Biostar M7NCD Pro (NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400) Mainboard
|
The board wasn't meant to be the top solution
in the nForce2 Ultra 400 based line (though there's only one more board available
which comes without a network adapter). A great number of connectors and controllers
unattached indicates it.
The
layout is ordinary. It can be hard to connect cables to the memory modules because
of too many connectors around, and a video card inserted may lock them. It can
be difficult to reach some jumpers when the board is already installed. Their
functions are indicated on the PCB. The 3-phase voltage regulator incorporates
5 capacitors of 3300 uF and 3 of 1500 uF. There are also voltage regulators of
the AGP bus (2x1000 uF and several less capacious ones) and of the memory (2x1000
uF). Connectors which are left space for: a chip and connectors of the
SATA/IDE controller, IEEE1394 bus controller and its connectors, some more space
for chips and connectors (probably, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth). The board measures 305x245
mm ("wide ATX", 9 screws fastens it, all edges are fixed). System monitoring is
supported by Winbond W83627THF-AW chip. It controls: - processor,
AGP bus voltages: +3.3, +-5 and +-12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby
- rotation
speed of 2 fans;
- temperatures of the processor (socket sensor)
and the board (built-in sensor)
Ports & connectors onboard
- CPU socket (Socket A/Socket 462);
- 3 slots for DDR SDRAM DIMM (all
of the same color);
- AGP slot (not Pro, with a retention clip);
-
5 PCI slots (32bit, 33MHz);
- Power supply connector: standard ATX;
-
FDD;
- 2 IDE (Parallel ATA) - on chipset;
- Connector for audio-out
from CD/DVD drive;
- 3 fan connector (2 with rotation control, 1 without
it).
Rear panel
The rear panel looks standard: PS/2 mouse
and keyboard, 2 USB ports and RJ-45 (Ethernet), LPT and 2 COM ports, Game port
and 3 audio connectors. The board is absolutely ordinary. One can choose such
solution only because of its price and the need in a board based on this chipset.
Accessories
- Package of the standard design;
- Documentation: user manual
in English;
- Cables: 1 ATA66/100/133 and FDD;
- 3 CDs with software:
- drivers;
- user manual in PDF;
- Adobe Acrobat Reader;
-
Award WinFlash;
- Winbond Hardware Doctor;
- DirectX 8.1;
-
StudioFun!;
- Norton Antivirus 2003;
- Norton Ghost;
- Norton
Personal Firewall.
Three programs that go last in the list can be
a good present for those who are against nonlicensed software; the Norton Antivirus
2003 alone is very expensive. Integrated controllers
-
audio controller based on the Realtek ALC650 AC'97 codec; 5.1 audio system supported,
front audio I/O connector provided;
- network controller based on the MCP
south bridge, 10BaseT/100BaseTX supported.
Settings
| jumpers and switches |
CMOS clear jumper |
|
| Basic CPU clock selection jumpers |
100/133/166 MHz |
| Jumpers for starting up PC from USB devices |
|
| Jumpers for starting up PC from PS/2 devices |
|
| BIOS based on Phoenix AwardBIOS 6.00PG |
Setup of memory timings |
+ |
CAS Latency, T(RAS), T(RCD), T(RP) |
| Setup of memory frequency |
+ |
By SPD, 50, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83, 100, 120, 125, 133, 150, 166,
200% of FSB clock speed |
| Setup of AGP bus |
- |
|
| Setup of PCI bus |
- |
|
| AGP/PCI frequency setup |
+ |
AGP(PCIx2) = Auto, 50, 66-100 MHz, in 1-3MHz steps |
| PCI IRQ manual assignment |
- |
|
| FSB frequency setup |
+ |
100-250 MHz in 1MHz steps |
| CPU clock ratio |
+ |
x5-x12.5 |
| CPU voltage control |
+ |
1.3-2 V in 0.025V steps |
| DIMM voltage control |
+ |
2.5 - 2.8V in 0.1 steps |
| NB voltage control |
+ |
1.6-1.9V in 0.1 steps |
| AGP voltage control |
+ |
1.5-1.8V in 0.1 steps |
We used the BIOS of 30.06.03 as the latest available
version. Test results:
Write a comment below. No registration needed!
|
|
