ECS KN3 SLI2 Extreme Motherboard Review

Main Specifications

ECS KN3 SLI2 Extreme main features are:

• Socket: AM2.
• Chipset: NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI.
• Super I/O: ITE IT8716F
• Parallel IDE: Two ATA-133 ports, one controlled by the chipset and the other controlled by JMicron JMB363 chip.
• Serial IDE: Eight SATA-300 ports, six controlled by the chipset (NCQ, RAID0, RAID1, RAID0+1, RAID5 and JBOD) and two controlled by Jmicron JMB363 chip (RAID0, RAID1, JBOD, Port Multiplier). One of the ports controlled by the chipset is soldered on the motherboard rear panel.
• USB: 10 USB 2.0 ports (four soldered on the motherboard and six available through I/O brackets; this motherboard comes with one I/O bracket with two ports; four ports are left over).
• FireWire (IEEE 1394a): Two ports controlled by VIA VT6308 chip. This motherboard comes with one I/O bracket with one port; the other is left over.
• On-board audio: Produced by the chipset together with a Realtek ALC883 codec (eight channels, 24-bit resolution, up to 96 kHz sampling rate for the inputs and up to 192 kHz sampling rate for the outputs, 85 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the inputs and 95 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the outputs).
• On-board video: No.
• On-board LAN: Yes, two Gigabit Ethernet controlled by the chipset together with two Marvel 88E1116 chips.
• Buzzer: No.
• Power supply: ATX12V v2.x (24-pin).
• Slots: Two x16 PCI Express slots, two x1 PCI Express slots and two PCI slots.
• Memory: Four DDR-DIMM sockets (up to 32 GB up to DDR2-800/PC2-6400).
• Number of CDs that come with this motherboard: 2 CDs.
• Programs included: drivers and utilities.
• Extra features: Backup BIOS module, active cooling duct, LED’s indicating whether the busses are operational or not (Doctor LED) and PCI slot with better filtering (PCI Extreme).
• More Information: https://www.ecs.com.tw
• Average price in the US*: USD 145.00

* Researched at Shopping.c
om on the day we published this review.