Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 Owner's guide (r006)

TheRod · Apr 12, 2005

I know that RMA are not always fun! But since I have 2 working systems at home, I don't care much... I might miss some gaming (cause me 2nd PC is a Laptop - P4M 1.4GHz + GeForce4 GO), but overall I really want a 100% working mobo. I paid for it, I want it to work!

I promplty returned my 19inches ViewSonic P95F+ because the image was a bit blurry at the bottom right of the screen. I had to argue with the tech. guy, but I won my my lethal argument : "If I would have wanted blurred image I would have bought your low-cost no-name 1600x1200@60Hz 19inches non-flat screen ugly monitor not the hihg-end 19inches ViewSonic with a Triniton tube and 1600x1200@85Hz support."

He took the monitor I got another one that was not a bit blurry in the bottom corner!

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GA-K8NF-9 / Athlon 64 3200+ @ 3800+
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
GeForce 6600GT 128Megs
<A HREF="http://www.getfirefox.com" target="_new">Firefox</A>

pat · Apr 12, 2005

I still find my NIC a bit unstable and I can't pinpoint the problem. At least, I can play my games without problems!

I'm on a dial-up connection, but sometime connect my computer to high speed internet using the onboard LAN. So far, not a single problem. I did not try online gaming. and nvidia firewall was not used..

So, what do you mean by instability?

I'm planning exchanging my k8nf-9 for the Soltek nforce4. Not that the GB board is bad, but I think that Soltek has an edge over it when it come to speed at stock setting.

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

TheRod · Apr 12, 2005

So, what do you mean by instability?

First I got disconnect issue in World Of Warcraft that I fixed with the "Checksum offload" trick.

But since then, sometime I lost my network for no particular reason... Sometime I only have to disable the nVidia Firewall, other time I have to reboot my Linksys router or unplug/plug my Ethernet cable.

I will probably disable the nVidia firewall within a few days. This will ensure me that the nVidia FW is not causing the troubles. And as I said earlier, I really don't like the current FW software, the first time I saw it, I tought it was good, but the more I use it, the more I find issue with it.

The most annoying issues are that I can't save a "custom" profile.

And when you switch from an existing profile to another and go back to the profile you were before (From A to B to A). All the changes you made to the original profile are lost! So, I often have to remap port, etc...

Another issue is the inability to filter UDP/TCP ports based on IP source. I would like to limit port 135-139 to only known/trustable machine. And I would appreciate to filter based on source MAC address too. But, you know, I'm a security freak and it's part of my job to maintain Cisco Pix firewall...

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GA-K8NF-9 / Athlon 64 3200+ @ 3800+
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
GeForce 6600GT 128Megs
<A HREF="http://www.getfirefox.com" target="_new">Firefox</A>

TheRod · Apr 25, 2005

I new issue arise with the nVidia Firewall software. My solution : don't use nVidia Firewall software for the moment.

The issue appears when the network is up for a long time with a lot of activity (Torrent D/L). I had no issue playing games for hours, but anytiem I tried to D/L huge torrent files (DVD image, etc...), I got an usuable network connection ofter a couple hours.

nVidia still have work to do with the firewall software. My trouble might concern a compatibility issue with my LinkSys router too (WRT54G). Anyway, using Zone Alorm solved my problems. No more problem D/L lots of torrents at the same time.

See ya!

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GA-K8NF-9 / Athlon 64 3200+ @ 3800+
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
GeForce 6600GT 128Megs
<A HREF="http://www.getfirefox.com" target="_new">Firefox</A>Edited by TheRod on 04/25/05 04:06 PM.

drleaper · Jul 6, 2005

Hello all,
i just got this board, the fanless chipset version.I wonder if i will have any problem placing a PCIX graphic card, since this heatspreader is taller then the PCIX Socket.

did any1 encounter such a problem?
the card i bought (and will get in couple of days) is the Leadtek 6600GT Extreme.
Thanks.

TheRod · Jul 6, 2005

The Fanless Heatspreader is not too tall for any PCI-EXPRESS GPU. I haven't heard any compatibility issue regarding the chipset heatspreader for this board.

Any PCI-EXPRESS cards fits well on this board.

NOTE : Never flash this MoBo to F3k (beta), with this BIOS version, you can't flash your BIOS anymore. I have to RMA my board, they will replace the BIOS with a new one.

If you have any issue with this board feel free to ask me questions. I have mass with that board a lot since I bought it in Feb./March. It's a great board! All my problems related to that board are nVidia nForce4 driver's problem. If I were you, I would not use the nVidia Active Armor stuff. Since I removed the nVidia firewall, most of my networking issue are gone.

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GA-K8NF-9 / Athlon 64 3200+ @ 3800+
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
GeForce 6600GT 128Megs
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drleaper · Jul 6, 2005

Thanks a lot. i was quite worried when i didn't saw the fan.

i will use this post for another questions. in a couple of places over the net, users and reviews said this board support NCQ. but gigabyte offical tech team says it does not.

u happen to know who is right?

TheRod · Jul 6, 2005

There is a lot contradiction in the nForce4 family of chipset.

At first, nVidia found that their nForce4 A2 revision was a bit "buggy", so they sold nForce4 Rev. A2 as "nForce4 4x" with a HTT limited to 4x instead of 5x. But, in fact, most people with nForce4 4x mobos. can clock their HTT to 5x without problems. And from what we know about the HTT, it's not a limiting factor as long as you keep it at 600MHz or more speed (usually 3x FSB SPEED or more in the BIOS). nForce4 4x have another limitation too, the SATA speed is "artificially" limited to 1.5Gb/s instead of 3.0Gb/s. In practice, this means nothing since no HDD can use that much bandwidth.

This nForce4 was produced in limited quantity and the first batch of cheap nForce4 motherboard (mine included) are equipped with nForce4 Rev. A2 silicon. Then nVidia tweaked their silicon to Rev. A3 which is the is now the official nForce4 chipset that equip all newer nForce4 motherboard (regardless of the model or feature set).

I would strongly recommends you to use CPU-Z and check which nForce4 Revision your motherboard is equipped with. If you get a Rev. A3 chip.

nForce4 Rev. A3 support NCQ so all mobo based on that chipset should support NCQ. To be sure, install the nVidia IDE/SATA drivers, then go to the advanced properties of your SATA controller (in Windows Hardware Manager), then check if the "Enable Command Queuing" is checked. If your HDD supports NCQ and the chipset supports it, it should be checked.

My bet on this is that nVidia told the Mobos company that their nForce4 4x would not support NCQ. So, if nVidia would have found that their Rev. A2 silicon had bug with NCQ they could have easily disable that feature through drivers. From most forums/reviews, NCQ is supported on every nForce4 equipped motherboard. I can't confirm that to you personnaly since my SATA-HDD don't natively support NCQ.

I hope this long post will help you!

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GA-K8NF-9 / Athlon 64 3200+ @ 3800+
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
GeForce 6600GT 128Megs
<A HREF="http://www.getfirefox.com" target="_new">Get Firefox!</A>

TheRod · Jul 6, 2005

<A HREF="http://www.google.ca/search?hs=2nn&hl=en&safe=off&c2coff=1&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr😱fficial&q=K8NF-9+nforce4+ncq+support&btnG=Search&meta=" target="_new">Google</A>

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GA-K8NF-9 / Athlon 64 3200+ @ 3800+
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
GeForce 6600GT 128Megs
<A HREF="http://www.getfirefox.com" target="_new">Get Firefox!</A>

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Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 Owner's guide (r006)

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