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Nforce 2 onboard video - hows it compare to a Geforce 2 GTS card?
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 |
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The VIA based MS6590-110 KT6 Delta LSR is $109. This has sound, SATA, RAID, LAN, 8xAGP, 400 FSB. I saw a review on this board and it rated very well. It was their fastest KT600 board to date(beating the ASUS and Epox). It also has SATA and is probably one of the cheapest board with that feature - everyone is raving about the WD Rators (10,000rpm) being so fast - it may be a key feature for the future. $81 at NewEgg.com http://www.amdzone.com/articleview.c...id=1325&page=8 On the on board Nvidia video, a review of the Shuttle SFF which has that same video chip and running it at 133mhz it scored 3816 3DMark2001 SE. Seems to be in the ballpark what I recall my G2 GTS got. Also some of these makes of boards say that on board video won't work above PC2700 levels (not sure about MSI). If you're able to play all you're games well now, I'd go with the Delta and wait till you get a game you can't play then buy a new video card then. Prices fall so quickly for video cards. Seems like a good budget video card (right now) would be a OEM Radeon 8500 LE ($71). I believe there's a software mod that turns it to a regular 8500. http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDE2LDY= http://store.yahoo.com/buyxg/atiradeon8500.html |
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