Better hurry, Refurb Shuttle MN31N NF2 IGP MCP-T $35

ToyYoda03 said:
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Item Description Quantity
13-150-041R MB VIA NF2|3P3D MN31N SHTL MATX RTL 1
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Both mobo's i purchased say the exact same. I bought 1 @ $30 and another @ $35

Newegg must have made one helluva refurb purchase from shuttle. I don't see many complaints in the user opinion section at all so hopefully these aren't "untested returns".

Hoping that everyone gets lucky with good working mobos crosses fingers. If anyone's interested i '''may''' sell one of mine (tested working of course)

Edit: My first one is arriving tommorow, as luck would have it i took a personal day off at work tommorow :D , standby for any updates
 
SJetski71 said:
as luck would have it i took a personal day off at work tommorow :D , standby for any updates
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me 2!!

I wont be able to test my 2400 though till friday

I still have a 1800 lying around so I will use that just to get it going
 
Hopefully I will get mine too but I have 3 different packages coming from newegg so IDK if they'll all be here on time. I ordered sunday and got 2 day shipping.
 
Fed Ex guy just dropped mine off today, I picked up two of these. Everything looks like new it's new, I got the IO shield, IDE cables, manual, and driver CD all un-opened. I just have to find the SPDIF doohicky now, I searched the usual retailer and couldn't find a Shuttle brand one, so I guess I'll write to Shuttle next.
 
Pwnisher said:
Fed Ex guy just dropped mine off today, I picked up two of these. Everything looks like new it's new, I got the IO shield, IDE cables, manual, and driver CD all un-opened. I just have to find the SPDIF doohicky now, I searched the usual retailer and couldn't find a Shuttle brand one, so I guess I'll write to Shuttle next.
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Same, everything looks new, smells new and I love it. No signs of wear at all.

Im so happy, time to make my new system!
 
Just out of curiosity, are you guys checking everything for signs of use? Like the mobo fastening holes for scratches, missing jumpers, bent pins, aftermarket heatsinks installed etc etc etc. I'm really going to try and find out how "new" our mobo's are. The reason i'm asking is because Newegg had a lot in stock, which is uncommon for a refurb. Maybe they took a shipment of "new leftovers" or refurbs from Shuttle or some middlemen.
 
Mmmmm New mobo smell...

The seal on the packaging wasn't broke, but they could have put them in a new bag I suppose. No scratches around any of the hold down screws, no wear showing at all. NO scratches or signs of wear on the hold down slots for the heat sink, that would be wear I would expect wear to show for sure. No fingerprints or anything either.

I'm no CSI but I'd say this looks new to me.
 
yeah got mine today and has mobo, i/o shiield, cd, ide cable, and manual

total shipped to me was $33 vs $86 new
 
hellomynameis said:
yeah got mine today and has mobo, i/o shiield, cd, ide cable, and manual

total shipped to me was $33 vs $86 new
Click to expand...

Same exact thing. No scratches, the only thing that could possibly be any prior human intervention is that the RAM slots are in the open position, but that could just be the wears of traveling across the country.
 
*me tips hat to ToyYoda*

My order was for $36 shipped originally, but i had them change the price on my order when the price dropped :) Mine comes in tomorrow, so here's hoping it's brand-schpankin' new!

-SEAL
 
I should have made them drop the price on mine too, hadn't thought of that.

Mine just came and its been previously owned, The mobo hole fasteners all have slight circular scratches but is in otherwise pristine/mint condition. It was in an antistatic bag with a seal and everything. I wonder if Newegg got it from Shuttle or if it was somebody's rma. All mentioned accessories & manual except usb bracket.

I'm just going to run it on top of a cardboard box with the harddrive right out of my current HTPC. If all is stable then i'll try some fsb oc'ing with igp and a ti4200 ;)

Hopefully mobo #2 arrives in the same or better condition.
 
Mine boots up and works great. Currently on a retail heatsink till the special 80mm fan comes in the mail. Darn retail heatsinks are loud (older stile 1800+)
 
well...crap

It appears anyone that bought my type of case is screwed. Unless you dont want to use your AGP port. It doesnt fit, at all and I would have to cut into my cd-rom to fit it.

I know seal got a similiar one too, damn that pisses me off.

Time to order another case...and im not going cheap this time. learned my lesson.

getting this one
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-190-017&depa=0

heres a review on it
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/a106/

edit- i know the review said not much space for the HSF, but look where the shuttle cpu sits on the board.
 
also, when i get a new motherboard, i notice the time isnt set. The time was set perfectly on this which makes me think i DID get a refurb though there are no signs of wear at all on this.

O well. Now i have to wait for my new case :mad:
 
Bummer ToyYoda :(

I'll get to mine later tonight, I have to many projects going on right now, I just couldn't pass up the deal. I'm going to swap this into Water Cooled Aria case and hope that Shuttle answers back on the SPDIF bracket so I can go digital with my HTPC.
 
Mines working great so far. Here's some system and overclocking info.

XP1700+ tbred "B" 0302 DUT3C 1.65v (easiest one for me to grab, will try 1.5v dlt3c on next mobo)
stock copper aluminum hsf
2 x 512 pc3200-C2 cas 2-2-2-11 (generic winbond ram from Hardcore Cooling)
Onboard GF4mx video
40 gig maxtor 7200rpm (WinXP + MN31N drivers, old installation, maybe unstable?)
inwin powerman 300w psu (mobo will go into this inwin case ) which actually has a cpu duct on the side

Highest 100% stable was 11.5 x 180fsb = 1980mhz which roughly equals a XP2500+ tbred
182/184fsb not tried yet
186fsb yielded an error after 10 minutes
188fsb yielded errors within a minute after boot

All with the most agressive bios settings, cas 2-2-2-11 - cpu-interface agressive - etc etc. The southbridge/mcp-t gets hot as a mofo especially after oc'ing. I shut off firewire to take some stress off of it. I'll slap a mini heatsink on the southbridge later tonite and i'll apply fresh arctic silver on the northbridge as well.

I'll make a secondary report if there are any major oc breakthru's (like when i install an agp card). Running off igp def hinders the overclock. Another possible limitation i considered is default cpu voltage, maybe the mobo isn't supplying enough vcore for a higher oc. I haven't used this cpu in so long that i can't remember its characteristics. I won't complain about a 1700+@1980mhz @ default voltage though.

EDIT: Corrected math brainfart
 
Just got mine, looks like a retail box to me. Everything included except the USB bracket. However if you look in the manual it says that the USB is optional equipment. On my box it has a sticker on the front side panel : MN31N VIA KM266. The part is definately a nforce2 board. Anybody else get something like this?
 
I managed to get into the BIOS on the board, but it's freezing randomly during Windows XP installation. Anyone else having problems? It's running at stock.

AXP 2200+ with a copper aluminum hsf
Generic 128Mb PC2100 RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9000 Pro 128Mb
Turbolink 420W PSU

IDE1
Maxtor 40Gb HDD (Master)

IDE2
HP CD-RW (Master)
HP CD (Slave)

These computer things are beginning to piss me off. :(
 
lorcani said:
I managed to get into the BIOS on the board, but it's freezing randomly during Windows XP installation. Anyone else having problems? It's running at stock.
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Have you tried disabling "auto dram precharge" yet? its in the oc section of bios. Try installing with onboard vga first, try both connectors if necessary. Try a different psu and ram if possible(especially ram because nf2 can be picky). Try playing around with timings, like cas2 or 2.5-3-3-11. Disable unnecessary onboard peripherals for now. Possible that one of your optical drives isn't playing nicely with dma (heard of it with MN31N), so try both optical drives seperately.

A small problem i had earlier today was my HD jumper, since its a single drive the mobo wants the jumper to be designated "single master". It wouldn't boot into any drive otherwise.

Good luck and be sure to exchange parts to experiment and substitute parts from your other rig.
 
Seems my settings in the bios (i changed the spectrum stuff to 100%) made my pci run at 50mhz and agp at 100mhz.... which is 100% stable on my machine. If you played with bios settings like I did, be for warned. My asus a7n8x didn't do this. Didn't know it was running overclocked until I ran ClockGen. ( http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php )
 
SJetski71 said:
Have you tried disabling "auto dram precharge" yet? its in the oc section of bios. Try installing with onboard vga first, try both connectors if necessary.
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I couldn't find "auto dram precharge" in any of the BIOS menus, and there's no oc section. Onboard VGA wasn't working with the AGP card in, do I have to remove my AGP card for it to default to Onboard VGA? Also, I went into the BIOS and disabled everything (LAN, audio, USB, didn't see any way to disable onboard VGA) while running with the 9000 Pro, and it appears to be formatting. I'll try enabling them after I install Windows into a working state.
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Also, if you're game, you can Alter Your Processor's Default Multiplier Manually to get the most out of your processor. This is an easy mod - just take a thin thread of copper wire (a single stand from a speaker wire, for instance), create a tiny "U", and drop it into the correct socket holes. Who needs unlocked multi's in BIOS? ;)

-SEAL
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I, too will be doing this. I already practice with a dead processor I had around. Its a bit hard to get it but if you give it a good push it will snap in. Snapping out, you just need to be carefull. I did it about 4 times and I didnt bend any pins though the copper wires sometimes came out.

edit - unfortunately though I wasnt able to test to see if it worked. The Athlon XP I have is locked and really really old too.

edit edit - i meant i also tested my working athlon xp
 
lorcani said:
I couldn't find "auto dram precharge" in any of the BIOS menus, and there's no oc section. Onboard VGA wasn't working with the AGP card in, do I have to remove my AGP card for it to default to Onboard VGA? Also, I went into the BIOS and disabled everything (LAN, audio, USB, didn't see any way to disable onboard VGA) while running with the 9000 Pro, and it appears to be formatting. I'll try enabling them after I install Windows into a working state.
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(disable if not stable) "auto dram precharge" is in the 3rd bios menu section from the top, be sure to look closely. Yes you must remove the agp card for igp to work. igp disables itself when you install an agp card btw.

Re-enable bios features one by one until you find whats causing instability (after windows is up and running of course)
 
SJetski71 said:
(disable if not stable) "auto dram precharge" is in the 3rd bios menu section from the top, be sure to look closely. Yes you must remove the agp card for igp to work. igp disables itself when you install an agp card btw.

Re-enable bios features one by one until you find whats causing instability (after windows is up and running of course)
Click to expand...

After screwing around a bit, I managed to get Windows XP installed, and I'm running Prime 95 right now.

Also, the integrated video uses the RAM I have installed, correct? So it would be more efficient to use my Radeon 9000 Pro, since I have so little RAM (128Mb)?
 
lorcani said:
Also, the integrated video uses the RAM I have installed, correct? So it would be more efficient to use my Radeon 9000 Pro, since I have so little RAM (128Mb)?
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It would be much more efficient, because yes the IGP uses system memory as its *exclusive* memory source. System memory is much slower than graphics memory, and in your system it's at an extreme premium (WinXP says it needs 128mb minimum. Further, passing data to and from the memory across the AGP bus (yes, the IGP is connected via an integrated AGP interface) is very inefficient and comes with a performance cost, as the vast majority bandwidth of an AGP bus is unidirectional, from the CPU to the GPU. So yeah, the 9000 Pro is the way to go.

[rant]One of the great advantages of PCI-Express will be its bi-directional nature. Ever wonder why programmers didn't design browsers to store the previous pages in the unused, uber-fast video memory during normal 2-D operation? It's because of the unidirectionality of the AGP bus. Well, PCI-E changes all that - hopefully we'll see our previous web pages cached in video memory, as opposed to IE's cache on the HDD, which will lead to almost instantaneous previous page recall. There are even more exciting possbilities to take advantage of the video card's unused memory during 2-D operation, but that's for another thread...[/rant]

Also, about the instability you experienced... I know you probably have already done this, but did you plug in the 12-volt P4 connector? If you didn't, it would make a big difference.

-SEAL
 
SEALTeamSix said:
I
Also, about the instability you experienced... I know you probably have already done this, but did you plug in the 12-volt P4 connector? If you didn't, it would make a big difference.

-SEAL
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That's the square four-pin connector that connects under the AGP port, right? If so, I have. Supposedly, it won't even boot without it.
 
However if you look in the manual it says that the USB is optional equipment. On my box it has a sticker on the front side panel : MN31N VIA KM266. The part is definately a nforce2 board. Anybody else get something like this?
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Yup, at first I thought NewEgg screwed up, but then lo and behold I saw the Nvidia sticker on the fan and the correct board in box. Wonder why they have it in a KM266 box? No idea. Going to stick this sucker in an Antec Aria box which I just picked up. for the price of the Aria and the motherboard, my total was $124 vs. say a Shuttle SN45G at $270. I get the better power supply plus the extra PCI slots and save some green. It is a bit bigger than the Shuttles to which I own two of them, but hell my daughter will love it!

Thanks guys for the great deal link

-E
 
lorcani said:
That's the square four-pin connector that connects under the AGP port, right? If so, I have. Supposedly, it won't even boot without it.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's the one. In reading the NewEgg reviews, it seems some people missed it, so I thought you may have as well. How's it priming now? All stable?

-SEAL
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Yep, that's the one. In reading the NewEgg reviews, it seems some people missed it, so I thought you may have as well. How's it priming now? All stable?

-SEAL
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Just primed for 13 hours on blend with no warnings or errors. I decided to leave it at that, considering it's suggested that you run it between 6-24 hours, and it isn't really mission-critical. I also let Toast run for 30 minutes, and it was totally stable. I think I've been converted from VIA to nForce2. :D

The system is all set, and the blue motherboard has a nice contrast with my blue chieftec-clone and my blue LED fans.

Thanks for all the help, guys. I should've picked up two, and built a nice Antec Aria box out of one. :)
 
Got mine yesterday, band new in box w/ all accessories. I had some trouble with the system. I later found out the cpu was chipped on the core. I think that was the problem, I ordered a new Mobile 2500+ and we can see if this thing roxx0rs.
 
infin|ty said:
Got mine yesterday, band new in box w/ all accessories. I had some trouble with the system. I later found out the cpu was chipped on the core. I think that was the problem, I ordered a new Mobile 2500+ and we can see if this thing roxx0rs.
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I got my mobile 2400 and used the pinmod. Works great so far :) I just have it stock speeds right now but thats the only way you can control the speed by using the pinmod.

Once my SATA controller gets here in the next couple days, I will have this thing completely up and running. Hoping to get 3200 speeds :)
 
ToyYoda03 said:
I got my mobile 2400 and used the pinmod. Works great so far :) I just have it stock speeds right now but thats the only way you can control the speed by using the pinmod.

Once my SATA controller gets here in the next couple days, I will have this thing completely up and running. Hoping to get 3200 speeds :)
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Got a link to that pin mod?

Btw i didnt do any pin mod on my other rigs mobile. Is that because abit nf7-s unlocks it?
 
infin|ty said:
Got a link to that pin mod?

Btw i didnt do any pin mod on my other rigs mobile. Is that because abit nf7-s unlocks it?
Click to expand...

http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?/html/workshop/pinmod/amd_pinmod.html thx to seal for link on the 1st pg

Since there are no multi changes in this mobo, it will automatically detect it. And since its a mobile chip, the multi can be anything. I popped mine in and it booted at 800mhz one time, then 1200. So you HAVE to do the pin mod if you have mobile chip.

I did step number 4 btw. Speaker wire didnt work well for some reason so I ripped open a IDE cable and took out one of those wires. Then it worked. I also tested it with a dead cpu first because I was scared that I would bend the pins when inserting the cpu. Ive done it about 8 times so far, 3 with dead, 2 with 1800, and the rest with my new mobile. No bent pins :). It does take so pushing to get it in and when taking it out you need to be gentle too, but still should be that hard. If I can do it with my shaky hands, anyone can :p
 
Also, if you haven't done it yet, you really should add thermal compound to the northbridge chip. I would say "replace", but there's really not much there :eek: Also, that southbridge looks a little naked... a little RAM heatsink for graphics-card RAM should make it run a little cooler.

Pics to come when I dig up the driver disk for this camera... damn "not-auto-installed-by-WinXP" camera...

-SEAL
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Also, if you haven't done it yet, you really should add thermal compound to the northbridge chip. I would say "replace", but there's really not much there :eek: Also, that southbridge looks a little naked... a little RAM heatsink for graphics-card RAM should make it run a little cooler.

Pics to come when I dig up the driver disk for this camera... damn "not-auto-installed-by-WinXP" camera...

-SEAL
Click to expand...
Keep us posted on any oc results plz. You guys have piqued my curiosity by going the extra length with mobiles and pin mods. *A reminder about the southbridge, remember that a hot mcp-t negatively affects audio (and thus your oc) on NF2 mobo's. A temp of about 50c on the NF2 southbridge is usually the threshold for problems.

Got my 2nd mobo today btw. This time the only hint of use was the i/o shield; you can tell it had been installed already. This second one even has a stronger pcb smell than the first. I hope it isn't a dud.


ToyYoda03 said:
also, here is a really high res pic of pinmod

http://www.iupload.net/062004/pinmod.jpg
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Thx for the high rez pic, i hadn't even realized that a pin mod can raise voltage too (?) If i followed that voltage pin mod you diagrammed above...how much would it raise my vcore?
 
ToyYoda03 said:
also, here is a really high res pic of pinmod

http://www.iupload.net/062004/pinmod.jpg
Click to expand...

So all I do is drop lil "U" shaped wire from an old IDE cable into the whole?

I also should do it the exact way you have it in your high res picture right? That other thing that shows you how to do it is confusing. How high will it raise the vcore, will it give me settings to choose or will it just auto raise it? Along with the multiplyer, that will allow settings to be chosen right?

In the high res picture, are the pins there to make it so the pins on the CPU are connected or are they connecting something form hole to hole? So basicly do I need the pins to touch or so I need the bottom of each hole to touch?
 
SJetski71 said:
Thx for the high rez pic, i hadn't even realized that a pin mod can raise voltage too (?) If i followed that voltage pin mod you diagrammed above...how much would it raise my vcore?
Click to expand...
Yes the pinmod can raise voltage, figured that out today :p and you dont need to cut the L11 bridges either, unless you want to lower voltage past the default (i think)

Depends what is stable and not, that picture shown has the vcore @ 1.55. Mine is currently @ 1.6 Slowly raise your FSB little by little and then play with it for a while. Once you think you have somethign stable, run prime95. Only really bad thing is if you want to change vcore or multiplier, u have to remove heatsink and cpu :mad:

infin|ty said:
So all I do is drop lil "U" shaped wire from an old IDE cable into the whole?

I also should do it the exact way you have it in your high res picture right? That other thing that shows you how to do it is confusing. How high will it raise the vcore, will it give me settings to choose or will it just auto raise it? Along with the multiplyer, that will allow settings to be chosen right?

In the high res picture, are the pins there to make it so the pins on the CPU are connected or are they connecting something form hole to hole? So basicly do I need the pins to touch or so I need the bottom of each hole to touch?
Click to expand...

Yes

No, you should do what is most stable for you or what speeds you want. You can follow my example.

That pic raises the vcore to 1.55, it will auto raise it.

The way the pins setup change the multiplier, only the pins control it. I dunno how it works but it does.

I dunno, probably both.

Just in the whole.


You should read that website, thats how I figured it out. Hope this helps. This is EXACTLY how mine is currently setup. Only thing changed is the vcore, its now @ 1.6

hope this helps.jpg
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Also, if you haven't done it yet, you really should add thermal compound to the northbridge chip. I would say "replace", but there's really not much there :eek: Also, that southbridge looks a little naked... a little RAM heatsink for graphics-card RAM should make it run a little cooler.

Pics to come when I dig up the driver disk for this camera... damn "not-auto-installed-by-WinXP" camera...

-SEAL
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will do that when I move it to my new case. I dont think I have anymore RAM heatsinks :( Maybe I can pull one off an old mobo. I really have spent more than I wanted to on this :p
 
ToyYoda03 said:
Yes the pinmod can raise voltage, figured that out today :p and you dont need to cut the L11 bridges either, unless you want to lower voltage past the default (i think)

Depends what is stable and not, that picture shown has the vcore @ 1.55. Mine is currently @ 1.6 Slowly raise your FSB little by little and then play with it for a while. Once you think you have somethign stable, run prime95. Only really bad thing is if you want to change vcore or multiplier, u have to remove heatsink and cpu :mad:



Yes

No, you should do what is most stable for you or what speeds you want. You can follow my example.

That pic raises the vcore to 1.55, it will auto raise it.

The way the pins setup change the multiplier, only the pins control it. I dunno how it works but it does.

I dunno, probably both.

Just in the whole.


You should read that website, thats how I figured it out. Hope this helps. This is EXACTLY how mine is currently setup. Only thing changed is the vcore, its now @ 1.6

hope this helps.jpg
Click to expand...

I dont understand what the fourth collom over means.

I'm really being retarded with this program...could you set it up for me...I have a Mobile 2500+ how would I get it to have like 2.1ghz with 1.65 vcore? FSB at like 166

btw do you think I should do the pinmod right away for put in the cpu first and boot up?

And do you mean you have to do it because everything you reboot your system is at a different clock speed?
 
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