InsaneTek

Everyone knows that Nvidia's nForce3 and nForce4 desktop chipsets rule, at least they do for AMD's platforms.  While they have a new competitor in the field, their performance and sales are still strong.  ATI has a lot of catching up to do.  The story is much different when it comes to Intel platforms.  Their nForce4 chipset for the Intel platform is struggling, and struggling very hard.  The current C19 chipset just cannot compete with Intel's dominance.  They are obviously working hard to change all that.

One of the reasons why Intel owns the largest piece of the pie in the computer industry is because they provide the best budget computer components around.  Literally, I really mean budget.  This does not mean a somewhat decent computer at $500.  I am referring to really affordable computers that grandmas and grandpas buy with $300, or less.  How do they achieve such a feat?  The answer is not just the use of a low end Celeron, but the onboard video solution they provide.  Intel's integrated graphics solution is the most widely used onboard video solution available.  Of course it cuts down on price, but the performance is not extremely terrifying.  I used it to play Counter-Strike 1.6 and ruled!  Nvidia realizes the need to reach into that large market share and expand their grasp.  Built around the technology of the AMD nForce4 Ultra chipset, the new C51 chipset includes an onboard video similar to the Geforce 6200, called the Geforce 6150.  Gigabyte is pretty much the first to announce the use of Nvidia's new chipset featuring onboard video graphics.  Gigabyte has been making great boards lately and their new C51 offering looks mighty promising.

Gigabyte GA-K8N51PVMT-9 Package

Gigabyte provides the most impressive motherboard bundles I have ever encountered.  The numerous accessories and included software programs are just spectacular.  Of course those bundles were found in their high end motherboards.  Since Gigabyte's C51 targets at budget conscious enthusiasts, the bundle is not as majestic.  It would be quite pointless to release a budget oriented motherboard only to have the included accessories hike up the price.  The usual accessories are found: IDE and floppy ribbon cables, single SATA cable, back I/O plate, drivers CD, and user's manual.  Perhaps the greatest selling point of the C51 is the TV-out capability embedded into the Geforce 6150.  This means that Nvidia's C51 makes an excellent low end HTPC motherboard.  With the TV-out support, it is only appropriate that Gigabyte includes a cable box that allows S-Video or component cables.

Motherboard Layout

It is as expected that the C51 comes in a micro-ATX form factor--the onboard video solution lessens the need for a separate video card, unless you are a gamer and want better graphical power.  The DIMM slots are color coded orange and purple to denote dual channel capability.  At the right edge of the motherboard are the IDE connectors, floppy connector, and the ATX power connector.  The four SATA connectors are just below, at the bottom right corner.  These are color coded orange-yellow.  Gigabyte always provides good color differentiation to help users with installation.  To the right of the SATA ports is the Southbridge.  Wait, doesn't Nvidia chipsets only use one chipset?  Nvidia was the first to introduce a single desktop chipset design due to AMD's implementation of the memory controller on the CPU.  That freed the chipset from holding the responsibility for controlling memory performance.  But with the inclusion of the onboard graphics, the chipset is once again required to separate the load.  Both the Northbridge and Southbridge are cooled by passive heatsinks and did a fairly good job at keeping the chipsets cool.  During full load with onboard video enabled, the Northbridge was only warm to the touch.

A micro-ATX motherboard is always restricted to the use of four PCI slots.  The Gigabyte C51 comes with a PCI-E x16 for video upgradeability, in case if you need more graphic horsepower for your latest games.  Right below that is a PCI-E x1 slot for future add-on cards.  There are two regular PCI slots provided for a better sound solution, a TV tuner, or a wireless NIC.  If you are not an audiophile, then you won't have to worry about the onboard sound solution.  The Gigabyte C51 provides an 8-channel sound solution that is powered by the Realtek ALC880 chipset.  The sound quality is very good and I find it more than pleasing.  I hooked it up to a typical 4.1 speakers and games and music sounded great.  If you are using this motherboard for an HTPC build, I highly suggest you use something better.  Your expensive speakers will definitely receive a nice benefit.  The back I/O provides the typical ports likes the keyboard and mouse, parallel, IEEE 1394, RJ45 Ethernet, and four USB 2.0.  Since the onboard sound solution provides up to a high 8-channel speaker configuration, there are numerous audio jacks for your subwoofer, front, rear, and side speakers.  The onboard Geforce 6150 provides only an analog output so DVI monitors are lucked out.  One great feature about the onboard video of the C51 is that it comes with a TV-out connection.  If you plan to use the motherboard for an HTPC build, it will certainly come in handy.

Just because the motherboard comes in a micro-ATX form factor does not mean that the space is limited.  There is plenty of space around the CPU socket for a beefy aftermarket CPU heatsink.  While the Northbridge heatsink looks awfully close, it is low enough not to cause any compatibility issues.  The only physical gripe I would have with this motherboard would be the 4pin 12v CPU power connector.  It is located towards the top left corner of the motherboard, a hard to reach place, especially when installed inside a case.  At the very bottom of the motherboard is the front I/O connectors.  I was a bit surprised that Gigabyte did not follow their traditional colored pins for easy decoding.  They are well labeled, though.  If four USB ports at the back are not enough, there are two additional USB headers for an additional four more USB ports.  To the left of that is the extra IEEE 1394 header.  It is not pictured (sorry), but it is clearly marked.

BIOS

Micro-ATX motherboards are never known to be great overclockers, so any options would be a plus from the start.  While browsing around in the BIOS, I noticed that there were no DRAM timing options, not even under the Advanced Chipset section.  Does that mean that we are forced to run our memory at 2T?  There is no need to fret; Gigabyte often hides these extra options.  To open up these options, simply press CTRL and F1 simultaneously.  The screen will flicker once and you will notice some additional options.

• HTT Frequency:  200MHz - 300MHz
• LDT Multiplier:  1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, AUTO
• PCI-E Frequency:  100MHz - 145MHz
• CPU Multiplier:  Default, 5x - highest your CPU allows
• Memory Dividers:  100, 133, 166, 200, 216, 233, 250

Although some extra options became available after pressing CTRL + F1, there were still no voltage options shown.  Perhaps that is a bit too conservative on Gigabyte's part.  There might not be a need for excessive voltage options, but at least a little bit would help.  Without any voltage options, the overclocking headroom does not look too promising.

Results

Sysmark 2004

Sysmark2004 is a very common benchmark used to measure a system's potential in performance.  It goes through long and grueling tests that include compression and decompression and office intensive programs.

3DMark2001SE

3DMark is probably the overclocker's favorite benchmark.  Unlike 3DMark2003, which stresses mainly the video card, 3DMark2001SE tests all of the system's main components.  Increasing the CPU speed, memory speed, and video card speeds will result in higher results in the final score.

PCMark2004

The PCMark2004 system benchmark puts the entire system to work.

PCMark2002

PCMark2002 is older than PCMark2004 but still very similar.