<s>
The	O
nForce3	B-Device
chipset	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Nvidia	O
as	O
a	O
Media	B-Device
and	I-Device
Communications	I-Device
Processor	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
Athlon	O
64	O
was	O
launched	O
,	O
the	O
Nvidia	O
nForce3	B-Device
Pro150	O
and	O
VIA	O
K8T800	O
were	O
the	O
only	O
two	O
chipsets	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
150	O
chipset	O
was	O
widely	O
criticized	O
at	O
launch	O
for	O
using	O
a	O
600MHz	O
HyperTransport	B-Device
interface	O
,	O
when	O
VIA	O
had	O
implemented	O
the	O
full	O
AMD	O
specification	O
at	O
800MHz	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
overall	O
performance	O
of	O
the	O
150	O
was	O
still	O
good	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
revisions	O
fixed	O
this	O
omission	O
,	O
and	O
using	O
a	O
HyperTransport	B-Device
interface	O
,	O
the	O
nForce3	B-Device
chipset	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
communicate	O
at	O
up	O
to	O
8	O
GB/s	O
with	O
the	O
CPU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nForce3	B-Device
250	O
-	O
Socket	O
754	O
,	O
basic	O
value	O
chipset	O
,	O
800HT	O
,	O
does	O
not	O
include	O
on-chip	O
Gigabit	O
LAN	O
or	O
on-chip	O
Firewall	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nForce3	B-Device
250Gb	O
-	O
Socket	O
754	O
or	O
939	O
,	O
800HT	O
,	O
includes	O
gigabit	O
LAN	O
and	O
on-chip	O
Firewall	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nForce3	B-Device
Ultra	O
-	O
Socket	O
939	O
,	O
1000HT	O
,	O
gigabit	O
LAN	O
,	O
Firewall	O
,	O
Dual-Channel	O
unbuffered	O
,	O
for	O
Athlon	O
64/Athlon	O
64	O
FX	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nForce3	B-Device
Pro250	O
-	O
Socket	O
940	O
,	O
1000HT	O
,	O
gigabit	O
LAN	O
,	O
Firewall	O
,	O
for	O
Opteron	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
250	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
nForce	B-Device
3	I-Device
featured	O
the	O
world	O
’s	O
first	O
native	O
Gigabit	O
Ethernet	O
interface	O
and	O
a	O
hardware-optimized	O
Firewall	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Nvidia	O
Firewall	O
technology	O
utilizes	O
the	O
ActiveArmor	B-Device
secure	O
networking	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
omission	O
from	O
the	O
nForce	B-Device
3	I-Device
chipset	O
is	O
the	O
quality	O
integrated	O
SoundStorm	O
audio	O
found	O
in	O
nForce2	B-Device
boards	O
,	O
supposedly	O
for	O
cost	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nForce	B-Device
3	I-Device
chipset	O
is	O
a	O
single	O
die	O
solution	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
the	O
historical	O
northbridge	B-Device
/	O
southbridge	B-Device
combination	O
,	O
and	O
reportedly	O
there	O
was	O
not	O
enough	O
space	O
left	O
for	O
audio	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
explanation	O
has	O
been	O
proposed	O
that	O
the	O
Dolby	O
technology	O
licensing	O
for	O
SoundStorm	O
that	O
Nvidia	O
originally	O
obtained	O
for	O
the	O
chipset	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Xbox	B-Application
allowed	O
Nvidia	O
effectively	O
license-free	O
implementation	O
on	O
the	O
contemporary	O
Nforce1	O
and	O
Nforce2	B-Device
,	O
but	O
implementation	O
on	O
Nforce3	B-Device
would	O
have	O
required	O
new	O
license	O
payments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nForce3	B-Device
also	O
supports	O
SATA	O
technology	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
RAID	B-Architecture
0+1	O
striping	O
and	O
mirroring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nvidia	O
announced	O
before	O
the	O
public	O
release	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
that	O
they	O
would	O
not	O
release	O
chipset	O
drivers	O
for	O
the	O
AGP-based	O
nForce2	B-Device
for	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
subsequently	O
decided	O
to	O
also	O
drop	O
support	O
for	O
nForce3	B-Device
in	O
late	O
February	O
2007	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Vista	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nvidia	O
is	O
thus	O
the	O
only	O
major	O
mainboard	O
chipset	O
manufacturer	O
that	O
is	O
not	O
supporting	O
a	O
chipset	O
designed	O
for	O
64-bit	O
processors	O
with	O
Vista	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
chipset	O
drivers	O
packaged	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
are	O
usable	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
not	O
being	O
specifically	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
nForce2	B-Device
and	O
3	O
chipsets	O
,	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
take	O
full	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
hardware	O
and	O
lose	O
some	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
issue	O
concerning	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
natively	O
supported	O
drivers	O
for	O
the	O
nForce3	B-Device
chipset	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
has	O
come	O
up	O
with	O
the	O
public	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
and	O
the	O
affordability	O
of	O
dual	O
core	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
these	O
dual	O
core	O
systems	O
with	O
ATI	O
graphics	O
chipsets	O
above	O
the	O
Radeon	O
9XXX	O
series	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
disables	O
the	O
ATI	O
display	O
drivers	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
and	O
defaults	O
to	O
the	O
PCI-compatible	O
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SiS	O
,	O
ULi	O
and	O
VIA	O
also	O
had	O
problems	O
with	O
their	O
chipset	O
drivers	O
(	O
mainly	O
agp.inf	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
quickly	O
released	O
patches	O
to	O
correct	O
these	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
date	O
,	O
Nvidia	O
has	O
not	O
released	O
a	O
complete	O
chipset	O
driver	O
package	O
for	O
nForce3	B-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Nvidia	O
has	O
posted	O
individual	O
32	O
bit	O
that	O
support	O
the	O
nForce3	B-Device
series	O
(	O
and	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
that	O
nForce4	B-Device
chipsets	O
may	O
experience	O
similar	O
problems	O
with	O
the	O
RAID	B-Architecture
and	O
ATA	O
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
using	O
nforce3	B-Device
with	O
an	O
Nvidia	O
card	O
causes	O
it	O
to	O
only	O
negotiate	O
AGP	B-Architecture
4x	O
not	O
8x	O
,	O
and	O
causes	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
restart	O
repeatedly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
however	O
workarounds	O
allowing	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	O
XP	O
32bit	O
nForce3	B-Device
GART	O
driver	O
under	O
Vista	B-Application
32bit	O
,	O
allowing	O
use	O
of	O
AGP8x	O
,	O
and	O
providing	O
a	O
more	O
stable	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
workaround	O
exists	O
for	O
Vista	B-Application
x64	B-Device
users	O
via	O
the	O
Windows	O
XP	O
64bit	O
nForce3	B-Device
Beta	O
GART	O
driver	O
.	O
</s>
