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nTune

While performance junkies like to tweak their systems to squeeze every possible megahertz out of a rig, it is both a time consuming and tedious process. Change one setting, test to see if it's stable, test to see if there are any performance gains. Repeat ad infinitum.

nTune seeks to simplify this process - it will automatically adjust settings and test them to find the optimal combination of settings for a particular hardware configuration. Everything including the GPU, CPU, MCP, RAM, Voltage and Fans are adjusted. During the nForce 4 briefing, NVIDIA stated that there were no limitations in place with regards to settings - nTune should push the hardware as far as it will go while going through "thousands of possible configurations".

Configurations can also be saved, much like the CMOS Reloaded feature found on the DFI Lan Party NFII Ultra B. This allows the end user to toggle between a performance gaming profiles, quiet profiles for desktop work or some other profile that is usage specific. The point is that there is an easy way to change the characteristics of the computer without having to change twenty different settings from within the BIOS.

nTune is also a front end for the BIOS - everything that can be changed in the BIOS should be exposed in nTune. BIOS flashes can be done through nTune also. It will be interesting to see what kind of support for nTune will be available from OEMs. The current iteration of nTune already available to users also tries to provide a front end for the BIOS but support from manufacturers is a bit on the spotty side. The nTune feature set is going through a major upgrade so making the effort to support nTune this time around should be higher up on the priority list.