BIOSTAR N68S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Comment:
Supports AM3 processors out of the box - supports up to 95 watt cpu - Via VT1708B six channel onboard audio- Nvidia Geforce 7025 onboard graphics -Incredibly compact size and I genuinely like the black pcb with red pci slots. Decent bios options. Biostar has a single of the easiest bios update tools I have applied( haven't had to use it with this certain board though. Only has two fan headers, one particular for the cpu of course and one particular three pin technique fan header. Not seriously a con but would have been good to have 1 much more header. Has only two pci slots. A single is a pci express 1. and the other is a regular pci slot. PCI express 2. videocards are backwards compatible with pci express 1. slots ( info for newbs) I naturally knew this beforehand but it is noteworthy. No gigabit lan which does not matter to me as I use a wireless card in the other pci slot. Only two sata ports again not a con for me personally but will be a dealbreaker for some. I knew the boards shortcomings just before I purchased the board and planned accordingly. The via sound chip is an upgrade more than the realtek alc662 chip found on most boards in this value variety. The Nvidia Geforce 7025 is a step up more than the Geforce 6100 located on competing models in this price tag range. The true promoting point of this board to ME was its capability to handle ddr2 1066 memory. There is virtually no real overall performance positive aspects with ddr3 1066 more than ddr2 1066 in Real Planet use except reduced voltage for ddr3. You can use the older model AM2+ cpu or the newer phenom cpu with this board as long as you do not exceed the 95 watt limit. Bear in mind that you will be limited to using smaller cpu coolers as the ram slots are quite close to the cpu. I am making use of an AMD phenom x2 550 Black edition cpu with two x 1 gb sticks of Geil Black Dragon DDR2 1066 memory and a Western Digital Caviar black 500 gb hard drive. Athlon x2 cpus only help ddr2 800 on this board. Hope the info offered assists somebody.

Comment:
Cheap. Cool colors. Pretty smooth set up. Does every thing I need to have it to. Good for basic builds. Kinda tiny, which created it a little hard to plug anything in, but it operates. Excellent board for the cost, would propose.

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BioStar is well known for affordable MB options. This board is exactly what one particular requirements for a rapid, low-expense fix for an AM2 system board repair. No Cons to consider. It is what is says it is, and that is quite adequate. Preserve in mind that low-finish parts have low-end life expectancy, don't strategy to routinely take away and replace hardware on such a MB; but it will last if you install it, cool it effectively, and leave it alone! :D

Comment:
Excellent for a starter personal computer. I installed an AMD Athlon II X2 250 Rigor and it is truly properly matched for efficiency. For everyone suspicious about how close the DIMM slots are to the CPU, I installed 2X1GB Kingston ValueRam which are not taller than the DIMM retaining clips, and mounted a Zalman CNPS8000A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink (that you can find right here on Newegg) and it clears the RAM with a lot of room. The By means of HD Audio chipset is not compatible with Audacity and Camtasia. The By way of mixer lacks a "stereo mix" function for recording from any media player, and it won't record sound when working with screen recording computer software. (The Through HD Audio forum has been completely useless for enable about this.) I knew when I purchased this board it was a chipset I'd not heard of prior to, but didn't assume twice about it. I figured all audio vendors are going to have a common configuration. I'm not a gamer, nor do I overclock. This is a excellent budget board for building a initially laptop for the kids or any person who just wants a surfer and light duty service. I have run Camtasia on this board and it works perfect, I just can't produce and edit custom audio.

Comment:
Nice affordable board for a price range construct or an emergency replacement aspect. Looks kinda sharp. BIOS seems neat and uncomplicated to use. My second Biostar board and no concerns whatsoever. CPU socket is a bit close to the RAM slots, I had to take a single of the fans off my CPU cooler. Only one IDE but that's to be expected nowadays. I'd acquire it once more if I ever required an AM2 board.

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THIS HAS TO BE THE TINIEST MOTHERBOARD I HAVE EVER Purchased BUT DON'T LET THE SIZE Total YOU THIS MOTHERBOARD COULD DO WHAT THE Large MOTHERBOARDS COULD DO. Cost! NONE

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Wonderful board, installed straightforward and loaded all drivers with out a glitch. Board is really stable and runs properly. None at this time. I have 3 diverse Biostar boards operating in several machines and all are performing fine.

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It boots!! USB functionality has serious concerns I bought two of these from a effectively recognized "BigKat Direct" internet site. Each boards have USB issues could not install windows via USB jump drive..nor USB CD device. Never ever will I advise these boards to anyone. I have been developing Pc's for more than 10 years and I have under no circumstances seen such shotty excellent boards. These rank correct there with ECS. Its pretty negative when I have to use a Dell personal computer to install XP onto a computer that makes use of this motherboard due to the fact it refuses to recognize a USB device. By no means again will I obtain a "BioHazard" board. If I could give ZERO eggs..i would.

Comment:
(For this follow-up review, see Cons below.) I've had this board for exactly 20 days and these days the Correct Audio channel is dead. Rebooting will "sometimes" get it to operate, but having to regularly reboot to get stereo sound is ridiculous. I could RMA the board, but for the same ผ that it would price to ship, I can purchase a straightforward sound card to resolve this issue. If you are seeking for a excellent spending budget board, and if I could do it all more than once again, I would look at one thing else. If I had added ผ to the dollars I spent on this board when I bought it, I would not be getting these complications. My advice, don't purchase any brand of motherboard with a By way of HD Audio chipset. (I can also attest to the truth that there is NO consumer help from Through HD Audio.) I'm also actually disappointed with Biostar for using this chipset. My next board will be a diverse brand.

Comment:
None. Biostar claims this mobo will perform with Windows 2000 but their Drivers & Utilities CD does not work with Windows 2000. The drivers on their net-site for Windows 2000 also do not operate.Biostar's tech help was useless. Following 3 e-mails the finest the could come up with was that it was my fault for not installing a fresh copy of Windows 2000.The reality is that I did a clean install on a freshly formatted challenging drive. I returned the initially board due to the fact I thought it was defective but the replacement one particular nonetheless doesn't operate.This board does NOT perform with Windows 2000 as Biostar advertises.Needless to say, Biostar will by no means see me once again as a consumer. I'd rate this much less than a single egg if I could. Manufacturer Response:Sorry for you troubles, N68S specification page does not list help for windows 2000. So far just Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. See page http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/content.php?S_ID.

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These fans appear freakin' wonderful if you ask me! I'm using them in the front and rear of my good ol' Antec Super Lanboy (modded with a 200mm in the clear side window) and I adore how it looks. I also just like the reality that these are real ball-bearing fans, not sleeve bearings or some of that other low-cost trash that's everywhere these days! These babies are fairly quiet too, way better than the original Antec fans, much better than the Cooler Master 120s in my xClio case too, Some men and women may possibly find the lights to be too vivid.I won't be able to tell you how superior they seriously are till one particular dies (and seeing as they are correct ball-bearing this could take a extremely lengthy time). If you will need 120mm fans and like the color blue, don't assume, just shut your mouth and purchase these! They are fantastic and you won't regret it!

Comment:
Fairly potent. You could use this to construct a budget gaming laptop or computer. Only one pci slot. And, pci slots can be quite handy! NOTE:>> Maximum CPU TDP (Thermal Style Energy) : 95 WattsIf you can uncover a Quad core processor with 95 watts or much less you'll be doing very good. Unfortunately, NEWEGG doesn't currently sell socket AM2 or AM2+ processors.Attempt e8ay. Add, a decent PCI-e video card. Some decent memory. And, Windows 7 64 bit. And, go kick WOW's buht.