Foxconn Winfast NF4SK8AA-8EKRS MotherboardReview
Foxconn is a well-known motherboard manufacturer that you've probably seen already. But up until now, Dev Hardware hasn’t had the chance to review any of Foxconn’s products. Today we’re going to change that, and we are going to take a look at the Winfast NF4SK8AA-8EKRS motherboard. It’s based on the nForce4 chipset and comes loaded with practically everything, from SLI to 7.1 surround audio.
Although computer enthusiasts probably recognize Foxconn most for their motherboards, the company produces attractive cases, barebones systems, power supplies, and other computer parts. Foxconn is also a huge ECM (Electronic Contract Manufacturer), the largest in the world. Their sales in 2005 were roughly $25 billion, and they are second only to ASUSTeK in the number of motherboards they produce. It’s safe to say that Foxconn is very well established in the computer industry. That in mind, I was eager to see this motherboard.
It arrived in a not-so-flashy box, branded with the Winfast name instead of Foxconn. All of their AMD-based motherboard are branded as Winfast, a name the company has leased from Leadtek (one of their customers). Foxconn brands all of its Intel boards with the Foxconn name. This packaging didn’t really have a lot of details on it. The sticker on the side just gives a summary of notable features.
After taking out the big quick start poster that was on top, you can see the box is filled with accessories.
The motherboard comes with three floppy disks that hold your RAID controller drivers and a CD full of other motherboard drivers. The CD also has a few motherboard management programs we’ll look at later. We also have a quick start poster and, of course, a user’s manual.
To make sure system builders have the right parts, you can see the mainboard comes with an SLI bridge, two 4-pin to SATA power adapters, two SATA cables, a USB bracket for the back of your case, the plate for the back of your case, two ATA cables, and a floppy cable.
Now, let’s get down to the motherboard and what features we can expect from it.
Features and Specifications
[center]The final thing in the box is the motherboard. Its specifications look pretty nice
Chipset and Processor
<LI nd="5">NVIDIA nForce4 (CK8-04) SLI <LI nd="6">Socket 939 (939-pin), 1600/2000MT/s
AMD Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2
Memory and Expansion Slots
<LI nd="9">Dual channel, unbuffered memory, 2.5V DDR266/333/400, (4) 184-pin DIMM sockets, max 4GB <LI nd="10">2 x PCI Express x16 (which function as 1 x16 or 2 x8) <LI nd="11">1 x PCI Express x1
3 x PCI
IDE/ATA Support
<LI nd="14">2 x ATA/133 <LI nd="15">4 x SATA/300 (w/ cross-controller RAID 0, 1, and 0+1)
2 x SATA/300 (w/ RAID 0, 1)
Features
<LI nd="18">Graphics: Discrete (non-integrated) <LI nd="19">Audio: Integrated 7.1 channel High Definition (Realtek) <LI nd="20">LAN: Dual integrated Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) MACs + PHYs, dual ports (Marvell) <LI nd="21">IEEE-1394 (Firewire): 2 via internal headers <LI nd="22">USB: Up to 10; 4 in rear I/O area + 3 internal 2-port headers
USB 2.0 2-port rear cable/bracket
Rear I/O Ports
<LI nd="25">PS/2 keyboard <LI nd="26">PS/2 mouse <LI nd="27">4 x USB 2.0 <LI nd="28">Audio line-in/line-out/mic <LI nd="29">Additional line-outs for 7.1 channel audio <LI nd="30">2 x RJ45 (LAN) <LI nd="31">COM (16550-compatible UART) <LI nd="32">Parallel (SPP/ECP/EPP)
2 x S/PDIF (1 x coax out + 1 x optical out)
Internal Connectors/Headers
<LI nd="35">Front audio header <LI nd="36">3 x USB 2.0 2-port headers <LI nd="37">2 x IEEE-1394 (FireWire) headers
floppy disk drive
Overclocking Features
<LI nd="40">Adjustable bus speeds <LI nd="41">Adjustable memory timing <LI nd="42">Adjustable voltages (may be Vcore only)
Adjustable ratios
اليومية
