Testing motherboards on the NVIDIA NForce2 chipset. Long-awaited overview ABIT NF7

This fee although it does not belong to the Max products series, is, like most models on nVIDIA chipset Nforce2 from other manufacturers, highly functional and ready to satisfy all the needs of the modern user.

Delivery set includes:

Packaging: Standard Design Box;
Documentation: Motherboard user manual - in 6 languages, including Russian;
Cables: One Serial ATA, one ATA66 / 100/133 and a loop for connecting a drive;
ABIT Serillel adapter for connecting ATA devices SERIAL ATA cable;
Power splitter for connecting the Serillel adapter;
Plank on the rear panel of a computer with 2 USB ports;
The bar on the rear panel of the computer with 2 IEEE 1394 ports;
Cap to the back panel board;
Diskette with drivers for the Serial ATA controller;
Software CD, including:
- required for work cards drivers;
- user manuals motherboards companies based on NVIDIA chipsets;
- DirectX 8.1;
- utility for monitoring system;
- Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The wiring of the board, unfortunately, is far from ideal, but this is an inevitable fee for integrated capabilities and standard size. Uncomfortable for connecting and subsequent distribution of cables in the housing there are audio input, power, IDE and SATA connectors and outputs for planks with peripheral ports, as well as when the video card is inconvenient to manipulate memory modules and the IDE cable in the corresponding connectors. Access to the only available jumper is not difficult even when installing the board in the case, a brief description of its functionality is given on the textolite of the board.

In a three-channel pulsed stabilizer of the processor supply voltage, 6 capacitors of 2200 μF and 4 to 1200 μF are applied.

The following controllers are integrated on the board:

sound, implemented on the basis of the capabilities of the chipset and AC "AVANCE LOGIC ALC650" Codec, with the ability to connect audio systems 5.1 and the connector for connecting front audio inputs / outputs;
network, implemented on the basis of the capabilities of the chipset, with support for 10Baset / 100Basetx;
the Serial ATA RAID controller, implemented on the basis of the Silicon Image SIL3112ACT144 chip, with the ability to create RAID levels 0 and 1 via SATA150 protocol;
the IEEE1394 bus controller, implemented on the basis of the capabilities of the chipset.

Not disappeared, but diluted on the board: the TV-OUT connector (it will appear in the variant of the model with an integrated video adapter).

Opportunities are used on the board. system monitoring WinBond W83627HF-AW microcircuits. Controlled:

processor voltage, AGP tires, +3.3, ± 5 and ± 12 V, VBAT and +5 in Standby;
rotation frequency 3 fans;
processor temperature (built-in processor sensor) and boards (built-in sensor on the board).

On the board there are 2 connector for the adjustable connection of the fans and 2 for the unregulated (to one of them is connected to the fan on the radiator of the northern bridge of the chipset).

Brief Features: Memory connectors - 3 DDR SDRAM; Expansion slots - AGP / 5 PCI; I / O ports - 2 COM / LPT / 2 PS / 2/2 IEEE1394 / 6 USB 2.0; Dimensions - 305x245 mm.

Setting the board is carried out:

Using jumpers and switches	CMOS cleaning jumper
From BIOS, based on the version of AWardBIOS 6.00PG from Phoenix	Memory timing settings	+	ROW-ACTIVE DELAY, RAS TO CAS DELAY, ROW PRECHARGE DELAY, CAS LATENCY
	Select the frequency of memory	+	FSB: DRAM \u003d by SPD, 3: 3, 3: 4, 3: 5, 3: 6, 4: 3, 4: 5, 4: 6, 5: 3, 5: 4, 5: 6, 6: 3 6: 4, 6: 5
	Setting up AGP bus	-
	Setting up work tires PCI	-
	Ability to change the frequency divider for AGP and PCI tires	+	66-99 MHz in 1 MHz increments
	Manual distribution of interrupts by slots	+
	Changing FSB Frequency	+	100-237 MHz in increment 1, 2, 3 and 5 MHz
	Change processor multiplication coefficient	+	x5-x22.
	Changing the voltage of the processor kernel	+	1.1-1.85 V in increments of 0.025 in
	Changing memory voltage	+	2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7 V
	Change voltage chipset	+	1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 V
	AGP bus voltage change	+	1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 V

Used bIOS version 10, as the last of the testing available at the time.

The board fully corresponds to the most advanced chipset under the AMD processors, providing a wide range of opportunities for overclocking and setup, having excellent speed and a large number of various controllers.

Entering the NForce2 chipset market entailed the appearance of fairly interesting products based on it. For example, the CHAINTECH CT-7NJS fee was already considered on pages. Today we offer you another novelty, but now from another manufacturer - ABIT.

Before moving directly to the product under consideration, let's make a small lyrical retreat and think about it, and why do NVIDIA NForce2-based boards, exactly what are they?

So, as we have repeatedly said, recently an increasing number of manufacturers of motherboards begin to produce exclusive supersatural options for their mainstream products. And some brands went even further - they announced not single models of this class, but a whole line of "ultra-high" levels calculated on the most demanding users. You ask: what's the NForce2? Everything is very simple: Earlier, the functionality of the board expanded not only (and sometimes not so much) by applying the latest chipset, but also through the use of on it as much as possible external chips and additional devices. And now the chipset appears, the functionality of which is so wide that budget products look at it somewhat strange. This set of chips is asking for some unique, "with a highlight" of the product about which can be said - "it is easier to list what is not in this motherboard" ...

That is why the manufacture of top products on it is quite logical. Especially since the developer does not come up with anything - everything is there. Take, collect, color to color, beautifully pack - and everything, get your exclusive.

A detailed description of NForce2 is beyond the scope of this article, and we are fascinated by lyrics, so let's look at another unusual product - ABIT NF7-S.

This fee is built on the NForce2 SPP chipset (SYSTEM PLATFORM PROSESSOR). As the name follows, this is an option without a built-in graphics core, i.e., the SPP chip is used as a northern bridge, and not IGP. The southern bridge is represented by the processor (how to call it nvidia) MCP-T, which, unlike the trimmed MCP, supports two network interfaces, a full-fledged sound 6.1 and the FireWire interface.

An interesting layout of the board deserves a separate reference - for the first time for the Socket A platform, in addition to the standard ATX power connector, the ATX12V connector, which came from the world Pentium 4. Such a step is due to the following considerations: the processor power is obtained from the voltage +12 V, and In the standard ATX connector for this voltage only responds one conductor. Recall that the maximum dissipation of power for athlon processor XP 2800+ is 74.3 watts. But it feeds from one conductor - the current passing on it is 6.2 A. It is precisely for the reasons for the reliability and safety of the ABIT processor system and introduced an additional ATX12V connector, which already contains two conductors for which the voltage is received +12 V. Now their total number equals three. Respectively current load They fell significantly on them.

And now about the realization of all this "wealth".

Let's start with sound. All the necessary connectors, including optical S / P DIF-OUT, are displayed on the rear board panel, which eliminates the need to screw into the case additional braces with the connectors and reduces the wire confusion inside the housing.

There are also two uSB ports 2.0. Two more along with FireWire connectors are transferred to two external strips, which are included. The board supports a two-channel ATA / 133 interface, which is currently not surprising. But the use of SIL 3112 external chip from Silicon image is more interesting ... This chip is a two-channel PCI-to-SATA Host Controller. Accordingly, there are two Serial ATA ports.

But the most interesting thing is that in a set with a board, except for the SATA-pin adapter, the IDE-TO-SATA is supplied. It seems to be a trifle, and about the existence of such adapters it was known for a long time. But how did you see their "live"? How many tried to make them work, and then shared the results obtained? We think that there is no. So we decided to fill this gap and one fellible to satisfy both their curiosity and the interest of readers. After all, if there are such adapters, it would be good to represent how they behave in the real system.

A question may arise. "Why connect the IDE drive to the SATA interface?". Well, firstly, the size of the PATA and SATA loops differ significantly, and the desire to "bring order in the housing" is already in the habit of our users. And secondly ... secondly, simply interesting. So to speak, "not washing, so catalym" look at the new interface in work. Since so far there are no similar drives, even though the host controller "launch".

Of course, no increasing productivity from the use of an adapter was not a question, on the contrary, no matter how worse. Therefore, the task was as follows: does it work or not? And if it works, how will it affect performance? If a negative is a "bad, unfit adapter."

So let's look at the charts. When working through SATA speed increased! Yes indeed. But how much? Yes, no reason is exactly the magnitude to write it off on the measurement error, nothing more. The only subtest that is knocked out of the general range is WinBench Business Winmarks. Here, it really has some productivity gain, which can even be seen with the naked eye, without the use of magnifying glass.

Moreover, reading graphs with plates both when connecting a drive to a standard IDE interface and via an adapter identic. That is, when you apply them to each other, they completely coincide.

Well, worse did not become. And it pleases. Better, however, too, but in a different way and could not be. Therefore, fans of exotic can be safely recommended a new toy - IDE-to-SATA adapters. The toy is tested in the laboratory and is recognized as absolutely harmless to users of any age ...

To compare the speed of the heroine of our review with other products on the same chipset in this material we will not become a place, and not even time for such comparisons. We chased the goal to draw the user's attention to another fairly interesting product. Yes, designed not to the widest audience, but this is no less interesting. If adding to the above and rich bIOS settings On acceleration, adjusting the memory and voltage timings, as well as completely trouble-free work of the board in the process of its "testing", then we will get a completely decent "fan" product that will help lonely to enterprises to brighten up long winter evenings.

ABIT NF7-S

The ABIT NF7-S motherboard, made in the ATX form factor, is created on the database of the NVIDIA NForce2 system logic set (SPP + MSP-T). This allows you to use it as a basis for building computer systems based on any desktop models of AMD processors (Athlon, Duron, Athlon XP) installed in the Socket A processor connector and frequency operating system Tire 200 and 266 MHz, as well as new models operating at a 333-megahertse system bus. This system board model implements an effective protection scheme for critical overheating processor. This uses the Attansic ATTP1 integrated circuit, which is a programmable trigger, which has high speed and is able to respond to a signal from two sources: a thermody integrated on the processor core (unfortunately, only processors on Athlon XP), and the thermistor, located In the center of the processor connector. NForce2 SPP NFORCE2 SPP chip is closed with a miniature aluminum radiator with a cooling fan. To install the DDR SDRAM modules on the board, there are three DIMM slots, supporting operation up to 3 GB of RAM Specifications PC1600 / PC2100 / PC2700 or up to 2 GB - PC3200. ABIT NF7-S supports both single-channel and dual-channel (DualDR) memory mode. It should be noted that when using the PC3200 memory modules, they should be installed in the third and second DIMM slots. Equipped with a graphics port-sensitive AGP-slot board that meets the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification, supports the performance of graphic extension cards with AGP 8X / 4X interface. To build a disk subsystem, possibilities as an ATA133 two-channel IDE controller integrated in the Southern Bridge chip, which allows you to work with four ParallelTa interface devices (for this, there are two IDE connector on the board) and the Silicon Image SIL3112A controller is implemented on the Silicon Image Sil3112A Allowing to connect two devices with the ATA150 interface (for this there are two corresponding connector). The work of six USB 2.0 ports is supported, two of which are located on the output panel, and two pin connector are provided to connect four more on the board. In addition, it is possible to connect two IEEE-1394 ports, the support of which is implemented by the IEEE-1394 southern bridge integrated in the southern bridge chip, physical level which is made on the Realtek RTL8801B chip. The use of a six-channel audio AC'97 codec REALTEK ALC650 provides the ability to play the sound of format 5.1. It is also interesting that the output panel is equipped with all the necessary connectors for connecting the speaker system of this format, as well as an optical S / PDIF output. The possibilities of one of the two Ethernet controller integrated in the southern bridge chip, the physical level of which is implemented by the RealTek RTL8201BL microcircuit, allow the user to work in 10 / 100Base-TX networks - for which the RJ-45 connector is available on the outlet panel. The I / O Controller chip is used WinBond W83627HF chip supporting the standard I / O ports and the main functions of hardware monitoring. To ensure the work of this system board model, a power supply is required that the ATX 2.03 specification is required and having an additional 12-volt power connector. To expand the functionality of the system board on board, five PCI 2.2 slots are provided.

PHOENIX AWARDBIOS was used as a basic I / O system. ABIT - SoftMenu III company branded technology, the application of which has become traditional for the system boards of this manufacturer, opens up wide opportunities for overclocking lovers. BIOS supporting the aforementioned technology in the settings menu (in SoftMenu III) allows you to change the basic parameters of the system: FSB frequency (ranging from 100 to 237 MHz), FSB frequency ratio and memory bus (3/3, 3/4, 3 / 5, 3/6, 4/3, 4/5, 4/6, 5/3, 5/4, 5/6, 6/3, 6 / 4.6 / 5), processor supply voltage (from 1 , 1 to 1.85 V with increments of 0.025 V), memory modules (from 2.4 to 2.7 V increments of 0.1 V), AGP (from 1.5 to 1.8 V in 0.1 V income ) and even chipset (from 1.4 to 1.7 V in increments of 0.1 V); It is also possible to change the multiplication coefficient in the range from 5 to 22 (which is relevant only for engineering samples of processors). In addition, BIOS tools allow monitoring of temperature and supply voltages in the main control points, giving the ability to set the temperature of the processor kernel, by reaching which the signal will be issued (from 50 to 120 ° C) or the system is turned off (at 60, 65, 70 or 75 ° C).

The package of the ABIT NF7-S system board includes two 80-core IDEs, a loop for connecting a floppy drive, the Serialata loop with an adapter for connecting to a conventional 40-pin IDE-connector and power connector, the plank extension into two USB 2.0 ports , Expansion plan for two IEEE-1394 ports and a CD-ROM drive, on which, in addition to drivers and user manuals, a number of useful programs and utilities are placed.

ASUS A7N8X.

The ASUSTEK A7N8X motherboard is made in the ATX form factor and has a size of 30.5-4.4 cm. The basis of the NVIDIA NForce2 system logic (in combination of the SPP (North Bridge) and MCP-T (southern bridge)), from which The main technical characteristics of this product flow. Like all system board in our testing, this model supports the work of any AMD processors with 462-pin packaging and operating with a systemic bus at a frequency of 200, 266 or 333 MHz, which allows you to cover the entire spectrum of desktop processors of the Athlon / Duron family / Athlon XP. Briefly touch some constructive features and technical characteristics This model. The Northern Bridge Microcircuit of the ASUS A7N8X system board is closed by a removable aluminum radiator. The RAM is provided for the use of DDR SDRAM modules corresponding to the PC1600 specifications (DDR200), PC2100 (DDR266), PC2700 (DDR333) or PC3200 (DDR400), for the installation of which three DIMM slots are equipped on the board. Each DIMM slot allows the use of memory modules to 1 GB; how to intelligently calculate the total volume of supported random access memory Makes 3 GB. Note that the maternal aSUS board A7N8X allows you to use both a single-channel (64 bits memory bus) and a two-channel (128 bits memory bus) mode of operational memory. To work in two-channel memory mode (DualDR), memory modules must be placed in the third and second or first DIMM slot, an option is also possible to place the memory modules in all three DIMM card slots. To install external graphics card extensions on the board equipped with an AGP Pro-slot, which supports the controller of the Northern Bridge, fully satisfying the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification. This makes it possible to work with 1,5-volt graphics cards with AGP 8X / 4X interface. To connect IDE devices, the possibilities of not only a two-channel IDE controller of the Northern Bridge are involved, allowing you to work with four ParallelTa devices with an ATA 33/66/100/100/133 or ATAPI interface, but also Silicon Image SIL3112A Serialata controller, which allows you to interact with two IDE -Efigure with an interface that meets the requirements of the SERIALATA 1.0 Specification (ATA150). As an audio AC'97 codec, the Realtek Alc650 chip is used, which allows to play the sound of format 5.1. To connect the acoustic system of the corresponding format on the output panel of the board, two additional connections are equipped (mini-jack), which allows switching, not cycling for these purposes a linear output and a microphone connector. In addition, you can find a coaxial S / PDIF-outlet on the output panel. The ASUS A7N8X board provides support for two IEEE-1394 ports, as well as six USB 2.0 ports, four of which are located on the outlet panel, and a pin connector is provided for connecting two more. The implementation of support for both the first and second of the mentioned interfaces has become possible due to the presence of appropriate controllers integrated into the southern bridge chip, while the physical level of the IEEE-1394 controller is made on the Realtek RTL8801B chip. Thanks to the possibilities laid down in the south bridge chip, there are two 100 megabit Ethernet controller (NVIDIA and 3COM), the physical level of which is implemented using Realtek RTL8201BL and Altima AC101L chips. The ITE ITE8708 chip supports the operation of the main I / O interfaces is used as the ITE ITE 8708 chip, which supports the basic functions of hardware monitoring. The use of ASUS ASIC chip (ASUS ASB100) provides advanced thermocontrol capabilities, as well as monitoring supply voltages and cooling fans, thereby providing protection against critical overheating and failure of the processor and system board. When creating the A7N8x board, a number of branded technologies were applied:

Asus Post Reporter - a technology by which the POST procedure commentary comment is carried out, which has become possible through the use of WinBond chip;
ASUS Q-FAN - Technology intellectual control cooling fans;
C.O.P. (CPU Overheating Protection) - Protection Technology central processor From overheating, allowing to turn off the power system to achieve a specific temperature criterion (use this technology only in the case of use aMD processors Athlon XP, because in earlier models of AMD processors there was no thermody generated in the processor kernel).

To expand the functionality, this motherboard model has five PCI 2.2 slots.

As a basic I / O system, AwardBIOS applies, through the settings menu of which you can conduct standard computer subsystems, as well as monitor temperature mode and supply voltage at the most responsible points; In addition, it is possible to activate the "Q-Fan Control" function and make the desired settings. In addition, settings BIOS Setup. Provide the ability to change the FSB frequency in the range from 100 to 211 MHz in 1 MHz increments, the frequency of the memory bus (50%, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83%, SYN, 120%, 125, 133, 150, 166, 200% relative to FSB frequency), the processor kernel voltage (from the nominal value to 1.85 V in increments of 0.025 V), the supply voltage of AGP slots (1.5; 1.6 and 1.7 V) and DIMM slots (2.5 ; 2.6; 2.7 and 2.8 V).

In the Supplies of the ASUS A7N8X system board - 80-core IDE-loop, 40-core IDE, a loop for connecting a floppy drive, two Serialata cables, an extension plan with two USB ports and one game port, an extension plan for connecting the connector The second COM port and expansion plan, allowing you to connect two IEEE-1394 ports. The kit also includes two CD-ROM disks, one of which contains drivers and utilities, and the second - detailed technical information about the NVIDIA NForce2 chipset.

Chaintech 7NJS

The Chaintech 7NJS motherboard is another representative of the new Zenith series of CHAINTECH systemics. Like all the boards of this series, the 7NJS model is distinguished by elegant performance and excellent complete set. The basis for creating this system board, as well as for all the models presented in our testing, served as NVIDIA NForce2 chipset (SPP + MCP-T), which makes possible use As a central processor of any model from the AMD Athlon / Duron / Athlon XP desktop processor, made in 462-pin packing and operating at the system tire frequency 200, 266 or 333 MHz. The northern motherboard closed microcircuit is closed with a golden radiator of the original design with a built-in cooling fan. To place the RAM modules, which provides for the use of DDR SDRAM modules PC1600, PC2100, PC2700 or PC3200 specification, three DIMM slots are equipped on the board, each of which supports the operation of DIMM modules to 1 GB (total memory supported is 3 GB). At the same time, there is a possibility of working with memory both in one-channel and in two-channel mode. In order to use the last of the listed modes, one of two memory modules are required to install in a third DIMM slot, which is not difficult to learn from its separate location relative to the first two. The controller of the Northern Bridge graphics port, which meets the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification, supports the operation of the AGP slot, which allows you to install 1.5-volt graphics card extensions with AGP 4X / 8X interface. The possibilities of the two-channel IDE controller integrated in the southern bridge chip allow you to connect up to four devices with the ATA33 / 66/100/133 or ATAPI interface. In addition, the presence on board a single-channel IDE RAID controller Promise PDC20378 makes it possible to connect two more IDE devices and, if you wish to organize a RAID-level RAID layer 0 or 1. This connection options are provided - these can be devices with an interface as Parallellata (ATA100 or ATA133) and SERIALATA (ATA150). Using the C-MEDIA CMI8738 / PCI-6CH-MX audible six-channel controller makes it possible to high-quality 5.1 sound sound. The Chaintech 7NJS motherboard supports the work of six USB 2.0 ports, two of which are disappeared on the outlet panel, and for connecting the rest on the board there are two pin connector. The possibilities of a 100-megabit Ethernet controller integrated in the South Bridge chip (NForce2 MCP) with the capabilities of the ICS 1893Y chip, implementing the physical (PHY) level of the controller, allow you to work in 10 / 100Base-TX networks, to connect to which on the output panel board is equipped RJ-45 connector. As an I / O chip (Super I / O) in this system board model, the ITE IT8712F chip is used, which ensures the operation of all standard ports and I / O interfaces, as well as supporting standard monitoring functions. To install the extension boards to improve the system board functionality, five PCI slots are provided (PCI 2.2) and one ACR slot.

On the pages of our magazine, we have repeatedly wrote about the magnificent configuration of the Zenith Motherboards of the Motherboards, therefore, without going into detailed descriptions of related accessories, this time we will limit ourselves to the briefly enumerations. So, in addition to the System Board of Chaintech 7NJS in the box, you can also find:

corporate plastic container for two disks (one drive with drivers and VALUE PACK 2002 drive);
expansion bar with two connectors (in addition to existing audio output) to connect an acoustic system of format 5.1;
cBOX2 panel (which is installed in a three-dimensional slot system Block and has four USB 2.0 ports, IEEE-1394 port and two audio connections for connecting headphones and microphone);
the extension board installed in the ACR slot, which, thanks to the use of the physical layer chip (PHY), the Realtek RTL8801 allows you to connect three IEEE-1394 ports, two of which are displayed on the outer panel, and to connect the third (it is located on the CBOX2 panel) is equipped with the appropriate connector;
sPDIF expansion bar (optical input-output) with fiber optic cable included;
original Round Cable Harte IDEs - two 80-core IDE and loop for connecting a floppy disk drive;
two plume Serialata.

The Basic Phoenix Awadbios I / O system makes it possible through the BIOS SETUP graphics menu to produce standard computer subsystems, monitor the supply voltage at control points and monitor the temperature mode of the processor, as well as monitor the operation of the cooling fans; In this case, you can set the value of the processor temperature, upon reaching the emergency power off (85, 90, 95 or 100 ° C). To overclock the system, there is an opportunity to change the FSB frequency from 100 to 200 MHz, the frequency of operation of the tire of memory (50%, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83, 100, 120, 125, 133, 150, 166, 200% relative to FSB frequency) , the supply voltage of the processor kernel (from the nominal - 1.525 V - to 1.85 V in increments of 0.025 V), DIMM slots (from 2.7 (?!) to 3.2 V in increments of 0.1 V) and AGP- Slots (from 1.5 to 2 V in increments of 0.1 V).

MSI K7N2 (MS-6570)

The MSI K7N2 system board, made in the ATX form factor with dimensions of 30.5-123 cm in the traditional color scheme for the boards, is designed to work with any SocketA processors of AMD (Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP) installed in 462-pin processor connector . As the basis for creating this motherboard model, a set of NVIDIA NForce2 system logic chip in the SPP chipset (System Platform Processor) and MSP-T (Media and Communications Processor Turbo) was used. The SPP chip, closed by an aluminum radiator, provides the possibility of applying as a central processor of the entire model range of desktop processors of the Athlon family, while maintaining the operation of the system tire at a frequency of both 200 or 266 MHz (which corresponds to the physical frequency of FSB 100 and 133 MHz) and 333 MHz, which allows latest models AMD Athlon XP processors operating at a 333-megahertse system bus. The controller of the Northern Bridge's graphics port meets the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification, which makes it possible to install in the AGP slot equipped on the board, the operation of which it supports, 1,5-volt graphics card extensions with the interface as AGP 4X and AGP 8x. Sales graphic interface AGP 8x allowed to increase the bandwidth of the graphic port from 1 to more than 2 GB / s. The northern bridge memory controller makes it possible to use DDR SDRAM-SDRAM-memory DMM-Modules as RMM Modules (DDR 200), PC2100 (DDR 266), PC2700 (DDR 333) and not yet recognized industry - PC3200 (DDR 400), for The installation of which on the board there are three DIMM slots. Each memory slot supports the operation of memory modules to 1 GB, thereby allowing to achieve the total amount of RAM in 3 GB. For the organization of the computer's disk subsystem, two IDE connector is provided, the operation of which provides a two-channel IDE controller ATA133, integrated in the South MCP-T South Bridge chip, which allows connecting up to four IDE devices with ATA33 / 66/100/133 or ATAPI interface . This system board model supports the operation of six USB 2.0 ports, cycling for this USB controller, also integrated on the MCP-T chip. Four of the six USB 2.0 ports mentioned are located on the output panel of the board, and a pin connector is provided for connecting two more on the board. Support for 5.1 sound sound is implemented based on the capabilities of the audio AC'97 codec of the REALTEK ALC650. Communication capabilities of the motherboard are provided by the 100-megabit Ethernet controller integrated in the southern bridge chip, the physical level of which is implemented using the ICS 1893AF chip. To connect to local computing networks, built on the basis of the 10 / 100Base-TX standard, there is an RJ-45 connector on the output panel. WinBond W83627HF chip supporting the operation of all used as I / O chip standard interfaces and I / O ports, as well as standard hardware monitoring functions. To further increase the functionality of systems built on the basis of MSI K7N2 motherboards, it is equipped with five PCI 2.2- and one ACR slot. Attention is drawn to the presence of an additional processor power connector (often referred to as the P4 connector), which makes it necessary to use power supplies that correspond to ATX 2.03 specifications. In conclusion of the description of the technical characteristics, we mention about the processor protection technology from critical overheating (CPU Thermal Protection) implemented by this model of the motherboard. The essence of this technology is reduced to the fact that the signal from the processor thermal sensor is analyzed and when the threshold temperature of the processor kernel is exceeded, the power supply is turned off. Note that you can use this technology only when using AMD Athlon XP processors, since only they have an integrated thermal sensor (thermodyrodes).

As a basic I / O system for mSI cards K7N2 is applied by Phoenix-Award BIOS, using the settings menu of which you can perform standard settings for the operation of computer subsystems and monitor the temperature and supply voltage at the most responsible points; In this case, it is possible to determine the critical temperature of the processor kernel in the range from 50 to 70 ° C, upon reaching which will be filed sound signal (This is possible if the Warning_Beep feature is enabled). Fans experiment with system settings In order to evaluate its acceleration capabilities, the BIOS SETUP setup allows you to change the FSB frequency in (from 100 to 200 MHz in 1 MHz increments), the frequency of operation AGP (from 66 to 100 MHz), set the FSB / DRAM (1/1 / 1, 5/6, 4/5, 3/4, 2/3, 3/5, 1/2), thereby determining the frequency of operation of the memory bus, the voltage of the processor kernel (from 1.55 to 1.8 V in increments 0.025 V), the supply voltage of AGP-CLOT (from 1.5 to 1.7 V in 0.1 V increments) and DIMM slots (from 2.5 to 2.7 V in 0.1 V); It is also possible to change the multiplication coefficient, although it has an effect only for engineering ("divided") models of processors.

The system board package includes: 80-core IDE-loop, a loop for connecting a floppy drive, a S-BRACKET extension plan, which has two digital SPDIF outputs and two analog outputs (optional), and a D-Bracket extension plan that allows you to connect Two additional USB ports and having four LED indicators (optional). With this lED matrix You can conduct diagnostics and on the indication combination (16 combinations) of the LEDs can be judged by the passage of the POST procedures and determine possible malfunctions. Also included with the CD-ROM drive with drivers and traditional for MSI set utilities - MSI LIVE. Updete 2 and PC Alert 4. The MSI Live Updete 2 utility will allow you to make an online installation of the latest versions of the drivers and the BIOS firmware for the system board without the need to search on the Internet, and the PC Alert 4 utility will provide the ability to monitor the main workers. system parameters.

Soltek SL-75FRN-L

The Soltek SL-75FRN-L motherboard is one of the lightweight SL-75FRN series models, which entered new ruler Golden Flame products, named so thanks to the golden coating of the board. Such a coating in combination with yellow slots and connectors makes the appearance of the boards of this series quite spectacular. This system board model is made in the ATX form factor and has a size of 30.5-24.5 cm. The basis for its creation served as a set of NVIDIA NForce2 system logic (SPP + MCP). The northern bridge chip (NFORCE2 SPP) is closed with a golden radiator equipped with a cooling fan. As a RAM, the use of DIMM modules PC1600, PC2100, PC2700, or PC3200 is allowed, for the installation of which three DIMM slots are provided on the board, and the maximum total amount of supported memory is 3 GB. The SOLTEK SL-75FRN-L system board provides operational memory in both single-channel and two-channel mode. To activate these modes, you must use two memory moduleOne of which must be installed in the third DIMM slot. Equipped on the AGP slot board allows you to apply 1,5-volt graphics cards with AGP 8x / 4x as graphics cards. For the organization of the computer's disk subsystem, the possibilities of a two-channel IDE controller integrated into the southern bridge chip (MCP) are used, which allows you to connect up to four IDE devices with ATA33 / 66/100/133 or ATAPI interface. Naturally, there is support for such a popular interface as USB 2.0, for which the USB controller capabilities were used, also integrated on the MCP chip. This allows you to support the six USB 2.0 ports, two of which are located on the output panel, and two pin connector are provided to connect four more on the board. Support for 5.1 sound sound is implemented based on the capabilities of the audio AC'97 codec of the REALTEK ALC650. Communication capabilities The system board is ensured by the 100-megabit Ethernet controller integrated in the southern bridge chip, the physical level of which is implemented using the ICS 1893AF chip. To connect to local computing networks, built on the basis of the 10 / 100Base-TX standard, there is an RJ-45-connector on the output panel. The WinBond W83627HF chip supports the operation of all standard interfaces and I / O ports, as well as the standard functions of hardware monitoring, is used as an I / O chip-outlet chip. To accommodate additional extension boards to improve the system functionality, the SOLTEK SL-75FRN-L motherboard has five PCI 2.2 slots. We note the presence on the board of an additional 12-volt power supply connector of the processor, which makes it necessary to use power supplies that correspond to the ATX 2.03 specifications. ABS II Brand Technology (Anti-Burn Shield) allows monitoring the temperature of the central processor (for this purpose, a thermal sensor is placed in the center of the processor connector) and speed fan rotation, and in case of exceeding the temperature threshold value, automatically disable the power supply system.

As a basic I / O system, a Phoenix-Award BIOS is applied for this model board model, using the settings menu of which you can perform standard computer subsystems and monitor the temperature, as well as the supply voltage at the most responsible points. At the same time, using the ABS II branded technology, it is possible to determine the critical temperature of the processor kernel in the range from 75 to 100 ° C, by reaching which the power is turned off. In addition, the BIOS SETUP setup allows you to change the FSB frequency (from 100 to 200 MHz in 1 MHz), set the frequency of operation of the memory bus (50%, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83, 100, 120, 125, 133, 120, 125, 133, 150, 166, 200% relative to FSB frequency), processor kernel voltage from 1.1 to 1.85 V with increments of 0.025 V, AGP slot supply voltage (from 1.5 to 1.8 V with increments of 0.1 V) and DIMM - Slots (from 2.5 to 2.8 V with a pitch of 0.1 V); It is also possible to change the multiplication coefficient, although it has an effect only for engineering ("divided") models of processors.

The package includes a 80-core IDE, a loop for connecting a floppy drive, a disk with a universal driver set, as well as a CD-ROM drive with useful utility (PC-Cillin 2002, VirtualDrive 7, Restoreit! 3 Lite, PartitionMagic 6.0 SE, Driveimige 4.0) and brochure with detailed leadership on working with them.

Test results

act of how to consider the results shown by tested motherboards, let's make some conclusions regarding the dependence of the system performance from the configuration and modes of the memory subsystem. For this, a series of tests were conducted for the following configurations of the memory subsystem:

two-channel mode of operation at a speed of 166 MHz memory tire (synchronous mode), while two DDR SDRAM modules were used and timings were installed 2.5-2-2-6;
two-channel mode of operation at the frequency of the memory bus 200 MHz, while two DDR SDRAM modules were used with timings of 2.5-3-3-7;
single-channel memory mode at a speed of 166 MHz memory tire (synchronous mode), and one DDR SDRAM module was used and timings were installed 2.5-2-2-6.

The first test tests showed the complete inconsistency of the configuration, working with memory at a frequency of 200 MHz.

As follows from the results (Table 3), the operation of the system with the frequency of the 200 MHz memory bus not only does not bring dividends, but moreover - reduces performance. This is primarily determined by the impossibility of using faster memory timings, because when you try to reduce them, the system's stability is lost. This result is not at all revelation, because even the manufacturer of the chipset indicates that the minimum detects of access to the main memory are provided during synchronous operation of the memory bus and the system bus, which in the case of using the AMD Athlon XP 2600+ processor operating on the system bus with the FSB frequency In 166 MHz, it is achieved when working with PC2700 memory (DDR333). Nevertheless, the use of DDR400 memory modules allows you to increase productivity computer system In synchronous mode, using the installation of faster timefires to work with memory (it makes it possible to make a menu bIOS installations SETUP motherboard), which was carried out by us, without any damage to the sustainability of work.

As for performance when using one or two-channel mode of operation with memory, here the advantage, of course, remains for the latter (Table 4). For the sake of justice, we note that this increase is not so large and is observed only on applications that require frequent manipulations with data stored in RAM. Probably the greatest effect of two-channel memory will be obtained using the capabilities of the integrated graphics core on motherboards based on the NVIDIA NForce2 chipset using the NForce2 IGP chip (Integrated Graphics Processor) as the northern bridge chip.

The results of test tests of systems with different configuration of the memory subsystem allowed us to conclude that the highest performance is provided with a two-channel synchronous mode of operation of the memory bus. It is in such a configuration that the motherboards participating in our testing were carried out, the results of which are given in Table. five .

The final values \u200b\u200bshown by motherboards during test tests were demonstrated as close to the performance presented in our testing model. Often the difference in the results shown by them did not exceed 1%, therefore the difference between the best (SL-75FRN-L) from the worst (chaintech 7njs) of the integral performance indicators defined by test results was only 1.69%. Speaking about the performance of motherboards, it should be noted that, according to the results shown during testing, the ASUS A7N8X board turned out to be the best, but due to the fact that this model has a slightly overestimated relatively nominal frequency FSB (168.24 MHz against the required 166.67 MHz), when taking into account the correction coefficient motherboard Soltek SL-75FRN-L was able to beat it (the difference in the integral performance indicator of these models was only 0.17%). But despite this, thanks to the highest functional possibilities and a relatively low price, the ASUS A7N8X motherboard has the highest integral performance indicator and is, in our opinion, a model with the best quality / price ratio.

It turned out in full compliance with the well-known saying - six months did not pass, and the ABIT NF7 motherboard at the NVIDIA NForce2 chipset is already tested in our laboratory. I can not even say that therefore such a delay arose, just the fee did not fall into hand. During this time I received many letters and there were several posts in the conference with a request to test this fee. With a delay, but I am glad to fulfill requests. I myself am interested in this motherboard.

Special views chipsets does not require, he is all familiar. There are no additionally installed controllers on the board, only sound and lAN card. But it is pleasant and useful that the fan is installed on the north bridge. By the way, on this chipset, the southern bridge is also noticeably heated. I wonder if it is cool, it will help in acceleration or stability? Another innovation, however, already familiar to us on the motherboard ABIT KD7 (VIA KT400) is a four-pin ATX12V connector for mother under Athlon.

Immediately go to the BIOS and the first of us meets the SoftMenu III section, there are some changes here.

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Now the information on the type of processor and its frequency is displayed on top. We can change the frequency of the system tire from 100 to 200 MHz in increments of 1 MHz and then up to 237 MHz with a variable step. Multiplier - from x5 to x22. By the way, I checked this motherboard, like ABIT KD7, can set AMD Athlon XP for junior processors, in particular for our 1700+, multipliers are higher than x12.5, which can not "ordinary" fees of other manufacturers.

Next, the AGP Frequency parameter is running, which adjusts the frequency on AGP and changes from 66 to 99 MHz regardless of the system tire. However, in the photo above, you can see a completely different parameter - onchip VGA Frequency. The fact is that the first time I turned on this fee with a PCI video card and instead of AGP Frequency appeared this parameter. Apparently, it is designed for circuit boards with integrated video as ABIT NF7-M. This parameter can vary from 100 to 123 MHz in 1 MHz increments, can we change the frequency of the integrated video card? Interesting!

The following parameter, CPU FSB / DRAM RATIO, allows you to set the frequency of memory relative to the processor bus frequency. By default, the memory frequency is installed on SPD, but there are wide possibilities for manual frequency selection: 3/3, 3/4, 3/5, 3/6, 4/3, 4/4, 4/5, 4/6, 5 / 3, 5/4, 5/5, 5/6, 6/3, 6/4 and 6/6. It is convenient that it is not necessary to calculate the resulting frequency of memory frequency, it is displayed in the BIOS and changes when the FSB is changed or the CPU FSB / DRAM RATIO divider. So the photo shows that with FSB 133 MHz and the 4/5 divider, we obtain the operation of 166 MHz, as in DDR333 (133/4 * 5 \u003d 166 * 2 \u003d 333).

The CPU Interface parameter is not familiar to us, but, apparently, it is an analogue of the Enhance for Benchmark parameter of other ABIT boards. By default, it costs and uses "MOST STABLE CPU / FSB Parameters" if you set it in value, then more aggressive parameters are used.

Another ABIT-NF7-M board is based on a bunch of NForce2 IGP + MCP2, i.e. It has built-in graphics of the GeForce4 MX class. This specimen is an order of magnitude less, due to the high price and outdated, according to today's standards, the level of graphics.

But after the first enthusiastic responses, users gradually realized that the chipset has its own characteristics, and not all of its possibilities are fully implemented. What we continue to gain experience - the ABIT NF7-S fee.

ABIT NF7-S Specification

ABIT NF7-S
CPU	- AMD Athlonathlon XP with a tire frequency 100/133/166 MHz; - AMD DURON with a tire frequency of 100 MHz; - socket 462 connector
NVIDIA NFORCE II chipset	- Nordic bridge NForce2 SPP; - South Bridge NForce2 MCP-T; - tire between bridges - Hypertransport (800 MB / s);
System Memory	- Three 184 contact slots for DDR SDRAM DIMM - Maximum memory 3 GB - MEMORY MEMORY TYPE PC1600 / 2100/2700/3200 - 128bit two-channel memory access is possible.
Graphics	- AGP slot supporting 4x8x mode
Expansion opportunities	- five 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots; - six USB 2.0 ports (2 built-in + 4 additional); - Two IEEE1394 ports (FireWire) - Built-in sound NForce2 APU; - NForce2 network controller
Opportunities for overclocking	- Changing the frequency FSB from 100 to 237 Mr. in 1 MHz increments; Multiplier change; - change the voltage on the processor, memory, chipset and agp; - ABIT SoftMenu III
Disk subsystem	- 2 channels UltraDMA / 100/66/33 BUS Master IDE (with support to 4 ATAPI devices) - Support Serialata Protocol (2 channels) - Support LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM
Bios.	- 2MBIT Flash Rom - Award Bios Phoenix with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PNP Features and Trend Chip Away Virus
miscellanea	- one port for FDD, two consecutive and one parallel ports, ports for PS / 2 mouse and keyboard - STR (Suspend to Ram) - SPDIF Out.
Power management	- Awakening from the modem, mouse, keyboard, network, timer and usb - Standard 20 Pin Pin ATX Power Connector (ATX-PW) - Additional 4-pin power connector
Monitoring	- Tracking the temperature of the processor, voltages, speed of rotation of three fans
The size	- ATX Form Factor, 245mm x 305mm (9.63 "x 12")

Box

The box is decorated in traditional for ABIT style: red tones, a challenge of formula 1. However, there is a sticker with information on the presence of a Paralellalata-\u003e Serialata adapter.

Let me remind you that ABIT is the only benefit from the widespread implementation of Serialata controllers. The trick was simple - along with the board there is such an adapter.

As a result, the user has the ability to connect the usual hard drive to Serialata Channel. However, the real effect of this is insignificant: the thing is that today's models hard disks with head grabs bandwidth ATA100 (not to mention ATA133).

Equipment

Motherboard
CD disk with software and drivers
ATA-133 loop, FDD loop
Serialata Cable + ABIT Serillel Adapter
User Guide in English
Braces with 2 additional USB2.0 ports
Braces with 2 additional IEEE1394 ports
Plug on the backbone of the case
Dials with drivers to the Serialata controller.

The rest of the equipment is standard: loops, serialata cable, plug on the backbone board, manual and CD with drivers.

There are two brackets complete: one with two FireWire ports, another with 2 USB ports. In addition, the kit has 3 "diskettes with drivers to the Serialata controller.

As for the user manual, it is very high quality and competent. The first part of the manual is a small joining in several languages \u200b\u200b(including Russian), then there is a detailed description of the connectors and jumpers. The description of the BIOS settings is very complete, although I did not find the description of the CPU Thermal Trottling parameter.

According to some information, this is a very interesting parameter with which you can enable the processor protection mechanism from overheating. If the temperature exceeds some threshold, the processor starts to "skip the clocks", thereby decreasing the load on the processor, due to the drop in performance. However, in practice, I did not notice the real work of this mechanism - it is quite possible, it is fully implemented in the processors on the Barton kernel.

One way or another, a separate review will be devoted to this issue in the near future.

Finally, in the user manual there is a section dedicated to the installation of drivers and another software.

There is in the user manual and disadvantages. In particular, there is no intelligible description of the memory configuration. Even a schematic image of the board does not quite correctly indicate the location of the slots, and the description itself does not give a clear answer to the question - in which configuration two-channel access will work.

Now about the CD disk - in addition to the drivers to the board, there is no additional software on it. By the way about drivers - it is strongly recommended to use the driver version 2.00 or higher drivers (the latest version on 10/02/2003 is 2.03). It is they who provide the greatest level of performance.

ABIT NF7-S

The fee is somewhat similar to other ABIT products. By appearance It looks more like a reference fee from NVIDIA. However, the origin of the board issues the cooler of the original form installed on the North Bridge.

The size of the board is quite large (24.5 per 30 cm), and when assembling the system, this moment delivers some inconvenience. Both power connector (main and optional) are not installed in the most optimal way - closer to the center of the board. However, they are located near and they can be combined into one harness. And that if the cables do not interfere with the circulation of air, they can be attached to the wall of the housing. But unfortunately, complete with the board there is no set of homutics as at an AT7 MAX2 board on KT400.

The processor socket is located very close to the edge of the board, and after installing the board in the case, establish many models of coolers will be difficult.

There are special protective bands under the socket teeth, to prevent damage to the board with a fastener clip or jammed screwdriver.

As for the free space around the socket, it is quite enough to install massive coolers. And the presence of 4 mounting holes allows you to install various exotic cooling systems.

As for the support of the built-in Athlon XP thermosenssor, then in this regard, the ABIT NF7 (-S) board is completely similar to the EPOX 8RDA (+) board. In particular, to obtain information about the temperature of the kernel, the user cannot (none through bios, nor through special utilities). Nevertheless, according to ABIT, the NF7 (-S) fee has a hardware protection against overheating - CPU H.P. (Hardware Thermal Protection), which turns off the system while reaching the 110C mark (by the way, this user parameter can change - details in the "System Monitoring" section).

Next - on the ABIT NF7 (-S) board, three connectors are installed for connecting conventional fans and one connector to connect the fan on the chipset. Their location is not the most successful: Cpufan is set near the processor socket (as it should be :), but Chafan and Pwrfan are installed on both sides of the main power connector. As a result, connect the fans to the latter is inconvenient - the power cables interfere.

But the fact that the fan is used to cool the northern bridge - this is a big plus ABIT NF7 (-S) cards. Let's start with the fact that the northern bridge of the NForce2 chipset is very hot.

Moreover, at the frequencies of 166mger and above, the radiator is simply rolled up - :) For the first time I noticed this on the Epox 8RDA + board, then the radiator on the chipseet seemed to me hot. But when I removed the radiator, deleted the thermal block layer very similar to the chewing, and re-installed the radiator on the CCT-8, aluminum radiator He began to burn his fingers.

So, judging by all, such problems do not concern ABIT NF7 (-s). The cooler is planted on a more or less high-quality thermal and capable of cooling the chipset at any frequency.

In any case, checking how efficiently the cooling of the northern bridge is an integral stage of assembling any system on NForce II.

Now about the memory configuration. The NF7 (-S) board has three DIMM slots: a separate slot is DIMM No. 3, which refers to the first bank of the memory, and next to it, Dimm No. 1 and Dimm No. 2 slots are installed next to it belong to the second memory bank. Here is such an unusual configuration :)

Let me remind you that NForce II is a two-channel chipset, and for obtaining maximum performance It is necessary to have the same modules in the first and second bank Memory.

Those. Specifically for the NF7-S one module we set in DIMM No. 3, and the second or in DIMM No. 1 or DIMM No. 2. However, under the upgrade should take into account the fact that even in one-channel mode, the fee on NForce II exceeds in speed any creation VIA (KT333 or KT400).

Unfortunately, there is no LED to indicate the presence of a stress in memory. As for the problem of blocking the DIMM video card latch, it may occur only with very long cards. For example, my Ti4200 does not even get to the first DIMM slot.

By the way, note that the AGP slot is equipped with a latch, which tightly holds the video card in the slot. This is especially important for maps with massive cooling devices.

By the way, a couple of words about AGP slot.

Like all fees on the NFORCE II, we can install only 1.5 volt video cards of the AGP 4x or AGP 8x video cards in NF7-S.

Now about the possibilities of expansion. The ABIT NF7-S card has five PCI slots.

In addition, the PCB design provides for the installation of the Serialata controller.

Expansion opportunities

As for Serialata Controller, then we have a familiar face: two-channel Silicon Image SIL3112A. As a result, the user can connect 2 Serialata devices. In addition, if it hard drivesThat is, the ability to combine them in the RAID array: supported levels of RAID0 and RAID1.

In addition to Serialata devices, we can connect ordinary Device IDE. To do this, 2 connections are installed on NF7 (-s). Both are painted equally, but have intervals and explanatory inscriptions.

Now about supporting serial tires. So, the ABIT NF7-S card has 6 USB ports, two of which are located on the rear panel of the board, and 4 more connected using braces (included only one bracket with 2 ports).

In addition, the board supports serial tire IEEE-1394 ("FireWire") - two ports, both are implemented in the form of a bracket that is included.

I note that the support of both standards is implemented in the Southern Bridge. For FireWire physical wiring, the RealTek RTL8801B chip is used.

And the last - the ABIT NF7-S card has a built-in six-channel sound: an ALC650 codec is used for physical wiring. In addition, the RealTek RTL8201BL network controller (10100Mbps) is installed on the board, which is also the physical interface of the NForce II MCP network function.

Now let's stay on the built-in sound. Usually I do not satisfy the quality of the built-in sound, and on most boards, the check of its work is minimized. But when I got acquainted with the characteristics of the NForce II sound kernel, I decided to pay more attention to this issue.

As a result, when testing the EPOX 8RDA + card, I did not notice any difference between the built-in sound and the External Creative Live 5.1 board. The sound quality and processor load were the same. As a result - I left Live 5.1 map dust on the shelf :)

But when testing the ABIT NF7-S card, I had to return back the external sound card. The thing is that when connecting the columns / headphones to the output of the built-in sound, interference was constantly heard, which greatly prevented the perception of music. All dances with tambourines, drivers and bios have not led to the removal of interference: (.

Perhaps this is the most important drawback of the ABIT NF7-S card.

Let's look at the rear panel of the board.

It is easy to notice that there is no Game port. But there is a SPDIF output.

Traditional jumper scheme on the board:

On the ABIT NF7 (-s) board there is only one jumper (with a plastic tail :) CCMOS1 - designed to zero CMOS (located near the battery).

Now let's talk about the Bios settings.

Bios.

BIOS fees are made on the basis of Phoenix Award v6.00pg.

We already have the second fee for NForce II. And it's interesting to note - I also reviewed the reviews of other motherboards on this chipset, and noticed that all the BIOS settings, in particular memory settings, are exactly the same whether the chaintech, EPOX or Leadtek board.

But the ABIT programmers are somewhat redesigned BIOS. Sharing the settings responsible for the processor frequency and memory timings. As a result, the memory setup section is as follows:

So, all the main timings (and this is Active (TRP), Active To Precharge (TRAS) and Active To CMD (TRCD)), we can regulate in very wide limits. But more thin settings, the user's chipset does not offer the user.

It is interesting to pay attention to the memory frequency selection parameter.

On all boards on the NForce2, the choice of memory frequency is implemented as a percentage between the memory frequency and the processor tire frequency (FSB). In the ABIT NF7-S board, the ratio set is the same, it just looks somewhat different.

Interestingly, synchronous mode can be selected as 33, 44, 55 or 66 :))

As for the system monitoring, this section of the BIOS of the ABIT NF7-S fee is very exhaustive, with the exception of the internal thermosenssor.

In addition, the user is available information about the speed of rotation of all three fans; There are indications of all stresses (including voltages on the battery). You can also set the value of the critical processor temperature, when the system is reached, the system turns off, and the temperature at which a sound warning will be heard.

But the opportunity to ask your own threshold hardware security processor from overheating (Abit CPU H.T.P.) is under SoftMenu III. Available values: 85c, 95c, 100c and 110c

Overclocking and stability

Almost immediately after the boards on nForce II they have become a subject of increased interest by the DFI and computer enthusiasts. This is facilitated by the greater flexibility in choosing frequency processor and memory, as well as the fact that the frequency of the PCI bus is rigidly locked to 33 MHz.

All this, in principle, made it possible to maximize the frequency of FSB. However, the first experiments with the EPOX 8RDA + fee revealed the fact that the system was extremely reluctant to work at frequencies of more than 170 MREC in synchronous two-channel mode. I do not in vain stressed the fact that the memory works at the same frequency as the processor tire. Combined with dual-channel memory access, this combination gives the highest performance metrics. And on board Epox 8RDA + I remembered not by chance - many users of this board noted that an obstacle to the further acceleration (more than 200 MHz in) is the motherboard itself, namely an unstable operation of the chipset at high frequencies.

In most such situations, a slight increase in voltage VIO (voltage on the chipset) helps, but unfortunately the EPOX production fee does not have such an opportunity (as a result, hardcore overclockers are forced to modify the fee - gaspace 700 OHM resistance - 1 kohm to the IRU3037 chip).

But the user of the ABIT NF7-S card can increase the voltage on the chipset to 1.7V with standard 1.5V.

Naturally, with high voltage, the northern bridge will be overwhelmed even more, but I remind you that the NF7 has an active cooling of the chipset.

Certainly this feature It is very useful for overclocking, which cannot be said about other functions.

Let's start with the fact that the maximum voltage on the processor is only 1.85 V. This is completely insufficient to overclock the processors with the Palomino core. As for more popular Athlon XP models with the Thoroughbred A and B core, the latter have regular voltages 1.5V and 1.65V. To overclock these processors, the maximum vcore \u003d 1.85V also looks unconvincing, and in many cases will not allow to squeeze the maximum from the processor.

As for increasing the stress in memory, then we will be waiting for another disappointment - maximum value VMem is 2.7V.

Let me remind you that the most efficient memory mode on the NForce II board is synchronous. As a result, with a serious acceleration, the memory will work at frequencies of the 200 member and higher, and at such frequencies, even overclocking memory may require an increase in VMEM voltage by + 0.3V, not to mention cheaper / affordable memory.

In conclusion, I want to mention the possibility to increase the voltage on the AGP bus. The change range is from 1.5V to 1.8V (in 0.1V increments).

So, appreciating all the possibilities for overclocking can be made the following conclusion. The ABIT NF7-S fee has a complete set of means for overclocking, however, for serious overclocking, it is little adapted due to a small range of raising voltage in memory (VMEM) and the average voltage increase in the processor (VCORE).

We are waiting for a new version of bios?

Now about practical acceleration. Despite the fact that the fee allows you to change the frequency of FSB from 100 to 237mgerz, I was able to achieve stable operation only at a frequency of 195mger in two-channel synchronous mode. Without a doubt, when using better memory, I could increase the FSB frequency.

Such a wide range is explained by the encoding of the ABIT multiplication coefficient uses not 4 bits as most manufacturers, and 5 bits (5 Bit Frequency ID (FID)). As a result of the ABIT NF7 (-S) fee, has the support of all existing processors and those planned to exit.

By the way, our board supports processors with the Barton core, the official announcement of which will take place tomorrow - February 11. This support appeared in the last BIOS №13

As for the stability of work, during the testing of claims to the NF7-S board did not appear. It is due to a qualitative power converter, used 3 phase diagram and six capacitors of 2200 Igf and 4 to 1200 μF are installed.

Performance

For comparison, I chose the EPOX 8RDA + card on the NVIDIA NForce2 chipset.

The following equipment was used in the test system:

Test equipment
CPU	AMD Athlon XP processor (THOROUGHBRED-A)
Video card	TI4200 (315600) on the NVIDIA GeForce4 64MB chip nVIDIA Detonator V40.41
Sound card	Creative Live 5.1.
HDD.	IBM DTLA 307030 30GB
Memory	256 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM, manufactured by Samsung
Housing	Inwin506 with Powerman 300W Power Supply
OS.	Windows 2000 English.

So, the performance measurement occurred in the hardware rigid mode: FSB frequency \u003d 166mgerz; Memory frequency \u003d 166mgerz, while the following work timings were installed:

In addition, we note the rich package of the board, which in addition to all the necessary braces includes ABIT Serillel adapter.

But in the area of \u200b\u200boverclocking there are some drawbacks. First of all, it concerns the low Vcore and VMEM values. As a result, the overclocker must acquire very high-quality memory with a guarantee of work at high frequencies. Yes, and dependence on the quality of a specific processor instance becomes stronger.

In the form of some compensation, we have a voltage increase function on the chipset, which allows us to achieve higher frequencies of work in two-channel synchronous mode.

And finally, we look at the price of the board, which is ~ 130 $ (according to WORK..RU) for the NF7-S model. In my opinion, the board fully corresponds to this price. In addition, the ABIT assortment has a cheaper model NF7 (~ $ 113), without a serialata controller (and, accordingly, without the Serillel adapter :).