*** Official Soltek 75FRN-L/75FRN2-L (nForce2) Thread ***

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
Is the 75FRN2 the newer stepping of the chipset over the 75FRN ?

I am probably going to order one tonight or tomorrow... I want the latest, probably the 75FRN2?

Yep, 75FRN2 has the A1/C1 chipset, glad to hear you blew the MSI off :beer:

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Yep. Already running at 2700+

*Monty Burns* Excellent Smithers!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

New review up.

 

[aircooled]

Good read.

This is by far the best mobo under $100!

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: CraigRT
Is the 75FRN2 the newer stepping of the chipset over the 75FRN ?

I am probably going to order one tonight or tomorrow... I want the latest, probably the 75FRN2?

Yep, 75FRN2 has the A1/C1 chipset, glad to hear you blew the MSI off :beer:

Yeah, the one reason I wanted the MSI sadly was because of the red PCB..

I've had good luck with MSI in the past (K7T Turbo LE) but also Soltek (SL-75DRV4)
the Soltek being cheaper from NCIX I bit the bullet and went with the (IMO) safer choice..
proud owner now
probably get it in 2-3 days! yipee!!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

LOL, glad you finally made the decision and bought it Craig :beer: Looking forward to your results so keep us posted!

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
LOL, glad you finally made the decision and bought it Craig :beer: Looking forward to your results so keep us posted!

I will man I will... my system will look like this:

Sapphire 9700 pro 128MB
SL-75FRN-2
XP 2400+
512MB PC3500 Hyper-X (2x256 for dual DDR)
CoolerMaster HHC-001 cooler
WD 800JB hard drive and D740 60GB.

 

[SpaceHulk]

Hey, Thanks DAPUNISHER for keeping this thread updated. What an execellent resource.

Is anyone out there running with a PSU that doesn't have the 12v connector? I have an Antec 400W PSU and ave had zero stability issues with out the 12v connector. However, every once in a while it reboots on initial start-up, but never once the OS loads. I'm wondering if its related to me not having the proper power supply or if it's something else.

I really don't want to blow another $50-$70 on another PSU right now.

 

[CraigRT]

I plan on running mine when it arrives with the same PSU you have.

I have the Antec PP403X and I don't imagine it won't work fine without it.

I'll let you know.. you're right about this being a good resource!!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

What up SpaceHulk been awhile, and thanx for the positive comments guys :beer: Listen, they sell adapters for connecting a 4pin molex to the P4 style adapter Here at Directron you can probably find 'em cheaper if you look around. My guess is that you can continue to run OK without the extra 12v feed unless you are pushing high fsb and have some power hungry stuff as well.

 

[SpaceHulk]

Hey that adapter is a great idea. Why didn't I think of that. I think I'll make one as I have a DEAD PSU (don't ever buy a leadman by the way, this one has taken out 2 floppy drives and a 20GB HD on its way out the door) I can use the 12v connector from.

I'll post whether that helps the boot up problems I've been experienceing.


UPDATE All boot up issues have gone away now that I have made myself a 12v connector. I checked my 12v rail with a multimeter also. It appears to stay at 11.87v fairly consistently except when my CD drive spun up it dropped to 11.83v. I think that this may have been part of the trouble with my boot up. I'm guessing here, but maybe there was just to much draw on the 12v rail when all the drives were spinning up during boot.

I think I'll stick with Soltek boards for a while. I've had it with EpoX b/c their RMA policy sucks, I really like Abit and Asus; but they are a little pricey, ECS and Biostar are just a little to cheap.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I agree, I keep saying Soltek is the new Epox because they remind me of Epox when they first started producing great budget overclocking boards while Asus and Abit where still pricey. I surmised that the 12v adapter would get you straightened out because they use a 2 phase power stepping and it really relies on that extra 12v boost. Your line looks to be very strong so overclocking should be smooth sailing so post some results if you start jacking it up :beer:

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: SpaceHulk

I think I'll stick with Soltek boards for a while.

good choice... me too!

i will have 2 Soltek powered machines in my house as soon as i get my SL-75FRN in the mail..

 

[overclock]

Soltek USA To Cease USA Sales Operation

Submit date: May 13, 2003
News Summary: Due to recent price policy changes done by many tier-1 motherboard makers and due to economic instability aside from the logistic problem arisen from the war and SARS issue, Soltek USA has decided to cease the sales operation for the time being.

I wondered why newegg raised the price to $99 today. I should have ordered one when they had it for $85. Oh well.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Yep, they're closing shop Some vendors will still be carrying Soltek but it'll most likely cost more.

 

[dminimal]

Ouch. I've been searching around for an nForce2 motherboard, and my favorite is certainly the SL-75FRN2-L (largely thanks to this thread), but that price jump hurts. Is Googlegear the best place to get it now?

In fact, I just became a member so I could ask a (n00b) question about it: to get more than the two included USB ports, what am I looking for? Soltek calls it an optional cable, but doesn't offer it themselves.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: dminimal
Ouch. I've been searching around for an nForce2 motherboard, and my favorite is certainly the SL-75FRN2-L (partly thanks to this thread), but that price jump hurts.

In fact, I just became a member so I could ask a (n00b) question about it: to get more than the two USB ports, what am I looking for? Soltek calls it an optional cable, but doesn't offer it themselves.

Welcome to the forums :beer: My advice would be look for a hub on a hot deal because it'll probably end up being less expensive with easier setup and usage.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

BTW, it's getting very hard to find so get the one at googlegear, Newegg (just the RAID version left), eXcaliber, Computergate are all out and appears won't be restocking any either! This really sux and is evidently due to the stepped up security at ports making it hard to import stuff cheaply and on time EDIT:iocombo has it but it's 99$ shipped. It looks like I'll be buying and trying the Albatron next since that's another up and coming company with great price/performance....

 

[Daysleeper]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: dminimal
Ouch. I've been searching around for an nForce2 motherboard, and my favorite is certainly the SL-75FRN2-L (partly thanks to this thread), but that price jump hurts.

In fact, I just became a member so I could ask a (n00b) question about it: to get more than the two USB ports, what am I looking for? Soltek calls it an optional cable, but doesn't offer it themselves.

Welcome to the forums :beer: My advice would be look for a hub on a hot deal because it'll probably end up being less expensive with easier setup and usage.

Well i did it this way: First i bought Abit nf-7 rev 1.1 and the box included that optional cable (2 usb ports)....Abit was ok, but i couldn't hit over 190 fsb with my kingston memories!!. Well i changed Abit to Soltek FRN2-L and i kept the optional cable myself.......and now i can go as far as 220fsb with my kingstons (221 x 11) but my pifast3.3 record is done with 215,5 x 11,5 =>pifast3.3...but i have to say that if i'm gonna build a watercooling system i have to make a Vcoremod on this board or change the board to Epox rda+ or rda3+....sorry my bad English.......by the way has anyone tried the new bios on this board D1.2L ?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Excellent results Daysleeper, and your english is better than most for whom it's their first language

 

[DAPUNISHER]

SL-75FRN-L won the best value award@benchhouse :beer: Soltek will have to find a way to keep selling boards here to capitalize on the astonishing number of awards the Golden Flame series boards are winning and the momentum and consequent increase in sales that are resulting from all the great press and word of mouth from us

 

[SpaceHulk]

Hmmm. Lucky me, I bought mine at Newegg for $79 shipped on 4/28/03.

 

[CraigRT]

still selling here for a great price

that's about $93 USD.. not too shabby!!

 

[dminimal]

You are lucky, SpaceHulk.

I'm facing the lengthy account-creation form at Googlegear right now..

 

[NesuD]

Just ordered a SL-75FRN2-RL from newegg. Built box for a neighbor using the IGP version and was so impressed with the board that I decided to get one. Tired of this damn MSI board.