How come Gigabyte's NF4 Ultra MB soooo expensive?

[shira]

The cheapest I see the GA-K8NXP-9 is like $249 shipped. I've seen a couple of posters cite figures like $219 for the board (who sells it for this price?), but even if that's true, the price is way above the price of other NF4 Ultra boards (for example, the Chaintech DNF4 Ultra is like $135 shipped; the DF1 Lanparty Ultra-D is expected to go for $140 to $150).

How come? Gouging?

 

[Slaimus]

Do not get the XP version then. It has a 4-phase power system instead of 3-phase like everyone else.

 

[bob661]

The quantities of the board are probably low compared to the demand. So it's priced higher.

 

[shira]

Originally posted by: Slaimus
Do not get the XP version then. It has a 4-phase power system instead of 3-phase like everyone else.

But the XP is nf4 ultra, which has several features the non-ultra (K8NF) board doesn't. As to Gigabyte versus non-Gigabyte nf4 ultras, Gigabyte has a reputation for stability that the others don't (but I don't think that alone is worth the extra $100 the K8NXP commands).

What is the practical advantage of a 4-phase power system as opposed to a 3-phase? I haven't seen any discussion of this issue in recent posts.

 

[Slaimus]

The K8N-Ultra-9 also uses the NF4 Ultra, but without the 4-phase fancy power plug-in slot.
http://tw.giga-byte.com/Mother...s_GA-K8N%20Ultra-9.htm

4-phase is supposed to reduce ripple, but it does not really do it since they all draw from the same rail. Its main benefit is that you get another set of capacitors so it can handle heavier current draw.