| Performance |
We compared the VNF4 Ultra to two other Performance-Mainstream boards, the EVGA 133-K8-NF43 and ECS KN1 Extreme, using the popular benchmarks 3D Mark 2005, 3D Mark 2003, and SiSoft Sandra. All platforms were set at stock bus speeds and 2.5-3-3-8, 1T memory timings.
| Testbed Configuration | |
| Motherboards | Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Zenith VE EVGA 133-K8-NF43-AX ECS KN1 Extreme |
| Video card | EVGA 6800GT 256MB |
| RAM | Crucial Ballistix PC4000 (2 x 256MB) |
| CPU | AMD Athlon64 3200+, 2.0GHz Venice |
| Hard Drive | Samsung SpinPoint-P 160GB SATA |
| Optical | Sony CDU4811 CD-ROM |
| Sound | Unused (default onboard drivers loaded) |
| Network | Unused (default onboard drivers loaded) |
| OS | Windows XP Service Pack 2 |
| Drivers | nVidia ForceWare 71.25 graphics, nForce 6.34 chipset |
As seen previously, AMD's on-die memory controller has made large performance differences improbable for most applications, and similarities between nForce4 chipset platforms have further normalized scores. In fact, a variation between 200 and 201 MHz default bus speed, normally accepted, would be enough to account for the differences seen here.
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