Which nForce 2 Mobo?

[City_Idiot]

OK well i need a new mobo and have $250 tops to spend on it, i want nForce 2 and i want on-board GF4mx and if possable i want to use the nFroce 2 sound chip?

Any ideas on what board i am looking for??

[Maverick]

Sounds like Leadtek at that price range.

check out the review on the OCNZ site

Edit: Leadtek are releasing an updated revision that adds multiplier settings, and serial ata contollers.

Also note that other manufacturers are also releasing "Rev1.1" nforce2 boards. Abits NF7-S Rev1.1 will feature 4 mounting holes and an orange PCB (and reputedly fix onboard sound hisses -not confirmed yet).

[Oh-Sigh-Ris]

I picked up a Soltek SL-75FRN-L today for $247 inc GST. It's a rev1.1 board and comes with onboard LAN, AC97 sound (meh) as well as sATA and RAID. Seems like a very nice board at the moment, haven't really done very much with it yet tho ;)

[SecretSquirrel]

but it doesnt have watery holes!

wonder if the leady will...i wouldnt mind one of those rev 1.1's in that case, because i mainly want a cheap as dirt little speeder...and without multi adjustments, its no good to me :/

[City_Idiot]

teh abit $309 goodess is @ drgaon altho it DOSNT have mounting holes!!!!!

Leadtek it is, i mean it has mounting holes and it alll good any udea if the multi- djust will be a bios update or will u need a new board and if so when will it be out?

[Oh-Sigh-Ris]

my new Soltek requires a BIOS update to get multiplier access. Weird sort of a thing to leave out of a BIOS in my opinion.

*goes off and hunts down someone with a working FDD*

[Maverick]

I understand this board has trouble getting to 166MHz FSB using the onboard jumper? I suppose you dont have any PC2700 to try it out do you?

[Oh-Sigh-Ris]

why would u use the jumper for? its not like you'd reset the BIOS THAT often.... lol

[Maverick]

Duh! I am confusing this with another review I read recently -must have been a KT400 Soltek.

nforce2 has PCI and AGP busses locked:)

(waves hand across infront of you)

you can about your business....move along...move along

[Oh-Sigh-Ris]

hmmm, all my floppy disks seem to be corrupted. Probably because they haven't been used for years. Maybe ill go buy a floppy drive and disks especially. Meh, its not like i NEED to change the multiplier anyway - i have only got crappy PC2100 and the AGP and PCI are locked anyway.

[NTBlowz]

Looks like it is not the time to get NF2 mobo (yet..)

[Maverick]

Nope. Wait 'n see is the best approach -or if you are itching too much then the Asus Deluxe board is probably the best (but you will pay for it).

I would LOVE to see an nforce2 MCP-T board with decent onboard DAC's (NOT Realtek!!!) for analogue sound (and high S/N ratio).

[SecretSquirrel]

So whats wrong with the Abit board?

[Ragnor]

What's wrong with the Abit..

No mounting holes on the 1st revision, they are supposed to be their on the v1.1 but can you be sure what you're getting..

Also the voltage adjustment maximums for cpu and memory etc are pretty conservative / low..

[NTBlowz]

I asked OEM computer about the mounting hole on Abit NF2 mobo and they say it has 4 holes around the cpu socket

[SecretSquirrel]

Wicked...now all I need is for some nice trademe person to buy my board for as much dosh as possible and I'm Abitted!

[MoxPearl]

my tek nforce 2 is going strong :Q :Q :Q :Q :D

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by NTBlowz
I asked OEM computer about the mounting hole on Abit NF2 mobo and they say it has 4 holes around the cpu socket

The original revision didn't have the holes.. the reviewers asked Abit "Why?" Abit added the holes to subsequent revisions.

However the board wasn't designed with the holes present in the first place.. there are all sorts of surface mount caps and resistors too close to the holes..

I wouldn't be getting an Abit at this point in time.

See here for more:
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00288/

[SecretSquirrel]

FIN-A-****ING-LY

the epox is here, at dragon for $276

:D

[NTBlowz]

There is also Abit V1.2 (aka V2.0) out..

looks like epos will be the winner...

[hessian]

The Abit NF7-S v1.2 appears to be the most overclocker friendly nForce2 mobo available at the moment.

Vcore: 2.3V, Vdlmn: 2.9V, Vdd: 1.7V, AGP: 1.8V

Problem is Dragon & Co will only have the v1.1 boards. Can't confirm it as he does not reply to emails :rolleyes:

[Westy]

i need someone to confirm a surge can fit on a damn abit before i get one :|

[blur^]

epox has been the winner since day 1 :P

[SecretSquirrel]

Surge fits on the Epox :D

And its prettier, and it makes you have a larger girth.

[Brendan]

Have had no problems with my MSI KT333 ULTRA2 I purchased 4 months ago.. If I were to buy now things would be a bit different. It Cost me $250 then. I am a big fan of ABit However !!!.

My advise would be - go for something that has been tried and tested.. Something that has a second edition or new revision, as there will be improvements and most bugs will be fixed.

True my board is not NFORCE2 (is VIA KT333) - but has the newer Southbridge VIA VT8235 than older 333 boards.. + USB2, Bluetooth, etc
KT400 has bugger all advantage over the KT333 anyway.

Main downer is 4x AGP but from the reviews Ive seen, 8x in some instances is not actually faster.

have been trying to Get my Athlon XP2100 running at 166 FSB (333) but 142 is as far as I can get stable without Unlocking which gives me an extra almost 200Mhz. Ultra Aircooled @ 44 degrees heavily loaded. I want more.

Ram is only adjustable Clk(fsb) or Clk+33 - so setting my PC2700 ram at 142+33 is overclocking my ram also.. Probably not the best. Will set it to Clk this weekend and have a go and work on the processor by itself first.

Anyone know anyone who will do an unlocking service before I Give up and go XP2700 to get 166fsb?
:eek:

[k14]

Ive had my chaintech 7NJS since christmas and have had no problems what so ever with it.

It has the four mouting holes.

Also with the latest bios release the FSB can go up to 250mhz!!!

A bit expensive, but definately a nice board.

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by Brendan
...
Anyone know anyone who will do an unlocking service before I Give up and go XP2700 to get 166fsb?
:eek:

http://www.hec.co.nz/

http://www.stylesPC.com/

or research a bit and DIY