BIOSTAR - BIOSTAR K8NHA Grand nForce3 250Gb Motherboard Review

The latest BIOSTAR budget wonder takes S754’s NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb chipset as its performance base. Ryszard took a look at what makes it tick, here. Decent feature integration in the form of on-chip SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, and a hardware firewall closed the feature gap between it and VIA’s rival K8T800 Pro. A supposed working AGP/PCI lock was also seen as a bonus, although it still appears to be a hit-and-miss affair. And now with Athlon 64 power available from just £85, there’s never been a better time to build a powerful budget PC. BIOSTAR, then, may have a winner on its hands. Time to take a closer look.

…Considered in absolute isolation, the K8NHA Grand isn’t a bad board by any means. The problem is just how well the competition is doing right now, in terms of price, features and availability. BIOSTAR needs to compete and beat well-established manufacturers at their own game. This is precisely how the likes of EPoX and DFI have risen from motherboard mediocrity to current top-tier status. Unfortunately for BIOSTAR, the K8NHA Grand is another package that fails to excite. Solid, yes, spectacular and worthy of a recommendation, no.

Hexus Score 6/10

Highs
Solid benchmark performer
Good layout
Excellent stability
Lows
Poor bundle
Poor BIOS, if considered by enthusiasts’ terms
Difficult to source in the U.K

BIOSTAR K8NHA Grand nForce3 250Gb @ Hexus