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Foxconn NF4SLI7AA-8EKRS2: Weird names aside, Foxconn has a SLI board that's cheap enough for the leftover cash to pick up a couple video cards. |
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Date: |
November 1, 2005 |
Manufacturer: |
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Written By: |
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Price: |
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What do you get when a company with over 3 decades of manufacturing experience decides to start developing products for the mainstream market? That is exactly what Foxconn has done, taken 30 plus years of experience working with OEMs and started developing PC hardware for the mainstream market. Like a lot of people I hadn't heard much about Foxconn aside from a few cases and barebones kits I had seen. From the results of reviews of their newer boards, like the 925XE7AA-8EKRS2 they are off to a great start.
The Foxconn NF4SLI7AA-8EKRS2 (Try saying that three times fast) is based on the NVIDIA nForce 4 chipset, this means it's normally a bit more expensive than a board based on one of the Intel chipsets, but it also means it is generally faster and more future proof so you should get more mileage for the money.
Features and specs:
Processor
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Intel® Pentium® 4, Socket 775, 800/1066MHz FSB
Supports Intel Pentium D and Prescott processors>
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology supported>
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Chipset
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NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition (C19) + MCP-04
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Memory
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Dual channel, unbuffered, 1.8V DDR2-533/667; (4) 240-pin DIMM sockets, max 4GB
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Graphics
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Discrete (nonintegrated) - use expansion slot
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Expansion Slots
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2 x PCI Express x16 (function as 1 x16 or 2 x8), 2 x PCI Express x1, 2 x PCI
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IDE/ATA Support
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2 x ATA/133 + 4 x SATA/300 (w/ cross-controller RAID 0, 1, and 0+1) + 2 x SATA/300 (w/ RAID 0, 1)
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Audio
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Integrated, 7.1 channel High Definition (Realtek)
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LAN
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Dual integrated Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) MACs + PHYs, dual ports (Marvell)
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IEEE-1394
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2 via internal headers + rear cable/bracket assembly (1 x 1394b); second header accepts 1394a front I/O cable (supplied w/ chassis)
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USB
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Up to 10; 4 in rear I/O area + 3 internal 2-port headers; includes 2-port rear cable/bracket; ver. 2.0
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Rear I/O Ports
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1 x PS/2 keyboard
1 x PS/2 mouse
1 x RJ45 (LAN)
4 x USB 2.0
1 x line-in/line-out/mic (audio)
1 x parallel (SPP/ECP/EPP)
1 x COM (16550-compatible UART)
Additional line-outs for 7.1 channel audio
Second RJ45 (LAN)
2 x S/PDIF (1 x coax out + 1 x optical out)
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Internal Connectors/Headers
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1 x floppy disk drive
Front audio header
3 x USB 2-port headers, ver. 2.0
2 x IEEE-1394b headers
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BIOS
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4Mb flash EEPROM w/ LAN boot, PnP, ACPI, WfM, DMI 2.0,
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Special Features
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Wake-on-LAN (WOL), suspend-to-RAM (STR, S3), suspend-to-disk (STD, S4), SuperUtilities - SuperBoot, SuperBIOS-Protect, SuperRecovery, SuperSpeed, SuperStep, SuperLogo, and SuperUpdate
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Overclocking Features
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Adjustable bus speeds
Adjustable memory timing
Adjustable voltages (may be Vcore only)
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Accessories
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Support CD, user's manual (or installation guide), rear I/O shield, 1 x floppy drive cable, 1 x HDD/ODD drive cable (supports UDMA/ATA 33/66/100/133 drives)
Quick installation
RAID driver on floppy disk(s)
2 x SATA data cables, 1 x SATA power cable (supports 2 drives),
1 extra HDD/ODD drive cable (supports UDMA/ATA 33/66/100/133 drives)
Non-SATA drive cables are round and sheathed at the connectors
Rear cable/bracket assembly w/ 2 x USB 2.0 ports
Rear cable/bracket assembly w/ 1 x IEEE-1394b connector
SLI bridge PCB + retention bracket
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Form Factor
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ATX, 12.0'' x 9.6'' or less - see User's Manual
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The Bundle:
Packaging for this board was pretty stylish, the box has a semi transparent plastic sleeve with a window cut out that displays a chrome Foxconn badge, once you remove the sleeve the back of the box provides more info about the board.
Foxconn includes a lot of "goodies" with this board including, Users manual and poster size installation guide, CD with drivers and utilities including Norton Internet Security and Norton firewall, I/O shield, 2 floppy disks with drivers for SATA/RAID, 2 dual device SATA power adapters, 1 black round dual device floppy cable, 2 black rounded dual device ATA133 cables, Firewire 800 and dual head USB device cables, 2 serial cables, SLI bridge and the bracket for holding the SLI bridge down.
The poster installation guide is huge, and is a GREAT reference for where everything on the board is and what it does, on top of that it looks good to, I hung it on the wall in my work area.
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