<td>800 MHz / 1000+ MHz</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Chipset</th>
<td>NVIDIA nForce4 SLI</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Memory</th>
<td>4x 184 Pin DDR, Dual Channel DDR333/400, up to 4 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>BIOS</th>
<td>AwardBios</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Slots</th>
<td>2x PCI-E x16<br />
1x PCI-E x1<br />
3x PCI</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>HDD Connectivity</th>
<td>2x ATA-133<br />
6x SATA II</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Networking</th>
<td>10/100/1000 Mbps - Marvell 88E1111 via NVIDIA nForce4<br />
10/100 Mbps - Realtek RTL8100C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Ports</th>
<td>10x USB 2.0 (4 on Back Panel)<br />
1x Serial, 1x Parallel</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Audio</th>
<td>8 Channel Realtek AC97 Audio, SPDIF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Form Factor</th>
<td>ATX 305 x 244mm</td>
</tr>
</table>
Specifications from Elitegroup
CPU
Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64 FX CPU
High-performance HyperTransport CPU Interface
Transfer rate of 2000/1600/1200/800/400 MT/s
Chipset
NVIDIA nForce4 SLI media and communications processor (MCP)
Memory
Dual-channel DDR memory architecture
4 x 184-pin, 2.5V, DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets support up to 4 GB
Support DDR400/333/266/200 unbuffered DDR SDRAM
Expansion Slots
2 x PCI Express x16 slot
1 x PCI Express x1 slots
3 x PCI slots
Storage
Supported by nForce4 SLI
- Operate at Gen1i (1.5Gb/s) or Gen2i (3.0Gb/s) mode
- 4 x SATA II Gen 1 or Gen 2 devices
- RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 configuration
Supported by SiI3132
- Serial ATA Generation 2 transfer rate of 3.0 Gb/s
- 2 x SATA II devices
- RAID 0 and RAID 1 configuration
IEEE1394A
TI TSB43AB22A IEEE1394a controller
Supports 2 x IEEE1394a cable ports at 100M bits/s, 200M bits/s, and 400M bits/s
Audio
Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio CODEC
Compliant with AC'97 2.3 specification
Dual LAN
Realtek RTL8100C 10/100 Mbps LAN controller
Marvell 88E1111 Giga LAN PHY
Rear Panel I/O
1 x PS/2 keyboard
1 x PS/2 mouse connector
4 x USB ports
2 x RJ45 LAN connectors
1 x Serial port (COM1)
2 x Digital SPDIF (Optical & Coaxial) out
1 x Audio jack (Line-in, Line-out, and Mic-in ports)
BIOS Features
Award BIOS with 4Mb Flash ROM
Supports Plug and Play 1.0A, APM 1.2, Multi Boot, DMI
Supports ACPI revision 1.0B specificaion
Internal I/O
1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply Connector & 4-pin 12V Connector
1 x 4-pin ATX4P1 power connector
1 x Floppy connector- supports 360K ~ 2.88M Bytes, 3 Mode FDDs or LS120
2 x IDE connectors
6 x Serial ATA connectors
3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 6 USB ports
2 x 1394a headers
1 x LPT1 header
1 x Front panel switch/LED header
1 x Front panel audio header
1 x Infrared header
1 x SPK1 header
1 x CD-in header
CPUFAN1/NBFAN1/CASFAN1~3 connectors
Form Factor
ATX size
305mm x 244mm
[pagE=Packaging]
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package1.jpg)
The motherboard uses a package design very similar to the ECS KN1 Non-SLI series. "PCI Express" from the old package, has been replaced with the more catchy "Dual Core".
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package2.jpg)
When you turn the box over, you get a quick feature presentation of what that mainboard has offer to you.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package3.jpg)
The actual package has even more feature info.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package4.jpg)
After opening the box, the first you will see, is the motherboard in a protective anti-static bag.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package5.jpg)
Under the motherboard you will find .. nothing??
Just kidding you. Under the board is another small box which fits into the bigger package very snugly.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package6_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package6.jpg)
Inside this package you will find all cables and accessories. I must say the whole package leaves a very well organized impression when you open it for the first time.
Contents
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/contents.jpg)
You will receive:
Motherboard
Users Manual
2x IDE Cable, 1x Floppy Cable, 4x SATA Cable, 1x Dual-SATA Power Adapter
Bracket for Parallel Port
IO Shield
Driver CD
SLI Bridge
Top Hat Flash
Front Panel USB Port
Ethernet Crossover cable
Wow. This is the most complete accessory package I have seen in a long time. Especially nice is the inclusion of four SATA cables and the Crossover cable.
[pagE=Board Layout]
Board Layout
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/board_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/board.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/back_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/back.jpg)
Click here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/board_fullsize.jpg) for a 3000x2500 high-res shot of the board (3 MB download), the backside is here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/back_fullsize.jpg).
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge2.jpg)
Near one of the edges of the KN1 SLI Extreme, ECS attached a nice "ECS Extreme" badge which comes with a protective foil on it, so it will be scratch free.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cpuarea_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cpuarea.jpg)
The CPU socket area is well cleaned up, there is plenty of space even for bigger coolers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/io_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/io.jpg)
While the big neon-colored exhaust fan takes quite some space away, ECS has managed to put the most important connectors there: PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, one Serial Port, SPDIF, four USB Ports, Dual Ethernet, Audio.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/dimm_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/dimm.jpg)
The motherboard's memory slots have been color coded for easy dual-channel configuration. To run your memory in dual-channel mode you have to put the modules into slots of the same color. I find the placement a bit uncommon, usually it is, that you have one empty slot between the modules when you run dual-channel which helps the memory temperatures a little bit.
Connectors
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/atx_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/atx.jpg)
The 24-pin ATX power connector is very conveniently placed, the ATX12V connector could be placed in a better location. A third 5.25" power connector is available to increase the power supplied to the motherboard. If you are going to use a 24-pin power supply you have to remove the yellow "24 Pin" sticker from the connector.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sata_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sata.jpg)
Six SATA-II capable ports are available on the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme. They are arranged in two groups, the group of four connectors is the ports of the nForce4 chipsets, the other two are from the Silicon Image Add-On chip.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/pata_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/pata.jpg)
Two ATA-133 ports are located near the ATX Power connector, the green and the white port are for IDE, the white port below the ATX Power connector is the floppy connector.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/headers_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/headers.jpg)
The color scheme of the Reset/Power/LED connectors helps finding the right pins when installing the board the first time.
Slots
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slots_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slots.jpg)
Most nForce4 motherboards need a small SLI switch card to change the PCI-Express slots into a configuration suitable for running SLI. ECS does not need this, the detection and switch is automatically once two suitable cards are installed.
If you use a two-slot video card in the top slot, you will lose access to the only PCI-E x1 port. A better solution would have been to put that port above the top slot, so it remains accessible.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge2.jpg)
If you want to use the SLI Feature of your NVIDIA VGA cards, you will have to link them together by using the included SLI bridge. New drivers have added a way to run SLI without the bridge, but this results in a performance hit.
[page=Layout continued]
Cooling
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes2.jpg)
In order to reduce temperatures around the CPU socket area, ECS added a small fan to the IO backpanel similar to ABIT's OTES. Unfortunately the fan is not temperature controlled, which means it is always running at full speed. ECS could have also optimized the cable length of the fan.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/chipset_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/chipset.jpg)
The chipset cooler is small and would not be loud if it was running alone, but together with the back exhaust fan, the motherboard's total fan noise is quite loud, I find it disturbing. Also the location of the chipset could be a bit further to the edge, so that the airflow is not blocked by the VGA cards. There is plenty of space near the ECS badge, anyway.
ECS Top Hat Flash
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat2.jpg)
This little clever device is used, if you mess up the BIOS updating process and the system can no longer boot. Just put the Top Hat Flash on top of the existing BIOS chip (it will only fit one way).
If you power up your system now, the system will use the BIOS from the Top Hat Flash, instead of the BIOS on the soldered-on chip.
You can remove the Top Hat Flash once the system is running, so you can flash back to the motherboard's chip.
Chips
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/monitoring_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/monitoring.jpg)
Hardware monitoring is provided by ITE's 8712F.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan2.jpg)
For networking, Albatron chose a Vitesse CIS8201 LAN Controller to implement Gigabit Ethernet via NVIDIA's nForce4 chipset. The second Ethernet port is 10/100 MBit capable and uses Realtek's RTL8100C chip.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/alc850_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/alc850.jpg)
The Realtek ALC850 Audio Chip is responsible for sound. It seems that it does not use NVIDIA's chipset, so you will have to install an extra driver for it. The advantage of this is, that audio does not suffer from the low quality of the nForce4 audio.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/raid_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/raid.jpg)
Silicon Image's SiI3132 provides two additional SATA-II ports, so you have a total of six ports, plus the two IDE channels.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ieee1394_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ieee1394.jpg)
From Texas Instruments comes the TSB43AB22A which offers up to two IEEE1394 interfaces for high-speed transfers of up to 400 MBps.
[pagE=BIOS]
BIOS
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_bios_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_bios.jpg)
ECS uses a Phoenix AwardBios.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_standard_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_standard.jpg)
The first page is called Standard CMOS and offers settings to change date/time, HDD and floppy settings.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_advbios_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_advbios.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_hddprio_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_hddprio.jpg)
Advanced BIOS has settings to adjust general BIOS settings like typematic rate and additional bootup-delays. Also you can disable the full screen POST image here, so that you can see the full output of the system startup. On a subpage you can change the order in which the system will try the available devices to boot from.
Memory Timings
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_dram_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_dram.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_timing_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_timing.jpg)
In Advanced Chipset Features, DRAM Configuration you find options to change your memory timings settings between Manual, and Auto, which uses the data from the SPD chip on your memory modules.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tcl_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tcl.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tras_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tras.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trcd_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trcd.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trp_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trp.jpg)
You can change CAS Latency (tCL), Active-to-Precharge Delay (tRAS), Rad-to-Cas Delay (tRCD), and RAS Precharge Time (tRP), which are the standard timings for memory modules, there are many many more settings to tweak in the Athlon64 memory controller, but they are not listed here. At least the BIOS has settings to change the more expert settings 1/2T Memory Timing, Read Preamble value and Async Latency value.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_memory_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_memory.jpg)
Also on this page you will find an option to set your memory divider to change the frequency your memory is running at. There are seven different settings which should cover most situations you would like to run your memory in.
Overclocking
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_oc_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_oc.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_fsb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_fsb.jpg)
The Advanced Chipset Features page is home to the overclocking options in this BIOS. You can increase the CPU FSB up to 400 MHz.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_htfreq_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_htfreq.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ht_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ht.jpg)
The Athlon64 connects chipset and CPU via the HTT, which runs at a multiple of the FSB. Once you start overclocking your CPU a lot, you should drop that divider, so that the HTT runs in spec and does not limit your clocks. Increasing HTT does not increase performance since the bus will never be saturated, even at the default speed. Like the name says, HT Bus Width lets you change the width at which the HT bus operates.
Unlike the Pentium 4, AMD's processors have a selectable multiplier (only downwards). This allows you to boost performance even more, if your memory can handle the speeds. The option to change the multiplier is located on the Power Management page, which we will cover a bit further down. I don't see how the CPU multiplier is related to power management, it would have been easier to put it on the same page where all the other overclocking related options are.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vcore_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vcore.jpg)
Increasing CPU Core Voltage is a common means to improve CPU stability when overclocked. ECS offers steps of 0.025V ranging from +25mV to +375mV. The granularity and range is fine, I would have preferred to see absolute values. Unfortunately, undervolting is not possible.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vddr_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vddr.jpg)
Most memory is more stable when run at a higher voltage. The options range from 2.55V to 3.11V. Listing higher voltages here should have been possible, since the voltage is converted from 3.3V. But up to 3.11V should be ok for most people.
Integrated Peripherals
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_peripherals_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_peripherals.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ide_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ide.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_onboard_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_onboard.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_io_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_io.jpg)
Integrated Peripherals has options to change, which SATA and IDE ports are activated and to enable/disable USB, Audio, LAN, Floppy and the IEEE1394 interface.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_raid_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_raid.jpg)
A whole page here is dedicated to configuration of the nForce4's RAID controller.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_power_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_power.jpg)
Under Power Management, you will find the standard options which are usually listed here, plus the option to change the CPU multiplier, which we mentioned above.
Another option here is used to enable or disable AMD Cool&Quiet which reduces heat output and power consumption when the CPU is idle.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_pnp_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_pnp.jpg)
PNP/PCI Configurations has no useful options. The option "Init Display First" which is used to select whether a PCI-E or PCI VGA card is used as primary device is located on the page Onboard Device.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_monitoring_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_monitoring.jpg)
The Hardware Monitoring page shows the essential temperatures, CPU fan speeds and the usually monitored voltages. Options to dynamically change fan speeds based on temperature are not available.
[page=Performance: Test systems]
Test Systems
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "KN1 SLI"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 512KB; Venice)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ECS KN1 SLI Extreme, Bios 1.11a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 2.5-3-3-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC is 300 FSB x 9 = 2700 MHz, Mem ratio 2:3 -> 200 MHz</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "K8SLI"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 512KB; Venice)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">Albatron K8SLI, Bios 1.07a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 2.5-3-3-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC is 300 FSB x 9 = 2700 MHz, Mem ratio 2:3 -> 200 MHz</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "LanParty NF4"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 512KB; Venice)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">DFI LanParty NF4 Ultra-D, Bios 5.10-2 Fix</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 2.5-3-3-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC is 300 FSB x 9 = 2700 MHz, Mem ratio 2:3 -> 200 MHz</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "P4 3.0F"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">Intel Pentium 4 3.0F (S775; 2MB; Prescott)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE, Bios 1.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB OCZ PC2-5400 EB 4-2-2-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC 4500 is 15x300 FSB, Mem Ratio 1:1 (=300 MHz)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "P4 2.4C"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">Intel Pentium 4 2.4C (S478; 512KB; Northwood)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ABIT IC7, Bios 2.8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 256MB Generic PC3200 2.5-3-3-6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X800 XT</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Antec TrueControl 550W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC 3400 is 15x283 FSB, Mem Ratio 2:3 (=188 MHz)</td>
</tr>
</table>
[page=Performance: Sandra & Everest]
SiSoftware Sandra
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sandraint.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sandrafloat.gif
Raw CPU performance is the same between all nForce4 boards (within margin of error).
Lavalys Everest
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/everestread.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/everestwrite.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/everestlatency.gif
While the read and latency performance of the KN1 SLI is close to the competition, it is a great deal faster when it comes to writes, even though the same memory and same basic timings were used on all nForce4 boards.
[pagE=Performance: SuperPi]
SuperPi
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/superpi1m.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/superpi32m.gif
SuperPi uses the CPU a lot, but is also dependant on memory performance, the higher memory write speed of the KN1 helps here.
[page=Performance: PCMark04 & 3DMark01]
PCMark 2004
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/pcmark2004.gif
PCMark04 favors Intel CPUs a lot, the overclocked KN1 SLI is a great deal faster than any other board, except for the overclocked P4 3.0F.
3DMark 2001
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/3dmark2001.gif
In 3DMark2001 the overclocked KN1 is over 5% faster than the DFI LanParty NF4 which is known as being a very well performing board.
[page=Performance: CineBench & Kribibench]
CineBench
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cinebench.gif
The nForce4 motherboards show about the same speed, Intel systems with their Hyper-threading Technology are king here.
KribiBench
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/kribibench.gif
And again the KN1 SLI is the fastest nForce4 board.
[page=Performance: Comanche 4 & Quake 3]
Comanche 4
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/comanche4.gif
Comanche 4 is the only benchmark where the board from ECS is not the fastest AMD board, but the difference is practically non-existant.
Quake 3 Arena
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/quake3.gif
While the Pentium 4 with DDR2 leads the pack, the KN1 is again the fastest board for nForce4.
[page=Performance: Audio RMAA]
Rightmark Audio Analyzer
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/rmaa.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/loopback_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/loopback.jpg)
We used Rightmark Audio Analyzer together with a loop-back cable to analyze the quality of the on-board audio solution.
Summary
<table width="600" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:</strong></td>
<td>+0.19, -0.85</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Noise level, dB (A):</strong></td>
<td>-74.7</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Dynamic range, dB (A):</strong></td>
<td>71.8</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>THD, %:</strong></td>
<td>0.035</td>
<td>Good</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>IMD, %:</strong></td>
<td>0.070</td>
<td>Good</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Stereo crosstalk, dB:</strong></td>
<td>-77.3</td>
<td>Very good</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>IMD at 10 kHz, %:</strong></td>
<td>0.192</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
</table>
General performance: Good
Frequency Response
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/fr.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Frequency range</strong></td>
<td><strong>Response</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">From 20 Hz to 20 kHz, dB</td>
<td>-3.98, +0.19</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">From 40 Hz to 15 kHz, dB</td>
<td>-0.85, +0.19</td>
</tr>
</table>
Noise Level
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/noise.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">RMS power, dB:</td>
<td>-72.9</td>
<td>-72.7</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">RMS power (A-weighted), dB:</td>
<td>-74.7</td>
<td>-73.0</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Peak level, dB FS:</td>
<td>-62.3</td>
<td>-62.0</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">DC offset, %:</td>
<td>0.35</td>
<td>0.22</td>
</tr>
</table>
Dynamic Range
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/dynamics.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Dynamic range, dB:</td>
<td>+72.2</td>
<td>+72.2</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB:</td>
<td>+73.8</td>
<td>+71.8</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">DC offset, %:</td>
<td>0.35</td>
<td>0.22</td>
</tr>
</table>
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/thd.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">THD, %:</td>
<td>0.0353</td>
<td>0.0407</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">THD + Noise, %:</td>
<td>0.0665</td>
<td>0.0651</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">THD + Noise (A-weighted), %:</td>
<td>0.0650</td>
<td>0.0650</td>
</tr>
</table>
Intermodulation distortion
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/imd.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise, %:</td>
<td>0.0704</td>
<td>0.0699</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise (A-weighted), %:</td>
<td>0.0528</td>
<td>0.0514</td>
</tr>
</table>
Stereo crosstalk
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cross.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>L <- R</strong></td>
<td><strong>L -> R</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Crosstalk at 100 Hz, dB:</td>
<td>-75</td>
<td>-78</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Crosstalk at 1 kHz, dB:</td>
<td>-76</td>
<td>-76</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Crosstalk at 10 kHz, dB:</td>
<td>-75</td>
<td>-70</td>
</tr>
</table>
IMD (swept tones)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/imdswept.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise at 5 kHz, %:</td>
<td>0.0810</td>
<td>0.0857</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise at 10 kHz, %:</td>
<td>0.1839</td>
<td>0.1840</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise at 15 kHz, %:</td>
<td>0.3097</td>
<td>0.3119</td>
</tr>
</table>
[page=Performance: Audio Games]
Quake 3
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/q3asound.gif
Comanche 4
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/c4sound.gif
[page=Sound Levels]
Sound Levels
In order to give a measurement of how loud this board is, we used an IEC651 Type II sound level meter on the dbA slow setting.
The distance between fan and sound level meter was 10cm. Please note that this is very little, compared to the "standard" measurements, which are made at 1m distance. We had to do this, to get proper readings with our sound level meter, because we obviously can't spend thousands of dollars on audio measuring equipment.
All tested fans were connected to an external 12V lab PSU. 12V is the maximum rated fan speed. Some motherboards/video cards use slower fan speeds and slowly ramp them up with temperatures. This is also the reason, why the X800 series seems to have such a "loud" fan. During normal usage its fan is usually running at 33% to 66%.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/soundlevel.gif
If you look at the graph, you see that one fan alone wouldn't have been loud. But both fans running together are making this board quite loud. It is certainly possible to disconnect the back exhaust fan power or mod it a bit to run slower.
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" class="resulttable">
<tr>
<th colspan="2">Common sound levels </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ambulance siren</td>
<td align="right">120 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Crying baby </td>
<td align="right">110 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shout (5 feet) </td>
<td align="right">100 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Truck</td>
<td align="right">90 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Urban street</td>
<td align="right">80 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Automobile interior </td>
<td align="right">70 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Normal conversation (3 feet) </td>
<td align="right">60 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Office, classroom </td>
<td align="right">50 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Living room </td>
<td align="right">40 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bedroom at night </td>
<td align="right">30 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Whispering at (5 feet)</td>
<td align="right">20 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Rustling leaves </td>
<td align="right">10 dbA </td>
</tr>
</table>
[page=Overclocking]
Overclocking
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ocbug_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ocbug.jpg)
When I first tried to overclock this board I was surprised by how far the FSB would go. After some investigation, I noticed, that once you set the FSB to a value bigger than 290 MHz in the BIOS, the BIOS would always set 290.7 MHz, no matter what value you selected. Now, when you reduce the FSB again, the board does not change it until you power off the system, then power it back on - a reset does not help.
When the FSB is "stuck", software tools can not change the FSB either. The chipset reports it back as changed, but it never actually changes as above screenshot shows.
Another problem we experienced a lot, is that if your overclock is unstable and the BIOS can not complete the POST, it will reboot and report the CMOS settings as corrupted, so they are back to their defaults. This tends to get annoying after a while because you have to change back every setting.
We are working together with ECS to resolve this issues. For our overclocking testing, we set the FSB to 280 in the BIOS (outside the 290 MHz "sticky" range), once in Windows, SysTool is used to set the FSB to whatever is needed. This works perfectly fine, it is just a bit unconvenient.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxfsb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxfsb.jpg)
In order to find out the overclocking potential of the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme, we put a Dangerden TDX waterblock on our CPU and set the multiplier to 4x with a memory divider of 2:1. This is to make sure that neither the CPU nor the memory are limiting our overclock here.
A maximum FSB of 352 MHz is not too great, but it is definitely good enough for most overclockers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxperf_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxperf.jpg)
For a more real-world overclocking score we left the multiplier at 9x and slowly increased the FSB. Since our memory can not run that fast, we had to drop the memory ratio to 2:3 which means the memory was running at DDR400 while the CPU ran at 2700 MHz. The board was no limiting factor here at any time, the CPU's limit is 2700 MHz, sometimes when the water is cool a few MHz more.
A few more overclocking options in the BIOS would definitely be nice, especially more options to tweak memory timings, of which the Athlon64 has a lot.
[page=Value & Conclusion]
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
We are expecting the ECS KN1 SLI to go for about $120, which makes it one of the cheapest SLI boards on the market, and it still has features like Dual Ethernet and IEEE1394.
</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Excellent performance
Competitive price
SLI is auto-switched
Dual Ethernet
Good on-board Audio (for an nForce4 board)
BIOS Top Hat Flash
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Needs more overclocking options in BIOS
BIOS issues when overclocking
Loud
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.3</th>
<td>When I thought of ECS in the past, I thought of cheap motherboards with questionable performance. But the KN1 SLI Extreme proved me wrong. This board shows excellent performance, not matter if overclocked or not.<br />
While there are some issues with overclocking, I expect those to be fixed with a new BIOS release.<br />
Yes, the board does not have too many overclocking options which makes it unsuitable for the extreme enthusiasts that want every possible tweak. On the other hand, more casual users won't have to know how to tweak all those settings.<br />
If you are an FPS-hungry gamer with a hang for SLI you can definitely get this board, it has the stability and features you need, and you can definitely overclock your CPU well with the given options. As one of those gamers don't need the extra BIOS options anyway, since you prefer to spend your time with fragging instead of tweaking.<br />
</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td></td></tr>
</table>
Introduction
I would like to thank ECS (http://www.ecs.com.tw) for supplying the tested motherboard.
At this year's Computex in Taiwan, ECS announced the big brother of the successful KN1 Extreme Motherboard - the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme. It is based on NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI chipset and aims at delivering an affordable SLI motherboard, while still having features like Dual Ethernet and IEEE1394.
In order to increase cooling performance, ECS has added a small thermal exhaust fan to the back panel. Another handy feature in cases where your BIOS gets corrupted, is the inclusion of the top-hat flash, a small device with an extra BIOS chip on it which you snap onto the existing chip on the motherboard.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/nf4.jpg
Not only does the chipset support PCI-Express and SLI, it also has four SATA-II capable ports with RAID 0/1/0+1 support. Also integrated is a native Gigabit Ethernet controller which can be used with NVIDIA's own firewall solution and ten USB 2.0 ports. On top of that, ECS added another 10/100 MBit Ethernet interface and two more SATA-II ports.
Features
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="resulttable">
<tr>
<th colspan="2">ECS KN1 SLI Extreme</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Processor</th>
<td>AMD Athlon64 / FX Socket 939</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>FSB</th>
<td>800 MHz / 1000+ MHz</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Chipset</th>
<td>NVIDIA nForce4 SLI</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Memory</th>
<td>4x 184 Pin DDR, Dual Channel DDR333/400, up to 4 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>BIOS</th>
<td>AwardBios</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Slots</th>
<td>2x PCI-E x16<br />
1x PCI-E x1<br />
3x PCI</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>HDD Connectivity</th>
<td>2x ATA-133<br />
6x SATA II</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Networking</th>
<td>10/100/1000 Mbps - Marvell 88E1111 via NVIDIA nForce4<br />
10/100 Mbps - Realtek RTL8100C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Ports</th>
<td>10x USB 2.0 (4 on Back Panel)<br />
1x Serial, 1x Parallel</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Audio</th>
<td>8 Channel Realtek AC97 Audio, SPDIF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Form Factor</th>
<td>ATX 305 x 244mm</td>
</tr>
</table>
Specifications from Elitegroup
CPU
Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64 FX CPU
High-performance HyperTransport CPU Interface
Transfer rate of 2000/1600/1200/800/400 MT/s
Chipset
NVIDIA nForce4 SLI media and communications processor (MCP)
Memory
Dual-channel DDR memory architecture
4 x 184-pin, 2.5V, DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets support up to 4 GB
Support DDR400/333/266/200 unbuffered DDR SDRAM
Expansion Slots
2 x PCI Express x16 slot
1 x PCI Express x1 slots
3 x PCI slots
Storage
Supported by nForce4 SLI
- Operate at Gen1i (1.5Gb/s) or Gen2i (3.0Gb/s) mode
- 4 x SATA II Gen 1 or Gen 2 devices
- RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 configuration
Supported by SiI3132
- Serial ATA Generation 2 transfer rate of 3.0 Gb/s
- 2 x SATA II devices
- RAID 0 and RAID 1 configuration
IEEE1394A
TI TSB43AB22A IEEE1394a controller
Supports 2 x IEEE1394a cable ports at 100M bits/s, 200M bits/s, and 400M bits/s
Audio
Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio CODEC
Compliant with AC'97 2.3 specification
Dual LAN
Realtek RTL8100C 10/100 Mbps LAN controller
Marvell 88E1111 Giga LAN PHY
Rear Panel I/O
1 x PS/2 keyboard
1 x PS/2 mouse connector
4 x USB ports
2 x RJ45 LAN connectors
1 x Serial port (COM1)
2 x Digital SPDIF (Optical & Coaxial) out
1 x Audio jack (Line-in, Line-out, and Mic-in ports)
BIOS Features
Award BIOS with 4Mb Flash ROM
Supports Plug and Play 1.0A, APM 1.2, Multi Boot, DMI
Supports ACPI revision 1.0B specificaion
Internal I/O
1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply Connector & 4-pin 12V Connector
1 x 4-pin ATX4P1 power connector
1 x Floppy connector- supports 360K ~ 2.88M Bytes, 3 Mode FDDs or LS120
2 x IDE connectors
6 x Serial ATA connectors
3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 6 USB ports
2 x 1394a headers
1 x LPT1 header
1 x Front panel switch/LED header
1 x Front panel audio header
1 x Infrared header
1 x SPK1 header
1 x CD-in header
CPUFAN1/NBFAN1/CASFAN1~3 connectors
Form Factor
ATX size
305mm x 244mm
[pagE=Packaging]
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package1.jpg)
The motherboard uses a package design very similar to the ECS KN1 Non-SLI series. "PCI Express" from the old package, has been replaced with the more catchy "Dual Core".
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package2.jpg)
When you turn the box over, you get a quick feature presentation of what that mainboard has offer to you.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package3.jpg)
The actual package has even more feature info.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package4.jpg)
After opening the box, the first you will see, is the motherboard in a protective anti-static bag.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package5.jpg)
Under the motherboard you will find .. nothing??
Just kidding you. Under the board is another small box which fits into the bigger package very snugly.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package6_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/package6.jpg)
Inside this package you will find all cables and accessories. I must say the whole package leaves a very well organized impression when you open it for the first time.
Contents
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/contents.jpg)
You will receive:
Motherboard
Users Manual
2x IDE Cable, 1x Floppy Cable, 4x SATA Cable, 1x Dual-SATA Power Adapter
Bracket for Parallel Port
IO Shield
Driver CD
SLI Bridge
Top Hat Flash
Front Panel USB Port
Ethernet Crossover cable
Wow. This is the most complete accessory package I have seen in a long time. Especially nice is the inclusion of four SATA cables and the Crossover cable.
[pagE=Board Layout]
Board Layout
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/board_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/board.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/back_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/back.jpg)
Click here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/board_fullsize.jpg) for a 3000x2500 high-res shot of the board (3 MB download), the backside is here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/back_fullsize.jpg).
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/badge2.jpg)
Near one of the edges of the KN1 SLI Extreme, ECS attached a nice "ECS Extreme" badge which comes with a protective foil on it, so it will be scratch free.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cpuarea_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cpuarea.jpg)
The CPU socket area is well cleaned up, there is plenty of space even for bigger coolers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/io_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/io.jpg)
While the big neon-colored exhaust fan takes quite some space away, ECS has managed to put the most important connectors there: PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, one Serial Port, SPDIF, four USB Ports, Dual Ethernet, Audio.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/dimm_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/dimm.jpg)
The motherboard's memory slots have been color coded for easy dual-channel configuration. To run your memory in dual-channel mode you have to put the modules into slots of the same color. I find the placement a bit uncommon, usually it is, that you have one empty slot between the modules when you run dual-channel which helps the memory temperatures a little bit.
Connectors
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/atx_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/atx.jpg)
The 24-pin ATX power connector is very conveniently placed, the ATX12V connector could be placed in a better location. A third 5.25" power connector is available to increase the power supplied to the motherboard. If you are going to use a 24-pin power supply you have to remove the yellow "24 Pin" sticker from the connector.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sata_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sata.jpg)
Six SATA-II capable ports are available on the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme. They are arranged in two groups, the group of four connectors is the ports of the nForce4 chipsets, the other two are from the Silicon Image Add-On chip.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/pata_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/pata.jpg)
Two ATA-133 ports are located near the ATX Power connector, the green and the white port are for IDE, the white port below the ATX Power connector is the floppy connector.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/headers_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/headers.jpg)
The color scheme of the Reset/Power/LED connectors helps finding the right pins when installing the board the first time.
Slots
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slots_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slots.jpg)
Most nForce4 motherboards need a small SLI switch card to change the PCI-Express slots into a configuration suitable for running SLI. ECS does not need this, the detection and switch is automatically once two suitable cards are installed.
If you use a two-slot video card in the top slot, you will lose access to the only PCI-E x1 port. A better solution would have been to put that port above the top slot, so it remains accessible.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/slibridge2.jpg)
If you want to use the SLI Feature of your NVIDIA VGA cards, you will have to link them together by using the included SLI bridge. New drivers have added a way to run SLI without the bridge, but this results in a performance hit.
[page=Layout continued]
Cooling
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/otes2.jpg)
In order to reduce temperatures around the CPU socket area, ECS added a small fan to the IO backpanel similar to ABIT's OTES. Unfortunately the fan is not temperature controlled, which means it is always running at full speed. ECS could have also optimized the cable length of the fan.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/chipset_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/chipset.jpg)
The chipset cooler is small and would not be loud if it was running alone, but together with the back exhaust fan, the motherboard's total fan noise is quite loud, I find it disturbing. Also the location of the chipset could be a bit further to the edge, so that the airflow is not blocked by the VGA cards. There is plenty of space near the ECS badge, anyway.
ECS Top Hat Flash
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/tophat2.jpg)
This little clever device is used, if you mess up the BIOS updating process and the system can no longer boot. Just put the Top Hat Flash on top of the existing BIOS chip (it will only fit one way).
If you power up your system now, the system will use the BIOS from the Top Hat Flash, instead of the BIOS on the soldered-on chip.
You can remove the Top Hat Flash once the system is running, so you can flash back to the motherboard's chip.
Chips
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/monitoring_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/monitoring.jpg)
Hardware monitoring is provided by ITE's 8712F.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/lan2.jpg)
For networking, Albatron chose a Vitesse CIS8201 LAN Controller to implement Gigabit Ethernet via NVIDIA's nForce4 chipset. The second Ethernet port is 10/100 MBit capable and uses Realtek's RTL8100C chip.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/alc850_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/alc850.jpg)
The Realtek ALC850 Audio Chip is responsible for sound. It seems that it does not use NVIDIA's chipset, so you will have to install an extra driver for it. The advantage of this is, that audio does not suffer from the low quality of the nForce4 audio.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/raid_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/raid.jpg)
Silicon Image's SiI3132 provides two additional SATA-II ports, so you have a total of six ports, plus the two IDE channels.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ieee1394_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ieee1394.jpg)
From Texas Instruments comes the TSB43AB22A which offers up to two IEEE1394 interfaces for high-speed transfers of up to 400 MBps.
[pagE=BIOS]
BIOS
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_bios_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_bios.jpg)
ECS uses a Phoenix AwardBios.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_standard_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_standard.jpg)
The first page is called Standard CMOS and offers settings to change date/time, HDD and floppy settings.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_advbios_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_advbios.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_hddprio_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_hddprio.jpg)
Advanced BIOS has settings to adjust general BIOS settings like typematic rate and additional bootup-delays. Also you can disable the full screen POST image here, so that you can see the full output of the system startup. On a subpage you can change the order in which the system will try the available devices to boot from.
Memory Timings
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_dram_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_dram.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_timing_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_timing.jpg)
In Advanced Chipset Features, DRAM Configuration you find options to change your memory timings settings between Manual, and Auto, which uses the data from the SPD chip on your memory modules.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tcl_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tcl.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tras_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_tras.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trcd_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trcd.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trp_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_trp.jpg)
You can change CAS Latency (tCL), Active-to-Precharge Delay (tRAS), Rad-to-Cas Delay (tRCD), and RAS Precharge Time (tRP), which are the standard timings for memory modules, there are many many more settings to tweak in the Athlon64 memory controller, but they are not listed here. At least the BIOS has settings to change the more expert settings 1/2T Memory Timing, Read Preamble value and Async Latency value.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_memory_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_memory.jpg)
Also on this page you will find an option to set your memory divider to change the frequency your memory is running at. There are seven different settings which should cover most situations you would like to run your memory in.
Overclocking
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_oc_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_oc.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_fsb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_fsb.jpg)
The Advanced Chipset Features page is home to the overclocking options in this BIOS. You can increase the CPU FSB up to 400 MHz.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_htfreq_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_htfreq.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ht_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ht.jpg)
The Athlon64 connects chipset and CPU via the HTT, which runs at a multiple of the FSB. Once you start overclocking your CPU a lot, you should drop that divider, so that the HTT runs in spec and does not limit your clocks. Increasing HTT does not increase performance since the bus will never be saturated, even at the default speed. Like the name says, HT Bus Width lets you change the width at which the HT bus operates.
Unlike the Pentium 4, AMD's processors have a selectable multiplier (only downwards). This allows you to boost performance even more, if your memory can handle the speeds. The option to change the multiplier is located on the Power Management page, which we will cover a bit further down. I don't see how the CPU multiplier is related to power management, it would have been easier to put it on the same page where all the other overclocking related options are.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vcore_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vcore.jpg)
Increasing CPU Core Voltage is a common means to improve CPU stability when overclocked. ECS offers steps of 0.025V ranging from +25mV to +375mV. The granularity and range is fine, I would have preferred to see absolute values. Unfortunately, undervolting is not possible.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vddr_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_vddr.jpg)
Most memory is more stable when run at a higher voltage. The options range from 2.55V to 3.11V. Listing higher voltages here should have been possible, since the voltage is converted from 3.3V. But up to 3.11V should be ok for most people.
Integrated Peripherals
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_peripherals_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_peripherals.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ide_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_ide.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_onboard_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_onboard.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_io_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_io.jpg)
Integrated Peripherals has options to change, which SATA and IDE ports are activated and to enable/disable USB, Audio, LAN, Floppy and the IEEE1394 interface.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_raid_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_raid.jpg)
A whole page here is dedicated to configuration of the nForce4's RAID controller.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_power_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_power.jpg)
Under Power Management, you will find the standard options which are usually listed here, plus the option to change the CPU multiplier, which we mentioned above.
Another option here is used to enable or disable AMD Cool&Quiet which reduces heat output and power consumption when the CPU is idle.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_pnp_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_pnp.jpg)
PNP/PCI Configurations has no useful options. The option "Init Display First" which is used to select whether a PCI-E or PCI VGA card is used as primary device is located on the page Onboard Device.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_monitoring_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/b_monitoring.jpg)
The Hardware Monitoring page shows the essential temperatures, CPU fan speeds and the usually monitored voltages. Options to dynamically change fan speeds based on temperature are not available.
[page=Performance: Test systems]
Test Systems
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "KN1 SLI"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 512KB; Venice)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ECS KN1 SLI Extreme, Bios 1.11a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 2.5-3-3-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC is 300 FSB x 9 = 2700 MHz, Mem ratio 2:3 -> 200 MHz</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "K8SLI"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 512KB; Venice)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">Albatron K8SLI, Bios 1.07a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 2.5-3-3-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC is 300 FSB x 9 = 2700 MHz, Mem ratio 2:3 -> 200 MHz</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "LanParty NF4"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 512KB; Venice)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">DFI LanParty NF4 Ultra-D, Bios 5.10-2 Fix</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB TwinMOS PC3200 2.5-3-3-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC is 300 FSB x 9 = 2700 MHz, Mem ratio 2:3 -> 200 MHz</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "P4 3.0F"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">Intel Pentium 4 3.0F (S775; 2MB; Prescott)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE, Bios 1.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB OCZ PC2-5400 EB 4-2-2-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC 4500 is 15x300 FSB, Mem Ratio 1:1 (=300 MHz)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System "P4 2.4C"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">Intel Pentium 4 2.4C (S478; 512KB; Northwood)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ABIT IC7, Bios 2.8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 256MB Generic PC3200 2.5-3-3-6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">ATI X800 XT</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Antec TrueControl 550W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">OC 3400 is 15x283 FSB, Mem Ratio 2:3 (=188 MHz)</td>
</tr>
</table>
[page=Performance: Sandra & Everest]
SiSoftware Sandra
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sandraint.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/sandrafloat.gif
Raw CPU performance is the same between all nForce4 boards (within margin of error).
Lavalys Everest
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/everestread.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/everestwrite.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/everestlatency.gif
While the read and latency performance of the KN1 SLI is close to the competition, it is a great deal faster when it comes to writes, even though the same memory and same basic timings were used on all nForce4 boards.
[pagE=Performance: SuperPi]
SuperPi
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/superpi1m.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/superpi32m.gif
SuperPi uses the CPU a lot, but is also dependant on memory performance, the higher memory write speed of the KN1 helps here.
[page=Performance: PCMark04 & 3DMark01]
PCMark 2004
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/pcmark2004.gif
PCMark04 favors Intel CPUs a lot, the overclocked KN1 SLI is a great deal faster than any other board, except for the overclocked P4 3.0F.
3DMark 2001
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/3dmark2001.gif
In 3DMark2001 the overclocked KN1 is over 5% faster than the DFI LanParty NF4 which is known as being a very well performing board.
[page=Performance: CineBench & Kribibench]
CineBench
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cinebench.gif
The nForce4 motherboards show about the same speed, Intel systems with their Hyper-threading Technology are king here.
KribiBench
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/kribibench.gif
And again the KN1 SLI is the fastest nForce4 board.
[page=Performance: Comanche 4 & Quake 3]
Comanche 4
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/comanche4.gif
Comanche 4 is the only benchmark where the board from ECS is not the fastest AMD board, but the difference is practically non-existant.
Quake 3 Arena
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/quake3.gif
While the Pentium 4 with DDR2 leads the pack, the KN1 is again the fastest board for nForce4.
[page=Performance: Audio RMAA]
Rightmark Audio Analyzer
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/rmaa.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/loopback_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/loopback.jpg)
We used Rightmark Audio Analyzer together with a loop-back cable to analyze the quality of the on-board audio solution.
Summary
<table width="600" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:</strong></td>
<td>+0.19, -0.85</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Noise level, dB (A):</strong></td>
<td>-74.7</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Dynamic range, dB (A):</strong></td>
<td>71.8</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>THD, %:</strong></td>
<td>0.035</td>
<td>Good</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>IMD, %:</strong></td>
<td>0.070</td>
<td>Good</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>Stereo crosstalk, dB:</strong></td>
<td>-77.3</td>
<td>Very good</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="left"><strong>IMD at 10 kHz, %:</strong></td>
<td>0.192</td>
<td>Average</td>
</tr>
</table>
General performance: Good
Frequency Response
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/fr.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Frequency range</strong></td>
<td><strong>Response</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">From 20 Hz to 20 kHz, dB</td>
<td>-3.98, +0.19</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">From 40 Hz to 15 kHz, dB</td>
<td>-0.85, +0.19</td>
</tr>
</table>
Noise Level
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/noise.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">RMS power, dB:</td>
<td>-72.9</td>
<td>-72.7</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">RMS power (A-weighted), dB:</td>
<td>-74.7</td>
<td>-73.0</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Peak level, dB FS:</td>
<td>-62.3</td>
<td>-62.0</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">DC offset, %:</td>
<td>0.35</td>
<td>0.22</td>
</tr>
</table>
Dynamic Range
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/dynamics.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Dynamic range, dB:</td>
<td>+72.2</td>
<td>+72.2</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB:</td>
<td>+73.8</td>
<td>+71.8</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">DC offset, %:</td>
<td>0.35</td>
<td>0.22</td>
</tr>
</table>
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/thd.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">THD, %:</td>
<td>0.0353</td>
<td>0.0407</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">THD + Noise, %:</td>
<td>0.0665</td>
<td>0.0651</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">THD + Noise (A-weighted), %:</td>
<td>0.0650</td>
<td>0.0650</td>
</tr>
</table>
Intermodulation distortion
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/imd.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise, %:</td>
<td>0.0704</td>
<td>0.0699</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise (A-weighted), %:</td>
<td>0.0528</td>
<td>0.0514</td>
</tr>
</table>
Stereo crosstalk
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/cross.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>L <- R</strong></td>
<td><strong>L -> R</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Crosstalk at 100 Hz, dB:</td>
<td>-75</td>
<td>-78</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Crosstalk at 1 kHz, dB:</td>
<td>-76</td>
<td>-76</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">Crosstalk at 10 kHz, dB:</td>
<td>-75</td>
<td>-70</td>
</tr>
</table>
IMD (swept tones)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/imdswept.png
<table width="400" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" border="1">
<tr bgcolor=#C0C0C0 align="center">
<td align="left"><strong>Parameter</strong></td>
<td><strong>Left</strong></td>
<td><strong>Right</strong></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise at 5 kHz, %:</td>
<td>0.0810</td>
<td>0.0857</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise at 10 kHz, %:</td>
<td>0.1839</td>
<td>0.1840</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center"><td align="left">IMD + Noise at 15 kHz, %:</td>
<td>0.3097</td>
<td>0.3119</td>
</tr>
</table>
[page=Performance: Audio Games]
Quake 3
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/q3asound.gif
Comanche 4
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/c4sound.gif
[page=Sound Levels]
Sound Levels
In order to give a measurement of how loud this board is, we used an IEC651 Type II sound level meter on the dbA slow setting.
The distance between fan and sound level meter was 10cm. Please note that this is very little, compared to the "standard" measurements, which are made at 1m distance. We had to do this, to get proper readings with our sound level meter, because we obviously can't spend thousands of dollars on audio measuring equipment.
All tested fans were connected to an external 12V lab PSU. 12V is the maximum rated fan speed. Some motherboards/video cards use slower fan speeds and slowly ramp them up with temperatures. This is also the reason, why the X800 series seems to have such a "loud" fan. During normal usage its fan is usually running at 33% to 66%.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/soundlevel.gif
If you look at the graph, you see that one fan alone wouldn't have been loud. But both fans running together are making this board quite loud. It is certainly possible to disconnect the back exhaust fan power or mod it a bit to run slower.
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" class="resulttable">
<tr>
<th colspan="2">Common sound levels </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ambulance siren</td>
<td align="right">120 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Crying baby </td>
<td align="right">110 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shout (5 feet) </td>
<td align="right">100 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Truck</td>
<td align="right">90 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Urban street</td>
<td align="right">80 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Automobile interior </td>
<td align="right">70 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Normal conversation (3 feet) </td>
<td align="right">60 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Office, classroom </td>
<td align="right">50 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Living room </td>
<td align="right">40 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bedroom at night </td>
<td align="right">30 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Whispering at (5 feet)</td>
<td align="right">20 dbA </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Rustling leaves </td>
<td align="right">10 dbA </td>
</tr>
</table>
[page=Overclocking]
Overclocking
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ocbug_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/ocbug.jpg)
When I first tried to overclock this board I was surprised by how far the FSB would go. After some investigation, I noticed, that once you set the FSB to a value bigger than 290 MHz in the BIOS, the BIOS would always set 290.7 MHz, no matter what value you selected. Now, when you reduce the FSB again, the board does not change it until you power off the system, then power it back on - a reset does not help.
When the FSB is "stuck", software tools can not change the FSB either. The chipset reports it back as changed, but it never actually changes as above screenshot shows.
Another problem we experienced a lot, is that if your overclock is unstable and the BIOS can not complete the POST, it will reboot and report the CMOS settings as corrupted, so they are back to their defaults. This tends to get annoying after a while because you have to change back every setting.
We are working together with ECS to resolve this issues. For our overclocking testing, we set the FSB to 280 in the BIOS (outside the 290 MHz "sticky" range), once in Windows, SysTool is used to set the FSB to whatever is needed. This works perfectly fine, it is just a bit unconvenient.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxfsb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxfsb.jpg)
In order to find out the overclocking potential of the ECS KN1 SLI Extreme, we put a Dangerden TDX waterblock on our CPU and set the multiplier to 4x with a memory divider of 2:1. This is to make sure that neither the CPU nor the memory are limiting our overclock here.
A maximum FSB of 352 MHz is not too great, but it is definitely good enough for most overclockers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxperf_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/KN1SLI/images/maxperf.jpg)
For a more real-world overclocking score we left the multiplier at 9x and slowly increased the FSB. Since our memory can not run that fast, we had to drop the memory ratio to 2:3 which means the memory was running at DDR400 while the CPU ran at 2700 MHz. The board was no limiting factor here at any time, the CPU's limit is 2700 MHz, sometimes when the water is cool a few MHz more.
A few more overclocking options in the BIOS would definitely be nice, especially more options to tweak memory timings, of which the Athlon64 has a lot.
[page=Value & Conclusion]
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
We are expecting the ECS KN1 SLI to go for about $120, which makes it one of the cheapest SLI boards on the market, and it still has features like Dual Ethernet and IEEE1394.
</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Excellent performance
Competitive price
SLI is auto-switched
Dual Ethernet
Good on-board Audio (for an nForce4 board)
BIOS Top Hat Flash
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Needs more overclocking options in BIOS
BIOS issues when overclocking
Loud
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.3</th>
<td>When I thought of ECS in the past, I thought of cheap motherboards with questionable performance. But the KN1 SLI Extreme proved me wrong. This board shows excellent performance, not matter if overclocked or not.<br />
While there are some issues with overclocking, I expect those to be fixed with a new BIOS release.<br />
Yes, the board does not have too many overclocking options which makes it unsuitable for the extreme enthusiasts that want every possible tweak. On the other hand, more casual users won't have to know how to tweak all those settings.<br />
If you are an FPS-hungry gamer with a hang for SLI you can definitely get this board, it has the stability and features you need, and you can definitely overclock your CPU well with the given options. As one of those gamers don't need the extra BIOS options anyway, since you prefer to spend your time with fragging instead of tweaking.<br />
</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td></td></tr>
</table>