Biostar M7NCD-Pro nVidia nForce2 Ultra Motherboard for AMD Athlon XP
Written: Nov 14 '03 (Updated Sep 13 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent value, overclockability, stability, features, software, 6 USB 2.0 ports, LAN
Cons: Small manual, comes with no backplate, onboard sound quality only fair
The Bottom Line: I am happy with this motherboard. It is stable and provides excellent overclocking options and comes with useful software.
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| dkozin's Full Review: Biostar M7NCD Pro Motherboard |
I bought the Biostar M7NCD-Pro motherboard after the refurbished Asustek A7N8X-VM refused to work. And I am glad the Asus board didn’t work, because the M7NCD-Pro is way better.
Firstly, it is a full form-factor ATX board for AMD Athlon (socket A) based on nVidia nForce2 Ultra chipset. It has 5 PCI slots, 1 AGP and 3 DDR slots. Secondly, it comes with useful Symantec/Norton software (unfortunately these are only 90-day trial versions). And, most importantly, it allows you to overclock both the CPU and the RAM easily and stably.
Overclocking
I was able to overclock my AMD Athlon XP2500+ (Barton), which is supposed to run at 1,833 MHz (166MHz x 11), but it stably runs at 166MHz x 12.5 with the resulting frequency of 2,083 MHz (XP2800+ equivalent).
Also, I run the Kingston DDR333 (PC2700) CL2.5 memory at CL2.0 with no problem (and in dual-channel configuration as 2x512 MB). The BIOS has ability to adjust not only frequencies and memory timings, but voltages as well.
In this configuration, I tested the system by compressing a set of files (600 Mb) with winRar under Windows2000 – the CPU temperature rose from 40C to 50C, but the system overall is stable.
Biostar provides a Windows utility that lets you monitor CPU temperature, fan speed, voltages and frequencies. Very convenient.
One thing you have to know is the board came with a frequency jumper set to 100 MHz (closed). In order to get my 166 MHz, I had to open it. If you get this board, don’t forget to open the jumper, otherwise you will get much lower speeds.
Annoyances
In addition to the aforementioned jumper pre-set at 100 MHz (not a big deal for me), the board has other small issues. Firstly, the AGP slot has a sliding part, which moves horizontally as you insert the AGP video card. On my board, this sliding part was pushing against a part on the motherboard (looks like a doughnut-shaped metal ring with bare wire wound around it – a voltage regulator?), moving it slightly to the side.
Then, the front-panel audio connector is located right under the place where the AGP video card resides, making it difficult to route wires. The CPU socket is surrounded by the capacitors, which turn out to be very close to the AMD heatsink supplied with my XP2500 retail. If you want to use the larger heatsinks, you will have difficulties.
The board (retail version) came with no backplate (good thing my case’s backplate fit the inputs). And the manual is small, lacks detail and does not describe the BIOS settings at all.
Cool Stuff
The board has 6 USB 2.0 port capability – there are 2 USB ports on the back of it and it shipped with a separate plate with 2 more (can be connected to the motherboards’s USB headers). There are also 2 USB headers for the front panel. This way, I have 6 USB ports (4 in back, 2 in front).
The board also has a LAN jack, 6-channel SoundStorm audio (Dolby Digital), 2 COM and 1 parallel ports, mouse and keyboard PS2 ports.
Audio
I was thinking is I would be able to use the onboard audio for listening to the music. I am uninterested in the 6-channel capability, since I don’t play games and I play my DVDs on my DVD player, DD receiver and Athena speakers.
Unfortunately, the sound quality of the onboard audio is lacking. It will be adequate for games and Windows sounds, but not for music – the music lacks treble, lacks depth and sounds muted. My inexpensive Sound Blaster 16 PCI is much better sounding (both were tested using the Yamaha YSTMS50 2.1 speaker system).
Boot Device
You can select the boot device for the current boot by pressing F9 when the computer starts. It is very convenient is you want to boot from a floppy or a CD-ROM once without having to go to BIOS settings twice to change the boot sequence there and then restore it.
Other Features
The board supports up to 3 Gb RAM in 3 DDR slots, supports ATA133, FSB up to 400 MHz and CPUs up to Ahtlon XP3200+. Officially supports up to DDR400 (PC3200) and dual-channel memory access.
The board has no problem going to “suspend” and “hibernate” modes in Windows 2000 from windows itself or from the keyboard.
CDs
The board comes with 3 CDs: drivers/utilities, Norton system pack and Studio Fun. The supplied drivers for the nVidia nForce2 chipset (audio, LAN, etc.) were easy to install on my Win2000 system.
Bottom Line
I am happy with this motherboard. It is stable and provides excellent overclocking options and comes with useful software.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 65-15 rebate
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
 - Top 10 |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 838
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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