Epox nForce2 8RDA/8RDA+ - from low $100's on up, still kickin'

[astrochimp]

the DUAL CHANNEL memory is basically USEless unless you are using the onboard VIDeo.
It's the same with this board as the original Nforce.
Unfortunately, the onboard vid is pretty crappy(gf4mx420) and it's worth saving the money for the Onboard and getting a rad8500 or something.

I have the 8rda+ and it's Installed and 100% complete. Great board, features and runs good with XP PRO.
WINDOWS 98SE would NOT run well on this board. I don't know why and neither did EPOX tech support.

that's my experience so far.
No need to unlock my 1700 Thoroughbred either. I don't know if it's the board or proc is already unlocked but i can change the multiplier
in the bios.

 

[c627627]

What, what... what'you mean 98 doesn't run well.
(I was hoping to setup a dual boot Xp/Me)
If 98 has problems, Millennium will too.

I like using Me because, though not as stable, it boots up faster and is generally faster on three systems I had a chance to run this dual setup on.

Please post more about this "would NOT run well" business.

 

[Mustanggt]

If I had it to do over I would pick a different board. perhaps the Asus

 

[c627627]

Why?
There are a lot of us out here who have not purchased nForce2 board yet and are planning to.

Please help us by posting more things more specifically.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: astrochimp
the DUAL CHANNEL memory is basically USEless unless you are using the onboard VIDeo.
It's the same with this board as the original Nforce.

Remember that there are situations where the extra memory bandwidth can be used for speculative pre-fetch. Check out the numbers in blue on the chart here. And it's probably been mentioned already, but TCWO.com has the board for $108 shipped via FedEx Saver, in stock at this time: http://www.tcwo.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=2743 Happy deals to all, and to all a good night!

By the way, for those getting any nForce2 board to use with Win98 or WinME, here is some helpful info: nVidia installation guide for installing the nForce driver package on Win98.

 

[clarkmo]

Thanks for the link mechbgon. TCWO, here I come.

 

[formulav8]

I just ordered mine. Since I am in Orlando I got charged tax. Should get it pretty soon since I am only a about 1hr from them.



Jason

 

[Oxonium]

Anyone know how well the nForce2 boards work with ATI cards (I have a 9700 AIW)? Almost all the reviews I've read, which I'll admit isn't very many, use Nvidia cards for their tests.

 

[c627627]

I don't know but this is what they're saying over at overclockers today:
"Two days ago, I got copies of emails from Epox technical support saying that this board does not have a PCI lock and that the maximum divisor is /5.
I've now seen emails purported from Epox technical support saying that there is a PCI lock. There's one place that has Epox "tech support" at hand, but they refuse to answer the question, and if you ask twice, they expel you from the forum. I don't find this acceptable. Do you?

P.S. According to this forum thread thread, more than a couple of (but not every) GF4s are getting fried when put into this board. Don't know who's fault that is, but I wouldn't put the two together at the moment."

Whatta heck is going on... which nForce2 board should we get...

 

[SpideyCU]

c627627, yes, I've got the board, and yes, it has Soundstorm. The reason it's not fully Soundstorm 'certified' is because it doesn't come with the SPDIF connector - you have to order it separately if you want to use that. But the core APU is indeed the real thing.

As for the divider or whether it's locked...I'm not speculating on that any more. There are so many answers coming from so many different directions.

I've updated the main post with new TCWO info - thanks all.

 

[c627627]

OK Thank you.
You read a lot more about this board Spidey, what's this about GeForce4 video cards being fried on Epox nForce2 boards?
I'm getting ready to buy this board but I got in on the BFG GeForece4 deal posted here.

BFG's made up of old Visiontek people, and this business about Visiontek cards having a serious incompatibility problem with Epox nForce2 could be a real dealbreaker. Please post if you hear new info about this.

 

[SpideyCU]

Yeah, I've heard about it. It's being discussed in this thread over @ AOA. I've been running the BFG GF4 4200 from the BestBuy deal and haven't seen any problems. My opinion rests with what Daniel posted over there, namely:

"Given the popularity of the GF4's and the prior testing of this board with the GF4's it seems highly unlikely this is more than coincidence. If it were more then we would be seeing hundreds if not thousands of complaints, not 3 or 4.IMHO"

I mean, for example, in that same thread, a person complained that "Although it didn't show in the Window Device manager, I do have a conflict. My GF4 card, onboard IDE1 controller and also my SBLive 5.1 card all were using IRQ 10". Apparently he's never read of IRQ sharing.

It's for reasons like this that I'm skeptical about such reports and from where they come - if there IS an issue, it's not with BFG specifically as one fellow said his Leadtek GF4 was the victim.

 

[c627627]

Hm, I agree that this appears not to be a pattern of GF4 incompatibility.
Stupid rumours get started just like this.

I'm back on board to buy this mobo and use it with my GeForce4.

 

[GuildBoss]

Here's positive review of the 8RDA+. It got high marks for layout, on-board sound, stability, performance, overclocking, etc..

 

[Alterac000]

here's another vote for the 8RDA+.

I just purchased this board about 2 1/2 weeks ago, got everything up and running and it is working great. Speed is phenomenal, though I only have a 1600+ (soon to be overclocked) it is stable, fast, and has great bios tweaking options. There are plenty of settings for adjusting multipliers (assuming u have a t-bred which you don't have to manually unlock) or if you have an older palomino like i do you can manually unlock the cpu and just use the bios multiplier adjustments. There are also tons of voltage settings. Memory and FSB can be run synchronously or asynchronously, AGP speeds can be set either at 66mhz or as a percentage of FSB. The board does come with a firewire backplate, gameport back plate. I personally don't need all 6 USB ports, and I won't be using firewire or even S-ATA for that matter. I've read good things about the sound, though right now I still have my Acoustic Edge in since I use multiple headphones and need extra lines for my tv-tuner and speakers. Running win2k and have had no BSOD's since my clean installation. The apps that come on CD are useful, and as always Nvidia provides top-notch driver support. Epox's magic bios is also pretty cool, it was always a pain to have to make a boot disk for win2k, now flashing is just a simple download and reboot. Hope this helps some of you decide for the go on this board!

 

[SpideyCU]

Magic Bios is also good for people like me who've gotten rid of their floppy drives a while ago.

Any word on whether the newer BIOS updates support booting from USB devices? I haven't seen them listed, and I'll find out soon enough on my own (will get the 12/10 BIOS later on), but, it's one of the reasons I threw out my floppy drive and have been using my USB pen drive instead.

 

[c627627]

OOh, dude, how're we going to use Drive Image or PartitionMagic, one of THE most important pices of software out there without a floppy...?
I mean, with Drive Image I went from 4 days of Windows reinstallation with setting things just like I like them in each and every program, down to a 7 minute perfect reinstall through a Drive Image Floppy.
With Windows being buggy as it is, I'd say I do a Drive Image reinstall every couple of months.

Powerquest Drive Image 2002 (prettier interface) or Norton Ghost are the single most important pieces of software. They use a start up floppy to backup your entire hard drive to multiple CDRs. This is particularily useful if you partition your hard drive (Powerquest Partition Magic is excellent for this) first, then install your operating system onto C drive and then all large Apps on other drives. You than backup the C drive which contains Windows (+maybe a few other small programs).

Every few months, after Windows breaks down or starts giving you errors, you replace your C drive with backed up version of it, and things are just as they used to be when you backed them up first. I also keep a txt file where I write changes and tweaks I made to the original installation, that way, when I reinstall from backup, I make those changes, than save on CDR's again and so on every few months.

Originally, it took me days to reinstall Windows and get things back the way I like them. It now takes minutes with the the help of Drive Image 2002 or Norton Ghost. Now just make sure you change location of Favorites, Desktop and Start Menu, (CUT and PASTE from C:\Windows will do) since they require more frequent backup, so if you have them on another drive, restoring C drive would not replace them.

Every setting in every application is just the way you first set it. (Every menu size, every font size, every icon.) Registry backup is no substitute for orginized quick C Drive backup/restore.

I defragment my drives and use ScanDisk but nothing makes my PC go faster then when I restore from a backup made just after I first setup things the way I prefer.

 

[SpideyCU]

Back in stock at NewEgg, but they've raised the price. $132 shipped now. Geez.

 

[SpideyCU]

And, good lord, $111 shipped from GameVE again. Is it worth the HEFTY $6 price premium over the non-plus version, if the non-plus version really exists? Heh, I'll let y'all figure that out for yourselves.

 

[kalt]

I just spoke to GameVE and they have no more in stock. CSR didn't sound the most authoritative though. Anyone else got any ideas of where to get this board?

Edit: Bought from AICMicro for $116.20. They are the cheapest with stock at this point AFAIK.

 

[Ajaykay]

TCWO.com had both the 8RDA+ and the 8RDA in stock this morning @$108 for the + and $99 for the stripped one. They were offering a free shipping promotion earlier but I'm not sure if that's still in effect.

 

[SpideyCU]

Doesn't seem like it, unfortunately. I'm not around enough to constantly update the stock info for these locations, so, if you're looking for this board, feel free to check every single merchant that's linked before making a decision.

 

[Harn]

First off, thanks for makin this thread, helped out a lot hearing everyone's opinions on the 8RDA+

Now that the praise is out of the way , I thought that I'd mention that I was looking at the Epox website and noticed that they were giving out a "free" round IDE cable when you buy an Epox motherboard.

They just want $5.99 for S&H. Full details are in the link below.

http://www.epox.com/html/Free%20Round%20Cable%20.pdf

I think I'll be getting one to help beautify my new 8RDA+

 

[SpideyCU]

Thanks for the note Harn. For some reason I'd missed that on Epox's main page last time I was there. You can get shifty, cheap-o cables at computer shows for near that price, but coming from Epox, I'd have significantly more confidence in the quality!

 

[c627627]

Could someone please post how many 3-pin taps are available on this motherboard to connect case fans without 4-pin adapters.


EDIT: Much obliged Spidey. (1 for heatsink fan and two for 3-pin case fans)