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Shortcomings Revealed in nForce4 SLI Redux

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the not-so-hot dept.

EconolineCrush writes "Slashdot recently covered the launch of NVIDIA's nForce 4 SLI chipset for Intel processors, and although early reviews fawned over the chipset's performance, closer examination reveals several shortcomings that the initial wave of coverage failed to document. Problems with stability, drivers, and the chipset's oft-praised hardware-accelerated firewall and Gigabit Ethernet controller escaped the scrutiny of many reviews."

5 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. mirror by winkydink · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here

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  2. Clarification by GundamFan · · Score: 3, Informative

    The reviewer seems to be contrasting the stability of the Nforce 4 chipset with the stability of the... lets say 925XE chipset, this isn't about processors. Intel produces realy rock solid boards lately, more stable than any 3rd party board even with the same chipset. (don't buy a Supermicro desktop board... trust me)

    So... what he was saying is that an Intel user may be disapointed by the Nforce 4's shortcomings, but an AMD user is acustomed to this level of quality, still good just not the best.

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  3. Re:Shortcomings of the reviewer by ctr2sprt · · Score: 5, Informative
    I think you are misunderstanding. The reviewer is talking about Intel chipsets, not Intel processors. Because Intel doesn't make chipsets for AMD-CPU systems, there's no direct comparison. If there were, he's arguing, people would be less excited about NVIDIA's chipsets.

    Incidentally:

    These days, AMD is the singlemost important chip maker on the planet, second only to Intel.
    It's hard to be both most important and second-most important at the same time. Yet this is apparently a feat both AMD and Intel have managed. I guess this is a byproduct of their research into quantum computers. ("Alright! We're on top! Oh shit, I just changed our importance by measuring it.")
  4. nForce4 for Intel != nFroce4 for AMD by Visaris · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just because this article mentions that the nForce4 for intel CPUs is unstable and has issues doesn't imply anything about the AMD nForce4 chipset. There are many major server vendors (Tyan comes to mind first) that are using the nVidia chipset. These vendors don't just slap anything into their motherboards you know. A lot of validation and testing going into every part they use. I am very happy with the stability and speed of Tyan's boards. If Tyan says it's good enough for them, then it is probably good enough for me. I don't see why people would even say somthing like: "The nVidia shipset sucks on Intel, I guess it's ok for AMD because people in that market are used to crap!" It just doesn't work that way. The Intel and AMD nVidia chipsets are very different.

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  5. I reviewed one of these nForce machines by tinrobot · · Score: 3, Informative

    I reviewed the new HP xw9300 for a print magazine. Didn't find any stability problems, though I tested it mostly against 3D apps like Maya. Not too many network tests. I ran it in production for a while and it was great. In fact it's still here sitting next to my desk.

    We did request SLI, but HP sent a single card system because they told us SLI wasn't quite ready.

    I have another system on my review schedule from another vendor, and when we suggested they ship us an SLI system, they backed off.

    Looks like SLI isn't quite ready for prime time.