nForce2 Motherboard Reviews

[Clocker]

I've been looking for reviews on nForce2 motherboards (not on just the reference design). It seems the only reviews out there are for Chaintech (ack) and the Asus (looks nice).

If anybody sees reviews for the Epox or other variants (available on Pricewatch, btw) please post it here or let me know....

Thanks,
C

 

[CougTek]

If I were to buy an nForce2-based motherboard, I would opt for the one from Leadtek. You can read AMDmb.com's review of it, as well as the one by Bjorn3D and this translation of an article by Hardtecs4U. This board is available at NewEgg for much less than the Asus and it seems just as good. IIRC, it cost around 120U$.

 

[Groltz]

I'm keeping an eye peeled for Epox EP-8RDA* reviews as well. They only became available in the US/retail last week. NewEgg already has sold out of their first batch.

 

[Buck]

Any interest in the MSI nForce2 board?

 

[Clocker]

I'm interested in reading about ALL nForce2 boards....as long as they use passive cooling for the chipset. Any info out there?

Thanks for the tip on the LeadTech board. It looks interesting but I'm a little shy of Leadtech since they seem new to the M/B business (I think, anway). I am excited about the Epox board though. I really like Epox.

C

 

[Clocker]

Pictures of nForce2 boards at the bottom of this page:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/2002/0717/nvidia.htm

C

 

[Buck]

Pictures of nForce2 boards at the bottom of this page:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/2002/0717/nvidia.htm

C

Thanks Clocker. All of those boards look like they are using or will be using passive cooling.

 

[Clocker]

I don't think the Abit or the Chaintech boards use passive cooling according to the reviews I have found on them:

Abit:
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=464&page=3

Chaintech
http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Chaintech/7NJS/

C

 

[Groltz]

Here's an 8RDA+ picture:

http://www.epox.nl/images/motherboard/high-res/EP-8rda+.zip

(4.11MB)

 

[Buck]

I don't think the Abit or the Chaintech boards use passive cooling according to the reviews I have found on them:

Abit:
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=464&page=3

Chaintech
http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Chaintech/7NJS/

C

Not with clear pictures like that.

 

[Clocker]

Gro-
Could you provide me with a higher resolution image, please?

I really like that Epox board. THere's something about a basic feature set with a attractive heatsink and a green PCB that is just plain cool.

I wish it had SATA though. I'm thinking about selling my 18GB X15-36LP (moving the 36G Atlas 10K III as a boot) and then doing some SATA RAID (probably a dynamic disk stripe) for fun. Maybe I'll just have to get a 3Ware card and try H/W RAID instead... I don't want any IDE cables going into my next system except for my optical drives.

I'll probably be dumping just about my whole SMP system soon too....

C

 

[Groltz]

The 8RDA2+ is supposed to come with a SATA adapter I think. ---->Not positive, though.

 

[Buck]

Oooh, and a metal lever on the zif connector for the Epox board.

 

[Clocker]

Oooh, and a metal lever on the zif connector for the Epox board.

Ecstasy!

 

[Buck]

Ecstasy!

Ah, refreshingly the simple things in life still abound.

 

[Clocker]

Good nForce2 speculation and info here:

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/

C

 

[Clocker]

More info...

There will likely be a 6-Way nForce2 shootout on Anandtech this week. Keep watching:

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1989&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

C

 

[SteveC]

The Inquirer, of all places, has a review of the Epox board. I just skimmed it, but they appear to like it.

 

[iGary]

How is the graphics implemented in these nVidia-based mobos?

Is the chipset architected such that the G-Force graphics processor interfaces the front side bus directly as opposed to being interfaced into AGP (or: a system-level device as opposed to a peripheral device)?

 

[Clocker]

An nForce2 Roundup!

I haven't read it yet:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/roundupmobo/roundup-nforce2-dec2k2.html

 

[Buck]

Thanks for the article Clocker. After looking at all of the boards, I couldn't find one with a decent layout.

 

[Bozo]

Have you tried www.motherboards.org


Bozo ;D

 

[Clocker]

Thanks for the article Clocker. After looking at all of the boards, I couldn't find one with a decent layout.

The only thing that really bugs me about all of them is the placement of the AGP slot relative to the memory slots. Looks like the Asus is best in that area but still bad. It seems that adding memory might be a pain without removing your graphics card so i may just load up with about 1GB in the beginning and be done with it.

What don't you like? I think I'm going to pick up that Epox soon. I want to read the AT review (hopefully going up tonight) first though.

C

 

[Buck]

Dislikes:

ABIT NF7 – Location of ATX connector, Audio connector, FDD connector, Active Cooling, and HDD connectors

ASUS A7N8X – Location of ATX connector and Audio connector

Chaintech 7NJS – Location ATX connector, FDD connector, and Active Cooling.

Epox 8RDA+ - Location of ATX connector, FDD connector, and Audio connector (because I can’t find it)

Leadtek K7NCR18D-pro – Location of ATX connector, FDD connector, and HDD connectors

MSI K7N2 – Location of ATX connector, Audio connector, and HDD connectors

 

[Platform]

It's game time. The MicronPC Millennia® 910a Xtreme offers computer gamers and "do-it-yourselfers" the powerful new AMD Athlon™ XP processor, NVIDIA® nForce2 chipset, and DDR 333MHz SDRAM memory technology—plus outstanding features, unhindered performance, breakneck speed—without getting stuck with the software or peripherals they don't need. Add to it all the capability for the latest in content creation...

http://www.micronpc.com/home/store/desktops/product_detail/millennia_910a_xtreme.html

 

[Groltz]

My father just ordered an 8RDA+ but it is going into the computer I am building him.

 

[Groltz]

Clocker, I sent you a PM regarding this topic two days ago. Are you going to read it or wait 'till Christmas? :wink:

 

[Clocker]

Damn...the PM notice isn't popping up...damn NIS2003. I'm getting rid of it.

Sorry..

C

 

[Clocker]

Another Asus Review:

http://www.lostcircuits.com/motherboard/asus_a7n8x/

C

 

[theSwede]

A review of the Epox nForce2 board.
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=465&page=1

 

[blakerwry]

A couple things that bug me about the asus (1) the power connector is all the way over by the IDE/floppy connectors... why isnt it closer to the CPU? I think this may cause problems in some cases.

(2) Why are they using 2 phase power circuitry when triple phase is better and very common. If I were looking for a board to keep for a couple years I would have hesitations about getting this one. Additionally, I dont want to support throw away computers.

Otherwise I think the Asus loks great. I would love to have one, but I might wait for an alternative.

 

[LiamC]

The Inquirer ws stating that the Barton will have a 400MHz FSB and that nForce2 already has support for it. Has anybody seen or heard anything to confirm this?

 

[Clocker]

Anand's (actually Evan's) review:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1759

C