nforce2 or KT400? Where is the better money spent?

[Rob R.]

I'm looking at doing a full system upgrade soon. I cannot decide between these two chipsets. I am more than likely going to run an XP 2400+ in it with a 4x/8x vid card and PC2700 (none of this OC'd in any way). I know the KT chipset is tried and true and nforce2 has some nice features, I just don't want to make a decision now that I will regret further down the road.

Any advice is appreciated

[Bigjakkstaffa]

I prefer the nforce 2 as most of em overclock very nicely indeed, especially when used in conjunction with a tybred 2400+

Between the two boards themselves there is little real massive difference in terms of benches that ive seen

--Jakk

[Rob R.]

So it's a safe bet to just go with nforce2 then. Here's what I have my eye on right now for my full upgrade.

MSI K7N2G-L
XP2400+ retail
2x 256MB PC2700 Kingston in dual mode
MSI GeForce4 ti4200 128MB DDR 8X AGP

Plus a new, tricked out case

Do you see any obvious problems with this set up or any advice before I shell out the dough?

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Check the Radeon 9500's see if any arte in your price range, good card.

If not get the highest gf4 you can afford. Im not too sure about the MSI board, but the Epox 8rda+ and Asus a7n8x are also worth a lookign up on if you fele liek it

--Jakk

[bushmaster]

As for the MSI board, if your going to use a seperate graphics adapter (Ti 4200) you will be better of getting the K7N2-L as the board can't support anything over DDR 333 if it has the internal graphics core.

[smeg]

Just got one of these Soltek SL-75FRN2L's the other day, it rocks.
Running Dual DDR400, Has agressive settings(soft unlock)
And they have the fix for the burner issues.

Chipset
œ NVIDIA nForce2 (SPP + MCP2)

SPP:
(SYSTEM PLATFORM PROCESSORS)

- Features 333/266/200MHz Front Side Bus settings
- Dual Channel *400/333/266MHz Memory Bus
- DDR200, DDR266, DDR333, DDR400 compliant
- Asynchronous Memory Mode
- Supports AGP 8X/4X

MCP2:
(MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSORS)
- Supports Ultra ATA-133/100/66 transfer protocol
- Provides 6-channel AC'97 Audio
- Support for six USB 2.0/1.1 Ports (max.)

Memory
œ 3 x 184-pin DDR DIMM
œ Supports 6 banks up to 3GB DRAMs for Unbuffered DDR SDRAM Module

On-Board EIDE
œ 2 x PCI Bus Master UATA 133/100/66 IDE ports (up to 4 ATAPI Devices)
œ Supports for PIO Mode 3, 4, UATA 133/100/66 IDE & ATAPI CD-ROM

Integrated Super I/O
œ 1 x Floppy Port (supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes)
œ 2 x serial ports (high-speed 16550A FIFO UART Ports)
œ 1 x Parallel Port with EEP/ECP/SPP Capabilities
œ 1 x PS/2 Mouse, 1 x PS/2 Keyboard connectors
œ 6 x USB Ports (four via optional cable)
œ 1 x Audio/Game Port

Expansion Slots
œ 1 x AGP 8X/4X Slot
œ 5 x 32-bit PCI Bus Master Slots

Form Factor
œ ATX Form Factor (305mm x 245mm)

BIOS
œ AWARD Plug-and-Play BIOS
œ Supports Advanced Power Management Function
œ Flash Memory for easy upgrade

Other Features
œ BIOS Multiplier Setting (Optional) œ RedStorm Overclocking (Optional)
œ BIOS FSB Setting œ Ultra ATA 133/100/66
œ BIOS Vcore setting œ 6-ch AC'97 Audio Function
œ BIOS AGP Voltage Setting œ SmartDoc. Anti-burning Shield
œ BIOS DIMM Voltage Setting œ H/W Monitor