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Review: Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-250

by Tarinder Sandhu on 18 June 2004, 00:00

Tags: Chaintech

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaxy

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System setup and notes

Here's a quick rundown of the test system should you wish to compare benchmark results with your own.
  • Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-250 NVIDIA nForce3 250 chipset-based motherboard (16/1/2004 BIOS)
  • EPoX 8KDA3+ NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb chipset-based motherboard (07/04/2004 BIOS)
  • EPoX 8HDA3+ VIAK8T800 chipset-based motherboard (24/03/2004 BIOS)

Other components

  • AMD Athlon 64 Model 3400+ CPU (2.2GHz)
  • ASUS Radeon 9800 XT (412/730)
  • 2 x 256MB Corsair XMS3500C2, run at 2-2-2-6
  • Pioneer 105 DVD-RW
  • Western Digital 160GB (WD1600) 8MB cache hard drive
  • Western Digital 36GB Raptor SATA hard drive
  • Dell P991 19" monitor

Software

  • Windows XP Professional SP1
  • DirectX 9.0b
  • NVIDIA nForce3 Platform Driver
  • VIA Hyperion 4.51 driver set
  • ATI CATALYST 4.4 drivers and control panel
  • Pifast v4.1 to 10m places
  • Lame v3.92 MP3 encoding with Razor-Lame 1.15 front-end using U2's Pop album (607MB)
  • HEXUS XviD encoding test
  • KribiBench 1.1
  • ScienceMark 2.0
  • Realstorm Raytracing benchmark 320x180x32
  • 3DMark 2001SE v330
  • UT2003 Retail (Build 2225)
  • X2: The Threat - Rolling Demo
  • Comanche 4 benchmark
  • Quake 3 v1.30 HQ
  • Call of Duty - HEXUS Custom Test
    •
Notes

Installation went without a hitch. The board was installed into a regular Lian-Li PC60 case without issue. Under load, though, MOSFETs could often be heard squeaking.

2210.9MHz - AMD Athlon 64 Model 3400+ / EPoX 8KDA3+ (nForce3 250Gb - 2-2-2-6)

2210.9MHz - AMD Athlon 64 Model 3400+ / EPoX 8HDA3+ (K8T800 - 2-2-2-6)

2210.0MHz - AMD Athlon 64 Model 3400 / Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-250 (nForce3 250 - 2-2-2-6)

Overclocking

Given the lack of multiplier adjustment of offer, we reached a maximum driven clock of 226MHz before probable CPU failure. It's just a shame that we could not explore the board's limits. Chaintech also needs to update its site more often with newer BIOSes.





There's a lot goin' on.

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