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**Official** Epox 8RDA+ Nforce2 Thread

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Insane3D

Elite Member
Ok guys, I know you have all been waiting for some results on the new Nforce2 boards. I just got my Epox 8RDA+ today from Mwave, and I will likely be building tomorrow. The system will consist of the following...

Epox 8RDA+
Athlon XP 2400+ (2.0ghz)
512mb Corsair PC3200 C2
80gb WD SE
128mb Radeon 8500

The 2400+ is running @ 2.2ghz, 200mhz FSB (11 x 200), default vcore right now in my Epox 8K5A2+...

I'll keep this thread updated with relevant links and information, and I should have some perfomance and o/c results after I build tomorrow..

🙂
 
Sweet. I'm awaiting the Abit NF7-S. I'm a devout Abit nut.
OC that 2400 farther!!! BTW, what kind of cooling are you using?
 
Originally posted by: buckchoi
Do you have 2 sticks of RAM to utilise the Dual DDR or just the one 512mb stick?
Click to expand...

Nope just one. You do know that the dual channel bandwith only helps the NF2 with the integrated graphics right? Dual channel DDR on the Athlon yields little to no performance difference..

🙂

 
With the default bios, the 8rda+ does not unlock the lower multipliers on the 2400+, but Epox already has a beta bios out that will allow you to use multipliers less than 12.5 (and still allows the default of 15).

Check this thread at aoaforums.com

I can't wait for my Corsair XMS 3200 c2 to get here so I can crank it up a little. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: buckchoi
Do you have 2 sticks of RAM to utilise the Dual DDR or just the one 512mb stick?
Click to expand...

Nope just one. You do know that the dual channel bandwith only helps the NF2 with the integrated graphics right? Dual channel DDR on the Athlon yields little to no performance difference..

🙂
Click to expand...

You've never tried to do stuff that really hammers on the PCI bus, have you? (Lessee...slap in a soft RAID controller, a gigabit card, TV Tuner, have audio running Dolby...)

Trust me. Dual-channel is better. Also, in normal usage, even if it isn't faster per se, it feels snappier. More responsive, like.

Anyhow, the memory controllers might seem like overkill, but if you've got a lot of stuff that accesses the memory across the hypertransport bus (equivalent of PCI bus), then it can become very busy, very quick.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Ok guys, I know you have all been waiting for some results on the new Nforce2 boards. I just got my Epox 8RDA+ today from Mwave, and I will likely be building tomorrow. The system will consist of the following...

Epox 8RDA+
Athlon XP 2400+ (2.0ghz)
512mb Corsair PC3200 C2
80gb WD SE
128mb Radeon 8500

The 2400+ is running @ 2.2ghz, 200mhz FSB (11 x 200), default vcore right now in my Epox 8K5A2+...

I'll keep this thread updated with relevant links and information, and I should have some perfomance and o/c results after I build tomorrow..

🙂
Click to expand...

(Double post...sorry)

Let us know if it has SoundStorm!
 
Pete I`m still waiting for your verdict on the " Epox nForce sound quality",I want your insane review ASP 😉.

🙂
 
When will we see nforce2 boards with onboard video?


Insane, If you're not working for Epox you should be.
 
You do know that the dual channel bandwith only helps the NF2 with the integrated graphics right?
Click to expand...

I was actually unaware of that. What is the advantage of the NF2 over the kt400 if not dual channel DDR? In other words, should I buy the Epox 8RDA+ or the Epox 8k9a2+?
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: buckchoi
Do you have 2 sticks of RAM to utilise the Dual DDR or just the one 512mb stick?
Click to expand...

Nope just one. You do know that the dual channel bandwith only helps the NF2 with the integrated graphics right? Dual channel DDR on the Athlon yields little to no performance difference..

🙂
Click to expand...

Do you by chance have any links to substantiate this? I am considering exhanging my XMS3200 512MB for 2 XMS3200 256MB chips. I do recall, however, that 2 chips could be detrimental to overclocking, as with 1 it isn't. I have no intention of using the integrated graphics, I have a 9700 Pro. 🙂

However, I'd like to be 100% sure before I make (or don't make) this decision.
 
Originally posted by: wixt0r
<STRONG>magnux</STRONG>; Read the review at Lost Circuits of the <a class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://http://www.lostcircuits.com/motherboard/asus_a7n8x/" target=blank>Asus A7N8X</A>
Click to expand...

Excellent! I can't thank you enough for that link. Guess there's no need to take the $30 hit on splitting my RAM. 😉
 
Hey guys I just posted this in another thread, I hope this isn't true, it would dash our (some of our?) hopes in speeds over 166mhz FSB.
Fingers crossed the dude @ Hexus is incorrect or it's ABIT specific (anyone got more information?)

Hexus Abit Nforce 2 review PCI issues @ 200mhz FSB?

With that in mind, and the ABIT NF7-S completely unlocking our XP2400+, I used a single module of Corsair XMS3200 that has seen 225MHz+ at weak timings and 2.7v. Even though I could boot into BIOS perfectly at 212FSB (10x212), the motherboard steadfastly refused to boot correctly into Windows XP above 188FSB. It wouldn't even get to the Windows XP splash screen. Considering that entering BIOS can be done without having a hard drive installed, I have a sneaking suspicion that the PCI bus is unlocked above 166FSB. I also tried 205FSB in the hope that a 6:1 FSBCI ratio was present. No go there either. I'm a little disappointed due to the expectation of benchmarking at 10x200+ with dual-channel DDR400. This will need further investigation. It looks like a PCI-related limitation, as BIOS is fine at 200FSB+. Here is the BIOS at 212FSB. Note that it has actually booted in at those speeds shown below.
Click to expand...



 
I see there's speculation here that the extra bandwidth of TwinBank is only beneficial for boosting the performance of the onboard video of those nF2 boards which have onboard video. May I remind you of this tasty chart! 😀 Hmmm, look at the numbers in blue.
 
While I'll agree that the gains from running dual channel are minimal, I'll still take whatever it eeks out. On the original nForce, it REALLY didn't have a point to it unless you were using the IGP, but, on the nForce2, there's something to be gained (yes, not much, I know 😛).
 
Why didn't nvidia enable "super overclockers mode" on the CPU

IF you have an unlocked CPU
IF you have dual ddr
IF you don't have IGP (video)
Then run the CPU at DOUBLE the data rate.

IE dual DDR400 (800mhz ram) should run the cpu @ 2x400mhz bus (chipset -> cpu) and the cpu multiplier thingo should run at say 2.5x800 or some such.

Now that _WOULD_ be funky!
(trace issues / speed problems on the board maybe?)

 
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