The Chaintech VNF 4 Ultra

[capper5016]

Alright guys and gals! If you are in the market for a pretty decent NForce 4 solution, check out my latest review on Chaintech's VNF 4 Ultra. Zenith used to stand for "performance", now it means "value"

Legit Reviews - The Chaintech VNF4 Ultra : nForce 4 on a budget
http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=165

[infinitevalence]

Quite frankly i think this is your best review to date. Very good pictures, good comentary. If i were buying this product i think i would have a real understanding of what i was getting, and i would know what to expect from the system.

[capper5016]

new camera...awesome!!!! thanks for the kind words. I bought a Sony DSC-150...great for the macro shots....Nate was really giving me some grief about my "Stevie Wonder" pics.

[clem2270]

Just wanted to say hello to everyone here at Legit Reviews as this is my first post here.

I also wanted to say that this was a very well researched and written product review ( congrats capper5016 ).

But now the reason why I'm adding my two cents. First I'm surprised that any M/B manufacturer is still including 2 onboard serial connectors, IMHO 1 is to many. I mean really, there are not that many people who still have serial devices. Personally nobody I know uses the serial ports on their computers. On all of my systems, the onboard serial and parallel ports are turned off in the BIOS.

Second; I'm surprised that any educated, experienced PC/computer tech would tout the supposed virtues of having Norton's Antivirus being part of the package. I agree that some cases, something is better than nothing. But personally I have worked on enough machines broken by Norton's and McAfee's antivirus solutions, that I stay away from their products like they were the plague; not to mention both of their products put a very big drain on system resources.
I tell all my freinds, relatives, and customers to stay away and choose some other antivirus/security solution. I personally suggest Trend Micro's antivirus/security suite.

thanks

[SlipSand]

Is this the one we are contesting off?

[infinitevalence]

Every one has different opps on anti-virus. Your correct that both Norton and MacAfee use lots of resorces. Trend Micro has a nice virus suite, as does AVG. So its all about preference.

To the serial debate, your 100% correct in my book, i dont know any one who uses a serial device and im all for getting rid of old tech, no more floppies, parelle ports, com ports. Thats one of the things i like about my DFI Ultra-D is no legacy ports other than mouse and keyboard.

[Illuminati]

The only people I know of that still use serial port are network techs. But I don't think they "have" to. The reason network techs use serial ports is because the cable that many switch mfgs, like Cisco, ship their products with a serial console cable to configure the switch. I think this switch is really only used for initial configuration of the switch. Once the switch is given its unique IP address, then network techs can do configuration by telnet (or other more secure methods) to the switch to configure from there on. But even most network techs use laptops for the initial config with a serial cable because the 80 lb switch is usually not in their office.

Having said all of that, I can also think of one other reason for still having a serial port on your desktop... if you have not upgraded your palm pilot for a while. I have one that uses a serial port, but I just don't use it anymore.

[capper5016]

tHREE THINGS.....
1. Alot of people still use serial connections for various reasons. One as Justin said is something like a PalmPilot, two, I have a Super remote that connects and downloads commands via a serial connection. I won't knock a board maker unless they don't put a connection on there...different people have different needs, and you won't see a problem until you try to connect something you need...but theres no connection.

2. I think Norton Anti-Virus is okay. I actually use AVG, but When a board maker throws in a copy of Norton 2005...to me thats a bonus that I'm sure alot of people appreciate, and coupled with the built in Firewall and NVidia security software...is a decent package. Maybe for $110, a NForce 4 motherboard, and the software bundle actually isn't a real bad deal...in my opinion. For $110, I have no problem at all recommending this board to anyone, except the die hard O/Cer...... unless they upgrade the cooling on the chipset.

Thanks for your opinion... I do very much appreciate them as they make future reviews much better. I very much want you guys to tell me what you think and especially what you want to see in the future..

3. Yep, this is the board being given away.

[scottpruitt]

I really did like the detail and the attention to your layout concerns. I have actually purchased this board and thankfully I am not too concerned with its overclock capability, I did see your point due to the heat generated vs the borad layout. question 1: did the memory slots give you any trouble with sticks with heatspacers? question 2: the 24 pin power connector; I have seen several different comments as to whether or not a 20-pin power supply would work. Any comments would be helpful

[capper5016]

Scott, I didn't have any issues with either Kingston or corsair memory with heatspreaders.
As to the power connector, i will contact Chaintech and see what they have to say. I'll post the answer here as soon as i hear back.

[Illuminati]

I remember during the release of the 775 socket, thus the 24-pin power connectors, that many sites showed boards up and running with only a 20-pin PSU connector. However, I can't vouch on stability.

I would recommend finding a cheap 20 to 24 pin adapter for your PSU... or the easiest way to get one would probably be to find a cheap new PSU that ships with one.

I'm using a CoolMax AP-450X(CX-400B) from newegg that came with an adapter.

[scottpruitt]

I ended up buying a case with a 450watt in it and since Im only running one HDD and a combo drive I figured it would have enough juice to do what I needed it too. To be on the safe side I went ahead and got a thermaltake 20-24 pin adapter from newegg for a couple bucks. but was just curious since it will arrive later than my other core parts. I am hoping to at least get the build out completed and then install it once it arrives.

[capper5016]

Scott, anything over 400W should be fine. The only real concern is the 12V rail when it comes to PSUs like that....also try to stay away from crap brands...like Billy Joe Jim Bob's PSUs...you know, things like that

[infinitevalence]

also look at the combined 3.3v and 5v wattage it sould be around 200w or better.

[qquizz]

Maybe I'm blind, but I couldn't determine the video card used in the benchmarks.

[Apoptosis]

qquizz,

Welcome to the forums. If you ever need any help on hardware we are more than happy to help you out! To answer today's question I found it on this page: http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=165&pid=4

Rich used a XFX nVidia 6600GT PCI-E 128mb video card for that article. Mainstream board with a mainstream video card!

[qquizz]

Thank you

I find it interesting in the graphic benchmark section how the quasi-synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark are actually hurt (or practically no gain) by a higher FSB, but the FarCry and Doom benches show significant real results by a higher FSB. Go figure

[infinitevalence]

It always depends some on the optimizations made by the motherboard mfg. Some companies build for compatibility and some for performance. To do either some sacrafices have to be made in one direction or the other. its possible that the chantech is relaxing its settings when the FSB is pushed higher.

[qquizz]

I still wonder why benches of real games like Doom and FarCry show VERY significant increases as opposed to 3DMark. Wouldn't the mobo (relax) in those cases too?

[gvblake22]

Well, every benchmark is gonna be different and score higher with different settings; but yeah, I still see what you're saying.