LAN, USB 2.0 and Onboard Sound

     One thing I'm loving about these nForce2 boards is most of the versions I've seen come standard with onboard LAN. The 75FRN-L comes standard with onboard sound, but the SL-02KIT bracket with surround sound and SPDIF is optional.

     Another thing I've been seeing more of is the added 4-pin 12v power connector as seen below. You must have a power supply with a 4-pin power connector to use this motherboard. Soltek also recommends using an ATX version 2.03 power supply. An older version power supply will work, but experience tells me the words "will work" are synonymous with "blue screens of death". Therefore, if you haven't done so already, you need to get with the times and upgrade your power supply. 

     There is one last thing worth mentioning before we install this motherboard. Soltek uses a 100/133/166MHz FSB jumper. Don't panic, this does not hard set your FSB setting in the bios. Even with the jumper, you still have full control over the FSB and CPU multiplier in the bios.

Installation & Bios Settings

     I had no issues or surprises when installing this motherboard. It was quick and painless. Even the IDE ports are centrally located for easy access and routing of your IDE ribbon cables.

     When it comes time to boot up the machine and change the bios settings, I think you'll find that the 75FRN-L is about as user friendly as they come. Soltek's RedStorm Overclocking feature is integrated into the bios and is very easy to understand. As I mentioned before, this motherboard can unlock a Thoroughbred Revision B processor right from the bios. There is a nifty setting called "CPU Interface". This setting unlocks a Rev B CPU by using the "Aggressive" setting. Once you have set the CPU Interface to Aggressive, you have full access to Front Side Bus frequencies and CPU multiplier settings. This is an Overclockers dream come true! Just remember, this feature only works on Thoroughbred Rev B CPUs. Unfortunately, I do not have a Barton core CPU to test this feature on, but word on the street says this feature also works with the new Barton core Athlon.

     Of course there is much more to setting up a motherboard than your overclocking settings. Just read the users manual thoroughly before you begin so you understand what each and every setting does or does not do.