Targeting enthusiasts, the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Zenith VE is actually a mainstream board with a budget-class price. For well under $100, buyers get an incredibly good board with the feature-packed nForce4 Ultra chipset. Supporting up to eight ATA devices natively, the board delivers solid storage options, making competing solutions' add-in drive controllers seem frivolous. But Chaintech's target market deserves an IEEE1394 controller, even if it adds a few dollars to the price.

The Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Zenith VE is among the most stable, highest-clocking boards we've tested. Finding the overclocking limit of this board, however, proved troublesome, as it lost every custom BIOS setting at the slightest hint of instability. A top overclocker, true, but getting there is too much work.

Other strengths, such as its all-business look, serviceable chipset cooler, reinforced backplate, and low price make this board a particularly excellent choice for system integrators. (As a testament to this board's overall quality, it seems that at least one major graphics manufacturer is thought to be marketing a re-branded version -- at double the price.)

Also handy for business use, both "Cool and Quiet" and "Automatic Fan Control" are enabled by default.

Pros:

• Good overall performance
• Full nForce4 Ultra feature set
• Great stability, even at high bus speeds
• Reasonable software kit
• Excellent price
• Serviceable chipset cooler
• Quality appearance

Cons:

• No IEEE1394 FireWire option
• Minor but numerous layout issues
• Cumbersome Overclocking
• Mediocre Capacitor Quality

The Verdict: Great for system integrators and budget-minded enthusiasts alike, the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Zenith VE provides the highest possible value in the Performance-Mainstream market.