The ASUS A7N266 nForce based mobo's are due this quarter!

[Insane3D]

"Well I hope that the A7N266 has less problems than the Via 686B did."

Umm..wasn't there only one problem, and it involved a SB Live? Why does nobody blame Creative for their PCI bus hogging soundcard.

"I don't think any other chipsets CAN EVER have as many problems as the crap VIA puts out on a regular basis."

Hmmm..many Via systems work just fine, and the KT133A is one of the best.

No offense people, but this anti-Via stuff is getting old. Without Via we wouldn't have had much of a choice when the Athlon came out. They kept putting out some nice chipsets for the Athlon while we were waiting for AMD to release a successor to the AMD 750. It seems people are like cattle around here lately, jumping on the anti-Via bandwagon just because everyone else is. I am sure the Nforce will be impressive, but barely anyone has even used a board with this chipset yet and everyone's acting like it's the second coming or something...jeez. What exactly would we be using for our Thunderbirds if there was no KT133...an AMD750 board? Ok...I am going to put on my flame suit now...

 

[Maverick]

I agree a lot of people (myself included) are unnecessarily anti-Via. I think the main reason I'm so anti-Via is I went from building my first computer on a 440BX to building one on a KT133. Honestly I don't think anyone can hold the argument that the KT133 is as stable as the 440BX. It definitely didn't last as long. I had a whole slew of DMA problems and it wasn't till about version 4.31 of the 4-in-1 drivers that I achieved stability. It all just left a really bad taste in my mouth.

The coming of the Nforce hasn't made me dislike Via anymore, but I welcome the competition it brings to the chipset market. 3 choices is always better than 2 and maybe if Nvidia smokes the competition in two quarters it'll force AMD and Via to improve their products.

 

[compucaineaddict]

I plan to wait on a motherboard before I know its overclocking features. I also would rather get the geforce3 integrated in the mobo than spend the extra $350 on the agp card.

Does anyone know when the 420-D version will arrive?

 

[Prince of Persia]

The nforce says 32mb of shared gfx memory. Does that mean it shares the RAM memory or something else?

I was planning on getting 512mb pc2100 DDR ram. So am I right to assume I could allocate about 64mb for the gfx and the rest for the systeM?

 

[salman327]

Right the build in GPU takes 32 mb away from your computer resources (The ram you put in). So if you have 512, you could allocate 32 (not sure about 64) mb of ram for it. I think it does this automatically

 

[Raspewtin]

<< So if you have 512, you could allocate 32 (not sure about 64) mb of ram for it. I think it does this automatically >>



The amount is selectable in the BIOS. I think upper limit was 32 (i hope they push it 128 or at least 64)

 

[Prince of Persia]

So if I install a gf3 later on I'll have a performance boost over other systems with gf3 w/o nforce?

 

[DeeK]

<< You've got it backwards When they were using the integrated graphics, memory benchmarks scores were off 15-20% but were still top notch. When they installed an external card, the scores went through the roof

And that was at ExtremeTech >>


I can't seem to find that either. Were they using two sticks Of RAM in that test?

 

[NFS4]

<<

<< You've got it backwards When they were using the integrated graphics, memory benchmarks scores were off 15-20% but were still top notch. When they installed an external card, the scores went through the roof

And that was at ExtremeTech >>


I can't seem to find that either. Were they using two sticks Of RAM in that test? >>



http://www.extremetech.com/article/0,2299,s%253D200%2526a%253D4167,00.asp


<< Another interesting problem is the issue of memory bandwidth. There is some concern, rightfully, about available system memory bandwidth when using the integrated graphics core. In theory, the CPU should always be able to grab memory bandwidth first. When using the built-in IGP graphics, the memory streaming tests came in about 15-20% lower than when a GeForce2 Ultra was dropped into the AGP slot. This is possibly related to their memory arbitration logic still being enabled and consuming cycles even when nothing else is truly vying with the CPU for memory access. This may seem like an issue of concern, but we also have to note that the lower number was still one of the best bandwidth numbers we've seen for DDR motherboards, and the higher number is considerably better.

For 3D gaming, the IGP fares very well in 16-bit color at resolutions under 1280x1024 and did reasonably well in 32-bit color at 800x600 or less. However, turning on antialiasing resulted in performance that may be charitably described as &quot;stately&quot;. The pixel throughput just isn't there to support the supersampling antialiasing methods used by pre-GeForce3 nVidia GPUs. Like the GeForce2 MX, the IGP also supports nVidia's proprietary digital vibrance control for adding a bit of extra punch to the color saturation.

When we dropped a GeForce2 Ultra into the system, the picture changed drastically. The graphics performance went up substantially, which you'd expect. But, as noted above, we observed the memory bandwidth benchmarks increase impressively. Even the Disk Winmark scores came in about 5% faster than when using the IGP. >>

 

[salman327]

Thanks for posting that NFS4, I was looking for that and I just couldn't find it. This is too good, I would think that when using an external AGP, that scored would actually drop, but alas they do not. Do you guys think Nvidia will be nice to Kyro3/Radeon2 cards?? If anyone from Nvidia is reading this take this away from this thread &quot;WORK OUT ALL THE BUGS AND THEN SELL IT, DON'T RUSH THIS BOARD AND DISSAPOINT ALL WHO AWAIT IT&quot;.

 

[prontospyder]

I'm gonna dump my PIII system for this. I'm not really a gamer or audiophile so the integrated stuff is fine.

 

[zippy]

Sonofagun...well, I can't wait any longer, i'm getting my Epox 8K7A next week!

If the nForce is significantly better or the SIS735 is, well, I'll just upgrade, no big deal- at least when it's the summer and I'm bored senseless.

As much as I dislike nVidia for their pseudo-monopolistic practices and their strongarming and their nasty PR dept., I must say that this could be the ticket for AMD to get into the real lower end systems because it's a completely integrated board! (cept modem/NIC) It also looks pretty kick ass for the high end stuff with that sweet bus.

 

[Maverick]

now all we need is a mobile version of this chipset that supports palominos.

 

[Atlantean]

What will the video chip in this mobo be like? Will it be upgradable? and will it be comparable to the geforce3?

 

[mchammer187]

sweet i hope i can put in my kyro II with this

 

[noxipoo]

i hope these things don't have anti ATI built in. My radeon would cry if it did. also do these nforce mobos have integrated ethernet/modem? would be nice if i didn't' have to buy one.

 

[NelsonMuntz]

The built in video will be GeForce 2 MX, so no it will not be comparable to the GeForce 3. It will however knock the socks off of any built in video solution out there and even the old video cards I got sittin around my place. You will be able to add on GeForce 3 if that is your desire.

 

[Mingon]

According to Aceshardware the nforce is due august

 

[JohnnyKnoxville]

OK when I'm the first kid on the block to get one,I'll let you know how it is

 

[smp]

Insane 3d: I agree with the sheep comment. The KT133 is fine.. and the KT133a is even finer.

I would like to know wether or not you can get a nforce board without the integrated video? Or is this a mandatory/necessary part of the chipset? Sorry if I'm being lame (ignorant) but I haven't read too much about it..
Somebody hook me up with links where I can find out more about the SIS and nforce please.. thanks.

 

[Prince of Persia]

I have to go out to college by August 19, will I get it in time?

 

[lankor]

i suppose no 1 out there can give you a definete answer on when will be official released date yet.
According to some websites, reported to be launched somewhere mid august..so i suppose it may be a bit rush for yr college..

prehaps..wait for 2-3 weeks after sch started. i suppose in my own opinion is the best time to build a computer based on the nforce...

 

[AaronP]

it might be best to wait a month or two after they come out for Asus to work out the kinks and come out with a few revisions of the mobo. Asus is notorious for resvising their mobo's.

There were like 12 different versions of the old P2B!