Chaintech ZNF3-150 Zenith nForce3 Motherboard

If someone asked me for the best motherboard package available, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend two mainboard lines -- DFI's LANParty line and Chaintech's Zenith line. When I first reviewed the Chaintech 7NJS Zenith (nForce2) motherboard, I was more than impressed with the huge bundle and features. It was by far the best package (albeit pricey) I had seen to date, but then months later DFI comes along and throws LANParty boards into the fray. As a big fan of big bundles, I started to wonder which one I liked more.

To be honest, I still haven't decided which I prefer, but these two motherboard lines are two of the best around as far as the bundles are concerned. Additionally, they are usually top-of-the-line performers as well! This review will focus on Chaintech's Zenith line and in particular the Athlon64 offering -- the ZNF3-150 Zenith, based on the NVIDIA nForce3 150 chip. Not only does this board feature the awesome Zenith bundle, but it also features some innovative features as well, such as RadEX. Keep reading to learn more...

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Specifications

Special Features and Bundle

The ZNF3-150 Zenith sports a very impressive list of features and the extensive bundle that Zenith fans have come to love. I was excited to open this package to see all the goodies included. Here is some additional information about some of the ZNF3-150's extras.

» RadEX -- Keeping Things Cool

Here is a description of Chaintech's innovative RadEX technology directly from Chaintech's site:

What is RadEX ?

Revolutionary: CHAINTECH is the pioneer among the rest of motherboard makers to design the first onboard thermal solution - RadEX!
Active: Heat dissipation begins from the power source, RadEX actively diverts the high temperature away from the hot spots instantly!
Direct: CHAINTECH migrates Super Conductive Heatpipe Technology from space applications into motherboard cooling! It is an ideal, fast, the direct heat conducting method that guarantees you an everlasting stability!
EXhaust: RadEX draws the hot air straight out of your system and completely eliminates overheating!

The RadEX technology will probably remind you of Abit's MAX3 boards with OTES technology, which is also designed to help keep the motherboard's hot spots cooler in effort to improve overall cooling and performance. Chaintech has a different approach to it though, as you can see in the pictures below. You can read more detailed information about RadEX here.

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» CBOX3 -- A Practical and Flexible 5.25" Bay Device

• 6-in-1 card reader enables the fastest way to access your digital records.
• "DigiDoc" displays CPU temperature and 80-port codes during PORT at boot up.
• Provides front access to one IEEE1394 port, two USB ports and headphone and mic connections.
• Match your case color -- silver, beige and black faceplates included!

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I first saw the CBOX3 at Chaintech Reloaded, a Chaintech press event, last year, and I've been wanting one ever since. Everyone at the event was impressed that Chaintech decided to include three faceplates (silver, beige and black) with the new CBOX. It's a great idea that's sure to please many users since those are the three most common case colors on the market today. You won't have to break out the vinyl dye! In addition to the faceplates, Chaintech added a 6-in-1 flash card reader to the CBOX3. This required removing two of the USB ports (the CBOX2 has four), but I'd gladly give up two USB ports on my CBOX2 for the card reader. The CBOX3 is easily one of the best and most practical bundle items ever included with any motherboard. Kudos to Chaintech. I hope other manufacturers take note of what Chaintech is trying to do here.

» The Bundle

• ZNF3-150 Zenith Motherboard
• I/O Shield (nice and sturdy color-coded one, not the typical flimsy, cheap ones most companies include)
• Round Cables -- 2 x IDE and 1 x Floppy
  • World's first "Round Cable" bundle brought to you by CHAINTECH, an innovative streamliner ribbon cable provides better overall system stability and neatness.
  • Clutter-free for easy installation!
  • Improved air flow inside of your system chassis.
  • Matching color lightens up your PC.
• 4 x Serial ATA Cable
• 2 x Serial ATA Power Cable
• CMC (Chaintech Multimedia Card)
  • Fits in Chaintech proprietary CMR (Chaintech Multimedia Riser) and integrates most multimedia functions within one card, including two IEEE1394 (FireWire) ports, three audio jacks for 7.1 channel surround and one S/PDIF port for digital audio output.
• User's Guide (English & Multi-language)
• EZ Manual
• Driver and Utility CD
• Thermal grease pack
• CBOX3 Package
  • 5.25" CBOX3
  • USB 10-pin cable
  • Front audio 10-pin cable
  • 80-port 10-pin cable
  • IEEE1394 8-pin cable
  • Zenith Emblem case badge
  • Digidoc 80-port POST error code list
  • Silver, black and beige faceplates
• Software Value-Pack 2003
  • Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 2003: Norton AntiVirus is the world's most trusted antivirus solution. Now this is easy-to-use program to scan and clean instant-message attachments as well as email messages. It removes viruses automatically without interrupting your work. And automatic updates help defend your PC against new viruses.
  • Image It: It's an excellent system backup tool that has great features. You can install and operate it easily. As long as you need, you can create an image file of the system or data, then store it onto the local HD or record it on a CD. Whenever you meet the problems, you can use it to get back your system and data.
  • ProMagic 6.0: ProMagic6.0 is an instant system recovery software that not only provides convenient instant restoration but also brings your data back to the preferred state at any specific restore time point as desired. ProMagic6.0 can back up your data by simply create a restore point with a click.
• Screwdriver

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As you can see, the ZNF3-150 Zenith includes a lot of useful stuff. I especially appreciate the round cables and SATA cables that match the board colors. The EZ Manual is also a great quick reference tool. It's basically a big, full-color poster that includes a lot of useful information that will help you out when setting up and tweaking the board. As you already know, I am a huge fan of the CBOX3 package, which includes all the cables you need to hook it up.

Closer Look

The layout of the ZNF3-150 is quite logical and caused me no problems during installation. Considering that the nForce3 platform only includes one chip and not your typical northbridge/southbridge combination, the lack of clutter isn't too surprising. The nForce3 chip is covered by a nice-looking, custom heatsink that matches the Zenith theme of the board. It's gold colored, just like the back I/O panel. Speaking of colors, you can also see the cool black and orange theme featured on this board. The PCB (printed circuit board) is all black while the PCI slots, IDE connections and DIMM slots are orange. Orange is my favorite color, so I'm diggin' it.

Click here for even bigger (1024x768) pic of entire board

If you've looked at the pictures so far, you may have noticed that Chaintech opted to use a four phase power design, which leads to more stable power supply. You can also see there is more than enough room around the CPU socket for a standard cooler. I had no problems installing my AVC HSF (heatsink/fan).

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This board also features five PCI slots, which should be plenty for most users. Chaintech also includes a small brown slot that they call the CMR or Chaintech Multimedia Riser. It is designed to work with the included CMC (Chaintech Multimedia Card). Just behind the PCI slots, you can see that great looking heatsink I mentioned. This is of course placed directly on top of the nForce3 chip to help keep it cool.

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The three DIMM slots allow up to 2GB of memory to be installed. The three ATA133 IDE connections should help you spread out all the IDE devices you need. Four Serial ATA ports are supported by the Silicon Image SIL3114 SATA RAID controller, which provides RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 1+0 functionality. Hopefully, I'll have enough SATA drives soon to actually give this RAID controller a spin. The various CBOX3 headers are also spread out on the board in various locations.

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This section wouldn't be complete without a look at the back I/O panel. Like other Zenith boards, the I/O panel is gold for a slightly nicer look. Additionally, the ZNF3-150's I/O panel includes a section for the RadEX exhaust, which you can see is to the right of the PS/2 ports. Other than that, there isn't anything unusual about this board. It features the typical PS/2, printer, serial, Ethernet, USB and audio ports.

Installation and Setup

As I mentioned above, I had no problems during the actual physical installation of the ZNF3-150 Zenith and my components. The case I used was the CrazyPC Stealth Case, which is based on the Lian-Li PC61. Thanks to its removable motherboard tray and the motherboard's good layout, installation was a breeze. I installed the processor, AVC HSF, Leadtek GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, two sticks of Corsair DDR, the Chaintech CMC, all my drives and the CBOX3 without issue, just as it should be.

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Booting up the system and software installation was a slightly different story, but only concerning the BIOS, which gave me a couple headaches. After installing Windows XP Pro and updating it, I decided I would flash the BIOS to the latest version at that time, dated 12/3/03. The update was successful, but the BIOS would lock up on the CAS latency screen! I had never experienced a BIOS locking up before, so I was quite frustrated. Fortunately, when I came back to tackle the problem, Chaintech had released an even newer BIOS, dated 12/19/03. There was no claim to fix the problem I was having, but it fixed the problem nonetheless.

Driver and software installation was trouble-free. I installed the Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet drivers, NVIDIA Forceware 53.03, NVIDIA nForce 3.13 drivers, Chaintech's DigiDoc utility and the VIA Envy24HT audio controller drivers and had absolutely no problems.

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