Cheapest (quality) NForce2 board with Soundstorm and IGP

[PrinceXizor]

I'm going to be building a system for my brother and was hoping to use an Nforce2 board with the IGP to save costs till he can afford a decent video card.

Most of the nforce2 boards that are christened with "soundstorm" use the MCP-T.

Is it possible to get "soundstorm" certification w/o MCP-T?

If so, do any mb's have this? What do they cost?

If not, what is the cheapest board that uses the MCP-T?

P-X

 

[Doh!]

Is it possible to get "soundstorm" certification w/o MCP-T?

No. Not unless nVidia comes out with a new chipset incorporating SS.

If not, what is the cheapest board that uses the MCP-T?

Probably, Epox 8RDA+. But you want the internal video & MCP-T, then MSI K7N2G-ILSR. I saw one by Biostar (M7NCG) at $115.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Thanks.

So you are saying that the MSI-K7N2G-ILSR is the best one with IGP and MCP-T and the Biostar M7NCG is the cheapest with IGP and MCP-T?

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor
Thanks.

So you are saying that the MSI-K7N2G-ILSR is the best one with IGP and MCP-T and the Biostar M7NCG is the cheapest with IGP and MCP-T?

Never said best. You asked for cheapest.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

According to this article the biostar isn't soundstorm certified and the Asus was dropped from the list although why is not clear.

EDIT: There's a good discussion about both soundstorm and the Asus issue in his forums linked there. It seems it's most likely a paperwork issue of some type keeping asus off the list at the moment and that all of the hardware necessary is pre4sent so it's bullsh*t dropping them and probably a strongarm tactic :frown:

 

[PrinceXizor]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor
Thanks.

So you are saying that the MSI-K7N2G-ILSR is the best one with IGP and MCP-T and the Biostar M7NCG is the cheapest with IGP and MCP-T?

Never said best. You asked for cheapest.

Sorry, didn't mean to toss you a curve...I've seen the MSI boards for $135-140, so I figured teh $115 Biostar was the cheapie. Thanks for the heads-up on the Soundstorm certification too.

P-X

 

[sirfergy]

Fry's has the MSI for $160 if you need it ASAP.

 

[FunkyOne]

AOpen AK79G-1394 at newegg.com $135 with $20 mail in rebate

- MCP2-T
- Lan on board
- 1394 on board

pretty good deal

 

[yodayoda]

vote for the MSI board. doesn't have dual VGA or dual ethernet but it has everything else possible on a nForce2 board (except maybe vacuum tube audio, hehehe). remember DO NOT OVERCLOCK past PC2700 on integrated video--you will fry it.

 

[Doh!]

Originally posted by: FunkyOne
AOpen AK79G-1394 at newegg.com $135 with $20 mail in rebate

- MCP2-T
- Lan on board
- 1394 on board

pretty good deal

I think he's specifically looking for a SoundStorm-certified board which AOpen isn't (although it has the necessary hardware).

 

[NICKel]

Would it be cheaper to get an Nforce MB and a seperate GF4-MX card since they are so cheap right now? Sorry if this a dumb NOOb question...

 

[RedRonin]

NICKel asked, "Would it be cheaper to get an Nforce MB and a seperate GF4-MX card since they are so cheap right now? Sorry if this a dumb NOOb question..."

Possibly. It depends upon what you want to do with the machine. I have struggled a bit with this dilemma of late, wondering how I should replace my own Brother's machine. I'd like to use a board with built-in video and 6-channel audio on-board. But, I still want the option to use DDR memory and an open AGP slot.

You can check out mWave.com for a clue. Here are some of their prices:

Item No - Price - Description
*Graphics Card*
AA18585 - $49.00 - APOLLO BLOODY MONSTER 64MB GEFORCE4 MX-440SE DDR 4XAGP VGA W/TV OUT

*Motherboard*
BA19119 - $55.38 - BIOSTAR M7VIG PRO VIA KM266 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(4X)/3xPCI/1xCNR/2xDIMM/2xDDR W/INTEGRATED VGA, LAN, USB 2.0 & AUDIO

BA16008 - $69.76 - ASUS A7N266-VM NVIDIA nFORCE 220D CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(PRO)/3xPCI/2xDDR W/GeFORCE2 VGA, LAN & AUDIO

BA19097 - $92.66 - MSI K7N2-L NVIDIA nFORCE2 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(8X)/5xPCI/1xACR/3xDDR W/ LAN, USB 2.0 & AUDIO

BA19074 - $95.23 - EPOX EP-8RDA+ NVIDIA nFORCE2 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(8X)/6xPCI/3xDDR W/LAN, 1394, USB 2.0 & AUDIO

BA19173 - $99.51 - BIOSTAR M7NCG NVIDIA nFORCE2 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(8X)/3xPCI/1xCNR/3xDDR W/INTEGRATED VGA,LAN,1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO

BA19213 - $121.00 - EPOX EP-8RGA+ NVIDIA nFORCE2 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(8X)/6xPCI/3xDDR W/INTEGRATED VGA, LAN, 1394, USB 2.0 & AUDIO

BA19195 - $136.32 - MSI K7N2G-ILSR NVIDIA nFORCE2 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(8X)/5xPCI/1xACR/3xDDR W/INTEGRATED VGA,SATA,RAID,LAN,USB 2.0,1394 & AUDIO

As you can see, there are a lot of different ways to go. Currently it seems that the Biostar M7NCG is the leader if you are reusing a smaller case, like the one my Brother's Compaq Presario PC came in... But I am rather partial to the color RED, so the MSI boards would be impressive inside a new windowed case. The Biostar M7VIG Pro is also rather tempting, even though it is based on the VIA KM266 chipset instead of nForce or nForce2.

I'm sure there are some other retailers, such as NewEgg.com in particular, that may have similar, maybe even better pricing. I just use mWave.com because they are local to me and I can pick up orders via Will Call with about two hours notice.

HUN-YA!

Red Ronin