All in one MB for AMD

[John]

Do Asus make an all in one M/B with a Nforce chip set
Had via once never again cheers

 

[Rob Stow]

Do Asus make an all in one M/B with a Nforce chip set
Had via once never again cheers

What does "all in one" mean to you ? Everything but
video or everything including video ?

S'matter of fact I'm using one now (A7N266-VM) and I've
built systems using several others in the A7N266 line -
including the AA and the discontinued C and E.
I've also used a few in the A7N8X line, including one
A7N8X Deluxe and several A7N8X-VM.

The later has integrated GeForce4 video and makes a great
office motherboard and is also great for a home machine for
those who don't play heavy duty games.

I've also used exactly one A7N8X-E Deluxe - and that one was
tough to get my hands on. It has everything you could possibly
want except for decent SATA capability. When will companies
like ASUS realize that a mere two SATA ports just doesn't do the
job ? It does not have integrated video.

 

[SPRITE1001]

Rob, any tipes on the A7N8X-VM and the A7N8X-E Deluxe since you've built up
these before? I have 2 friends looking to build 1 of each of these.
Obviously the VM isnt for gaming but is being used as the basis for a decent
photoshop machine.

The Deluxe is for a general computer with gaming on the side. Its being used as
a replacement board for the Epox 8KHA+ that went belly up.

Thanks for any thoughts

 

[Rob Stow]

Rob, any tipes on the A7N8X-VM and the A7N8X-E Deluxe since you've built up
these before? I have 2 friends looking to build 1 of each of these.
Obviously the VM isnt for gaming but is being used as the basis for a decent
photoshop machine.

The Deluxe is for a general computer with gaming on the side. Its being used as
a replacement board for the Epox 8KHA+ that went belly up.

Thanks for any thoughts

They have all been easy boards to setup for me so far.
There has been *lots* of traffic in this newsgroup about
the A7N8X and the A7N8X-Deluxe and I have been planning on
using that as a guide for any little things that I assume
might eventually crop up with the VM and E-Deluxe.

For any motherboard I tend to have a self-made CD ready before
I start with things like all of the latest drivers, memory test
apps, Prime95 (for a bit of cpu load testing), AsusProbe, etc.
As a starting point I look at the CD that came with the motherboard
and download updated versions of everything on that CD.

I left the BIOS for the E-Deluxe at the factory version, but
I upgraded the VM to the 1008 version - it wasn't reporting
the ID of the Barton 3000+ correctly and I didn't want to hand
the system over to the customer like that.

If you like hi-res monitors, I don't think you would want the
VM for a PhotoShop machine. I tested the integrated video with
a few 21" monitors and it does a poor job once you get above
1280 x 1024. At 1600 x 1200 fonts, lines, polygons, etc
are very fuzzy compared to what the same monitors display with
a Matrox P650 at the same resolution and refresh rate. It may
all be subjective - I have been spoiled by years of excellent
clarity and colour fidelity from Matrox cards. If you are used
to cards from nVidia or ATI you are probably used to a much
lower standard and it might not bother you so much.

 

[SPRITE1001]

Well the main reason for going with the VM would be to give him a cheap
starting point (we're both students at Brooks Institute so money tends to go to
film more often than computers) but with an evenutal upgrade to a proper vid
card.
He's used to dealing with a laptop video so would you say its comparable to
that? If I could get my hands on a vid card would you recomend going with the
non-VM version (since it looks like the only plus to it is the intergrated
video)?

Thanks

 

[John]

All in one to most people means just that sound and Video

 

[XS11E]

Do Asus make an all in one M/B with a Nforce chip set
Had via once never again cheers

FWIW, I just dumped an Nforce chipset for a VIA and all my problems are
gone! nVdia, never again!