Best nForce2 motherboard w/ integrated GPU?

[diehlr]

I am returning a motherboard for someone I know and am in charge of buying this person a replacement. Her old motherboard was an nForce and I have heard lots of good things, so want to go with an nForce2 if possible. She used the integrated GPU with the old motherboard and was more than happy with performance.

Anyway, I wanted to know what people recommend for a good, stable nForce2 based motherboard with integrated GPU. Stability is key. Her old one was really flakey with USB (it was an MSI, for the record). The board is *NOT* ever going to be overclocked, so that is absolutely of no concern.

Specific model numbers would be useful. Also, I would like to keep cost in the $150 ballpark or less price range, if possible.

Also, if anyone knows of a good recent nForce2 motherboard roundup article on the web, that would be very helpful.

Thanks!

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Hate to recommend MSI again, but:

MSI K7N2G-L is $113 at NewEgg (IIRC)

- M4H

 

[KF]

NForce2 with video is just showing up. I would be wary of any new mobo for a few months unless you are an experimenter, and MSI especially. Be prepared to flash BIOSes. At $113 I'm tempted to buy one though. I don't mind flashing BIOSes

Anandtech has a review of nForce2mobos without video. They were very new when reviewed. Prices and supply are now settling down pretty well.

ASUS A7N266-VM is an nForce 1 mobo with video and no OCing that is $72 shipped from Newegg. I don't recall any complaints about the USB. It is a little behind on technology, although not too many could tell, but having been around a while it is debugged. A lot of people like it. I set one up for someone and it was great. I find the price unbelievable. But maybe you need USB 2?

 

[diehlr]

I may just stick with nForce1. Stability / reliability is my main concern. The woman whose computer this is for was perfectly happy with her old nForce1, but I wasn't aware at how new the IGP based nForce2 boards were at this point. I don't want to get unproven components, especially a motherboard. I'm thinking of going ASUS but I'll have to do a little more research first. If anyone else has opinions on the matter, I'd like to hear them. Thanks.

 

[WalMart1564]

you might want to take a look at some reviews for the Leaktek K7NCR18-pro with video

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: KF
(snip)
ASUS A7N266-VM is an nForce 1 mobo with video and no OCing (snip)

The overclocking mystery was solved about 6 months ago.
Now, the board does easily overclock with a simple 30 second jumper mod.
Search Anandtech forums, and most other sites for details.

Running my $49 (shipped) Newegg refurb A7N266-VM AA with XP1600+ at 155MHzx10.5, or around XP1900 speeds.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: diehlr
I may just stick with nForce1. Stability / reliability is my main concern. The woman whose computer this is for was perfectly happy with her old nForce1, but I wasn't aware at how new the IGP based nForce2 boards were at this point. I don't want to get unproven components, especially a motherboard. I'm thinking of going ASUS but I'll have to do a little more research first. If anyone else has opinions on the matter, I'd like to hear them. Thanks.

I give the Asus A7N266-VM two thumbs up. We have 18 of them at work (specs) and use Win2000. They are extremely stable, they perform well, and the price is hard to beat. 3-year warranty, too. I have two more coming in next week In fact, I'm considering sticking with them for most of next fiscal year's builds too.