Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (
More info?)
I'm running a Biostar M7NCD now through its 2nd year and I believe it's
about the same vintage as the M7VIZ. It's only been a couple of years that
all the cpu's started using the 4 pin 12 volt cpu connector. At first those
connectors were associated for only P4 processors and then the use migrated
to the AMD chips. It should be no big deal not using it. As far as Biostar
goes I have found them pretty solid little boards unless you try
overclocking them with by upshifting the fsb. That's when you may hit a few
hurdles. I've used 3 M7NCD boards now in builds with no problems.
I tried pushing an Athlon XP 2500 from its normal fsb (166 mhz) to 200
mhz and everything ran fine except when I tried rendering movies to DVD.
Never could finish any rendering at all. When I reverted to 166 mhz fsb
there was no problem completing movies. If you're interested to hear what
other folks say about that particular board read some of the reviews by
consumers who bought it at Newegg.com. Just input the model number to get
some views.
--
Jan Alter
bearpuf@verizon.net
or
jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
"larry moe 'n curly" <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:1121523327.011370.8700@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> kony wrote:
>> On 16 Jul 2005 04:44:10 -0700, "larry moe 'n curly"
>> <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
>> > I have a used BioStar M7VIZ v. 8.0 Socket A mobo with
>> > VIA VM400 chipset and integrated video. It was given
>> > to me because it wouldn't boot, but the problem turned
>> > out to be just a loose or corroded BIOS chip or socket.
>>
>> Well in their defense, they probably use a similar if not
>> identical PROM socket to many of the budget brands, simply
>> plastic with nickeled copper contacts. Couldn've been the
>> environment the board was stored or used in?
>
> This is a refurbished mobo, and maybe it was sent through a bath of
> harsh chemicals because the metal tabs of the MOSFETs and AGP voltage
> regulator are unusually dull, and the stainless steel covers for the
> rear NIC/USB, keyboard/mouse, and audio connectors have mottled stains
> that I couldn't remove with any chemical. The BIOS socket pins were
> shiney, but the chip pins were not.
>
>> > However I noticed that there's only a single 20-pin power
>> >connector, even though the CPU is powered from the +12V,
>
>> Are you certain it's powered from 12V or are you assuming it?
>
>> I've never seen a board that used 12V rail for CPU without
>> *Some* kind of aux connector. I'll bet it uses 5V rail.
>
> I discovered this while checking the accuracy of the BIOS voltage
> readings, and I was surprised when I saw 12V on the metal tabs of some
> of the MOSFETs (other tabs measured 1.5V), so I took a look at the
> board and found that the capacitors closest to the rear were rated
> 2200uF and 16V. The capacitors closer to the CPU were rated 3300uF and
> 6.3V but measured only 1.5V each. I also measured about 2.5A through
> the yellow +12V wire but about 0A through the +5V.
>
>> I think you're making assumptions, that perhaps socket A
>> usually uses 12V?
>
> This is actually my first +12V mobo, and even my P4 uses +5.0V (ECS
> P4S5A2).
>
>> >The rest of the build quality seems better than PC Chips or ECS.
>> >For example, the toroid coils have double-wound wire, there's a
>> >fuse instead of a soldered jumper for the rear I/O, and the
>> >heatsink for the north bridge is a lot bigger.
>>
>> I wouldn't consider it a "lot" better, but I think that might also
>> have a bit to do with the market-segment for a KM400 board- it's
>> targeted at the cheapest system build possible and towards that
>> end it might be a reasonable choice over ECS/PCChips. It's just
>> hard to look favorably at the KM400 since even if it's an office
>> box without signficant video memory bandwidth needs, the Via PCI
>> bus was slower (less efficient) than nForce is/was.
>
> I just hope it works better than my ECS K7VTA3 v. 8 (VIA KT333), whose
> BIOS somehow got flashed when I was trying to flash the NEC DVD writer
> in the same machine. I first thought that it had blown a regulator,
> but all the voltages were normal, including ripple, and after
> unsoldering the BIOS and using Uniflash to back up the chip, I verified
> that it contained the DVD drive's BIOS.
>