Does anyone know how the sound of the NForce 2 boards is (the stuff integrated into the chipset should be quite good, but the Realtek ALC650 codec used on mosts boards... )? I wonder if there are reviews out there etc. or if anyone has bought such a board already. Thx

I own an NForce which uses the same APU as the NForce2.
Generally, SNR isn't as good as the the top end gamers cards such as TBSC but is pretty decent. CPU utilisation for 3d games is pretty low, far better than the SBlive and as good as the Audigy. You'll probably be able to find some reviews for the NForce APU around, but it's definitely excellent value for money.

the big thing with the nforce apu, afaik, is the fact that it can encode to 5.1 ac3 in realtime. I'm not to certain if you can switch this feature on/off or what, but I guess it would help for getting 3d sound in games when only using spdif instead of analog outs. Its a cool feature, but not worth switching motherboards for - nvidia should release the apu seperately.

Not all mainboards support the realtime ac3 encoding, make sure it's the MCP-T version of the chipset.

NVidia were supposed to come up with the Soundstorm standalone card but it's not been heard of yet.
Well... maybe there is hope: http://www.3dnews.ru/documents/3614/sounds...dstorm-pack.jpg

The ALC650 is only used as the DAC/ADC. nForce2 APU only acts as a DSP, final sound quality is still greatly determined by the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) in the ALC650 AC'97 codec.

Unfortunately, none of the mobo makers are using a higher quality AC97 codec like the Analog Devices AD198x or the 20bit Crystal AC97 CS4294-JQ codecs(used in Santa Cruz and other cards that use Crystal Soundfusion sound DSP). Quite a disappointment on the part of the mobo makers. Wished Nvidia had forced them to use the higher quality DACs in the better AC97 codecs....

i would think that most people buying nforce's for sound capabilities would be using digital output, making DACs irrelevant.

Well, then get me headphones with digital in As I'm currently running a Celeron 366 its very tempting to upgrade to a NForce 2 with Athlon XP, but I'd like to replace my SB Live if possible (still find it a bit noisy Not really sure, but I don't really like its sound ). Sure, the APU is great, but I don't trust the used DAC. Why can't they use something of higher quality???

tangent: As far as I have heard NVidia doesn't want to release a stand alone sound card, and the thing on the picture seems to be a AMR or CNR.

Yes it is, unfortunately. Looks like the same one I have, except I don't have the drive bay. Wish mentioned that the standalone card is not possible because the PCI bus is not fast enough for realtime AC3 encoding.

I replaced my Soundblaster live with an nForce (A7n266c) and have been VERY pleased. CPU use is almost zero, its got a ton of outputs and has worked flawlessly. Not to mention it came "free" with the board.

Hate to burst your bubble, but that's just a riser card in an ACR slot, not a standalone sound card...

Looks like a full 32-bit PCI slot to me ...

Yeah, judging from the photo, it's clearly not a riser card. Looks exactly like a product to compete with Creative's "Platinum" line.

Perhaps they are waiting for the successor to pci. I've read in multiple magazines that it was due out next year to the year after.

It's definitely not plugged into a PCI slot... look carefully, the bottom slot where the card is plugged into. Looks like a PCI slot but is positioned closer to the back of the board. Exact same riser card on my A7N266E.

Look at a picture of an ACR slot. It's basically a PCI slot which is reversed and moved forward. Exactly like in the picture. It's definitely a riser card.

what is that board, and where can I get it. Looks like something i might be interesting in using in boxes i build for friends in dorms and stuff.

Ah yeah, it is a riser. I haven't seen risers like that, are they only on Nforce based mobos?

seems to be some Asus board, but anyway, why issit so interesting?

It's an A7N266E based on the NForce chipset. Comes with integrated GeForce2MX and an APU. The NForce chipset provides the best integrated graphics and best integrated sound available on a mainboard. Well, the NForce2 has been released but I've only seen the Leadtek boards which comes in two flavours, SPP + MCP and SPP + MCP-T. SPP doesn't have the integrated GeForce4MX (which is provided by the IGP). MCP provides the integrated LAN and audio. MCP-T provides realtime dolby encoding, firewire, a second LAN, and more I believe.

Getting an NForce2 card is almost a no-brainer now as it provides performance as good as or better than the VIA KT333/400 (although I believe the KT333A is supposed to be out soon). Excellent integrated sound means you don't need to get an audio card unless you are in serious need of quality, i.e. TBSC, 24/96 cards. And if you play some games but not a heavy power gamer, you can look for the IGP version with cheap integrated GeForce4 MX.

Anandtech just came up with reviews for 6 NForce2 mainboards:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1759

Hmm, I guess you mean the KT400A Well, I'm thinking about the Asus A7N8X in the "all-inclusive-pro-super-expensive"-version I'm not perfectly serious about sound quality... but still I'd like to get the best possible sound... just curious weather the sound is any use... would be cool Or will there be a board with some real good sound? I'd like to see my SB Live in my car (in future)...
But one thing will never come into my house (eh, at least main rig): on board graphics No, atm I prefer my 2MX and later I will buy something better (Trident XP4 T3 or GF4Ti or Radeon 95xx/97xx ). Eh... what have I been typing about?

Seems it is ACR, not PCI.
Where to get that riser?
Is it available to public after all?

It came with my A7N266E. But without the drive bay.

Yup, I remember now - but what about drive bay - is it some deluxe non-public version?