*** Official ABIT NF7/S (nForce2) Thread ***

[Mustanggt]

Originally posted by: KimPhilby
I've read that the performance hike is nothing to write home about, but then isn't SATA more a future-proofing thing at present?

Now for a different question. Is there a guide anywhere to BIOS settings for the board, outside the CPU/RAM/voltage?

I keep reading that people are blown away by sata performace on a Raptor just curious if this holds true with onboard sata rather than a add in card??

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: KimPhilby
Soz but that's a bit basic (and a little out of date). I was wondering if there was an NF7 (or possibly an Nforce 2) specific FAQ?

It's not basic or out of date. Almost everything you need to know about the NF-7 bios is in there. If you have any questions about specific settings you can post them here.

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: spikemike
since i installed this motherboard my system time has become horribly innacurate, I left it on last night and woke up this morning and the time was about 20 minutes off. And after 5 hours since i reset it, it is now over 9 minutes off. Anyway to fix this?

Innacurate? You mean unstable? I've had zero problems with mine since I put it in last weekend.

 

[Noid]

I think I'd try a new battery if your clock is that slow.

 

[spikemike]

well actually it was fast not slow. and since i changed my memory to crucial, from my Fry's loaner memory, and started running dual channel ddr400 it is staying accurate, although there is probably no connection in that

 

[Booyah]

Well I finally got my refurb NF7-S yesterday. I was a bit dissapointed as it turned out to be ver 1.0

Regardless I went ahead and installed windows xp with a Barton 2500+ and 2 sticks of Geil 512mb pc3200 Ultra DDR. So far at stock settings the board is rock solid. The bios that was loaded was 4.2.12.

 

[Noid]

The 1.0's run good too ,,, (they had microphone and sound issues that are resloved now I think)
I hope you looked at the goop under your NB, and reapplied if need (too keep it cool)
Anyway ,,, yes ,,, definately flash to BIOS 19 or 20

And I'd try 200fsb for starters on that Barton (at mult 10)

Divider of 5/5
CPU interface ENABLED
Move the CHIPSET voltage to 1.7

Set your memory timing and voltage
Turn off all the spectrum, CPU throlling
Turn off 1394 and SATA if not needed.
Set Bus mastering ENABLED if you use ghost

 

[Shimmishim]

CPU overheat protection...


WORKS!

well... somehow the fan on my radiator got knocked loose and the fan stopped working...

computer kept randomly shut off

tried rebooting.. no go...

tried a minute later and boot....

as i was in the bios again... computer shut off and gave me sirens...

restarted again.. checked temps and saw they were upwards into the 50's (my temps never go above 48C's)

checked radiator fan and it was off and the water was REALLY warm...



2 points for abit in my book... (1st point - eRMA service was fast)

 

[jscott1226]

I just bought the ABIT NF7/S v2.0 from excaliber.net. I plan on using my exisiting AMD XP2400+. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions about which memory to use or not to use? I had planned on picking up a couple of sticks of Kingston 512MB PC2700 CL2.5 333MHz DDR. CC has it right now for $40 after MIR.

 

[Mustanggt]

This may sound like a stupid Question But I got my NF7_S today it is a Rev 2 But i pulled board outa box and there was no foam under board, I dont think I ever got a board that did not have some kind of padding under it, Is this the norm for Abit now? or is everone else getting the padding?? I have not installed board yet so no idea if it works.

 

[awanSky]

noob needs help here,

Just got my nf7-s from excaliber and barton 2500 from newegg. Since I am still waiting for my corsair xms, I thought I use my extra kingston pc2100 to test the setup but it wont POST at all. The led on the mobo is on (red) and when I power on, a green one is on for few second, fans are spinning, and then a continuos long and short beep. All fans stop spinning. What is goin on? is it the memory? video is working fine from another pc.

setup:
POWMAX 400w
Abit NF7-S rev2.0
Barton 2500 week 23
Kingston 256 PC2100
Geforce4 ti 4200 128

 

[asveepay]

Originally posted by: Mustanggt
This may sound like a stupid Question But I got my NF7_S today it is a Rev 2 But i pulled board outa box and there was no foam under board, I dont think I ever got a board that did not have some kind of padding under it, Is this the norm for Abit now? or is everone else getting the padding?? I have not installed board yet so no idea if it works.

My rev2 also came without padding, however the box packing was a lot more intense than i've seen for a motherboard before. Works fine so far.

 

[pelikan]

I tested performance with PCI latency at 64 instead of default 32. It improved UT2003 benchmark by a couple FPS in botmatch (no easy task!), 3DMark01 went up a couple hundred points, and HD benches are faster. I'm going to try out 128 and see what happens.
Link with info.

 

[Mustanggt]

I got my NF7/s yesterday, set it up tonight after long work week, Only been running an hour but this board is great Boots right up first try, I am running at 215FSB now try higher tommorow, Easiest Intsall of mobo I have done, Blows away the Buggy 8RDA+ I replaced it with, Cpu Temps run a little lower than the Epox board, I didnt even format hard drive it booted right into Win XP like I had not changed anything, Anyone That is debating getting the 8RDA+ because its cheaper spend the extra bucks on this NF7/S and save yourself a ton of Headaches.

 

[Mustanggt]

I cant seem to get past 215 FSB Might be my 3200 is at its limit. Really nice to be able to do a cold boot with NF7/S after a to high overclock and have system come right back, Unlike My 8RDA+ where a bios reset was needed everytime.

 

[pelikan]

Are you sure its at 115FSB, and not 215?

 

[Mustanggt]

LOL, See thats how tired I am I am typing 115 Yes I meant 215 will edit other post, thanks Now I have to build a system for my daughter using the epox board, hopefully that will go as smooth as the NF7/s did but I doubt it.

 

[Apocalypse23]

yea im buying this soon, the 2.0 version that is.

 

[Apocalypse23]

yea im buying this soon, the 2.0 version that is.

 

[Apocalypse23]

i was wondering if any regular OEM 512 ddr pc3200 ram stick would properly work on the mobo.

thanks

 

[Shimmishim]

it should as long as yo udon't use timings beyond what it is made for!

 

[BDSM]

Shimmishim.. hey there.. this is off topic.. but.. neway.. I know you have tried ltos of t-bred b's.. Just wondering.. how high did u get the best one stably?. 2500 mhz, right?

Cuz there are some peeps (which I think are lying) that say they've got their ones up to 2600 mhz and one that claims 2700 ON AIR.. Seems very unlikely to me since 99.99999999% everywhere else can't get more than about 2450 stably with aircooling.

 

[pelikan]

I posted earlier on getting increased performance from a pci latency setting of 64. That was great, but after installing the 6/17 nvidia sound driver update for XP I experienced sound corruption in video playback. I had to set pci latency back to the default of 32 and reinstall the drivers to fix it.

 

[Mustanggt]

I had time to play with my NF7/s and have been getting some outstanding benchmark results, This board plain and simple blows away the 8RDA+ I had, I am running at 225 FSB With XP 1700@2.3 or around there, Very happy with this new board, I stopped at 225 FSB I dont think my 3200 XMS can do much more. Edit 227 FSB now hope it can stay stable with torture test.

 

[KimPhilby]

I'm using a PCI latency of 64 to good effect, but then I don't use onboard sound.

Seeing as I spent my budget on this board and the Barton 2500+, I'm still stuck with my two sticks of Kingston 256Mb PC2700. Has anyone got any advice or experience in what the best overclocking strategy would be?

I'm not running any super-cooling but I have a Lian Li case with 4 fans (inc one at the top) and a two fan Thermaltke PSU. No noticeable temperature hike increasing the FSB from 166 to 180. Memory is currently set to agressive. All fairly conservative at present as I'm not sure what I can expect from the memory.