ASUS A7N266-VM = Great Value

[YATLA]

I built an ASUS A7N266-VM system for my sister over the holidays and am quite happy with the results. Plugged in a retail XP1700, 256 MB Crucial 2100 DDR RAM, 30 GB MAxtor, and Lite-on DVD drive (why buy a CD drive?) in a SuperCase with KB and mouse and modem for $400 from Newegg with no fuss. WinXP installed without a problem. I downloaded XP SR1 and the latest drivers from ASUS. The board boots quickly and the system has run for a week without a problem.

The A7N266-VM is a micro ATX with 3 PCI slots and integrated LAN and DD 5.1 audio. The integrated GF2MX graphics performs well for this low budget system. Hard to beat this MB for $73 from Newegg for a low price system.

Any other experiences with this board?

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Congrats on new system!

I am using a MSI K7N420 Pro (nForce 420-D). It's another great board. But nForce2-IGP is going to take it's place.

Let us know what is the Best Chipset of 2002 in your eye.<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=26410#26410" target="_new"> Click </A>

 

[livedistortion]

Hi guys, I'm interested in possibly doing a budget system as well. Is that micro-atx form factor one that needs a different sized case? Are these chipsets real stable like the nForce2, I don't want it to be like VIA or something else. Isn't one of these older boards able to do dual channel ram?

Thanks for the help!

 

[khha4113]

It can still be fit in any ATX case. The board is shorter with fewer PCI slots (3). I had built 3 of them using different cases (mid and mini), and yes it's very stable but it can't do dual channel DDR like NForce2.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[YATLA]

Yes it fits ok in a ATX case (most cases have holes for both standard ATX and micro ATX and it uses the standard ATX power connection). The chipset is nForce (not nForce2), and from my expereicne and what I've read it's very stable and good performance. Realize this is a budget system and eventhough it's ASUS there's no overclocking options, but I was interested in a stable low cost sytem with decent integrated graphics, and the GF2MX graphics on this system is MUCH better than any VIA integrated chipset. Newer NForce2 integrated grahpics boards will be comming out soon but probably cost $60 more, so for a budget system I'd stay with the original nForce which you can always upgrade to a separate AGP video card later if needed.

 

[buylow]

I just built a nice, compact system with this board and an INWIN MICRO ATX MINI TOWER CASE, MODEL IW-L545P.180GUF case. My daughter loves it. Runs w/o any problems. The case only has a 180watt PS, but powers 1500xp, 7,200 HD, cd, 256mb ram with no issues.

 

[YATLA]

Good to hear that it runs ok...I think that 1500XP are only Palominos and the 1500 Palomino can pull 60 W. With the 180 W PS you're probably close to the edge. If you start to experieince any stability problems at load you might think about abit bigger PS. Continued good luck!

 

[Spitfire_x86]

This PSU will die after few months because you are pushing it to the limits. My 230W psu dies after five months with a new nForce (MSI K7N420 Pro) and Duron 1 GHz rig

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=26708#26708" target="_new"> Go to my CPU Vendor Poll </A>

 

[Crashman]

It would fit, leaving extra space at the bottom of the case, like many OEM systems do. Although it's a good board and would fit fine, I'm going to recommend the A7N266, without the -VM, which is a full sized ATX board.

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