Gigabyte 7NNXP (nForce2 Ultra 400): Gigabyte Goes nForce
by Evan Lieb on July 5, 2003 10:53 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Gigabyte 7NNXP: BIOS and Overclocking
Gigabyte continues to utilize the Award BIOS on 100% of their desktop motherboards with the 7NNXP.
The 7NNXP PC Health section includes such readings as System and CPU temperatures, CPU, System, and Power fan speeds, Vcore, VDIMM, and PSU readings (all rails). Gigabyte adds in other options, such as a “CPU Smart Fan Control” option that regulates the speed of your CPU HSF depending on the task at hand. Unfortunately, this option cannot be adjusted or tweaked in any way; you can only disable or enable CPU Smart Fan Control. Other features that you can use in the PC Health section are CPU/System/Power Fan Fail Warning options, which can be enabled or disabled, and a CPU Warning Temperature option that, when enabled, will shut down your system (90C is the maximum value you can set this option).
Gigabyte continues the tradition of using the CTRL + F1 method of revealing memory-related tweaking options in the BIOS. However, the 7NNXP BIOS does not hide the Advanced Chipset Features section like in previous Gigabyte motherboards. This time, holding the CTRL key and pressing F1 simply reveals more tweaking options within the Advanced Chipset Features section (make sure to press CTRL + F1 outside of the Advanced Chipset Features section, not inside). Anyway, this section contains the usual collection of memory timing options, such as CAS Latency, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge, and Precharge Delay. There are also other very important performance-related options, such as FSB frequency, AGP frequency, memory frequency, AGP fast write option and, finally, the CPU interface option (Aggressive or Optimal available). This is a very well organized and structured Advanced Chipset Features section. However, we would prefer it if Gigabyte would leave out the CTRL + F1 setting in future BIOSes, unless of couse Gigabyte’s research has proven that it causes fewer problems with end users who are novices at setting up a BIOS.
As mentioned, there are FSB frequency adjustments available in the Advanced Chipset Features section. The 7NNXP FSB ceiling is 300MHz FSB, which is more than enough for the most adventurous overclockers out there. You will never reach anywhere near this frequency reliably, so don’t worry about maxing out your CPU’s FSB anytime in the future, especially since AMD will not be using anything higher than a 400MHz FSB when the Athlon eventually dies.
Gigabyte offers decent VDIMM control within the 7NNXP BIOS. VDIMM is available up to 2.8V in 0.1V increments. This should be plenty for the vast majority of users out there. However, for those users who aren’t pleased with 2.8V, you may find it comforting to know that the 7NNXP naturally overvolts by 0.07V; thus, 2.87V is the maximum attainable memory voltage the 7NNXP can reach.
The Vcore options available in the 7NNXP BIOS are adequate, though not all that great. Vcore is available as high as 1.850V in 0.0250V increments. The increments in which Vcore can be tuned is more disappointing than the somewhat low Vcore ceiling. We would have preferred 0.0125V adjustments instead, as finer adjustments are never a bad thing and can be easily implemented. Still, 0.0250V should suffice for most users. The 1.850V ceiling should also be more than enough for most overclockers, though there will undoubtedly be adventurous overclockers that will want to push further than 1.850V. In those cases the 7NNXP does not fit the bill.
According to Gigabyte, the AGP and PCI buses are locked at their default frequencies (66MHz/33MHz) regardless of the FSB frequency. The AGP lock is evident from looking at the AGP frequency options in the Advanced Chipset Features section. On the other hand, the PCI lock is hidden and cannot be independently adjusted like the AGP bus. Nevertheless, the 7NNXP still has an AGP/PCI lock and that’s all that matters.
The VAGP adjustments available in the 7NNXP BIOS are just fine. VAGP is adjustable in 0.1V increments up to 1.8V, and should suit just about anyone looking to increase their VAGP.
One final feature that adds a nice touch to the 7NNXP is chipset voltage adjustments. The 7NNXP BIOS allows chipset voltage adjustments of 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. Thankfully the nForce2 Ultra 400 North Bridge onboard the 7NNXP is equipped with an active North Bridge heatsink, otherwise we would have suggested the addition of active cooling.
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Anonymous User - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
Flash again. Yes, like many, I set the "kill bit" for Flash. No Flash is no problem. Spywareblaster free has a flash kill ability for those who do not wish to manipulate the registry. Uninstall flash with macromedia uninstaller, then check kill flash with spywareblaster. All reversable. Love the reviews here and still prefer Abit.nguyendot1 - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
I have this mother board with the newest bios. The ITE raid chips do NOT support ATAPI Optical devices. I have the manual sitting in front of me and it specifically states in the troubleshooting section that it does NOT support cd-rom drives. This is just great... THat was a rather large factor in me buying the motherboard, so i could have optical drives out the wazooo... Guess not now.Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - link
I would be interested in hearing more about the DDR memory and this board. I just sent the motherboard (actually mine is a GA-7N400 pro with the nVidia and AMD Barton 2800) back for replacement because I couldn't get it to boot reliably more than 3 or 4 times; I was using Mushkin PC3200 Blue DDR dual bank, 2 sticks of 512mb each. When I tried one in each bank for dual channel, I couldn't even post as far as video or a single beep. When I tried one stick it would boot 2 or 3 times then not again. When I moved it to another slot it would do the same, boot 2 or 3 times then not. The keyboard would not be present every now and then also. Of course there is no word from Gigabyte. Their tech specs are:Memory
1. Type:Dual Channel DDR400/ 333/ 266- 184pin
2. Max capacity: Up to 3GB by 4 DIMM slots
Does anyone know how I would even guess which memory would work here, or is there something I'm missing with the CAS ? I do like the features on the board, but because of the support I am thinking that is unfortunate.
Anonymous User - Saturday, July 26, 2003 - link
"In fact, if we had to choose between the Gigabyte 7N400 Pro, ABIT NF7-S and ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, we’d choose the 7N400 Pro any day of the week."Why is it that you'd choose 7N400 and not NF7-S?
Anonymous User - Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - link
Any reports of sound problems or quality questions?Evan Lieb - Monday, July 21, 2003 - link
Sorry anonymous user #24, but you simply haven't researched your issues enough. "Issues" such as the following are not issues at all:- Audio stuttering at boot-up is something that happens with lots of boards and is hardly all that much of an issue.
- There are no issues with the ITE RAiD controller if you're know what you're doing (the latest board and controller BIOS), and since I've used it many times with no issues (including the 7NNXP's ITE controller) it's user error.
- The Smart Fan control DOES stop once you disable it in the BIOS. I tried it myself multiple times.
- The voltage values loaded automatically in the BIOS are not incorrect or bad in any way like you claim. The values (such as 2.6V VDIMM) are prefectly acceptable practice.
- BIOS Athlon XP CPU temps are almost always inaccurate, welcome to three years ago.
- Gigabyte's easytune utility works just fine, your issues are odd.
Next.
;)
Anonymous User - Friday, July 18, 2003 - link
I am amazed at how superficial this review is. There could not have been very professional or detailed testing, since a quick look at the forums over on www.nforcershq.com gigabyte forum will show how many flaws/bugs this board has. I have confirmed those on my GA-7NNXP also.Let's see about the list; 1. False starts and lock-ups upon power-up, improper automatic voltage settings on ram and other components, stutering audio on boot of win-xp, most heatsinks require modifications with a cutter to fit around the on-board capacitors, the last few BIOS versions have the north-bridge fan failing to run if the "easy-tune" util is running, the easy-tune util has not been ported to this specific board, so most of it's features do not operate and it shows inaccurate temperatures, there are reported issues with the ITE Raid unit, The system is exceptionally fussy about running in dual-channel DDR, The cpu cooling fan dips in speed even if you turn off smart-fan settings in BIOS,
and last but not least, since there is not yet a properly working temperature monitoring utility and bios version, it is anyone's guess what temp your CPU is *really* running at.
Since these, and more, issues are littering the other forums, I really have to wonder about reviewers who simply boot windows and run game benchmarks. They are so happy to get a free board, they report NONE OF THE NEGATIVES, hence you can not make a valid purchase decision based on these content free superficial reviews.
Sorry, that is that.
Anonymous User - Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - link
Read This For Some Real problems not mentioned in this article :www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22527
Anonymous User - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - link
Anonymous User - Sunday, July 13, 2003 - link
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I scoured my entire machine for stupid link-stealing programs, data-miners, annoying malicious ad-programs and found nothing using any of the latest scanners. Flash is borderline bearable at the best of times, but Anandtech is the only website I use on a regular basis that gives me flash overlay ads. Use some common-sense: If you're going to advertise, at least get paid for it, and make the adverts relevant to those using your site.
WHO IN GOD'S NAME WOULD READ ANANDTECH AND THEN CLICK ON A DELL ADVERT? FFS PPL Something has to be done about this