MSI's nForce Motherboard Hits the Streets - Almost

Ever since Tom's overview of NVIDIA's nForce chipset came online way back in June, I've received gads of email asking one simple question: "When can I buy motherboards that use it?" To date I've had one simple answer: "I don't know." However, it looks like the latest answer to the question is the proverbial "Real Soon Now." While MSI hasn't officially announced (like with a press release) its new K7N420 ATX form factor nForce board, it has posted specs for it on its website . As you can see from the picture above, it's a lovely little devil dressed in fashionable red for those of you who like to chop holes in you computer case to show off its innards. Here's what we know so far. The board will support Socket A for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron processors including the Athlon XP (Palomino, Socket A) 1800+, Athlon (Thunderbird, Socket A) 1.4GHz, and Duron ( Socket A) 950MHz. Features include Live BIOS, Fuzzy Logic 3, Live Driver, and PC 2001 Compliance. Onboard goodies include the nForce 420D Chipset, support for 200/266MHz FSB, Twinbank Memory Architecture/128-bit DDR memory controller, integrated GeForceMX-class advanced GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), support for AGP 4X (1.5v), a HyperTransport interface to the Media Communications Processor (MCP 800MB/sec max), Dual ATA/100 controller, USB UHCI 1.0a for up to 6 USB ports, IEEE 802.3 compatible MAC (MII), an Integrated Audio Processor Unit (AC'97 2.1 compliant), and an SPDIF output function. The board will hold 3 DDR DIMMs for a maximum memory size of 1.5GB with support for 128-bit system memory. Slots will include one CNR slot, one AGP slot (AGP 2.0 2x/4x (1.5V only), and five PCI (v2.2) 32-bit Master PCI bus slots. An IDE controller on the MCP chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA 100 operation modes and can connect to four IDE devices.

Video includes a 256-bit 2D/3D graphics accelerator, 2nd generation T&L engine, NVIDIA Shading Rasterizer (NSR), Multiplex DVI/TV interface with the AGP slot, and a PC 2001-compliant SMA that operates with 128-bit system memory installed. Audio goodies include an APU (Audio Processing Unit) integrated in the MCP, support for up to 256 hardware-processed voices or 64 hardware voices in 3D, support for multi-speaker 3D audio, and an SPDIF interface. Peripheral connectors comprise one floppy port that supports 2 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88MBytes;. two Serial ports; six USB ports (2x rear connectors and 2x USB front pin header to support four ports); one Parallel port that supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode; one VGA connector; one IrDA connector; and one Audio/Game port. Actually, I guess all that's left to learn is when it will arrive, where we can get one, and how much it will cost.