On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 17:42:06 GMT, "Phrederik"
wrote:

I have to buy a replacement mainboard to replace an ECS that's failing.

I'm looking at MSI's NForce2 based mainboards and was wondering how the
onboard video stands up to a 32meg Geforce 2 GTS Pro AGP card.

It depends quite a bit on what speed the memory bus will be, since it
uses system memory for video. Many people are able to o'c the memory
bus to 200MHz, which would be quite a bit faster than 100-133MHz
typically used by used CPU FSB with syncronous memory bus. In general
the performance compared to a GF2GTS is pretty similar, in contrast to
modern AGP cards from ATI or nVidia. Considering this it might be a
bit of a waste to buy an nForce2 board, unless you lack TV-Out, want
it, and the nForce2 board you want has it.


I'm looking at an MS-6570 K7N2-L... my supplier says it has TV out, but I
don't think this has onboard video. Can someone confirm that MSI boards
should have a "G" in their designation for onboard video? e.g. MS-6570
K7N2G-L should have the onboard video.

If it doesn't have onboard video it also doesn't have TV-Out. TV-Out
requires onboard video. You are correct that the model you list,
K7N2-L, doesn't have onboard video. You visit MSI's website and see
what features each model offers, but it does appear that "G" is the
designation for the video.

Is the NForce2 chipset better than VIA's KT600 chipset?

It's not going to make much difference for an older CPU, price might
be a more significant difference, but nForce2, used in dual-channel
mode with good memory, is faster. It's even more arguable whether
it's worth even more expense for good memory (if your current memory
isn't stable in dual-channel mode on nForce2 chipset), given that the
CPU will be the bottleneck for most things.


The NForce2 based MS-6570 K7N2-L is $129. This has sound and LAN

The MS6570 K7N2G-L is $159 and has the same as above, plus onboard video.

The VIA based MS6590-110 KT6 Delta LSR is $109. This has sound, SATA, RAID,
LAN, 8xAGP, 400 FSB.


...the VIA board does offer a lot more features....

Advice anyone???

Since you already have the CPU, PC2700 memory, and T'Bird 1.3GHz(?),
I'd minimize expense by getting a 1-2 generation older motherboard,
something name-brand (but not ECS) for ~$40-60. It makes little sense
to buy a $150 board to be running nForce2 video and a 1.3GHz CPU when
you already have a GF2GTS, UNLESS you'll be upgrading the CPU in the
future. Only you can decide if you'll use the extra features on the
Via board.


Dave