Chipset Integrates Gigabit Ethernet, RAID, Firewall

EconolineCrush writes "Tech Report has a review of NVIDIA's latest Athlon 64 chipset, the nForce3 250Gb. The 250Gb is especially interesting because it's the first core logic chipset to integrate a Gigabit Ethernet MAC, hardware-accelerated firewall, and RAID across four Serial ATA and four "parallel" ATA devices. NVIDIA is even working with third party developers to help their software take advantage of the chipset's hardware firewall components. Looks like we've reached a point where chipsets will differentiate on features more than performance."

Comments

Don't Skip the Firewall

[Anonymous Coward]

It's an integrated hardware firewall. I RTFA'd and it seems pretty cool. It starts up along with your system, so you don't have to worry about malware infecting your system during the short period between booting your system and the operating system and necessary drivers loading up. It also has a software interface reminiscent of Smoothwall and has several security profiles available for those unfamiliar with firewall configurations, but there is also a command line interface. Combined with those nifty antivirus features in the new athlon 64 chips, you've got yourself a pretty secure box.

Re:Lotta features on one chip

[Gherald]

> The big question is, will all this stuff, half of which I will never use, slow down my computer?

No, if anything it will be arguably faster than traditional north/south-bridge pairs.

Re:Wow?

[NerveGas]

No difference between an Asus and an Abit motherboard?

From the numerous Abit NF7-M and Asus A7N8X-VM motherboards I've used to build all of the office machines for some time, I can tell you that there's a BIG difference between an Abit and an Asus motherboard:

The Abit works.

Now, I know, that sounds a bit cynical. And I can't say that none of the Asus boards have worked. But I *can* say that the Asus boards have been quirky, odd, and just plain wankery. The Abit boards have been solid, reliable, and terrific.

As an example, I've had to add a PCI NIC to most of the Asus boards. The onboard LAN is just too flaky. I've watched as users rebooted, only to have their onboard NIC disappear, even though still enabled in the BIOS.

I'm by no means anti-Asus. In fact, the Asus boards have some tweaks in the BIOS that I really like. But my time is valuable, and the Abit boards take a lot less of my time.

steve