AN35N Ultra Upgrade

[snowairg]

I'm going for a cheap upgrade to my Iwil KK266+ and TBird 1.4. Planning on getting this Shuttle mobo and whatever Athlon XP I can get for under $60. Gonna go retail so I can get a HSF. I'm not overclocking. I just got in on the Hot Deal $5 PNY DDR memory (two 256MB sticks), so hopefully the mobo will take it.

What's up with some 12V connector on the mobo? Do I have to plug this in? I've got an Antex 300W P/S which I assume will be fine.

Any thoughts/comments on my plans or about this mobo? Thanks everyone!

 

[jaeger66]

Originally posted by: snowairg
I'm going for a cheap upgrade to my Iwil KK266+ and TBird 1.4. Planning on getting this Shuttle mobo and whatever Athlon XP I can get for under $60. Gonna go retail so I can get a HSF. I'm not overclocking. I just got in on the Hot Deal $5 PNY DDR memory (two 256MB sticks), so hopefully the mobo will take it.

What's up with some 12V connector on the mobo? Do I have to plug this in? I've got an Antex 300W P/S which I assume will be fine.

Any thoughts/comments on my plans or about this mobo? Thanks everyone!

Insane3D will be along shortly...

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: jaeger66

Originally posted by: snowairg
I'm going for a cheap upgrade to my Iwil KK266+ and TBird 1.4. Planning on getting this Shuttle mobo and whatever Athlon XP I can get for under $60. Gonna go retail so I can get a HSF. I'm not overclocking. I just got in on the Hot Deal $5 PNY DDR memory (two 256MB sticks), so hopefully the mobo will take it.

What's up with some 12V connector on the mobo? Do I have to plug this in? I've got an Antex 300W P/S which I assume will be fine.

Any thoughts/comments on my plans or about this mobo? Thanks everyone!

Insane3D will be along shortly...

*hears his name*

"Someone called?"


Anyways, that is a great little budget board. Mine hit 230mhz FSB. Are you totally averse to overclocking?

 

[snowairg]

Are you totally averse to overclocking?

Naw, I used to do it all the time in fact. I just have no need to anymore nor the time to fool with settings and testing. I just need a CHEAP upgrade right now. Mainly I won't be doing it cause I know the cheap $5 memory I got from Hot Deals won't be able to handle anything beyond 2100 speeds.

I think I'm going to pair this with the retail 1800+ from Newegg. Mobo+CPU will come in under $130 shipped with tax, plus 512MB memory I just got will be a nice <$150 upgrade.

Can you tell me abou this 12V connector?

Thanks!

 

[Insane3D]

Well, that's fine, but you should keep the option open as o/c nowadays is so much easir and painless than in the days of the KK266-R...a great mobo by the way. The NF2 chipset can adjust the multiplier of that 1800+ without any unlocking, and the PCI and AGP are locked so runnning any FSB you want is not dangerous at all. In fact, you could just keep your memory @ default speed and just use the multiplier to change your speed. Also, the 1800+ is a Tbred B .13um chip, and runs much much cooler than your 1.4Tbird...


As for the +12v connector, you need to have it connected for the board to function. Your Antec PSU should be fine unless it it very very old.

 

[snowairg]

I always keep the option open. I was unaware that you can simply change the multiplier so easily. Thanks for the heads up.

My Antec PS does not have wires for a P4 mobo, so it's somewhat old. I think I'll have to buy an adapter to plug it in to this mobo...

 

[novice]

"Mainly I won't be doing it cause I know the cheap $5 memory I got from Hot Deals won't be able to handle anything beyond 2100 speeds. ?"You are probably right. My 2 sticks of PNY don't even seem to run stable at their rated 166 in my AN35N.

I think I'm going to pair this with the retail 1800+ from Newegg. Mobo+CPU will come in under $130 shipped with tax, plus 512MB memory I just got will be a nice <$150 upgrade. Don't forget the XP1700+. Even with the mediocre PNY ram, mine runs as an XP2400 effortlessly, with a $12 shipped hsf

Can you tell me abou this 12V connector?" Insane is right. The AN35N needs the extra 12V connector to insure that the CPU gets sufficient juice to run stable. A good quality 350W or better power supply is also recommended.[b/]

All in all, I have been very pleased with the AN35N for a bare bones cost effective upgrade. It will be interesting to see what effect upgrading my power supply to a 420W Enlight has. The PNY ram does run well at 133 (as well it should since it is supposed to be PC-2700. It should run stable at 166 as well, at least at relaxed memory timings. The only drawback I see besides the somewhat limited "bells and whistles" of the board is the lack of clock multipliers in the BIOS for the 11.5 12 and 12.5 ratios. The updated BIOS on the web site supposedly has these, but I haven't gotten the courage to flash mine yet. But I cannot imagine a better faster board for less than $70 delivered.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: novice
"Mainly I won't be doing it cause I know the cheap $5 memory I got from Hot Deals won't be able to handle anything beyond 2100 speeds. ?"You are probably right. My 2 sticks of PNY don't even seem to run stable at their rated 166 in my AN35N.

I think I'm going to pair this with the retail 1800+ from Newegg. Mobo+CPU will come in under $130 shipped with tax, plus 512MB memory I just got will be a nice <$150 upgrade. Don't forget the XP1700+. Even with the mediocre PNY ram, mine runs as an XP2400 effortlessly, with a $12 shipped hsf

Can you tell me abou this 12V connector?" Insane is right. The AN35N needs the extra 12V connector to insure that the CPU gets sufficient juice to run stable. A good quality 350W or better power supply is also recommended.

All in all, I have been very pleased with the AN35N for a bare bones cost effective upgrade. It will be interesting to see what effect upgrading my power supply to a 420W Enlight has. The PNY ram does run well at 133 (as well it should since it is supposed to be PC-2700. It should run stable at 166 as well, at least at relaxed memory timings. The only drawback I see besides the somewhat limited "bells and whistles" of the board is the lack of clock multipliers in the BIOS for the 11.5 12 and 12.5 ratios. The updated BIOS on the web site supposedly has these, but I haven't gotten the courage to flash mine yet. But I cannot imagine a better faster board for less than $70 delivered.

The new bios adds the multipliers, and works fine. You can even use Shuttle's windows based flasher.

 

[novice]

"The new bios adds the multipliers, and works fine. You can even use Shuttle's windows based flasher. "

Has anyone tried the windows based flasher? Does it really work? I remember MSI tried something similar a while back and then warned against actually trying to use it. But it does beat trying to do it in DOS, especially when you are running win2K.

 

[Insane3D]

All the major brands have windows based flashers now, and they work fine. The Shuttle uses a program called WinFlash, which is also the program Epox's "Magic Flash" uses as well. It's easy and works fine.