*HOT!* nForce2 review up on Tomshardware for first 3 M/Bs. Asus A7N8X looks like the AMD "King of the Hill"!

[RideFree]

I don't use Asus boards...

Me neither...:Q

 

[Technonut]

Just saw a review of the Leadtek K7NCR18D-Pro Here........ (Reviewed with 2 256MB sticks of Corsair XMS 3500) No review that I have read so far would make me want to buy an nForce2 mobo to replace my 8K5A2+...

The final two benchmarks I used from the Sandra suite are Memory Bandwidth (2071/1983) and CPU Multi-Media benchmarks. I do not have comparisons to the EPoX for these, but you can see that the nForce2 board scored rather well in each. Both of these benchmarks were with the Athlon XP 2100+ and Corsair XMS3500 DDR.

EDIT: From the OCworkbench ASUS A7N8X Review.....

From the results, it can be seen that both KT400 boards performs almost identical in memory performance as both are tweak to the maximum possible settings within BIOS. The A7N8X runs very well in the 3 different modes, it can be seen that when it operates at DDR333 (2 x 256), DDR333 (1 x 512), it is on par with KT400s running at DDR333 mode. When we run it at DDR400 (2 x 256), it shows that the memory performance only increase by around 1.5% comparing dual DDR333 vs dual DDR400.

 

[RideFree]

Techno,

No review that I have read so far would make me want to buy an nForce2 mobo to replace my 8K5A2+...

You are correct. They had to expand those bar graphs waaaay out there to discern the miniscule lead the best board had in some, but not all areas over the EPoX.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At first, I was going to blithely print the above. Then, reason overcame my imagination.
All (or most) things considered equal, comparison in the Open GL Quake-3 arena, Asus' A7N8X appears about 10%-18% quicker than the 8K5A3+. (Don't hesitate to check my math, somebody.)

Again, DirectX 8's Direct3D performance graph comparisons were consistent with the above, etcetera, etcetera.

Realistically, we are not able to perceive anything below about a 10% threshold in difference, so there is no need to rush out and replace these blistering-fast 8K5A(s).
However, I would be inclined to "test" one or a couple of the new nForce2 releases as they become available, if indeed they become the next generation.
("Test", not replace. Besides that, these boards probably will take a ½ year to become economically feasible.)

 

[BeAsTy]

The connector is a seperate adapter... it's not in the usual atx stack.. cuz it makes it easier for Asus to include the video connector w/o redo'in the atx stack... if u look on other pics.. the adapter is there w/ a lil cable that connects to mobo =)

 

[Tab]

Anyone know the price difference between the C-Media and the SoundStorm? If anyone is interested in buying a new motherboard I would wait and see what the KT400A Mobo's bring or wait for other mobo manufactures for their nforce2s, but thats just me.

Asus A7N8X Deluxe NVIDIA nForce2 w/ MCP-T controller (Dual NET) Motherboard for AMD Athlon/XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe **Truely Support DDR400** (DUAL CHANNEL DDR Support!!!) -$200

Notice this is the deluxe version!

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: BeAsTy
The connector is a seperate adapter... it's not in the usual atx stack.. cuz it makes it easier for Asus to include the video connector w/o redo'in the atx stack... if u look on other pics.. the adapter is there w/ a lil cable that connects to mobo =)

Look at the adapter closely... It is not a video port, but the second serial port. Something like onboard video is not put on a seperate bracket..

 

[Byte]

looks like i'm going to have to wait for the Zenith. I currently have the Asus A7N266-C, its alright, but i want more. Seems Toms chart shows the Asus doesn't not have a fixed AGP while the Chaintech does. But other reviews show that Asus does have this option, Chaintech doesn't, did they mess up? One thing worries me though. The capacitors are so close to the CPU, will an Alpha 8040 fit!?!?! AMDMB mentions that AX7 will not fit the Asus A7N8X, that doensn't sound very god as teh Chaintech one looks like it has capacitors even closer...

 

[fictionalcharacter]

just wait a year and than they will be affordable , I just bought a flex atx MSI nforce board (with video, TV OUT, sound, network, modem) for less than $40 new, which is less than nvidia was selling the chipset for at release.....I really hope the nforce2 sports onboard video that can handle todays games...if there is one direction I think the industry should go in, it is more compact and cooler and putting everything in the chipset makes perfect sense

 

[RanDum72]

Seems Toms chart shows the Asus doesn't not have a fixed AGP while the Chaintech does.

Not only is it lockable on the Asus A7N8X but lockable on different frequencies besides 66mhz.

 

[no0b]

Just wondering about the nforce 2 dual memory controller.

Will the dual memory controller work with 3 ddr dimms or only 2?

 

[CinderElmo]

Newegg just splashed on their homepage they got the new A7N8X Deluxes in limited stock. Going for 150 with free shipping. Figured what the hell and picked one up. Tom recommended I do so

 

[no0b]

Originally posted by: CinderElmo
Newegg just splashed on their homepage they got the new A7N8X Deluxes in limited stock. Going for 150 with free shipping. Figured what the hell and picked one up. Tom recommended I do so

err D"OH was looking at the wrong thing!


and can you use different size dimms while using the dual memory thingy?

 

[dszd0g]

Originally posted by: no0b

Will the dual memory controller work with 3 ddr dimms or only 2?

If you read Tom's review, it says that with 1 DIMM or 3 DIMMs it is in single mode. With 2 DIMMs it is in dual mode.

Anyone else notice that in the CPU Clock / FSB Clock section, Patrick Schmid says "Interesting to see that all three companies stick exactly to the specifications" when they don't. All the nForce2 boards are overclocked 1MHz by default. One would have had to run the A7V8X at 167/334 for it to a more accurate performance picture. I know that wouldn't have made a huge difference and the A7N8X would have still beat the A7V8X by a bit. I just found it interesting.

 

[bad-ass]

Anyone know if the Asus board accepts the Alpha Pal 8045?

 

[SFang]

Good question, I am wondering the same thing, does it support Alpha Pal 8045 (echo...) ?

 

[GullyFoyle]

Originally posted by: SFang
Good question, I am wondering the same thing, does it support Alpha Pal 8045 (echo...) ?

I have answered this question in at least two threads on this board. Yes, it does fit.

 

[stonecold3169]

Originally posted by: RideFree
Techno,

No review that I have read so far would make me want to buy an nForce2 mobo to replace my 8K5A2+...

You are correct. They had to expand those bar graphs waaaay out there to discern the miniscule lead the best board had in some, but not all areas over the EPoX.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At first, I was going to blithely print the above. Then, reason overcame my imagination.
All (or most) things considered equal, comparison in the Open GL Quake-3 arena, Asus' A7N8X appears about 10%-18% quicker than the 8K5A3+. (Don't hesitate to check my math, somebody.)

Again, DirectX 8's Direct3D performance graph comparisons were consistent with the above, etcetera, etcetera.

Realistically, we are not able to perceive anything below about a 10% threshold in difference, so there is no need to rush out and replace these blistering-fast 8K5A(s).
However, I would be inclined to "test" one or a couple of the new nForce2 releases as they become available, if indeed they become the next generation.
("Test", not replace. Besides that, these boards probably will take a ½ year to become economically feasible.)

This is really interesting. I don't remember the site now, but I was reading an article earlier in the week comparing the kt400 to the nf2. In the review setup, they were using a Radeon 9700Pro. In all the openGL benches, the nf2 lead by a health 12 or 13% lead. Amazed at the difference, they tried a benchmark with the radeon on a kt333 board and the difference was only 3-4% off or so. Conclussion? Soemthing with OpenGL is seriously skewed on the KT400 boards. When I first saw that article, I took it witha grain of salt and figured it was some conflict with their board. Now the issue has come up again. I'd like to see an entire article on this.

I just dropped some cash on a Soyo Dragon Ultra Platinum 333, but come barton time I'd defintily consider upgrading. Right now these nf2 boards seem to have good performance at a halfway decent price. I look forward to reading the anandtech review when it's up.

Evan: To make this long post longer, when you do your review, could you do a couple of comparisons that are specifically openGL specific? I'd be interested to see how reproducable these findings are.

Thanks!