SpecView crashed almost every time using a GF4 Ti4600. We didn?t face any such problem with the Radeon 9700 (Go figure!)
Originally posted by: mechBgon
On the bright side, there's apparently not an issue with using three memory modules. And I don't know if it's KT333 or what, but my Ultra160 SCSI card/HDD can move over 120Mb/sec on nForce 220D, as opposed to 72Mb/sec on my A7V333-R (measured same-sector reads using Adaptec SCSIBench, 128kb block size).
Furthermore, when the onboard VIA USB 2.0 controller is enabled, the A7V333 cannot manage over 52Mb/sec, which is a crying shame considering that sustained throughput on the hard drive itself is 59Mb/sec. I reported the bug to VIA and Asus and not a peep from them in response, nor any revised drivers. :| I've toyed with PCI latency and everything else I could think of, but no joy. So maybe you can see why I'm interested in nForce2.
I'm waiting for the Epox 8RDA+ myself
I think you're right, but even with the tacked-on USB 2.0 controller disabled, the Ultra160 card remains throughput-challeneged on that board (and I've tried disabling the remaining PCI stuff too, like FireWire and sound). As a result, I stuck with nF220D for that system, and use my A7V333-R at home with my IDE hard drive.Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: mechBgon
On the bright side, there's apparently not an issue with using three memory modules. And I don't know if it's KT333 or what, but my Ultra160 SCSI card/HDD can move over 120Mb/sec on nForce 220D, as opposed to 72Mb/sec on my A7V333-R (measured same-sector reads using Adaptec SCSIBench, 128kb block size).
Furthermore, when the onboard VIA USB 2.0 controller is enabled, the A7V333 cannot manage over 52Mb/sec, which is a crying shame considering that sustained throughput on the hard drive itself is 59Mb/sec. I reported the bug to VIA and Asus and not a peep from them in response, nor any revised drivers. :| I've toyed with PCI latency and everything else I could think of, but no joy. So maybe you can see why I'm interested in nForce2.
mechBgon -
I think your issue is with the Asus A7V333-R. IIRC, that board has a separate USB 2.0 chip, it's not using the newest 8235 SB that has USB 2.0 support natively. As a result, that USB 2.0 controller sits on the PCI bus, and probably grabs more bandwidth than it needs. My guess is that it is directly related to the drivers for that Via USB 2.0 controller not using the PCI bus efficiently. On some of the newer boards, I would imagine the newest 8235 SB having its USB 2.0 ports mapped to the HS 8x V-Link connection, and not sitting on your PCI bus would improve the situation considerably. I also wonder how much the faster v-link connection might affect your SCSI performance..
The one sour note with EPoX's two boards, in my eyes, is that they are apparently not making use of the nForce onboard audio, which is known for low CPU utilization and good sound.
Originally posted by: Insane3D
No, they are using the Nforce sound..from my understanding they still need a codec on board to utilize the sound. That link I gave was the Epox UK site since their USA site seems to have a terrible server. It won't work half the time, or it will be dog slow. According to the Epox USA site here, they say the board has "Nvidia SoundStorm Audio with Dolby Digital 5.1 Encoding".
I think even though the Nforce SB supports the 5.1 audio, it still needs a codec to work properly, similar to the onboard audio of the older Via SB's..
The APU is responsible for providing hardware audio acceleration for
both output streams (playback) and input streams (record). The APU renders
completely to system memory. This decoupling allows the resulting stream to be
transferred to any transducer including an AC ?97 CODEC or a USB speaker
system.
For the most powerful integrated audio solution available today, look for nForce
systems featuring NVIDIA SoundStorm. PCs with the NVIDIA SoundStorm
solution have implemented the most complete digital audio feature set for your
desktop, delivering stunning audio and fantastic sound effects, all powered by the
nForce APU. SoundStorm exposes a vast array of inputs and outputs, including a
digital SPDIF connection for access to the Dolby Digital 5.1 real-time encoder,
connections for Microphone, CD, TV, and Line-in, Headphones, Front Left and Right
speakers, Rear Left and Right speakers, a Center channel and a Subwoofer
connection.
Not necessarily true, either. It's possible to do a full SoundStorm implementation with the Realtek 650. Look at the Abit NV7-133R which uses the 650. Abit didn't port switch, but included a backplate with the rear, center/sub, and S/PDIF in and out ports. If Epox states the board has SoundStorm audio, they probably went the Abit route. If not, I'm sure somebody somewhere will sue them for misrepresentation.
I'll have a nice little review of Leadtek's nForce 2 board by Monday. Epox's board is coming fairly soon too
Originally posted by: Evan Lieb
I'll have a nice little review of Leadtek's nForce 2 board by Monday. Epox's board is coming fairly soon too.
Originally posted by: WetWilly
We're getting into a little bit of semantics and marketing. The APU is the nForce sound that everyone wants. The RealTek is just a means to access it. From the APU Technical Brief (page 2):
According to the Technical Brief you're referencing, the APU is not what everyone wants. Read the APU/SoundStorm Feature comparison (Table 1. APU Features and Benefits) that immediately follows the section you quoted. The comparison explicitly states the APU does not to hardware Dolby Digital encode, but SoundStorm does. It also states the APU has 2-channel only support and no S/PDIF. But page 2 states the APU architecture supports DD encoding.
At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if nVidia itself knows the difference between the APU and SoundStorm.
Originally posted by: RanDum72
Now, it makes me wonder if that Soundstorm card canbe swapped with the ACR card that came with my boards