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Biostar TPower N750 nForce 750a Motherboard Review
Biostar TPower N750 nForce 750a Motherboard Review - PCSTATS
The Biostar TPower N750 motherboard is based on the single chipset Nvidia 750A SLI MCP, which means this board supports two NVIDIA Geforce videocards in SLI.
 74% Rating:   
Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Biostar Jan 17 2009   J. Apong  
Home > Reviews > Motherboards > Biostar TPower N750

Are SLI + IGP really worth the extra price?

The Biostar TPower N750 is a motherboard that seems to be a little bit confused about its place and purpose in life. It's priced like a premium performance motherboard but it lacks critical features that enthusiasts have come to expect from other motherboards in the same price range.

It's got video options that seem to cater to the introductory and low-cost PC builders, but it supports dual-graphics modes that are normally reserved for enthusiast gaming rigs. Even the layout of the PCB and the need to manually set jumpers for SLI mode shows Biostar's confusion over what to do with the nVidia nForce 750a chipset.

In PCSTATS performance benchmarks the TPower N750's overall CPU and memory performance was on par with most of the other integrated motherboards. The nForce 750a SLI chipset's integrated Geforce 8200 graphics still manages better gaming performance than Intel's IGP offerings, but in most situations is slower than AMD's 780G/790GX on-board graphics performance. This chipset also supports SLI mode, which seems a little out of place for a motherboard with an IGP. SLI mode is also a bit of a compromise, with dual Geforce graphics cards limited to x8 lanes of PCI Express 2.0 bandwidth each in SLI mode, rather than the x16 lanes of bandwidth per card possible on the nVidia nForce 780a SLI chipset.

Firewire and 3.0Gbps eSATA are conspicuously absent from the Biostar TPower N750 motherboard. The Biostar TPower N750 overclocked to a moderate 270MHz in our labs. Extensive BIOS and overclocking options give a lot of control over individual timings and speeds, which is handy not only for pushing the system beyond its original specs but also for making the motherboard more compatible with finicky hardware.

A DVI-to-HDMI adapter allows HD video output over HDMI cable with audio, great for HTPC builders. The Biostar TPower N750 showed low CPU usage when playing back HD files and Blu-ray movies, with no hitching or skipping noticeable.

Once everything is tested, though, these positive points aren't enough to justify the Biostar's $200 CDN ($160 USD, £100 GBP) price tag. It's possible to get excellent IGP motherboards that are just as suited for HTPC or home computing purposes for considerably less money, and include important features like analog video output. In the same vein, enthusiast motherboards come with greater bandwidth for SLI configurations. The Biostar TPower N750 is somewhere between these two extremes, offering benefits from both ends of the spectrum but also inheriting a few too many flaws to be fully recommended.

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Contents of Article: Biostar TPower N750
 Pg 1.  Biostar TPower N750 nForce 750a Motherboard Review
 Pg 2.  nVidia nForce 750a SLI Chipset - Videocard or IGP?
 Pg 3.  Blu-Ray and High Definition Content Playback Benchmarks
 Pg 4.  Motherboard Highlights - Biostar Photo Gallery
 Pg 5.  Overclocking the AMD 750a and the BIOS
 Pg 6.  Motherboard Benchmarks: SYSmark 2007 Preview, SuperPi
 Pg 7.  Motherboard Benchmarks: SiSoft Sandra 2008, PCMark Vantage
 Pg 8.  Motherboard IGP/VGA Benchmarks: 3DMark06, 3DMark Vantage, FEAR
 Pg 9.  DX10 Motherboard IGP Benchmarks: Call of Juarez, Crysis
 Pg 10.  — Are SLI + IGP really worth the extra price?

 
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