[NEWS] - Nvidia Nforce 2 may have serious problems

[Handruin]

NVIDIA'S NEW NFORCE 2 CHIPSET was eagerly awaited and gratefully received but PC enthusiasts around the world are finding problems. It seems that some motherboards based on the chipset are causing far more headaches than they should.
The best example is the Shuttle SN41G2 barebones system. The tiny machine features an Nforce 2 motherboard in a neat looking case. It seems the BIOS shipped with the combo can stop the system even POSTing if you change certain settings. The only way to get the machine going again is to open up the machine, clear the CMOS and boot with the Insert key held down.

Then there's the case of the Asus A7N8X Deluxe which seems to suffer from a combination of BIOS and battery problems. And the Epox 8RDA+ has been showing up problems too. Even Abit seems to be getting more than the usual share of issues cropping up.

This could be a sign of problems with the chipset. It could be just individual manufacturers having problems with early production motherboards. Either way, you might want to take a good read of the various hardware forums before buying a board.

We will keep our eyes on the situation. More news on the problems as and when the information becomes available to us. µ

 

[Mercutio]

"...even Abit..."

You just made Sprite come out my nose!

 

[Groltz]

You just made Sprite come out my nose!

Now there is a pic you oughta share with us, Merc. :wink:

I wonder what percentage of the complaints are for problems related to legitimate use and what percent are from overclockers having trouble running the MB, RAM, and CPU beyond their designated frequencies?

 

[blakerwry]

lol, i like that "the 'undocumented' insert key feature" comment that someone left... i think that's been standard since kt133 days...

shuttle wasn't too bright by saving settings through a CMOS clear, however their users are obviously having problems of their own.

 

[blakerwry]

what a gross understantement the title of this article is, eh?

With board manufacturers and users like these Nvidia is doomed.

 

[P5-133XL]

Seems to me just normal birthing pains. Whenever something is new and "hot" companies get into such a rush to get products out the door that problems such as these surface.

This too shall pass

 

[blakerwry]

Seems to me just normal birthing pains. Whenever something is new and "hot" companies get into such a rush to get products out the door that problems such as these surface.

This too shall pass

A rational viewpoint, you're probably right.

 

[Tea]

lol, i like that "the 'undocumented' insert key feature" comment that someone left... i think that's been standard since kt133 days...

Zince 286 dayz, actually, but I take your point.

 

[Tannin]

(Tea, did you proof-read that post?)

(Nope. You can if you want to.)

(You lazy thing!)

(Yup. If you're getting up, put the kettle on, will you.?

 

[NRG = mc²]

I just got an A7N8X Deluxe, and a friend got the Shuttle based on the NF2... working fine so far, thankfuly.

 

[zx]

I also have a friend with an A7N8X deluxe...i'll keep you informed .

The best thing is to buy a board that's matured. In other words, never buy the latest and greatest if you want very good stability. If you buy new stuff, there's a chance that it might have problems...

 

[Tea]

The best thing is to buy a board that's matured. In other words, never buy the latest and greatest if you want very good stability. If you buy new stuff, there's a chance that it might have problems...

Amen to that. There are only two queztionz in computing. Do you want the latezt and greatezt? Or do you want it to work?

 

[SteveC]

The Inquirer has an update to the problem, which seems to have been caused by some manufacturers leaving out a jumper from the reference design. Nvidia put out a BIOS update that will fix the problem.

 

[blakerwry]

The Inquirer has an update to the problem, which seems to have been caused by some manufacturers leaving out a jumper from the reference design. Nvidia put out a BIOS update that will fix the problem.

I hope they didnt FUD things up now... i bet thy did...

one thing that my old Abit ka7 (or was it kt7?) did was allowed you to reset the CMOS by rapidly reboooting the machine a few times in a row...

power on, power off... power on.. power off.. power on... there you go, reset CMOS... This was clearly documented in the manual just as holding down the insert key was documented to do the same thing...

There was no need for a BIOS update for the problem described in the article. If they did do something I hope they did it like my example, otherwise I fear they just mucked things up for the sake of stupid, inexperienced newb overclockers... at the expense of experienced computer enthusiasts.

 

[Tea]

Ahh, I see. The problem, in fact, was nothing to do with Nvidia. It waz the ztupid motherboard manufacturers with their mania for doing everything jumper-free. For basic functions that are needed to make the machine work at all, you should never rely on firmware. Critical tasks require a hardware mechanisim.

 

[blakerwry]

Ahh, I see. The problem, in fact, was nothing to do with Nvidia. It waz the ztupid motherboard manufacturers with their mania for doing everything jumper-free. For basic functions that are needed to make the machine work at all, you should never rely on firmware. Critical tasks require a hardware mechanisim.

Tea, like I stated, there was and has always been a solution to this problem... holding down the insert key and powering on the computer...

the normal hardware solution of the clear CMOS jumper does not seem to effect the FSB of the Nforce2... i have no idea why they decided to make it that way, but they have... maybe this is what they changed with their "BIOS update".. maybe they made the FSB clear with the rest of the CMOS.

 

[time]

The article is only good as garden fertilizer.

Interestingly, the Epox does have the jumper, and it's the first thing I tried when the 8RDA+ here wouldn't post after excessive overclocking. However, it didn't resolve the problem! Perhaps the jumper only controls the FSB and not the memory speed?

F1 doesn't seem to work either, but it only takes me a few seconds to use the clear CMOS jumper, so why is it such a big deal?

 

[double bit CRC error]

the big deal is that the clear CMOS jumper on some boards does not reset the FSB settings... just the other CMOS settings aparently...

(i dont have an nforce2 board, but this is what I've seen several times with people posting their experinces on the web)

I've heard this is *THE* problem with the shuttle Nforce2 boards... it seems to affect others as well...

clearing the CMOS and holding down the insert key durring POST seems to be the only way to completely reset all the CMOS settings.

 

[P5-133XL]

Take out the Battery long enough and the capacitors will drain leaving everything at a default state when the battery is put back in. That should get you back to a 100 fsb.

 

[blakerwry]

some users have said no to that... i believe one said they left the battery out overnight... but most people only did a trivial 15 minutes...

From my expereince you really do need to wait an hour or two alot of times.