Thoughts, HEXUS.awards and HEXUS.right2reply
abit's KN9 SLI ran a 9-hour burn-in test in our labs without any trouble, along with a further barrage of tests and burn-ins under different configurations. However, we are somewhat concerned with its POSTing issues with DDR2-800 RAM and USB devices, along with the possibly related USB performance. abit have indicated it's related to specific RAM modules, so watch out for compatability in the meantime. We'll bring you more information related to this issue if and when we get it.
Once again we run into nForce 570 SLI and NVIDIA 90-series driver issues in SLI. It's a bit of a let down for board makers using this chipset to see that their performance gaming boards can't make use of the latest drivers yet. The same is true of nTune. These compatibility issues don't just hang over this sole board, however.
On to the good stuff, then. This board has a great layout. Once again abit shows a great deal of care in positioning headers in both useful and accessible locations.
Performance of this board, barring USB, is excellent. We've shown how the cheaper nForce 570 SLI chipset can hold its own against its bigger brother. Add to this the fact that abit's board has a good number of BIOS options for tweaking, trumping MSI's K9N SLI Platinum. Nevertheless, there could still be more. The question is whether somebody deliver it with this chipset or not?
If silent cooling is your thing, then abit's got it covered with its Silent OTES solution. As we've already highlighted, however, take care that there's enough airflow for the chipset to be kept cool and operational.
What abit has here is the grounds for a very appealing board. While there do seem to be some compatability issues to iron out, we hope abit can fix these to boost its appeal further. Regardless of this, however, the abit KN9 SLI presents itself as a very cheap nForce 570 SLI solution and it's that which gives it it's ultimate appeal. It's not a perfect board, then, but it's value still makes it well worth considering.
HEXUS Where2Buy
The abit KN9 SLI is available from SCAN.
