Aceshardware: Socket A Shootout. nForce 420-D Socket A King...

AGodspeed

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2001
3,353
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0
http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=45000290

It is possible to build a stable, overclocked, and high-performance Socket A PC without resorting to expensive cooling or dangerous voltage settings. An unlocked Athlon XP (or an Athlon MP) performs very well with an an overclocked FSB on the nForce-based ASUS A7N266-E. As we used relatively humble cooling and a slightly older Athlon MP 1900+ (AGKGA - AGOGA probably does much better), we are confident that our readers will be able to push their Athlons higher than we did.

Thanks to the impressive overclocking performance of the ASUS A7N266-E and the Corsair PC2400/2700 XMS it is possible to run the Athlon XP at 166 MHz FSB without sacrificing stability. We are looking forward to the ASUS A7N266-C, which will be based on NVIDIA's less-expensive 415 chipset (no integrated video).


Me waits impatiently for nForce 415-D. :D

EDIT: Look at those benchmarks, the nForce comes out on top in nearly every single game, app, etc. Btw, why didn't anyone post this before? This article is almost 12 hours old. ;)

EDITx2: For those wanting to overclock...

The newest ASUS A7N266 (rev 1.01) [and A7N266-E) updated to the latest BIOS revision surprised us with excellent stability at 165 MHz FSB. In fact, running games at 172 MHz FSB was not out of the question, but 3DS Max rendering froze at this speed. At 167 MHz FSB, the rendering tests would complete successfully most of the time and games would run without a single crash. At 165 MHz, everything ran without incident.

Too bad ASUS likes to charge an arm and a leg for their products. Although this thread in the Motherboard forum holds some hope for lower priced ASUS nForce boards.
 

Daovonnaex

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2001
1,952
0
0


<< http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=45000290

It is possible to build a stable, overclocked, and high-performance Socket A PC without resorting to expensive cooling or dangerous voltage settings. An unlocked Athlon XP (or an Athlon MP) performs very well with an an overclocked FSB on the nForce-based ASUS A7N266-E. As we used relatively humble cooling and a slightly older Athlon MP 1900+ (AGKGA - AGOGA probably does much better), we are confident that our readers will be able to push their Athlons higher than we did.

Thanks to the impressive overclocking performance of the ASUS A7N266-E and the Corsair PC2400/2700 XMS it is possible to run the Athlon XP at 166 MHz FSB without sacrificing stability. We are looking forward to the ASUS A7N266-C, which will be based on NVIDIA's less-expensive 415 chipset (no integrated video).


Me waits impatiently for nForce 415-D. :D

EDIT: Look at those benchmarks, the nForce comes out on top in nearly every single game, app, etc. Btw, why didn't anyone post this before? This article is almost 12 hours old. ;)

EDITx2: For those wanting to overclock...

The newest ASUS A7N266 (rev 1.01) [and A7N266-E) updated to the latest BIOS revision surprised us with excellent stability at 165 MHz FSB. In fact, running games at 172 MHz FSB was not out of the question, but 3DS Max rendering froze at this speed. At 167 MHz FSB, the rendering tests would complete successfully most of the time and games would run without a single crash. At 165 MHz, everything ran without incident.

Too bad ASUS likes to charge an arm and a leg for their products. Although this thread in the Motherboard forum holds some hope for lower priced ASUS nForce boards.
>>

Fortunately, ABIT is coming out with a 415D based board this month, which may pressure Asus into lowering prices.
 

AGodspeed

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2001
3,353
0
0


<<

<< http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=45000290

It is possible to build a stable, overclocked, and high-performance Socket A PC without resorting to expensive cooling or dangerous voltage settings. An unlocked Athlon XP (or an Athlon MP) performs very well with an an overclocked FSB on the nForce-based ASUS A7N266-E. As we used relatively humble cooling and a slightly older Athlon MP 1900+ (AGKGA - AGOGA probably does much better), we are confident that our readers will be able to push their Athlons higher than we did.

Thanks to the impressive overclocking performance of the ASUS A7N266-E and the Corsair PC2400/2700 XMS it is possible to run the Athlon XP at 166 MHz FSB without sacrificing stability. We are looking forward to the ASUS A7N266-C, which will be based on NVIDIA's less-expensive 415 chipset (no integrated video).


Me waits impatiently for nForce 415-D. :D

EDIT: Look at those benchmarks, the nForce comes out on top in nearly every single game, app, etc. Btw, why didn't anyone post this before? This article is almost 12 hours old. ;)

EDITx2: For those wanting to overclock...

The newest ASUS A7N266 (rev 1.01) [and A7N266-E) updated to the latest BIOS revision surprised us with excellent stability at 165 MHz FSB. In fact, running games at 172 MHz FSB was not out of the question, but 3DS Max rendering froze at this speed. At 167 MHz FSB, the rendering tests would complete successfully most of the time and games would run without a single crash. At 165 MHz, everything ran without incident.

Too bad ASUS likes to charge an arm and a leg for their products. Although this thread in the Motherboard forum holds some hope for lower priced ASUS nForce boards.
>>

Fortunately, ABIT is coming out with a 415D based board this month, which may pressure Asus into lowering prices.
>>


Indeed, it's called the Abit NV7-133R. It uses the nForce 415-D chipset, which includes the nForce APU, modem and NIC (not sure about NIC though). It also has RAID, 3 DIMM slots, ATA 133, and USB 2.0. It's supposed to be $130 according to xbitlabs.
 

Daovonnaex

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2001
1,952
0
0


<< Indeed, it's called the Abit NV7-133R. It uses the nForce 415-D chipset, which includes the nForce APU, modem and NIC (not sure about NIC though). It also has RAID, 3 DIMM slots, ATA 133, and USB 2.0. It's supposed to be $130 according to xbitlabs. >>

I read the exact same thing at xbit, you don't have to link everything. To the best of my knowledge, the LAN will be included by ABIT, though that's pure speculation. Given that all nForce boards have a fixed PCI bus speed, and given that ABIT provides outstanding overclocking support, it should be an outstanding performer (especially if the AGP divider can be reset).
 

AGodspeed

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2001
3,353
0
0


<<

<< Indeed, it's called the Abit NV7-133R. It uses the nForce 415-D chipset, which includes the nForce APU, modem and NIC (not sure about NIC though). It also has RAID, 3 DIMM slots, ATA 133, and USB 2.0. It's supposed to be $130 according to xbitlabs. >>

I read the exact same thing at xbit, you don't have to link everything. To the best of my knowledge, the LAN will be included by ABIT, though that's pure speculation. Given that all nForce boards have a fixed PCI bus speed, and given that ABIT provides outstanding overclocking support, it should be an outstanding performer (especially if the AGP divider can be reset).
>>

I'm looking forward to Abit's board as well...
 

Dreadogg

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2001
1,780
0
76
This will be my next upgrade although I am a big MSI fan, so I guess I might be waiting a little longer! Also I've never done the raid thing so what else do I need can you run two ATA 133 7200rpm drives in raid or is that just insain? Or should I just get another ATA 100 7200rpm drive?
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,366
8,478
126
/me drools on asus board

hmmm... wonder what an msi k7t 266 pro 2 is going for on ebay these days? got a TB SC too... hey how do i get this case sticker off?
 

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,642
62
91
I was looking forward to getting a MSI K7N 420 Pro, but i like the way the Abit boards sounds, Onboard USB 2.0 would Be Sweet!