nForce2 400 Ultra question

[BrandtP]

I am but a neophyte when it comes to all this motherboard talk. In regard to the nForce2 400 Ultra chipset:

1. Are they all equipped with Soundstorm?

2. Does this eliminate the need for a sound card? How is the quality of sound and is Soundstorm different from onboard sound?

Sorry these are very basic questions. Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Coyote]

1. No, they are not all equipt with Soundstorm

2. Some peeps still prefer to use a sound card because (1) they prefer the sound from the card, although many think Soundstorm is as good or better and (2) AFAIK, most nForce mobo's don't have a game port, so they use a card for the gameport.

Most onboard sound is from the AC'97 chip (which the nforce mobo's also have- it's anaolog instead of digital like soundstorm), which is considered pretty crappy by many. The Soundstrom is waaay better.

Mobile XP 2600+ (11X200)
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
BBA 9800 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win2K sp4

 

[BrandtP]

Coyote, thanks for clearing it up.

 

[Crashman]

If you get a board like the Abit NF7-S it includes both soundstorm and SATA-RAID for only a few dollars more than the base NF7.

All NF7-S boards produced for around a year now have been Revision 2.0 boards, which means the nForce SPP has been upgraded to the 400 Ultra.

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[endyen]

Many 400u mobos do have soundstorm. The NF7-S is probably the best. The onboard sound on that board is as good as high end add on sound cards. On top of sound quality, the soundstorm setup also uses less cpu resources. This is very good for gaming. Nforce2 is also the best chipset available for xp systems.

 

[BrandtP]

Thanks, endyen, that was one of the boards I was looking at. IIRC Newegg has it on the cheap a per usual. Now, I am a complete rookie in terms of building a system from scratch, the last time it was done there weren't all these new types of RAM. This may sound silly, but if I get the NF7S version 2 I believe, and get an Athlon XP 3200+ to use the 400 bus (?), which type of RAM do I need? I was thinking the PC3200, but please give direction.

 

[Coyote]

Yeah, get pc3200. Maybe some Corsair Value Select unless you wanna OC over FSB 200. Seems I hear of problem with Kingston and this board, so stay away from it.

Here's a link to nForcersHQ which has post listing ram that causes probs on the NF7 series <A HREF="http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49832&sid=266fad14440819411bc0f847f643abe7" target="_new">http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49832&sid=266fad14440819411bc0f847f643abe7</A>

Consider a XP mobile 2600+ (stepping IQYHA, get 'em at excaliberpc.com), they're less expensive and I've never heard of one not reaching 3200+ speeds. Plus they run cooler using less voltage than the desktop 3200+. Just pick up an inexpensive cpu cooler (heatsink with fan) if your just gonna run it at 3200+ speeds. If you wanna go higher, get an all copper HS like an SLK 947U etc.

When ordering the NF7-S v2, be sure avoid confusion with the NF7-S2. In spite of similar names, they're different. The NF7-S2 lacks many features of the NF7-S v2

Mobile XP 2600+ (11X200)
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
BBA 9800 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win2K sp4