Help with nForce Socket 754

[Towermax]

I'm building an inexpensive system for my son using a bunch of bargain/used components. The motherboard is an Abit NF8 with the nForce 3 250GB chipset. I'll plug an A64 Newcastle 2.4GHz into it.

Are there any special tricks or problems that I should be aware of with this chipset? (I skipped straight from a Via Socket A board to an nForce 4 Socket 939 , so I wasn't paying attention when the nForce 3 was popular.)

I read somewhere that nForce 3 doesn't like double-sided SIMMs. Is this true? What's the best way to go with RAM? I want to start with 1Gb and be able to increase to 2GB in the future--he does a lot of Photoshop. What's the best RAM configuration?

My son is only a casual gamer at best--aside from Photoshop, it'll just be used for websurfing, and Microsoft Office. OS will be XP Home.

Any other quirks you can think of regarding this chipset and/or board?

 

[GreenMonkey]

It's not so much the motherboards as the CPU memory controller that don't like double-sided dimms.

It'll downclock to 333mhz (PC2700) speed automatically. You might be able to overclock the RAM and get away with it, but it depends on the board/RAM/etc.

A socket 754 Venice 3400+ will do it at 400mhz, 2T command rate.
I just ditched my s754 nforce3 150 board in January for a nforce4-4x PCIe board. And just got the Venice 3400+ chip a few weeks ago. I'm doing similiarly, passing my 2800+ Newcastle/NF3 150 to my buddy.

If you want just 1GB RAM at PC3200 speed, there's a couple of single-sided 512MB crucial sticks available.

 

[Towermax]

OK, thanks for clearing that up. So this board is limited to single-sided SIMMs if I want to keep the clock at 400 (PC3200)?

Are all 1GB SIMMS double-sided?

Will two pairs of 512MB SIMMs run at PC3200?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Abit NF8 has 2 slots so you will want to buy a 1gb stick, and add another later for 2gb. Don't wait too long to buy the 2nd stick, or prices may increase significantly, as DDR2 continues to take over the mainstream.

2x1gb@200mhz might require manual setup, including a ram voltage boost, 2T command rate, and if need be, relaxing timings.

 

[Towermax]

OK, I've got a 1GB stick in my P4 server, so I'll move it to the NF8. The server is dual channel anyway, so I'll just replace it with 2 X 512.

Thanks for the info--I hadn't yet looked at the NF8, and expected four slots.

 

[KGB]

In order to avoid headaches... don't install the NV-IDE drivers.
Use the standard MS ones in XP.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: KGBMAN
In order to avoid headaches... don't install the NV-IDE drivers.
Use the standard MS ones in XP.

I guess I've been lucky. The Nvidia IDE drivers have always worked and performed well for me in all my NF2 and NF3 boards.

*knocks on wood*