Maybe it's just me, but I think the nForce 2 deserves LESS credit than it is getting

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Gerbil333
No, the nForce to the nForce "2" is pretty much like the KT266A to the KT333...another beta platform.

That was a terrible analogy at best, the KT266A a beta platform??? Have you been :beer: ???

 

[rogue1979]

The nForce2 does have good performance, but is it worth the bugs? Do we have another choice? Yes, the SiS 746. I am currently running a 1700+ @ 2300MHz on a 198MHz fsb. The ECS L7S7A2 tops out at 200MHz which it reaches easily, but right now my Crucial PC2700 is limiting my fsb speed. Another manufacturer makes a SiS 746 board that goes to 250MHz, but not much for overclocking options. The L7S7A2 has an AGP/PCI lock, supports 8X AGP, USB 2.0 and comes with onboard LAN, internal memory card reader and 6 speaker onboard sound, all for $66 shipped. There are already voltage mods available, (I'm using Vmemm mod), and I believe soon a new bios version may give the ECS up to 250MHz.

I tried a Via KT266A chipset board, and it had a few bugs. I have been using AMD 761 chipset boards ever since, and one SiS 745. The 761, 745 and 746 chipsets have had no issues with compatibility for software or hardware for me. The SiS 746 has benchmarks that are competitive with the nForce2.

 

[NicColt]

Abit and Asus nForce2 Problems According to the inquirer.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: MARMADUKE
MSI nforce2 mobos got very bad reviews, ya gotta do your homework!

Chiz

You should get a refund for that defective Asus that died on you and use it to get a 8RDA+
You dont even know why it died?.. that is sad!.. Nvidia knows!..I know!
I will give you a hint...JUMPER!

No, the supposed "safe jumper" has nothing to do with it. The only board purported have this jumper (MSI) still has the same BIOS-loss issues. It relates to how the CMOS writes to the boot block during a BIOS save when it shouldn't and therefore corrupts your failsafe defaults. You've been reading too much from the Inquirer obviously since the MSI boards suffer from BIOS-death same as any other board.

And why should I RMA for an 8RDA+ when it suffers from the same issues as every other nForce2 board prior to C1/A1? I didn't need to RMA my other A7N8X, I could just get a new BIOS chip or hotflash from my new board, which I've done. Or I could pick up a Duron (which I'm not going to do) or I could try and find a stick of PC1600 (which I'm also not going to do).

I think someone else needs to do their homework.

Chiz

 

[Shade4ever]

I have an nForce2 board, which has given me two (2) issues, one of which was widely documented the next month by the OTHER part's manufacturer:

1) Corsair 2700 C2 memory will not run at C2. I purchase the board and memory in Jan, find out in March that it's an issue with their testing, and not my mobo acting up. At CAS 2.5 I'm running happily at 190 synced FSB, w/o upping default voltages. I'm going to see how far I can go, one of these days.

2) While oc'ing, my board ceases to work...45 minutes later, I disable the "USB keyboard" jumper. It boots fine, and since I'm not using a USB keyboard, I shrug my shoulders and move on.

Those two aside, my Chaintech 7NJS has had an amazing record. Maybe you all just jumped on the wrong nForce2 boat, yes?

 

[MARMADUKE]

Nvidia released a statement a while back about some moron mobo makers who left the cpu jumper off the nforce2 boards and this causes the bios corruption and bad flash! ( they did not follow Nvidia specs! cutting corners? who cares we have soundstorm! ROFLMBO) anyway the 8RDA+ has always had the jumper and I dont see any bios problems after 7 8RDA builds and checking the 8RDA thread you will see 1 bad flash! Ohh..I did have 1 *RDA+ that would not boot out of box F4 shipped with bad chip RMA!
I have never read the Inquirer until right now!
ohhhhh..more bad news about the $135 Asus? $135 for what? A BROKEN SATA RAID controller. "GENERIC SOUNDSTORM" ROFLMBO, Asus is proving less than capable at getting 400MHz FSB Athlons to work on its Nforce 2 motherboards despite Abit having managed the feat with a simple BIOS upgrade...UNREAL! and the $94 "C1" 8RDA+ @ newegg is much faster! has no bios problems, 400Mhz no problemo! and has great onboard sound!


Chiz.... it is not to late but you must hurry to newegg!:clock:

 

[Apotherix]

I've heard nothing but good things about the nforce2, although I have a KT400 myself.

 

[Gerbil333]

If I run Tribes 2 for about 8 hours and come back, it's still running, except the audio is in a loop (it keeps repeating about 1 second of audio from one point in the match). It's consistent. I can get it to do this each time I leave the game running for that long (overnight usually). The loop continues even after exiting back to the main menu of the game. It only stops when I exit the game completely. However, the computer hasn't locked up! I can still play the game -- just with a looping segment of audio. No other games do this. I could NOT reproduce the bug on my KR7A system though.

Oh well. I never play for that long anyway. It's probably just a dumb Audigy bug

My computer seems stable. I didn't reboot for 36 hours, and during that time I used it quite a bit, and for the first night I ran Tribes 2 while I slept, and the next night I ran UT2003. It was still stable this morning, so I shut it down before I left the house (I don't like to leave my computers running while I'm gone).

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: MARMADUKE
Nvidia released a statement a while back about some moron mobo makers who left the cpu jumper off the nforce2 boards and this causes the bios corruption and bad flash!

They did? Got a link? Its not on nVidia's site anywhere.. Not on their support page either. You must be imagining things, just like you imagined the 8RDA+ had an s/pdif output. The A7N8X-DLX does have a CPU FSB selection jumper, so once again, you're talking out of your @ss. The BIOS corruption has nothing to do with a bad flash, it occurs during BIOS edits that corrupt the failsafe boot block and it certainly isn't caused by a jumper, or lack thereof.

( they did not follow Nvidia specs! cutting corners? who cares we have soundstorm! ROFLMBO)

Yep, something the 8RDA+ will never have, in practice or on paper.

8RDA thread you will see 1 bad flash!

If you posted there, its probably not worth reading through, as 150 of the 300 posts are probably from you singing the joys of the 8RDA+ from Newegg!

Try a search on AMDMB.com or nForcersHQ.com and run a search on the Epox forums. You'll see quite a few more instances of BIOS issues.

I have never read the Inquirer until right now!

That's a shocker, your writing style is eerily similar.

ohhhhh..more bad news about the $135 Asus? $135 for what? A BROKEN SATA RAID controller.

I've never used it, but plenty of others have used it without issue. I guess its not broken.

"GENERIC SOUNDSTORM" ROFLMBO,

You still don't seem to understand what SoundStorm is, so please stop referring to it.

Asus is proving less than capable at getting 400MHz FSB Athlons to work on its Nforce 2 motherboards despite Abit having managed the feat with a simple BIOS upgrade...UNREAL!

Actually, I was able to run 206MHz FSB with my "less than capable" Rev 1.04 A7N8X-DLX with BIOS Rev. 1003 so its certainly possible. Why'd you compare it to the the Abit though? Maybe something to do with low VDD on the 8RDA+? Voltage mods and SMD grabbers seem to be all the rage for 8RDA+ owners. Sounds like fun.

and the $94 "C1" 8RDA+ @ newegg is much faster!

Much faster? Do you have ANY clue what you are talking about? All C1/A1 stepping boards will fully support 400MHz DDR/200MHz FSB out of the box due to the SPP revision using the stepping internally named Crush 18-D. At equal FSB speeds, the difference in performance will be < 1%; look at ANY review of ANY of the nForce2 boards and you'll see that to be the case. The 8RDA+ is NOT the only board shipping with the C1/A1 stepping, as it has been confirmed the Rev 2.0 boards from Asus and Abit are C1/A1 as well.

has no bios problems

That's a bold statement. Willing to guarantee that with YOUR money? I'd back up any recommendation I give here with my own money, as I take the advice I give on these boards very seriously. In fact, I make a living giving advice.

and has great onboard sound!

But still no s/pdif out.

Chiz.... it is not to late but you must hurry to newegg!:clock:

Newsflash: Newegg isn't the only place that sells computer parts. Why would I hurry to Newegg to purchase an 8RDA+ when I already have two superior nForce2 boards running a T-bred B at 207MHz x 11.5 and a Barton at 11 x 206MHz (I could probably push this one further, its my Rev. 2.0)?

Chiz