Epox Nforce 2 SFF Mini barebone system $109.99 shipped!!!!!

[Glendor]

Has anybody tried installing MCE on it yet? I'm wondering if the LCD panel can display MCE information. And another thing, can the lower 5.25" bay be removed and a LiveDrive be installed? I haven't yet found a SFF that could have two 5.25" drives or one & a LiveDrive.

Glendor...

 

[SeTeS]

Just received mine yesterday... pretty nice box, glossy piano black. I purchased it as a replacement for my recently deceased FIC AU13 mobo/box in my office, but may end up moving my file/media server over to it and locate it in the family room (depending on how quiet it is). Currently the server is in a Soltek Qbic 3705 (another sucket A sff).

Glad I grabbed one last week.. had no idea demand would end up being so high. As mentioned earlier, there's someone selling these on ebay as well at an equivalent price to Newegg. (89+s/h+tax if applicable).

 

[Parasitic]

What's the fit and finish on those units? Warranty?
Asking this because I'm thinking about picking up a unit to put some Socket A processors to use back home but I'm not going back home for two more months.

Edit: never mind, I bit. Put together a sub $300 system...Duron 1.6, DVD burner, 160GB hdd, 512MB PC3200 memory...I'm insane.

 

[JEKYLL]

In stock again.. Great little system....

JEK

 

[rayjayturbo]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

Originally posted by: lednerb
BIOS is surprisingly good IMO for SFF. No 1mhz FSB adjustments but good CPU and mem volts adjustments, multiplier adjustments.
Tried with 2500+ Barton and no-name TCC4 2x 256. Haven't tried OC'ing much since room is hot and mem isn't the greatest. Also haven't tried playing MP3s.
Lemme know if you want more info.

Great overclocker that does do 1MHz FSB adjustments. Select Expert in Bios.
Using it with an AXP-M 2400 at 203x11 or 2233MHz. Running about 52C.
I have several SFF and HTPC's and this is by far the quietest stock, as drives are louder than fans.
No floppy header (if you need floppy and can't use USB).
Front LCD display time in 24 hour format, not 12 hour, and shows time even when turned off.
Bios shows Nov 2004 while website shows latest as Sept 2004...
One of the best for pre-wired cable routing.
Just started installing Windows, so won't know more about it's HTPC and HDTV performance until tomorrow.
TV out usually blows with nvidia, so I'm expecting to have to install an ATi card, but we'll see.

EDIT: Tested video out (TV Out), and it is better than most nvidia boards. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 best, most nvidia TV-Out's would rate about a 5, while this Epox rates about a 7, and if you went with any ATi TV-Out, the ATi would rate a 9 in comparison. This Epox should be good enough for most, as long as you have a very sharp and crisp TV.

Rob, anything special in bios to run the XP-M cpu?

 

[ddss]

Thank you nice deal for me!

 

[nolovenohope]

Is the unit quiet? As on the reviews an individual mentioned it was noisy.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: rayjayturbo

Rob, anything special in bios to run the XP-M cpu?

It will want to boot at something like 600MHz.
Simply choose expert mode, and bump up the FSB and also select multiplier manual and start raising it up. Start with something like 180MHz x 10, test mem and prime95, and bump as high as you wish to try.

nolovenohope,
All reviews I could find were for the Intel based unit, not this AMD NF2 unit, so that may explain why they had noise. This thing is dead quiet. When I first got it, I had to look inside to see if the fans started when turned on and stopped spinning after I turned it off. It was that quiet. But, 4 other not too quiet HTPC's within 15', so room area is not ultra quiet to begin with. Living room environment here, with low noise a priority to the point where 7v mods are normal. All you hear are the drives you added, spinning up. Excellent for those seeking low or no noise.

One thing I dislike is they force you to install windows and app on drive C for the non-windows boot version of MP3 player to work.

 

[rayjayturbo]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

Originally posted by: rayjayturbo

Rob, anything special in bios to run the XP-M cpu?

It will want to boot at something like 600MHz.
Simply choose expert mode, and bump up the FSB and also select multiplier manual and start raising it up. Start with something like 180MHz x 10, test mem and prime95, and bump as high as you wish to try.



Thanks Rob, I have that same chip but haven't used it before. The Epox came in today, so I'll give it a try tomorrow.

 

[thawolfman]

Wonder if I could turn this into a nice little NAS... PATA tho

 

[mikeford]

Its much more power than a NAS needs, but only has one drive bay (two I guess if you don't use a DVD). For a cheap nas type thing check out the Ximeta for $40 at radio shack, thread is going on here now about it.

 

[SeTeS]

Ok... here's my "review":

Pros: Nice features for the money, easy assembly, organized cabling.

Cons: Noise. The unit is certainly louder than my Qbic... this is likely due to the small diameter/thickness fans on the stock cpu/chipset hsf. It's conceivable to replace these fans (one on each side of the hs) w/ quieter models, but it would be a tight fit.

All in all, a pretty good home for lingering socket A cpus.

 

[RobsTV]

Still same basic price, but now + shipping.

After about a dozen planned format, reinstalls and testing every aspect of this, I am downgrading it to nothing special, and not a deal.

The main problem is the nVidia chipset they chose to use.
It is the SPP version. No dual channel. 64bit only. Found out after sticking two mem sticks.
While dual channel does not affect most things, it makes a HUGE difference with video related apps, which is what you use HTPC to do. It chokes. For an example, 3dmark 2001 scores around 2200 with this NF2 chipset, while most NF2 chipsets that handle dual channel score around 4500 in 3dm2k1se. (and for comparison, ATi xpress 200 with onboard x300 scores 8200). Running memtest or other system tests are slower than anything else I've seen in years. Even with AXP-M at 166x12, (XP3000+), super slow. In my main HTPC app, MyTheatre, everything takes forever to load, and EPG is almost useless. With the same CPU in a Dual channel NF2 motherboard (and still using onboard video), there is no lag, and everything is crisp and snappy. Little difference between AXP Dual channel NF2 and my Opteron A64 systems in MyTheatre, but with this Epox, best way to describe it is a "slug". The good news is that you can use 1 memory stick, since two sticks give you zero performance increase.

More testing on TV out also show it is bad (not bad as in broken, but bad as in nVidia TV out is normally of very bad quality compared to others). On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 best, ATi TV out would rate at about an 8, while this GF4 MX440 from the NF2 would rate about a 5 (most of nvidia TV-out's would fall into the 3 to 5 range, so for nvidia it is on the good side, but still unacceptable for most HTPC uses). I run multi-monitor HTPC's with dual tuners, with one for HDTV (SVGA out) and the other for SDTV (TV-Out), all at the same time.

Had to unplug the onboard remote IR sensor, because if I used another remote in the same room, the Epox would think it was Epox remote telling it to shut off.

This would be good for a Mom and Pop machine, or for your 12 year old in school, but for a HTPC there are much better options for just a few dollars more (see sig for a great cheap HTPC example). If you have some AXP's around, this will give them a home, but don't expect the same performance as your old NF2 boards. I ended up building two of these Epox's for HTPC, before fully testing, and now regret it for that purpose.

 

[vadp]

Thank you guys for the reveiws!

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: RobsTV
Still same basic price, but now + shipping.

After about a dozen planned format, reinstalls and testing every aspect of this, I am downgrading it to nothing special, and not a deal.

The main problem is the nVidia chipset they chose to use.
It is the SPP version. No dual channel. 64bit only. Found out after sticking two mem sticks.
While dual channel does not affect most things, it makes a HUGE difference with video related apps, which is what you use HTPC to do. It chokes. For an example, 3dmark 2001 scores around 2200 with this NF2 chipset, while most NF2 chipsets that handle dual channel score around 4500 in 3dm2k1se. (and for comparison, ATi xpress 200 with onboard x300 scores 8200). Running memtest or other system tests are slower than anything else I've seen in years. Even with AXP-M at 166x12, (XP3000+), super slow. In my main HTPC app, MyTheatre, everything takes forever to load, and EPG is almost useless. With the same CPU in a Dual channel NF2 motherboard (and still using onboard video), there is no lag, and everything is crisp and snappy. Little difference between AXP Dual channel NF2 and my Opteron A64 systems in MyTheatre, but with this Epox, best way to describe it is a "slug". The good news is that you can use 1 memory stick, since two sticks give you zero performance increase.

More testing on TV out also show it is bad (not bad as in broken, but bad as in nVidia TV out is normally of very bad quality compared to others). On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 best, ATi TV out would rate at about an 8, while this GF4 MX440 from the NF2 would rate about a 5 (most of nvidia TV-out's would fall into the 3 to 5 range, so for nvidia it is on the good side, but still unacceptable for most HTPC uses). I run multi-monitor HTPC's with dual tuners, with one for HDTV (SVGA out) and the other for SDTV (TV-Out), all at the same time.

Had to unplug the onboard remote IR sensor, because if I used another remote in the same room, the Epox would think it was Epox remote telling it to shut off.

This would be good for a Mom and Pop machine, or for your 12 year old in school, but for a HTPC there are much better options for just a few dollars more (see sig for a great cheap HTPC example). If you have some AXP's around, this will give them a home, but don't expect the same performance as your old NF2 boards. I ended up building two of these Epox's for HTPC, before fully testing, and now regret it for that purpose.

Dual channel memory in NF2 however has little or no performance improvement over the single-channel variant if you use a dedicated video card.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: Parasitic

Originally posted by: RobsTV
Still same basic price, but now + shipping.

After about a dozen planned format, reinstalls and testing every aspect of this, I am downgrading it to nothing special, and not a deal.

The main problem is the nVidia chipset they chose to use.
It is the SPP version. No dual channel. 64bit only. Found out after sticking two mem sticks.
While dual channel does not affect most things, it makes a HUGE difference with video related apps, which is what you use HTPC to do. .

Dual channel memory in NF2 however has little or no performance improvement over the single-channel variant if you use a dedicated video card.

Yep, but by the time you invest $30+ in a video card, (which would also correct TV out issues), you would be over the price of a decent socket 939 with MB/CPU/Case, running onboard x300 (comparable video speed to add on $40 video card), plus the 939 would have better everything, including sound (HDA), PCI Express slots, 8 USB (compared to 4 on the Epox), plus, plus...... The Epox is priced as a take it or leave it deal, since it would not pay to upgrade, unless you had parts laying around (which most looking at this deal probably do). If you already have the old parts not being used, this will work well!

 

[yg17]

I got mine from NewEgg yesterday (I had no idea these were so popular, I guess I just happened to order at a good time when they had them in stock). Excellent service from NewEgg as always, I wish I could say the same about UPS, perhaps they need to send their workers to a geography class because they should know that Des Moines, Iowa would not be my local facility for my house in St. Louis, but whatever.

This was my first time working with an SFF PC. Every time I've worked in a PC, it was at least a mid tower, and I'm a Mac guy so I usually don't mess with PCs to begin with. I already had a PVR with a PVR-150, Athlon XP Barton 2500+ and other various parts in a cheap case, but the motherboard crapped out. Which was a good thing, because I was waiting for an excuse to buy a SFF because the old one was LOUD, I couldn't even leave it on at night since it's 5 feet from my bed and I'm sure I missed out on shows.

Installation was very straight forward. Which was good, because I found the manual to be lacking somewhat, and it was poorly translated to English so parts didn't make sense. But the detailed pictures and common sense made it easy. My biggest gripe was that the power plug for the hard drive seemed to be upside down, so it took a bit of work to route it correctly so I could plug it in, they don't give you a lot of room to work with. Other than that, it was fine. Getting the PCI card in there was a bit tricky, but I still got it in. The heatsink went on without a problem, the drives went in without a problem (although it takes a little trial and error to get the CD rom drive in there so its lined up with the door and all that).

My main concern is heat. Before I installed Windows, I let the PC health screen sit in the BIOS, and my temps were in the upper 50s idle. I removed the heatsink, removed the thermal grease that came on it and put some Antec grease (i think its an AS5 knockoff or something) on there, and now the temps are in the lower 50s. I know that Athlons run hot to begin with, and there's hardly any room for airflow, but I still worry a bit. I'll continue to monitor them...which is easy thanks to the LCD screen.

The Windows MCE 2005 installation went OK and in no time I was watching TV. This thing is quiet, I can finally watch TV without having to crank up the volume to drown out fan noise. I'm using the composite S-video out, and video quality is fine in the MCE interface, obviously, you can't really use Windows though. I'm using coaxial S/Pdif out to my receiver, and that also sounds great.

Now, the cons, and none of them are really showstoppers either:
1. The display is nice, but it's a 24 hour clock, no way that I know of to make it a 12 hour clock. And it's bright, which can be distracting when trying to sleep or watching movies with the lights off, there's no way I know of to turn off the backlight.

2. It would be nice if the built-in IR sensor can work with the Happauge remote so I don't have to use that external IR receiver. I'd assume the IR sensor could pick up any commands, I think it's just more of a matter of someone needing to write a driver.

3. I'd much rather have an additional PCI slot instead of the AGP slot. I figure most people will be using this as an HTPC, and it's got everything you'd need on board. S-video out and composite out. There's no reason I could think of that one would need to add a 2nd video card. I'd much rather have the extra PCI slot so I could throw in another tuner.

4. Room for a 2nd hard drive without losing the card reader would be nice, but I'm not sure if they could fit in a 2nd bay even if they wanted to.

5. PS/2 ports on the front is the dumbest thing I've heard of. I don't have a keyboard or mouse connected, I control mine with VNC (or the remote obviously), but for people who will be using this with a PS/2 mouse or keyboard, this is just dumb.

6. SATA would be another plus. I have a 250 gig IDE hard drive so I don't need SATA, but I'm sure others would like it. Plus you never know when a 400 gig SATA drive will pop up for 100 bucks on the various deals sites out there

I can't say how well this thing overclocks...I won't be messing with that. If anything, I'll underclock to help with the heat problem. Since the 150 has a hardware encoder, I figure that reducing the processing power shouldn't have a negative impact.

And is it me, or is this product completely removed from the NewEgg site now???