Nforce2

[oclocker]

Want an nforce 2 with onboard Grafix - seems hard to find - any recommendations as to teh best one. Not worried about 40 FSB ?

[Big RICHARD]

nf7-M?

[M@tt]

Epox 8RGA+

I have had a couple of these boards, good IMO

[Austin]

All nForce2 are mighty good, brand doesn't seem to make a big diff at all, as usual it's the chipset which dictates almost all speed, features, compatibilities etc.

What's the main reason you want onboard gfx? It used to be cost effective but now GF4MX perf is way below par and even the sub £50 GF-FX5200 easily kicks its a$$. Anyway be sure to get a Dual Channel nForce2 (with 2 sticks of RAM) as this gives the onboard gfx a huge boost, from GF4MX420 to GF4MX440. GF4MX440 can be picked up for under £30 now and the likes of the Radeons or GF-FX are a big step up for very little cash. If 3D isn't important then I'd personally rec any Radeon. Basically, I'd suggest taking a careful look as to why you want onboard gfx and how much buying a mobo with onboard gfx limits your choices without really saving you any money.

[SilentDeath]

If 3D isn't important then I'd personally rec any Radeon

id have said the opposite, if 3d is important

for budget fx5200 or gf3 (£25 new) or a ti4200 (£40 new?).

im not sure about nf2 boards, but my last board with gfx built in had no agp slot, which wouldnt be good if u want to upgrade.

[kamz]

Epox one is meant to be good, as it clocks well also, but rmbr that they onboard graphics uses the chipset ram...

[Austin]

|SilentDeath| yeah I meant IF 3D isn't important then any Radeon even the lowly 7000-7500 offer excellent 2D and should be VERY cheap even new. The nVidia cards have traditionally been more hit and miss when it comes to '2D' quality, GF4 are much improved over the nasty (2D) GF2-3.

4200 new are closer to £80, if you want 3D (which assume you will if you go GF4TI) then definitely grab a 128MB version. 4200 offer great perf for the money offering raw 3D perf equivilent to Rad9600PRO & GF-FX5600ultra until you get into DX9 and medium to high AA+AF. BTW all nFOrce mobos inc nForce2 should all offer an AGP slot even with integ gfx.

[oclocker]

Originally posted by Austin

What's the main reason you want onboard gfx?

its to make my main system tiny as possible - and as not a major gamer GF4MX will do me.. PSU under desk running up through a hole in desk so its gonna be only the size of the Mobo + a few cms taller..

[oclocker]

Originally posted by kamz
Epox one is meant to be good, as it clocks well also, but rmbr that they onboard graphics uses the chipset ram...

Well maybe I need more than 1gb of ram then

[oclocker]

Originally posted by M@tt
Epox 8RGA+

I have had a couple of these boards, good IMO

Cheers yes one of the few I have found..

Other is NF7-M but very few if any others..

May have to use an AGP riser and keep my GF4 4200 but that adds at least 4cm to height

[acidrainy]

Originally posted by oclocker
Cheers yes one of the few I have found..

Other is NF7-M but very few if any others..

May have to use an AGP riser and keep my GF4 4200 but that adds at least 4cm to height

How much does CPU & HS add? I would guess that the riser wouldn't be far of what the HS is

[Kezzer]

I had an NF7-M, it performed absolutely fine, yes the onboard graphics does steal your MAIN MEMORY so it's best to have lots of it. The onboard graphics doesn't perform too well and the NF7-M in particular does definitely not support 400MHz FSB but in this case it isn't an important factor. Otherwise it's worth going for.

A HS would cost you up to £40 and fans are so cheap nowadays you could get them in your cereal. CPU wise you will have to have a look around because the prices are very random. Luckily for AMD in particular the prices have dropped quite dramatically. I paid £140 for my chip originally, you can now buy them for £60.

Hope that helps.

[Austin]

1GB of RAM is overkill for practically all home users, 512MB makes more sense as your onboard gfx should only steal 64MB at most and even losing 128MB wouldn't slow you down, though GF4MX archy would limit 128MB's benefit anyway.

As for HSF there are low height models but I think they're still a few cms and will jut out from your mobo as much as many gfx cards. No need to spend £40, the Volcano11 is £15 and a very capable and adjustable cooler. For the CPU it makes sense to o/c some like the TbredB XP1700+ or Barton XP2500+. If you want to run cooler (and quieter) you should find both will overclock and still run with low volts like 1.50v. Just rem if 3D perf is still important then be certain to get a Dual Channel capable mobo and use 2 sticks of RAM in appropriate slots.

[Kezzer]

yeh the onboard gfx on the NF7-M is Geforce 4 MX440, you can select the frame buffer and aperture size in the BIOS of course.

Of course there is no need to spend up to £40 on a HS, i paid quite a lot for my SLK-800, it was worth it as well. For overclocking on the NF7-M i wouldn't recommend it. The board supports 333MHz FSB ONLY. Believe me i tried pushing it and the furthest i could go was 168MHz FSB. That is it!

I trashed the NF7-M and got a S rev 2 and as soon as i got it i oc'ed it to 200 x 10.5 with no problems. this proves that the NF7-M does not support high FSB speeds.

[Axion]

an sk-7 for £20 is good enough for me