ECS KN1 Extreme Motherboard Review (nForce4 Ultra)

ECS’ KN1 Extreme builds on the same formula that made the K7S5A so special, building a board that’s designed for the hardcore gaming crowd. Of course, you probably realized that the moment you saw the motherboard’s twin cooling fans. But that’s definitely not the only feature this motherboard supports…

..The real positive that the KN1 Extreme has going for it is its price. Already the board can be found for just under $120 online, prices will likely fall even further once more boards become available and competition really sets in. The nearest competitor in price so far is Chaintech’s VNF4/Ultra Zenith board, which doesn’t have the cooling found on the ECS motherboard or the added extras, such as 802.11g WiFi, dual LAN, and six Serial ATA ports. ECS delivers more features and does so at a lower price.

Its because of this that we’ve awarded the KN1 Extreme our Bull’s Eye Award. As regular FiringSquad readers probably know, the Bull’s Eye Award is all about price/performance, and right now the KN1 Extreme delivers the best blend of price and performance among nForce4 Ultra motherboards currently available on the retail market. It may not have all the bells and whistles that an enthusiast would like to see in BIOS, but from a pure hardware perspective, ECS for the most part got everything right. All the raw ingredients are there, ECS just needs to add a bit of polish to their cooling implementation, and beef up the KN1 Extreme’s BIOS a bit more.

ECS KN1 Extreme Review
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