got one of those newfangled NForce boards

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 2:23 pm

epox 8rda+ - cool looking heatsink on the northbridge -

don't remember why i ordered it tuesday, but it came today

I will report back if I get a chance to play with it this weekend

only unlocked cpu in the house is an axia 1.2 - wonder how fast it will go

Ben721 · Post by **Ben721** » Sun Dec 15, 2002 8:34 am

Report back soon, before I buy one.

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Tue Dec 17, 2002 11:13 am

w/ NForce2 SSP boards, it doesn't matter if the CPU's locked or not, they can still change the multiplier
I was hankering to get me an EPox or a Chaintech myself.... but I guess I hold off until after xmas so my $ reservoir fills up again

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Tue Dec 17, 2002 12:17 pm

it's still in the box

- but from what i have read i can change the multi on throughbreds

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Sat Dec 21, 2002 2:30 pm

got it up and tunning - the ol' swap the hard drives trick didn't work - had to reinstall windows, etc. no biggie.

odd layout problem - if you're thinking about the epox board, be aware that the ram sloots are waaaaay over to the right of the cpu, and slot 3 is further offset because of the dual channel setup. i dropped this into an antec ft case which has enough room in it to do anything and the ram slots DO NOT CLEAR the hdd cage

- i'm sure one of my other cases will be ok, but it's odd.....

installation was otherside simple - install nforce drivers and usb 2,0 drivers - sound, networking cam right up

more later

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Mon Dec 23, 2002 9:03 am

you need at least a 400w+ ps to run one of these babys. I installed with a 350 enermax and all my readings are really low - 4.84 on the +5, etc. I had a 480 to put in this box but is was a newegg refurb and doa

(thought i might get lucky). the enermax pushed the same hardware on my kt333 baord without a problem

board is not stable in any kind of overclock with a 350 - I ended up hosing something and the onboard nic disappeared - gonna reinstall my other mobo until i get a decent ps for this

xmas is a silly time to try a system build - I need a brain transplant

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Mon Dec 23, 2002 12:01 pm

just keep at it with the updates and cross your fingers on the headphones

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 7:10 pm

got a new 450 ps and at least goes through the startup bios ok

according to the threads i've found elsewhere
****you must have the board set to optimal settings****in order to install the onbaord stuff - once i did that i got the nic back w/p any problems - stiol haven't reinstalled the drives, etc., but will do that tomorrow - will also experiment with the memory thing - have two sticks of 512/2700 to play with

it appears that the board does have both agp and pci bus lock

i had to move it to another case because of the clearance problem - it's actuallly a small board

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 11:44 pm

exactly which Antec case did you have problems with?
i was thinking of using this on my Antec case from their Performance series

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Mon Dec 30, 2002 6:58 am

it was a 5 yr old antec full tower case - for some reason, the clearance between the hd cage was very small - i put the nforce in an el cheapo case i had bought for a kids build and there were no clearance problems -

it's running fine now, except I am unable to do much of an overclock on my 2100 - i was able to run this at 2300 speeds on my ak35gt - every time I push the fsb past about 138 it just stops - there are a lot of complicated bios settings and I may be missing something here - i'll have to hit the forums and see if there are any tricks - the memory settings may be inherently agressive or something - i know that the 2100 is close to its potential already (its a palomino) - i also need to flash to the newest bios

at least its humming along at 133/166 maybe i'll try more agressive settings on the ram and soup it up at that speed

i have 0 pci cards so i haven't run into any conflict problems - i kinda like not having to fool with that

- the onboard sound seems fine to me

Ed - how are those headphones working out? i'm torn between getting some headphones and a 9500 pro (life is soooo hard

)

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Mon Dec 30, 2002 1:07 pm

headphones are very very nice

but.. if it was up to me.. a new vid card takes priority over headphones

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Thu Jan 09, 2003 10:14 pm

Hint No. 837 - always do a full clean install of your OS on a clean HD - you will save yourself lots of effort

epox 8rda+ rev 1.0
taisol hs/f
450 ps
512 samsung pc2700/512 mushkin value pc3200 running on 128 bit bus
tbred A 1800+

10.5 x 185
1.9 v cpu
2.9 v ram
1.6 v agp

mem at 8-3-3-2.5

sandra

arithmetic

7303/2937

mem

2842
2662

this appears to be a rather fast rig

- I think mem is holding me back - and i am not running most current bios

still not shabby for a $67 cpu

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Thu Jan 09, 2003 10:33 pm

i'm planning virtually the same rig as you... just need time to put it together:

450w ps
Asus NForce2 mobo (deluxe version)
2 x 512mb Mushkin Value PC3200 DDR
TBred A 1800+
SLK800 w/ Vantec 80mm fan

wish me luck

btw, i thought if you just do a repair of your OS after swapping mobos, you'd be ok? (at least for winXP)

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Thu Jan 09, 2003 10:46 pm

with xp you may be ok, but with 2k no-way

I also think that the nforce chipset is fundamentally different from via chipsets, so everything gets confused

i got it to post 10.5@195 but would not boot - it may be the sammy 2700 which is holding me back - not sure

start with expert memory timings - but use optimal settings until you get a feel for the board -

i have read in a couple of reviews that you need a voltage mod for the chipset to get over 200+ fsb

you might also want to think about slapping a blue orb on the chipset - it gets very hot

i superglued a little fan onto the heatsink, but the glue melted

btw i did get the headphones - they are nice

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Fri Jan 10, 2003 5:13 am

sweet deal! you got the amphony headsets?
so was the grill just a decoy gift?

PCA Forums

got one of those newfangled NForce boards

got one of those newfangled NForce boards

1st Report

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finally - some benches