GIGABYTE - Gigabyte K8 Triton GA-K8NS Pro Motherboard Review

Gigabyte are one such manufacturer that did take the nForce3 150 plunge, with the GA-K8NNXP, so their nForce3 250 product had an established base from which the new product was created. They argue that that’s enabled them to create a best-of-breed nForce3 250 product to follow the K8NNXP, so when they asked if they could send over a sample of the K8NS Pro, a motherboard I’d first come into contact with back when nForce3 250 first launched, I was intrigued and could hardly say no.

It’s not quite a K8NNXP with just a bridge change, but it’s close. So if you’re familiar with that board there won’t be too many surprises. So if you’re looking to upgrade to, or invest in, the world of Socket 754 Athlon 64 or Sempron, the K8NS Pro might just be worth a look.

The K8NS Pro felt every inch the solid Gigabyte mainboard that they’re famous for. It didn’t miss a beat during testing, BIOS operation was flawless and stability was excellent. After that, and given that the ASUS K8N-E is just as good at those things, it’s the feature set that determines what you purchase for your Athlon 64 CPU these days, with performance being so derivative and tied to the CPU itself.

…The upsides definitely outweight the downsides with the K8NS Pro. Recommended.

Pros
Great performance
Complete stability
Plenty of overclocking
Good presentation, bundle and manual
Flexible ATA and SATA setups possible
Cons
Not the cheapest S754 mainboard on the planet
Doesn’t arrive with the cable needed for 8-channel audio
Score 9

Gigabyte K8 Triton GA-K8NS Pro @ HEXUS