Probably about time for some news. [H]ard|OCP has a GeForce 6800 roundup. The GeForce 6800 (or as some people call it, the “Non Ultra”) is also based on the same NV40 GPU that the GeForce 6800Ultra is. So that means it supports every single 3D and 2D feature that the GeForce 6800Ultra does. The difference is that it has been reduced in performance to meet its target audience, which is $200 less than the GeForce 6800Ultra. To make this happen NVIDIA downgraded it to 12 pixel pipelines and 5 vertex shader units as well as reducing the core and memory speed. Those are the only changes that were made, so only performance is affected. Even if you can't buy them (like me), it's cool to check this stuff out. Meanwhile, PC Perspective manhandles Asus K8N-E Socket 754 motherboard. First would be the sheer amount of drive connectivity. There are 6 SATA connections, and 2 IDE channels for 4 IDE drives, so you can have a total of 10 drives. Then there is the 8-channel audio, coax and optical outputs, 8 USB connections, and Firewire built right into the back panel. Finally, there is Gigabit LAN to round it out. There’s no shortage of features for most users out there. As if that isn’t enough, Asus bundles enough accessories to take advantage of the extra connections on the motherboard like 4 SATA cables, Firewire and USB brackets. That's Asus for ya.
6 SATA connectors?!!! My mobo only has 2 and they're in the most inconvinient positions possible. Right behind my GFX card. Since my card is long, it stretches out over the connectors. My vanta-16 is small enough but my 5900 stops me from using SATA hard drives.
Actually, Asus could've easily implemented up to 8, as the nForce 3 250Gb can support up to 4 SATA ports + 2 IDE ports, but they chose not to. I guess it's good that motherboards are sporting a lot of SATA ports, as there is a move toward SATA optical drives, but there's still some kinks to be worked out concerning SATA controller compatibility. That'll come in time though.
