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Overclocking

The BIOS of the ECS KN1 Extreme seems to set a 290 MHz upper limit on the HT bus. No matter what option above 290 MHz I selected, CPU-z confirmed that the system was in fact running at 290 MHz. On the other hand, the KN1 survived a grueling 24-hour Prime95 torture test at 290 MHz (with the RAM on a 6/5 divider). The other options I used in order to achieve this overclock were a +0.1V Vcore bump, 3x HT bus multiplier (giving an 870 MHz HT bus speed), and an 8x CPU multiplier (the chip's known maximum is 2556 MHz, 9x would have been over that).

In all honesty, if 290 MHz is not enough for you, then you are either looking at the wrong hardware, or you just think you need more than 290 MHz. If this really is merely a BIOS limitation, then there is always the chance that ECS will unlock further speeds. As it stands right now, a 90 MHz gain over stock speeds at 100% stability is a fine achievement.

As I discussed in the BIOS section of the review, the KN1 has quite a flexible array of options, allowing everyone but the most hardcore of overclockers to have a good grip on the details of the system. The usual multipliers and memory dividers, as well as a healthy choice of memory timing options are available. HT bus speed, as expected, is highly adjustable, ranging from 200 to 400 MHz in 0.5 to 2.0 MHz increments. With a decent Athlon 64 and some higher-quality RAM, even a low-to-moderately-skilled overclocker ought to give their system an all-around boost with relative ease.

Conclusion

Rarely do we get a motherboard in that almost completely dominates the charts while having the same chipset as its competitors, but ECS' KN1 Extreme is such a board. That fact alone makes it a prime candidate for an award, but let's not stop there.

For starters, stability is by far the most important aspect of any component as central to a computer system as a motherboard, and the KN1 has that box checked. There was no point during my two-day testing of the KN1 in which I experienced stability problems. All of the on-board components just worked, and at no point did I have to participate in quirk discovery/utilization (as is common with many other motherboards). Coupled together with its near-complete domination of our benchmark charts, and it is obvious that this motherboard is not one to be reckoned with.

The board itself, as we discussed earlier, has a very clean and attractive appearance, appealing to the geek who likes structure and order. With the exception of the IDE/floppy connector placement issue (which I discussed in detail), the layout of the ECS KN1 is pleasant and easy to work with. Motherboard layouts are not as much a problem nowadays as they were in the past, but it is always nice to see some extra thought go into making the user's life easier.

Bundle-wise, the ECS KN1 comes with everything you need to make use of all of its built-in features, as well as a few extras. I was particularly impressed with ECS' "BIOS TopHat" invention -- that scored huge points in my book. I rarely see interesting innovations in the motherboard department, and this is definitely one that sticks in my mind.

Lastly, since this is after all an ECS motherboard, it is priced better-than-competitively. It can be bought for an amazingly low $98 USD ($120 MSRP). Ninety-eight dollars for a top-notch nForce 4 board is something I thought I wouldn't see any time soon. You honestly can't go wrong with this motherboard: it is faster than the established leader in Socket 939 nForce 4 performance, it is highly tweakable (almost to the point of that leader), it has loads of features, looks nice, and is priced so low that you have to wonder what the justifications for competitors' pricing are.

ECS has changed face and they have a serious motherboard to prove it -- can you? The award is self-explanatory.