MicroATX nForce2 Motherboard?

Any suggestions? I'm trying to downsize. Trying to look for something good or something cheap. If anyone have experienced with a good microatx let me know.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=mn31n

This is the Shuttle MicroATX NForce2 board. While I dont have any experienve with that particular model, I do have positive experiences with Shuttle

Shuttle MN31N is excellent, currently has $15.00 rebate for November purchases only, $73.00 net! Dual VGA, USB2, LAN, Firewire, Soundstorm My second one will be here next week, they make great low-budget LAN rigs using on-board everything.
Regards, Balrog/Szandor

Note: Check out the Shuttle Forums @ www.nforcershq.com and www.amdmb.com to get more info, I and others have posted quite a bit regarding the MN31N

How's the oc ability?

FSB and memory settings only, multis and voltages must be done on CPU or with wire pin mod. I run my unmodded Barton 2500+ @185FSB X 11 w/ 2 x 256mb Crucial PC2700 in sync @6-2-2-2.5 timings, I OC'd the IGP with Riva for 5920 3DMarks off the IGP, plays BF1942, RTCW et al @1024 X 768 X 32 bit color with no issues. Works well using onboard everything, fast and stable.
Regards, Balrog

Anyone have one that does multis? Didn't biostar make one? I'm just not sure which microatx carries the latest chipset.

I just talked (e-mailed) with US Epox Sales yesterday regarding their new 8RGMI/+ boards and was told by that they will be importing them in Mid-December. These are mATX nForce2 (IGP & MCP) they have dual-VGA, C-Media 9739A sound(which is the next best thing to Soundstorm) Voltages including VDD, Multis, FSB and Memory setting options. They are only rated for 333FSB but can OC to 200FSB+ The + model also includes SATA support, if you do a Google or Yahoo search you'll find some info regarding them, not much, 1 review and a bunch of postings.
Regards, Balrog

Edit: Just got another reply from Epox regarding the BIOS, looks like they will be using the same options/settings available on the last 8RGA+ models as was stated on the Epox Global web-site.

Thanks, this looks like a good board. I'll be looking out for this when it goes on sale. I'll guess I'll stick with ATX for now. I saw a pic of it, and it only has 2 PCI and memory slots. Thought it should of been 3 each. I hope the price makes up for it.

Thats to allow room for the over-sized AGP cards like the OTES line. Using the first PCI slot next to the AGP usually causes IRQ conflicts and I don't know anyone that uses it anyway. Given the onboard options of this rig I think 2 PCI slots are sufficient IMHO.
Regards, Balrog

Edit: I use 2 x 256mb on all my rigs and its plenty unless you're going to do some serious graphics work, then go to 2 x 512mb. From all the reports I've heard RAM configs of 2X can be OC'd on average of 10FSB more than a 3X and run cooler as well.

My Shuttle MN31N is awesome. I have two sticks of pc2100 runing 1:1 fsb of 192. That is with integrated graphics on. The igp is a real step up from my gf2mx 400 with ddr. I have 128mb video ram selected and I get double to triple the frame rates in high-end games. The best $55 I ever spent.

192FSB on PC2100 - Holy Crap! - Those must be some sweet sticks you've got there, especially to pull off on this board, did you mod anything? Are you running your aperture at 128mb as well Quailane? What did you say you were using for a CPU?
Regards, Balrog

Where did you get it for $55? That sounds like a good deal.

First off, I bought the board refurb from Newegg. I got everything in good shape and intact except for back panel plate which was scratched.

Balrog- I thought 192 was stable but America's Army crashed online twice in about an hour last night. Hadn't happened before so must've been ram. At 191 fsb it hasn't had any problems. Thats still 191x10.5 multiplier, as you cant change multi on the board. The aperture is 128mb also. I'm using a 1400 Duron from Newegg and it's a 'B' stepping. (10.5 multi) Those ram sticks are Kingston Value Ram! I was totally suprised. At first, I could only get 171 fsb. I tried a week and a half later (yesterday after school) and I was able to boot up to 193 1:1. The settings for the ram are (at 191) 8-4-4-3.0. It gave me no problems whatsoever. I didn't mod anything on my comp, though I get stable voltages off my 400 watt proly because I only have motherboard, harddrive, cd drive, and cpu fan. It doesn't have a case yet though. It's sitting on static bag on top of box it was shipped in. I had it since second week october. One thing that might help my overclock is that its in my basement and its relatively cool down there but still warmer than outside.

One neat thing: I got both my 256mb ram sticks for $9.99 each! I saw ad in newspaper for pc2100 KVR at office max after rebate. Still waiting on rebates though...

*EDIT* What specs are you running Balrog?

One more thing to add, Balrog. When I set the fsb that high, I tried loading a game but the comp stalled. I restarted and it happened again. After restarting a third time, it wouldn't load my OS, Linux Mandrake 9.1, properly. I had to restart but this time I selected to check for errors when It said there might be a problem. I got a message when It was done that it couldn't fix something right and I was getting scared. It froze at that message and I restarted one more time, this time no errors. Haven't had a problem since.

Quailane it sounds to me that you're pushing things just a bit too far. Have you run Memtest86 and Prime95 at these settings? Just because your rig posts and runs doesn't mean all is well. Thats a great buy, you definitely scored with those sticks. Have you tried running Sandra to see what your performance is? I've found that on my rig if I run real loose timings the benches read lower than a slower FSB with tighter timings, other than Memory bandwidth. I run my AN35N on a MoBo tray sitting on my desk, I had it in a case for awhile, but I like to tinker. I'm currently running a Barton2500+ AQXEA @200FSB X 11 with 2 x 256mb Buffalo/Winbond PC3200 @7-3-3-2.5, though I'll also run it @166 X 13 with memory @5-2-2-2 which benches better, rig feels quicker. I'm going to throw my 1700+ JIUHB back in though as that little bugger flat out flies, topped out at 2324mhz last time I tried, runs 2241mhz in its sleep. I'm building a custom case for my rig now, gonna see how small I can make it using standard components, looking like 12.5" wide x 8.5" high x 11" deep will work, not exactly a SFF but a lot tinier than my mid-tower.
Regards, Balrog

It runs stably enough for me. It's not like I'm running a server or holding mission critical data on it. I just surf the web and play my games on it and so far hasn't had one ounce of trouble. I don't want to lower fsb to run at better timings because since I can't change multis, (yes I know about wire mod) the processor will run slower than it already is, 2Ghz. I don't think that there are any benchmark testers for linux, or at least I couldn't find them. Thanks though.

Thats cool Quailane, if your satisfied thats all that counts. I've been hoping to start running some Linux myself, which version do you run? Do you play BF1942 & Mods - Desert Combat - Forgotten Hope ?
Regards, Balrog

I'm running mandrake 9.1 right now. It was a little tricky installing the drivers for the motherboard but once I did, everything has been working really well. The only good game I have on the comp at the moment is America's Army as its good and it's free. It's based on the unreal tournament 2003 game engine. I'm a little too poor right now to get any other games on it until christmas comes around.