AM2 MBO Round-up: Part IV
Author: Josip Brombauer
Date: 11 Dec 2006

With the beginning of a new week comes another installment of our AM2 board round-up. The two boards reviewed today both feature the nForce 590 SLI chipset, but they differ significantly in their additional capabilities. The Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S4 is more of a value conscious enthusiast board, while the Abit Fatal1ty AN9 32X attempts to go all the way in providing you the ultimate AM2 setup. Let's check out how they compare to the rest of the pack.
Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S4

Gigabyte's GA-59SLI-S4 is a pretty action-packed motherboard, however you look at it. It has four DDR2, two PCI-Express x16, one PCI-Express x8 and two old PCI slots, just in case you need to use older hardware. Of course, it also has the usual bits and pieces - six Serial ATA connectors, IDE and floppy connector, 4+6 USB 2.0 ports (via three additional onboard connectors), 1+2 IEEE 1394a connectors and one Gigabit Ethernet port on the backpanel. Also, standard things on the backpanel - 2 PS/2 ports, parallel port, S/PDIF out and six audio jacks. Pretty much what you'd expect from a high-end motherboard, though nothing over the top. There's also another model that's basically the same (S5), but with better cooling solution and two onboard Gigabit Ethernet connectors.
While testing, we noticed that it doesn't really work with 1T memory timings, which is a shame. Whatever you may think of Gigabyte?s naming scheme, you have to admit it is consistent. This board notifies you right from the start what chipset it is based on and points out the fact that it has four of Gigabyte?s S features. In addition to Speed, Smart and Safe, now we also get SLI. The backside of the box is the place where Gigabyte?s marketing department struggles to explain to you just how cool all these S features are, so be sure to check it out.
The board itself shouts Gigabyte as soon as you take a look at it, with its blue PCB and colourfull plastic parts.