nForce1

[szczupx]

What about the first nForce? Just like in the asus A7N266VM SE. I heard
that it is not what boys like the best?
--

 

[kony]

What about the first nForce? Just like in the asus A7N266VM SE. I heard
that it is not what boys like the best?

I don't know what, if anything, is changed on the "SE" version but in
general they are fine motherboards, about the best quality you can get
in a mATX motherboard.

However they have no overclocking options unless the board is
physically modified, and then they still aren't suited for
overclocking. It is possible but easier and more fruitfull with a
different motherboard.

It is a single-channel memory version of the nForce, so the onboard
video is futher slowed down compared to nForce 420 boards or any
nForce2. It is more than fast enough for 2D and fancy screensaveers
but these days it makes no sense to buy one for 3D gaming even on a
tight budget. It is a board well-suited for an office-machine or
general purpose system, not for a power-user or gamer. If you add a
good video card then it will have similar video performance to any
other board within the limits of CPU & front-side-bus support, which
is DDR266.


Dave

 

[Figurt]

Built a system with the A7N266VM, for a friend, cheap, stable and so far has
no problems....

 

[Steve Gordon]

My system runs on one, stable as a rock.

 

[Stacey]

I don't know what, if anything, is changed on the "SE" version but in
general they are fine motherboards, about the best quality you can get
in a mATX motherboard.

However they have no overclocking options unless the board is
physically modified, and then they still aren't suited for
overclocking. It is possible but easier and more fruitfull with a
different motherboard.

It is a single-channel memory version of the nForce, so the onboard
video is futher slowed down compared to nForce 420 boards or any
nForce2.

I think that board is the 420 chipset and does have dual channel memory.
I've built a bunch with the A7N266-VM AA that newegg has on sale and even
some newish 3D games run fine with 2 sticks of ram. A very good solid MB.

 

[kony]

kony wrote:


I think that board is the 420 chipset and does have dual channel memory.
I've built a bunch with the A7N266-VM AA that newegg has on sale and even
some newish 3D games run fine with 2 sticks of ram. A very good solid MB.

I'm unsure about the "SE" verison, but I have one revision earilier,
the last "AA" version, which isn't 420, only single channel.
Benchmark scores confirm it, and actually the performance is far
greater using only one memory module, because with a single module the
FSB & Memory bus was stable all the way to 181MHz (board needs hacked
to o'c at all though) but with two modules it wouldn't do over ~
148MHz stabily, even lower with lesser memory... don't think it's the
memory I tried either (several modules) as other people have reported
around the same ceiling with two modules. Perhaps with premium
high-end memory it's be possible, but who's going to be using such a
board with integrated video but spend way more $ for high-end memory?
Would be much faster with a even a $40 video card.

Maybe the SE version resolves the lower stablity with two modules...
if there's one thing I'd change about the board if I were Asus, that
might be it (though a 3rd fan header would be nice too).


Dave

 

[Stacey]

I'm unsure about the "SE" verison, but I have one revision earilier,
the last "AA" version, which isn't 420, only single channel.
Benchmark scores confirm it,

The ones I used had much better 3D video performance with 2 sticks of ram.
From everything I've read and experienced besides onboard video
performance, dual chanel ram on an AMD is a waste of time. Never bothered
to hack them to Oclock, I'd buy a better board if I was interested in
oclocking..