Gigabyte readies rock solid SLI board

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 8 Apr 2005 at 14:34

Gigabyte boasts the first 'high-performance' SLI solution for the Intel Pentium 4 platform' with the launch of its new i-DNA series of motherboards. Specifically, it has added the GA-8N-SLI Royal mainboard to its SLI range, aimed squarely at hard-core gaming enthusiasts.

As well as supporting 1066MHz FSB LGA775 Intel Pentium 4 Processors and DDR-2 667 memory, it is built around Nvidia's nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition chipset. This enables the combining of multiple GPUs within a single system, with the goal of boosting graphics performance. More precisely, it can combine two SLI-ready PCI Express graphics cards.

As well as games, Gigabyte is emphasising security. The GA-8N-SLI Royal includes the Nvidia ActiveArmor hardware engine, which is intended to reduces demands on the CPU during security operations. Gigabyte's Shieldware adds software features recoveries and backups.

Details of the spec for the motherboard include: a P4 processor (LGA 775 socket), Dual channel DDRII 667 with 4 DIMMs (up to 4GB), the Nvidia nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition/MCP04 chipset, 4 PCI Express connections (including 2 x 16 slots), 2 x PCI slots, Dual Gigabit LAN, 8-channel AC'97 audio and DualBIOS.

In terms of ATA connections, there are 4 x Serial ATA II (MCP04 controller), 2 x Serial ATA II (Promise controller) and 3 x Parallel ATA. There are also 3 IEEE1394b ports (T.I's system) and 10 USB ports.

There is a Universal Plus Dual Power System (U-Plus D.P.S.), which is designed to extend the lifespan of power modules. As well as keeping them cooler, system reliability should be increased as it can continue to operate even when one transistor has blown.

More information will be found on the Gigabyte website. At the time of writing, we have not been able to confirm dates of UK availability.