The networking capabilities of the nForce4 need a special mention. In fact, nForce3 Ultra, the previous model, had the most advanced networking functionality, which was not surprising at all since NVIDIA had been collaborating with 3Com when developing the integrated network controller. This functionality has been improved further in the new chipset family.

nForce4 has an integrated Gigabit Ethernet controller, but also features an integrated hardware Secure Networking Engine called ActiveArmor. It is the last feature that distinguishes the network controller of the nForce4 from its predecessor used in nForce3 Ultra. You can enjoy the advantages of the new technology if you use the firewall utility NVIDIA supplies with its network driver.

The firewall from NVIDIA is advanced enough and isn’t in any way inferior to its analogs from other companies. The firewall supplied with nForce3 Ultra-based mainboards was a purely software solution, but NVIDIA Firewall 2.0 for the nForce4 is a combination of software and hardware means that perform some packet-filtering operations in the ActiveArmor engine integrated into the chipset instead of the CPU.

In fact, in case of NVIDIA’s Firewall 2.0 the only work the CPU has to do is to adjust the parameters of the hardware ActiveArmor engine. All the major workload connected with processing and sorting the network packets is laid upon the chipset. It means that NVIDIA Firewall 2.0 implemented in nForce4 chipset family doesn’t load the CPU as much as third-party firewalls do.

An ordinary firewall loads the CPU up by 75%

NVIDIA Firewall 2.0 uses the hardware ActiveArmor engine to reduce the CPU load to 10%

NVIDIA Firewall 2.0 is controlled via a Web-based shell which resembles the interface you use to configure hardware firewalls. For this shell to work you need the Apache web-server which is installed on your computer along with the software for the nForce4’s network controller. Thanks to that, NVIDIA Firewall 2.0 can be managed remotely.

As you see, NVIDIA has paid due attention to the software it supplies for its new nForce4 chipsets. The nvRAID and Network Access Manager utilities are not the only tools you receive, though. The nTune program, well-known to PC enthusiasts, also ships with nForce4-based mainboards. This utility is intended for configuring and monitoring the system from Windows.

nTune utility keeps track of the system temperatures, voltages and frequencies. You can automatically or manually adjust the parameters of the CPU, memory and GPU for better performance or noiseless work, update the mainboard BIOS, etc.