*** Official ABIT NF7/S (nForce2) Thread ***

[Elcs]

Ive just tried to flash my NF7-S Rev 2.0 and it didnt want to. Using an MS boot disk and doing it the way my manual says, the flasher says I am missing the source file. When i try to do the Alt F2 way, it says there is a checksum error with the BIOs file and I need to redownload.

This is BIOS version 14 im trying to update to, updating from the same BIOS as it was shipped with. I used the link through the ABIT forums and downloaded the file from one of the mirrors. Im kinda lost as to why it isnt working.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Elcs
Ive just tried to flash my NF7-S Rev 2.0 and it didnt want to. Using an MS boot disk and doing it the way my manual says, the flasher says I am missing the source file. When i try to do the Alt F2 way, it says there is a checksum error with the BIOs file and I need to redownload.

This is BIOS version 14 im trying to update to, updating from the same BIOS as it was shipped with. I used the link through the ABIT forums and downloaded the file from one of the mirrors. Im kinda lost as to why it isnt working.

Donload and use Abit's "Flashmenu" program from their site. It will allow you to flash from within Windows and should work fine. Also, make sure you get the correct bios for the Rev 2.0 board. They make a bit tricky on their site finding it...

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Insane3D

Originally posted by: Elcs
Ive just tried to flash my NF7-S Rev 2.0 and it didnt want to. Using an MS boot disk and doing it the way my manual says, the flasher says I am missing the source file. When i try to do the Alt F2 way, it says there is a checksum error with the BIOs file and I need to redownload.

This is BIOS version 14 im trying to update to, updating from the same BIOS as it was shipped with. I used the link through the ABIT forums and downloaded the file from one of the mirrors. Im kinda lost as to why it isnt working.

Donload and use Abit's "Flashmenu" program from their site. It will allow you to flash from within Windows and should work fine. Also, make sure you get the correct bios for the Rev 2.0 board. They make a bit tricky on their site finding it...

Rhx. Worked like a Charm.

 

[Shimmishim]

anyone else notice that of the nforce2 boards, this is the thread least posted on???

does that mean

1. we have the least number of problems with our board
2. we have the least number of people using our board
3. people just don't care about our board

hehehe

 

[Noid]

I think it because we dont have 'nef's (ahem.... )

and... problems are resolved ... and very little 'thread creep' ,,, or maybe not as many NF7 users

ohhh ,,, back on subject now ... ok?

 

[beatle]

I noticed that too, shim. There's really not much to complain about with this board anymore, and I am excellent at it. As often as this board is recommended in the "what should I buy" threads, I'm sure it's a common board. I wish I knew of some more people running passive cooling on this mb to see if it's possible/recommended, especially if running at 200mhz or more.

 

[BDSM]

Hey there beatle.. Why don't ya go my way with a 120mm fan on the processor?.. It'll cover the nb and memory as well and it's not noisy at all.

Anyway. As soon as I get back home I will give you an update with pics of 120mm + slk900u, plus Shin Etsu paste and also 233mhz+ bus speed stability of that setup!

 

[beatle]

I may go that route, BDSM, but 120mm fans, especially good ones, are not cheap at all. If a nb heatsink will do the trick without an oversized fan, I'll do that.

 

[ahsia]

I just bought the NF7-S w/ XP 2400+, and will be working on it tonight. A few questions:

1. I have two sticks of 512mb memory, which slots should I put them in?

2. Which BIOS version should I use?

3. I remember hearing way back where people should overclock a small increments? Is this still true?

4. What is the highest voltage I should go to? (I want to overclock it, but not overkill it)

And anything else I should look out for, please let me know... really appreciate it!!

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: ahsia
I just bought the NF7-S w/ XP 2400+, and will be working on it tonight. A few questions:

1. I have two sticks of 512mb memory, which slots should I put them in?

2. Which BIOS version should I use?

3. I remember hearing way back where people should overclock a small increments? Is this still true?

4. What is the highest voltage I should go to? (I want to overclock it, but not overkill it)

And anything else I should look out for, please let me know... really appreciate it!!

1. there are 3 slots... two right next to each other and one that is sort of separated... put one into the one that's separated and then into the one right next to it...

2. use the latest bios possible... 1.4 i believe it is

3. i go from 100 mhz to 200 mhz and i haven't corrupted my bios

4. 1.85 vcore ... but because the abit nf7-s undervolts, you should be able to go up to about 1.93 volts and be okay (1.93 is about or around 1.85 vcore)

 

[Noid]

From the Abit BIOS download readme text ....

"6. Added auto-detecting function of "Dual Channel DDR". The DDR modules should be installed in DIMM-3 and DIMM-2. "


These are the slots closer to the edge of the MB, (the ones next to eachother)

And depeneding on your motherboard version...

Version 1.0 - 1.2 uses BIOS 19.

Version 2.0 uses BIOS 1.4

BE SURE TO USE THE PROPER VERSION>

And ... set your 'chipset voltage' to 1.7 (highest)

 

[mosco]

When people say it undervolts, i have a question about this. Does is undervolt the readings too? I have mine set at 1.775 so when people say it undervolts, i would think it would be like 1.7 or something but the Winbond app says i am at 1.79 which would seem like it is overvolting. (Revision 2 btw).

Also, my case temp is 34 C and my CPU is at 44 load with newext bios. Is this too high considering i have a SK-7 with YS-Tech variable speed fan set more toward the highest setting. Should i re-apply AS3?

is it ok to increase the chipset voltage to 1.7 with stock chipset cooling.

 

[Insane3D]

Hey huys...got my chipset cooling project done on my NF7-S 2.0. I'm running 220mhz FSB with 6-2-2 CL2 timings...can't complain.


NF7-S Pre-Mods

NB Close-Up

SB Close-Up

NF7-S Next To HS

Completed Project

NB Mod Close-Up

SB Mod Close-Up

* Pics are not 56K friendly

Now I've got a digital audio mod to get to...

 

[ahsia]

Finished building my new gaming rig last night. One of the smoothest builds I've ever done. The nvidia drivers installed all the hardware no problems, BIOS updates was easy. Running it at 11*200, with memeory settings at 5-2-2. System is running flawlessly.... good job ABIT!!

 

[Jen]

Originally posted by: mosco
When people say it undervolts, i have a question about this. Does is undervolt the readings too? I have mine set at 1.775 so when people say it undervolts, i would think it would be like 1.7 or something but the Winbond app says i am at 1.79 which would seem like it is overvolting. (Revision 2 btw).

Also, my case temp is 34 C and my CPU is at 44 load with newext bios. Is this too high considering i have a SK-7 with YS-Tech variable speed fan set more toward the highest setting. Should i re-apply AS3?

is it ok to increase the chipset voltage to 1.7 with stock chipset cooling.

tempuratures sound about right to me . depending on your room temps etc



for myself my cpu voltage doesnt undervolt on this motherboard according to MBM

 

[beatle]

Is there a way to activate the 3rd sensor on this board? I cannot get any useful readings from it. The only usable temps come from Winbond 1 and 2, which are 31C and 44C respectively, at idle.

 

[joshg]

Has anybody tried using Crucial PC3200 memory with this board? The results from this TT review are very interesting. Also note I had some correspondence with the author of this review and he confirmed that the Crucial used in this review was using Micron chips on Crucial-Micron PCB (as opposed to some of the early revs of Crucial PC2700 and PC3200 memory that used Samsung chips) - so this review shows the memory that you would get if you were to buy Crucial PC3200 yourself right now.

 

[Noid]

Version 2.0 has new BIOS 1.6

Ver 2.0 BIOS 1.6

Release Text

1) Fixes systems freezes in S-ATA BIOS initial while using display card on PCI slot.
2) Fixes the problem if FAN speeded too slow, system would hang at BIOS screen or at watching the status in PC health Status screen.

BIOS Compile Date: 6/25/2003.

 

[MrMet]

I just picked up this board today. I havent picked up new memory yet cause i kinda remember reading about a particular type of memory this board had problems with. Does anyone know what i'm talking about and if so what type of memory was it. Thanks in advance

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: MrMet
I just picked up this board today. I havent picked up new memory yet cause i kinda remember reading about a particular type of memory this board had problems with. Does anyone know what i'm talking about and if so what type of memory was it. Thanks in advance

yeah it was the hyperX pc3500

i dunno if the issue was fixed or not... no one ever responded back to my post in the o/c forum...

so i say for now just avoid this RAM

pc3200 and pc3000 work fine though with this board

 

[rdzeng]

Crazyness.
I have the Abit NF-7S rev. 1.2 board and I've been trying to get the Raptor to boot winXP and it's been doing nothing but corrupting itself after I install the Nforce Reference drivers (or the Abit feburary drivers). I've been fiddling with the BIOS settings, specifically PCI bus mastering and IDE prefetch and have yet to get it to work without corrupting data. Installing Windows XP and SP1 have absolutely no problems, but once I start installing other drivers, on the next boot, it'll give me the "delayed write failed" yellow flag, and if it corrupts itself enough, it stops on the mup.sys line when booting in safe mode. I thought this might be a compatability issue because the ABit website mentions that in the newest BIOS, they added a new EXT setting so it wouldn't "crush" the computer (gotta love BIOS grammar). Setting it to 1ms hasn't helped at all, it still has problems. I've tried full format, I've tried quick format. I went out and got the Adaptec serial ata host controller to see if that would work, but surprise surprise, it's also the Sil3112 chip. I'll see tonight.

Rich

 

[pelikan]

Hello NF7-S thread people. My Asus died the bios corruption death, after six very stable months at 200FSB. So I bought an NF7-S Rev. 2 to shoot for something more like 220FSB.
Unfortunately this board doesn't even do 200FSB stable. I thought at first it was my HyperX PC3500, which is known not to work with Rev. 2 boards. But memtest86 shows no errors. Prime95 is fine too. But I get crashes to desktop in UT2003 and IE. But stable as a rock at 166FSB. VDD at 1.7V doesn't help.
Oh well. Abit seems to have a great RMA program.

 

[BDSM]

Hey there! Could you give us some more info on your rig please. Maybe you are driving your cpu too hard.. is the actual voltage the same now as on your previous board?

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: BDSM
Hey there! Could you give us some more info on your rig please. Maybe you are driving your cpu too hard.. is the actual voltage the same now as on your previous board?

Yeah, its all the same. I have tried everything I can think of to get it stable. Lower MHz on the cpu, higher vdimm, vcore, looser mem timings, etc.
Since its prime and memtest stable, and only unstable in 3D, that makes me think the chipset is the culprit.

 

[Noid]

These boards are not guaranteed to do 200.

Your RMA is bad for buisness.

Id check to see that your chipset voltage is 1.7.
And if the NB has enough paste.

Does memtest86 run 10 loops error free, and Prime95 overnite error free?

Crashing to desktop is usually memory or CPU.