Foxconn WinFast NF4SK8AA-8EKRS

Overclocking:

Overclocking wasn’t as fruitful as we’d had hoped. We managed to get up to 214MHz bus, but Prime95 would only last two minutes at most, regardless of lowering HTT or increasing voltages. The board capped out at 218MHz on our Clawhammer cored 4000+. Whilst it’s no Venice god, we’ve had 225MHz out of it before so we are pretty confident it wasn’t being CPU limited. Don't plump for this board if you're after obscene overclocks.

Thoughts...

Having never used a Foxconn motherboard before, it was interesting to see how it compares to the usual enthusiast-orientated motherboard manufacturers that we work closely with. The board is not particularly user friendly in comparison to other motherboards we've looked at in the past if you're new to the overclocking scene or even system building. Having said that, the manual is great and you shouldn't come unstuck if you follow that.

There’s nothing wrong enough to moan about apart from the issues we have with the bundle lacking a USB 2.0 expansion bracket and an under complement of SATA cables. The board performs well, and it would prove to be a good upgraders motherboard in our opinion.

We guess the key issue is that Foxconn need to ensure that they can start to get their brand out there by selling the board at a reasonable asking price. Providing they can get it to retail for less than the price of the ASUS A8N-SLI - which retails at somewhere close to £85 - they should attain many more sales. As we write, Misco are stocking it for £89, which is probably a bit high.

It is a fairly simple thought, but Foxconn either need to undercut household names such as ASUS or produce truly original and different products. If they can't manage that, we foresee a lot of consumers sticking with a name that they associate with enthusiasts products. Of course, this is not to say that Foxconn are a small or bad company - they've just never really stepped out on to the high-speed enthusiasts train. Here's hoping the train stops in time for them to catch it.

The NF4SK8AA-8EKRS is not fantastically life changing and revolutionary, but isn't bad either. In short, the board does what it says on the tin, works very well at stock speed, should be cheaper than the competition, covers all the necessary bases and has a sexy orange PCB. At the right price, it's worth a look.