nforce2 vs nforce2 Ultra 400

[RobHague]

I have been trying to find the differences between this new stepping and the last one.

What exactley IS the difference between the nforce2 im using now and the new boards with nforce2 Ultra 400's? I read support for 400mhz fsb but if im not mistaken (and i think im not) the original nforce2 does as well, infact it was a selling feature and another reason i bought one.

*shrugs* I tried looking round but the comparisons seem very foggy and unclear.

If anyone has researched this or just knows something thats different then please feel free to post. :D Ta.

[-=DVS=-]

older Nforce 2 boards doesn't do 400 MHz very well in fact many may fail or burn :rolleyes: that what i have read , new revision Nforce 2 is suppose to do 400MHz without a glich ;)

[RobHague]

That sucks then because the board i bought from MSI was marketed with support for possible newer 400mhz CPU's :mad:.

[Dazz]

Some nForce boards can't handle 400MHz these tends to be the early revisions 1st i belive all others should be fine.

[ricercar]

Well, according to the nForce2 Program manager Scott Baker, (1) Every nForce2 SPP will support 400 MHz FSB, whether it has the name Ultra 400 or not. (2) No nForce2 IGP is guaranteed by NVIDIA to support more than 333 MHz, even with an AGP video card, even if the board manufacturer claims the IGP board will support 400 MHz FSB.

The monkey wrench came when AMD forbade NVIDIA from advertizing a 400 MHz FSB until AMD announced their 400 MHz FSB processors, and then delayed the intro of the 400 MHz CPUs... So NVIDIA shipped nForce2 v1.x without official support for a 400 MHz FSB.

The only way to know is to test your version 1.x board. If you have a SPP board, you likely can run 400 MHz FSB., If you have an IGP, it's a gamble, even with v2.x boards. Apparently there's an improved memory controller in v2.0, but this won't prevent v1.x SPP boards from running 400 MHz.

[Dazz]

I think a 1/3 of A1 chips have problems running at 400MHz but all A2 will run at 400MHz.

[gokickrocks]

the only difference...the word "ultra"...no seriously, im not joking...

[SavagePaladin]

no, you're not joking, but you're still wrong.

there may not be much difference, but it is there.

[gokickrocks]

from an end-user point of view, the only noticeable difference is the word "ultra"....maybe from a technical perspective, some minor details may have changed...but other than that, it overclocks the same

note: i had all the steppings (and fried 4 boards along the way)...which is why you see me on an intel now

[SavagePaladin]

From an enduser point of view, all Ultras are tested and validated for 400. The originals weren't. This doesn't always make a difference, of course, but it can.

Some peeps claimed with an Ultra they could do the same clocks, but with less voltage increases.

Also the SPP draws less power and has a different physical layout, so creates less heat.

[alucard_x]

nforce2 ultra 400 = nforce2 + gaurnteed 400mhz support

[Chobits_Misato]

Originally posted by gokickrocks
from an end-user point of view, the only noticeable difference is the word "ultra"....maybe from a technical perspective, some minor details may have changed...but other than that, it overclocks the same

note: i had all the steppings (and fried 4 boards along the way)...which is why you see me on an intel now


And somehow you get the worst mobo out there...maybe you should've done more research and read more reviews :rolleyes:

[gokickrocks]

my research is done through hands on experience, apparently your research relies on "reviews"

[Shaitan]

I m running my A7N8X Del. rev 1.04, bios 1004... at 11X200 no problemo. Had to do the wire trick to allow lower than the default 13X multiplyer on my 2700+ T-Bred.. lol Man , I love seeing my DDR400 running insync with the cpu fsb at 400 as well now. wOOOt

[Chobits_Misato]

Originally posted by gokickrocks
my research is done through hands on experience, apparently your research relies on "reviews"

So to understand a motherboard means you have to have hands-on experience? You better be a) Filthy rich to buy each motherboard or b) Have a friend who is looking to build a new PC each week and I find both highly unlikely. Even if you are well off that is just a waste of money when you could be investing it.

And I look at reviews and what OTHER purchasers say. It is the only Mobo that consistently fails to hit a 1GHZ FSB speed while the others do. It is usually in the upper part of the pack but this is due to the fact that is dynamically overclocks (which is probably the reason it can't hit 1Ghz) to make its scores higher. Once you factor in the part that it has to overclock itself automatically just to stay competitive you start to wonder.

[gokickrocks]

Originally posted by Chobits_Misato
So to understand a motherboard means you have to have hands-on experience? You better be a) Filthy rich to buy each motherboard or b) Have a friend who is looking to build a new PC each week and I find both highly unlikely. Even if you are well off that is just a waste of money when you could be investing it.

i admit that i spend a lot of money on boards and i'll leave it at that


And I look at reviews and what OTHER purchasers say. It is the only Mobo that consistently fails to hit a 1GHZ FSB speed while the others do. It is usually in the upper part of the pack but this is due to the fact that is dynamically overclocks (which is probably the reason it can't hit 1Ghz) to make its scores higher. Once you factor in the part that it has to overclock itself automatically just to stay competitive you start to wonder.

im assuming you are referring to my msi board...i could do 300fsb (1.2ghz if you will) on the stock intel cooler, and higher with my prommy attached...but because a "review" said it couldnt hit 1ghz fsb, than obviously my results are false

in regards to the dynamically overclocking...it goes +/- 3mhz...i use wcpuid real time clock checker with a 0.5s time interval...

i dont rely on a website's reviews, i do however, usually have people like OPP, macci, etc...to have a go at a board and base a decision off their recommendations/opinions

[UDawg]

Originally posted by Shaitan
I m running my A7N8X Del. rev 1.04, bios 1004... at 11X200 no problemo. Had to do the wire trick to allow lower than the default 13X multiplyer on my 2700+ T-Bred.. lol Man , I love seeing my DDR400 running insync with the cpu fsb at 400 as well now. wOOOt

I'm not the smartest man in the world but please explain how your FSB is at 400mhz and you RAM is at 400mhz also.

I run my 2600xp at 11x200 on myA7n8X Deluxe Rev2.0 with PC3500XMS.

[SavagePaladin]

Originally posted by UDawg71
I'm not the smartest man in the world but please explain how your FSB is at 400mhz and you RAM is at 400mhz also.

I run my 2600xp at 11x200 on myA7n8X Deluxe Rev2.0 with PC3500XMS.
Assuming I know what you're saying, here's what you need to know
DDR400=PC3200

[UDawg]

Originally posted by SavagePaladin
Assuming I know what you're saying, here's what you need to know
DDR400=PC3200

He said the FSB was at 400 @13x

[SavagePaladin]

Originally posted by UDawg71
He said the FSB was at 400 @13x
ahh
Well then.....I go now :)

[john19055]

I have a ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe2.0 and as long as you have chipset version C1 on the north and south bridges,you should'nt have no problems running a 200 FSB.But as everbody else has said the earlier versions had problems hitting 200 FSB some would and some would'nt, I run my XP2400 now at 200x11@2200 with no problems with my Corsair 3500C2 XMS.

[solofly]

Originally posted by RobHague
That sucks then because the board i bought from MSI was marketed with support for possible newer 400mhz CPU's :mad:.

Only MSI nForce2 'Delta' officially supports 400mhz CPUs. (but you never know until you try it)

[solofly]

Originally posted by john19055
I have a ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe2.0 and as long as you have chipset version C1 on the north and south bridges,you should'nt have no problems running a 200 FSB.But as everbody else has said the earlier versions had problems hitting 200 FSB some would and some would'nt, I run my XP2400 now at 200x11@2200 with no problems with my Corsair 3500C2 XMS.

Speaking of northbridge revision C1/A1... I burned my C1 northbridge at 219FSB believe it or not. Anything above 200FSB should have active cooling on the NB heatsink folks...;)