nForce3 250Gb (p)reviews (UPDATE:2004-05-07)

TheRod · Mar 24, 2004

If you find other previews or reviews, tell me, I will add them to this list.

PREVIEW/REVIEW LIST :
NEW! <A HREF="http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/epox/8kda3+/8kda3+-1.htm" target="_new">ocWorkBench - EPoX 8KDA3+ nForce3-250Gb Socket 754</A>
NEW! <A HREF="http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD03NTc" target="_new">hexus.net - EPoX 8KDA3+ nForce3 250Gb</A>
<A HREF="http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=297" target="_new">tbreak - Gigabyte K8NSNXP (nF3-250Gb) review</A>
<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15566" target="_new">Inquirer - Epox 8KDA3+ Nforce 3 250Gb reviewed</A>
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=2036" target="_new">AnandTech - MSI K8N Neo Platinum: First nForce3-250Gb </A>
<A HREF="http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD03NTE" target="_new">heXus - nForce3 250 Chipset Overclocking</A>
<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040420/index.html" target="_new">NVIDIA's "New and Improved" nForce3 250 GB Chipset</A>
<A HREF="http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?cat=mobos&id=290&pagenumber=1" target="_new">tbreak - MSI K8N Neo Platinum review</A>
<A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/chipsets/display/nforce3-250.html" target="_new">X-bit Labs - First Mass Mainboard on NVIDIA nForce3 250</A>
<A HREF="http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q2/nforce3-250gb/index.x?pg=1" target="_new">TechReport - Upping the ante for Athlon 64</A>
<A HREF="http://www.gamers-depot.com/hardware/motherboards/nf3/n250/001.htm" target="_new">Gamer's Depot preview</A>
<A HREF="http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Features/nforce3250preview/" target="_new">NeoSeeker</A>
<A HREF="http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nforce3_250gb/default.asp" target="_new">Firing Squad</A>
<A HREF="http://www.short-media.com/article.php?142.0" target="_new">Short-Media</A>
<A HREF="http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?url=http://www.computerbase.de/news/hardware/prozessoren/amd/2004/maerz/a64_3400_sockel_939_sandrabenchmarks/&lp=de_en&tt=url" target="_new">Computer base "sneak peek" Translated from German</A> (Thanks to <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=174050#174050" target="_new">Schmide</A>)
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2004" target="_new">AnandTech Preview - Part 1</A>
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2009" target="_new">AnandTech Preview - Part 2</A>
<A HREF="http://www.hardware.fr/articles/490/page1.html" target="_new">Hardware.fr (French)</A> <A HREF="http://216.239.37.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=fr%7Cen&u=http://www.hardware.fr/articles/490/page1.html&prev=/language_tools" target="_new">(Translated in english)</A>
<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14952" target="_new">Inquirer provide some benchmarks</A> OPTERON
<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15144" target="_new">Inquirer - Nforce3 Pro 250 2 processor pics revealed </A> OPTERON

The SHORT-MEDIA preview gives a lot of infos/screenshots about the "nvSystemUtility" and "nvRAID" application. And it looks promising. VIA will have to do major upgrades in both fonctionnality and software support to stay competitive with this new nVidia chipset.

Performance are on par with VIA chipset. The nForce3 have a couple of great features : hardware firewall, full-speed GigE interface, dual cpu support and an integrated SATA controller that use less CPU than the VIA. We will only miss the nForce2 great APU. nForce3 only support AC97 and it's lags in audio performance in comparison with the VIA solution. So, if you plan to buy an nForce3 250Gb MB, you will surely buy an add-in audio card if you plan to play games or have top-notch audio features.

This chipset will put a pressure on Intel/VIA/SiS to offer as much feature in their chipsets. Because the nForce3 250Gb could be to decisive choice for a SysAdmin to jump to the Opteron. Because every SysAdmin knows that security and Ethernet performance are very important in servers.

With this chipset nVidia wants to show to the Industry that they are ready for the data centers. And this nVidia chipset can only be good for AMD sales.

nVidia wins over VIA not because of performance, but because it has more features. For overclockers, nForce3 250 MB will offer the best performance/stability, since VIA chipset is not stable when it's highly overclocked.

UPDATES :
2004-05-07: Added ocWorkBench/Hexus reviews of EPoX 8KDA3+, I updated my comments too.
2004-05-03: Added tbreak K8NSNXP review.
2004-04-28: Added Inquirer review.
2004-04-26: Added AnandTech MSI K8N review.
2004-04-20: Added THG review and Hexus.net overclocking article
2004-04-14: Added tbreak review.
2004-04-09: Added first official nForce250 review from XbitLabs
2004-04-08: Added TechReport review/preview and another Inquirer link. I updated my comments based on the TechReport article.
2004-04-07: Gamer's Depot preview
2004-04-01: NeoSeeker Preview added.
2004-03-29: AnandTech Part 2 added.
2004-03-25: Added Inquirer benchmark link.

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?Edited by TheRod on 05/07/04 08:22 AM.

TheRod · Mar 29, 2004

Jsut added the AnantTech Part 2 article, I can't wait to read it!

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

gobeavers · Mar 30, 2004

Thanks for the compilation, I cant wait for the boards...

Anxiously awaiting grantsdale...

Crashman · Mar 30, 2004

VIA better not come close to catching up.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

endyen · Mar 30, 2004

I just revisited Tom's review of the A64 chipsets. I went through each benchmark and gave points for performance. I gave 4 points for first, 3 for second, 2 for third and 1 for last. The Nforce3 150 beat out the others badly. It got 76 points. The sis chipset was second with 54, while the via, in third got only 48, and ali,36.
The Nforce beat Via by 50%.<A HREF="http:// http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040105/athlon64-06.html " target="_new">http:// http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040105/athlon64-06.html </A> Just check the benches, dont read the bs. It looks like we have all been sold the Via line and bought it hook and sinker.
One other point I would like to make. The Nforce3 150 is a single chip chipset. This should allow for a cooler board temp, which will give a much cooler chip. The Nforce3 150 is already a killer chipset.

TheRod · Mar 30, 2004

I just revisited Tom's review of the A64 chipsets. I went through each benchmark and gave points for performance. I gave 4 points for first, 3 for second, 2 for third and 1 for last.

Did you count synthetic benchmarks? You should separate the results 3 category : games, applications and synthetic benchs.

I think VIA deserved to be the winner, if you consider performance in real world applications and games. nForce3 150 shines in synthetic benchmark, but no ne use these applications!

Can you recompile your DATA in the 3 categories I mentioned?

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

endyen · Mar 31, 2004

With only 5 games, it is hard to draw conclusions. The via does well in Quake 3, while the nforce does well in Dx8 and 9. You will excuse me if I say that Quake 3 is not a valid test for an Amd system.
While the synthetic benches are less than wonderful for comparing Amd and Intel, they are pretty good for same chip comparisons.

Edited by endyen on 03/31/04 01:38 AM.

TheRod · Mar 31, 2004

I say that Quake 3 is not a valid test for an Amd system.

I toally agree with you. In fact, Quake 3 is not good anymore since it's an old game. Who still play this game anyway?

Still, you should give us the result for the nechmarks category :

GAMES : VIA X / nForce Y
APPS : VIA X / nForce Y
Synth : VIA X / nForce Y

OVERALL : VIA X / nForce Y

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

TheRod · Apr 1, 2004

Bump to the top! Added NeoSeeker Preview. Not much in this short preview!

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

TheRod · Apr 7, 2004

Bump to the top!

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

jclw · Apr 8, 2004

The inquirer benchmarks are for the 3 250-G dual opteron board.

*Dual PIII-800 @900 i440BX and Tualeron 1.2 @1.7 i815*

TheRod · Apr 8, 2004

The inquirer benchmarks are for the 3 250-G dual opteron board.

Good precision!
By the way, my list is not intended for a specific nForce3 250Gb platform. I try to add article regardless of Socket support, etc... It's only a ocmpilation of hanful articles on this promising chipset for the AMD64

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

TheRod · Apr 10, 2004

I added the review of the Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-250 from XbitLabs... And this board will disapoint you. Some overclockers features are not working and Cool&Quiet is not owrking either.

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

TheRod · Apr 14, 2004

Added tbreak review.

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Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 15, 2004

Chaintech sux

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<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

Ned_Flanders · Apr 15, 2004

Chaintech suck? I have a NF2 Zenith Board from them, and frankly its the best board I've ever used.

I am a small fat ginger kid and I lob cow pats at old people, please be my friend

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 16, 2004

That was the one of the slowest nForce2 mobo and not so good overclocker.

Chaintech is okay for non-overclockers, but not good for overclockers

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<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

Ned_Flanders · Apr 16, 2004

and so that makes them "sux"? My board is hella stable, and full featured - SATA, onboard LAN, Onboard Audio, Chaintech also provide a nice "C-Box 3" (front Audio, USB, Firewire) and a remote control as extras. I really don't think you can say they suck!

PS - I DONT WORK FOR THEM

That was... different... kinda slimy... sorta warm... yet, suprisingly arousing...

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 16, 2004

They were idiot enough not to enable nForce APU and use AC'97 in their MCP-T mobos.

Stability is something that almost every nForce2 mobo has. It's nothing special with Chaintech. Their boards aren't great price/performance purchase either.

------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

TheRod · Apr 21, 2004

Finally, THG reviewed the 250Gb, not a bad review at all... But not even a word about OVERCLOCKING or AGP/PCI lock???

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GO! HABS! GO!

TheRod · Apr 26, 2004

Added AnandTech K8N review.

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GO! HABS! GO!

TheRod · Apr 28, 2004

Added Inquirer review.

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GO! HABS! GO!

TheRod · May 7, 2004

Added 2 reviews + updated my comments.

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Lookin' to fill that GOD shape hole!

nForce3 250Gb (p)reviews (UPDATE:2004-05-07)

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