ECS KN1 Extreme nForce4 Ultra Motherboard Review

ExtremeTech reviews the ECS KN1 Extreme, an inexpensive nForce4 Ultra board aimed at the hardcore gaming crowd. While previous reviewers have given the KN1 Extreme decent ratings and even a few awards, ET ran into one or two stability problems with their particular review board:

Such RAM stability problems are a major problem and enough for us to warn you to stay away from this motherboard. Naturally, we wouldn’t expect all the KN1 Extreme boards to have this problem, but it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence when the one they send out for review does. We hope that a BIOS update will cure this issue, but until that happens, we suggest you approach this board with some caution.

ECS’s performance Socket 939 board has an attractive price, easily $20 to $40 lower than many other nForce 4 Ultra motherboards. Its lack of BIOS options and poor stability puts it at the back of the pack, though. It’s not a bargain at any price.