nForce3 chipset series were created by NVIDIA for use with various AMD64 processors. When the Athlon 64 was launched, the NVIDIA nForce3 150 and VIA K8T800 were the only two chipsets available. The 150 chipset was widely criticized for using a 600 Mhz HyperTransport interface, when VIA had implemented the AMD specification at 800 Mhz, even though overall performance was still good. The 150 also lacked features. Subsequent revisions of the chipset corrected these omissions.

nForce3-250

Socket 754, basic value chipset, 800HT, does not include on-chip Gigabit LAN or on-chip Firewall.

nForce3-250Gb

Socket 754, 800HT, includes Gigabit LAN and on-chip Firewall.

nForce3-250Gb Ultra

Socket 939, 1000HT, Gigabit LAN, Firewall, Dual-Channel unbuffered, for Athlon 64/Athlon 64 FX.

nForce3-250Gb Ultra PRO

Socket 940, 1000HT, Gigabit LAN, Firewall, for Opteron.

Perhaps most notably the 250 revision of the nForce 3, featured the world’s first native Gigabit Ethernet interface, and a hardware-optimized Firewall. However, the quality integrated SoundStorm audio found in nForce2 was noticably missing, supposedly for cost reasons.

External Links

• NVIDIA: nForce3
• Anandtech: nForce3-250 - Part 1: Taking Athlon 64 to the Next Level
• Anandtech: nForce3-250 - Part 2: Taking Athlon 64 to the Next Level
• Anandtech: Which Boards Have On-Chip LAN?