NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI & 590 SLI, K9N SLI Platinum specs
For its fifth generation of nForce chipsets, NVIDIA's built upon the success of its nForce 4 efforts and put a bit of thought into how to position the various products within its 500 series to ensure a decent spread of the market. nForce 550 is a mainstream part, while nForce 570 Ultra is a non-SLI performance part. It's the 570 and 590 SLI we're more interested in right now, however, as they're geared more towards the avid gamer and enthusiast. Here's a breakdown of features we might be interested in:
| Chipset | NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI | NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI |
|---|---|---|
| HT speed | 1GHz | 1GHz |
| Bridge config. | Single-chip - MCP | Two-chip - MCP+SPP |
| Total number of PCIe lanes | 28 (6 links) | 46 (9 links) |
| SLI: PCIe lanes per card | 8x | 16x |
| LinkBoost Tech. | No | Yes |
| Optimized for SLI-ready memory | No | Yes |
| SATA speed | 3Gbps | 3Gbps |
| RAID modes supported | 0,1,0+1,5 | 0,1,0+1,5 |
| Audio | High Definition (Azalia) | High Definition (Azalia) |
| Ethernet Controllers | 2x 1Gbps | 2x 1Gbps |
| DualNet/FirstPacket support | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes |
| USB2.0 ports | 10 | 10 |
We've cut out some of the features from the list, because some of the less exciting ones are present in both. There is, of course, some marketing spin going on too, with NVIDIA claiming the nForce 590 SLI will have an enthusiast BIOS, while the 570 SLI won't; surely that's down the mainboard manufacturer? Anyway, the biggest difference, and that one that'll really clinch it for people, is the number of lanes each graphics card will get in SLI mode.
For those who see a few unfamiliar technologies, here's a quick run-through to get you up to speed. SLI-optimised memory and LinkBoost are part of a NVIDIA scheme whereby 'certified components', when installed in the system, allow automatic bus-speed increases to deliver extra performance. DualNet allows the two onboard 1Gbps network controllers to be teamed up to double the bandwidth available, and FirstPacket prioritises outgoing data with an aim to delivering lower gaming pings.
Anyway, back to the main difference between the two chipsets... run an nForce 590 SLI-based board and you get full x16 bandwidth to both cards, but with a 570 SLI you're stuck with the 'original' x8 lanes per card style SLI. Can you live with that? Quite likely, considering that our testing has shown minimal performance gains when switching two high-end NVIDIA cards, in SLI formation, from x8 to x16 lanes. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at the MSI K9N SLI Platinum.
Specification
Apologies for some repeated info - some of the features in the K9N SLI Platinum's spec. sheet have already appeared in the section just above.
| Board Feature | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Single chipset | NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP |
| Processor Support | All AMD Socket AM2 microprocessors including: Athlon 64 FX Athlon 64 X2 Athlon 64 Sempron |
| HyperTransport | 2GHz (1GHz DDR) |
| Memory Support | DDR2 400/533/667/800 8GiB total, 4 slots |
| Graphics Support | PCI Express 2 PEG x16 slots (electrical, x8 in SLI) |
| PCI Express | 2 x PCIe 1X |
| PCI Conventional | 3 x PCI 2.3 slots (PCI3: Orange slot for special MSI dual-function cards i.e. Bluetooth+WLAN) |
| Networking | 2 x NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet with NVIDIA DualNet |
| FireWire | VIA 1394a controller on PCI 3 x FW400 ports (1 x on I/O backplate, 2 x Expansion bracket) |
| Audio | Realtek ALC883; HD Audio, 10-channel (7.1+2) Jack-sensing, optical TosLink digital out |
| USB | nForce 570 SLI MCP; 10 ports USB2.0 |
| Disks | 6 SATA300, 1 ATA133 IDE, RAID0,1,0+1,5 |
Lots of SATA and not much PATA, which is what you get with nForce 570 SLI. Everything else is just as you'd expect.