Single channel Nforce2 400 dethrones its dual channel stablemate

ENTHUSIAST SITE amdmb.com discovered this unexpected anomaly, which could have far reaching Socket-A repercussions.

Soltek's bottom dollar SL-NV400-64 motherboard, which is based on the single channel nForce2 400 chipset, is the cause of all this news. What is amazing is that it beat Asus' dual channel flagship product - the A7N8X Deluxe, in the majority of benchmarks. Ryan Shrout, the amdmb.com reviewer, who put Soltek's motherboard through its paces, suggests that its performance lead in UT 2K3 is down to the additional overhead that a dual channel system board has to deal with. Looking at the rest of the results, I would apply that comment as a general across the board statement.

Soltek's motherboard retails at a new egg price of $76 - the version without LAN will apparently be sold for under $70. Asustek's $130 flagship adds an additional $54, which would buy you a Thoroughbred 1700+ and its cooling kit. Will this more for less attribute drive more enthusiasts to buy Soltek's better performing solution?

Soltek's overall performance lead is not earth shattering, but like everything else in this industry, perception is everything. Of the 14 benchmarks that were run, Soltek's board won 11 of them, drew 2, and lost only one. For the record:

Quake 3: Evenly matched results
UT 2K3: 5.5 to 11.1% lead
3D Mark 2K1: Wins by a nose
PC Mark 2K2: Two out of three is good enough.
SiSoft Sandra 2K2: A win in memory, but ties in CPU
Cachemem: 5.7% to 9.3% lead
Business Winstone 2K1 & 2K2: A win in both
CC Winstone 2K1, 2K2, & 2K3: Soltek takes the Triple Crown
SPECviewperf 7: Asus' only win
ScienceMark: Pretty much a draw

When the INQUIRER reported on the first details of Nvidia's single channel nForce2 400 platform processors, the author wrote that this lower cost chipset would of course be slower. Well, Soltek has proved this expectation to be utterly wrong. amdmb.com did contact Nvidia to solicit a credible explanation, but the reviewer hasn't put much faith in Nvidia's responses.

Will Soltek's board
achieve K7S5A's cult status?
What Soltek has accomplished is very reminiscent to what ECS achieved with its K7S5A motherboard, which is based on the SIS735 single chip platform processor. If you remember, when the SIS735 reference board was tested in mid 2001, it won all but one benchmark. The success that ECS has had with this product is attributable to its excellent price/performance and features. Today, the current Pro version has the addition of USB2, and at $47, it still offers great value.

Does Soltek's motherboard have what it takes to repeat the success that ECS had with its K7S5A? If first impressions are important, then Soltek's motherboard layout looks just about right; it's a clean uncluttered design. There are only two memory DIMM slots, but because of its single channel design, and the market that it's targeted at, this won't be an issue. Because the board supports a 400 DDR FSB, it will support all current Athlons. So this gives the enthusiast great flexibility to start low - 266 DDR FSB, and aim high - 400+ DDR FSB. From these first impressions, and the price/performance that this board delivers, Soltek could be on to a winner.

Single channel nForce2 400: Will
it change Socket-A's market dynamics?
Nvidia has probably known all along that the performance of its dual channel nForce2 chipset is inferior to its single channel stablemate. Why release the faster product when Nvidia's competitors haven't been able to surpass its dual channel design? After VIA has struggled for over 6 months to deliver a chipset that's within a stones throw of Nvidia's performance leader, Nvidia then releases its single channel design that offers better overall performance at lower cost. Some dual channel nForce2 owners might not be happy to find out that they paid more for less. But from Nvidia's perspective, and the cutthroat market that it operates in, I would guess the company views this as just business.

The amdmb.com reviewer rightly points out that if the performance of the Soltek board is the norm for this chipset, why wouldn't the board manufacturers offer full featured system boards as well? That might just happen.

It's worth looking ahead to gain a better understanding of how Athlon64 will affect the Socket-A market. As soon as it debuts, any Socket-A motherboard will immediately take on second class status, and that drop in prestige will have a knock on effect that will degrade the Socket-A board price.

Because Athlon64's debut will drive Socket-A board prices down, I believe the top Socket-A boards will revert to single channel designs. Dual channel designs will still be used for UMA-based solutions because the additional bandwidth does offer substantial gains in graphics performance.

Nvidia's message to VIA, SIS, and
ALi: Pack your bags, we're moving in
As for Nvidia's competition, they had better watch out. Nvidia is on a roll. Its market share of the Socket-A chipset market is currently around 20%, and Nvidia plans to be at 50% by year-end. Its single chip nForce3 professional platform processors are now in volume production, so systems should be available by month's end. The graphics giant will also launch a single chip platform processor to complement Athlon64's launch. So from a performance, technological, and an enterprise product perspective, Nvidia just keeps getting stronger. How can these companies slow down the Nvidia juggernaut?

Going back to the original nForce era, Eric Chang, then VP of marketing at Via, expressed his greatest fear: "All you need is one good product and you have an instant 30-40% market share". It looks like that fear is well founded, but we're not talking about just one good product. When Athlon64 arrives, the Taiwanese chipset vendors will be up against three world class performers, and low prices won't be enough to remain a credible player.

When slower actually means faster
Going back to the INQUIRER story on Nvidia's single channel chipset, the author closed his report by saying, "The hard task will be to explain why Nforce2 400 is actually slower than Nforce2 SPP". It would seem today that Nvidia's problem has just turned a full 180 degrees. µ

See Also
Soltek SL-NV400-64 review at XHARDWARE
Socket-A Experiencing a Chipset Renaissance?
Nvidia's Crush K8S to tape out in July
Nvidia segments Nforce 2, just like its hero Intel
Will Nforce3 boost Opteron uptake?