Got my Nforce2 today.

[PreDatoR]

Ordered a Epox 8RDA and got it today. Nice board i like the layout of it other than where they put the power plug... Probably won't get around to installing it until this weekend but i might get a wild hair and do it tonight lol I hope those works out so i can say good bye via!

[blackhawk]

You didn't like the via chipset motherboards?

I know its a bit of a pain to setup with the extra via drivers and keeping them up to date but anything else?

Other than the BX and the amd 760, thats about all I've used.

I just setup an Epox 8k9a2+ and playing with it and a 2400, enjoy the combinations of multiplier and fsb possible with this setup.

[PreDatoR]

I was happy with the 8K3A+ i had just tired of fighting the damn driver conflicts all the time. So far i love this nforce2 haven't tweaked it out yet and might not. at 177fsb right now running rock stable 2.3 gigs... couldn't ask for moreother than maybe water cooling LOL

[blackhawk]

What's your cpu?


So many combinations between mulitplier, fsb and ram its going to take a while to figure mine out.

Right now 166 fsb at 12 multiplier with crucial 2100 running at 2700.

[PreDatoR]

2100+ tbred 13x177 i think..

[Bigal]

PreDatoR: Did you buy the EP-8RDA+ or the EP-8RDA like you stated in the beginning of this thread? Is there only a difference in features between these boards, or are there some performance items to consider too?

I just posted in wjohn's thread a minute ago - I ordered the Athlon XP 2100 t-bred B and the Thermalright SLK900 too, so that's a quick $280 out the window!

Do you have recommendations on where to get 2 sticks of 256 MB 3200 DDR CAS2 memory?

[PreDatoR]

honestly all u need is pc2100 with this board. run the ram in asnyc gets better results than running it in sync with the FSB. the dual channel ddr feature with 2 sticks of pc2100 will give you all the bandwidth the chip needs. You can run the ram at 50% up to 200% the speed of the actual FSB. So if you want to run the chip at 200 fsb set the ram at 66% to run at 133 dual channel with give you a speed of 433 DDR which is plenty of bandwidth. sandra don't report the available bandwidth correct for the nforce2 boards yet. hopefully with a update it will. I ordered the 8RDA the + only has onboard LAN and 6.1 channel sound. thats the only difference. Some version of it come with firewire also i think. I didn't need any of that so i went with the non + at less cost. other than these few things they are identical boards.

[Bigal]

Ok, maybe I will save a few bucks and get PC2700 memory. For some reason, I can't consider PC2100 memory - maybe it's just to common around here. My biggest concern is that some people have experienced problems with particular memory sticks and this board. I want to avoid that situation. I'll be running W2K and it will become my main system once everything is configured, so I won't be pushing it to the max - just maybe 90 to 95% of max.....

[PreDatoR]

don't get 256 meg stick of corsair then those are having spd issues with this board and to fast of timings. my 512 meg stick of pc2700 corsair work fine seems to be just the 256 meg sticks... googlegear has kingston pc2700 512 megs right now for 75.50 that was yesterdays price might be cheaper now. Myself i love having a gig of ram

[wvjohn]

a gig is a nice round number who wouldda thought it !

[sethpa]

Pred, did you bench with both synch and asynch on your ram/FSB? Had read on amdmb message board that you get better overall performance with synch/100% than you do trying to run with asynch/different memory speed. What kind of voltage you putting on your cpu? I'm at 2.2 with 1.7, really didn't want to hit it with higher Vcore and thus, more heat. Mine's a 2100 also, btw.

thanks,
sethpa

[wvjohn]

seth - i'm at 2336 @ 1.75v on mine - I burned it in higher - around 1.85 @2400

0250 chip

[PreDatoR]

.2v's over is about the max .1's childs play I didn't bench it myself i'm running sync i've seen a couple reviews that show the async mem scores higher than the sync. I don't have time to dig up the reviews now gotta get to work but i'll try to remember when i get home.

[Bigal]

PreDatoR / others: Are you saying to avoid Cosair 256 MB memory, such as this: http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=80092-12 ? We are talking about the Corsair CMX256A-3200LL 256MB DDR400 XMS3200 32Mx64 184 DIMM Low Latency SPD Memory w/Heat Spreader - tested at ultra-low latency settings (2-2-2-6), command rate of 1T, and SPD programmed for low latency. Maybe this stuff has problems due to the SPD program that automatically sets the CAS values. This is the kind of memory I would really like, except that I don't want to have "issues" with it!

The Kingston KVR400X64C25/256 256MB DDR400 PC3200 CL2.5 184 DIMM Memory ( http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDe ... de=80093-9 ) is a possibility, with these specifications: 256MB 400MHz DDR PC3200 DIMM 184-Pin CL2.5 Non-ECC. It costs $86 per stick, compared to the Corsair at $93 per stick.

I'm still looking for a better deal - either more performance for the money, or just less money.

[Bigal]

Guys:

Anybody see problems with GeIL 256MB PC3200 Ultra 400MHz DDR SDRAM CL2/ CAS 2 1T Geil-256-3200-Ultra memory from: http://www.ocsystem.com/ocz25pc40ddr.html ? It has the 1T timing, and with the copper heatsink I'm looking at $83 per stick (2 sticks) and free shipping. Will I have problems running this memory? Please answer if you know - I may order it within the hour!
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