View source for NForce2

{{short description|Chipset by Nvidia}}
{{lowercase title}}
{{Infobox chipset
|Image = Nforce2.png
|Table_name = [[Nvidia]] nForce2
|CPU = [[Athlon]]
|Socket = [[Socket A]]
|Date = July 2002
|Predecessor = [[nForce]]
|Successor = [[nForce3]]
}}

The '''Nvidia nForce2''' [[chipset]] was released by [[Nvidia]] in July 2002 as a refresh to the original [[nForce]] product offering. The nForce2 chipset was a platform for [[motherboards]] supporting [[AMD]]'s [[Socket A]] CPUs along with [[DDR SDRAM]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2002-08-02|title=Press Release|url=http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=IO_20020715_4484|access-date=2022-04-04|website=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020802100528/http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=IO_20020715_4484|archive-date=2 August 2002|url-status=dead}}</ref> There were multiple variations of the chipset including one with an integrated [[GeForce4|GeForce4 MX]] graphics processor (IGP), and one without.

==Refresh==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}
In 2003, Nvidia released a refreshed nForce2, called "nForce2 Ultra 400".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nvidia nForce2 Ultra 400 (MCP2-R) |url=https://theretroweb.com/chipsets/721 }}</ref> The nForce2 Ultra 400<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fink |first=Wesley |date=May 13, 2004 <!-- 2:00 AM EST -->  |title=A Closer Look at nForce2 Ultra 400Gb |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/1321/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613024348/https://www.anandtech.com/show/1321/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 13, 2021 }}</ref> and nForce2 400 presented official support for a 200 MHz FSB and PC-3200 DDR SDRAM, whereas the older nForce2 only supported a maximum of 166 MHz FSB. Ultra 400 offered dual-channel support, while the plain 400 was single-channel PC-3200-capable. Both performed very similarly because neither had the IGP.  Athlon XP did not benefit significantly from the added bandwidth because the Athlon XP's bus was only capable of bandwidth matching a single channel of PC-3200. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Gasior |first=Geoff |date=2004-05-10 |title=NVIDIA's nForce2 Ultra 400Gb chipset |url=https://techreport.com/review/nvidias-nforce2-ultra-400gb-chipset-6695/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=The Tech Report |language=en-US}}</ref>

The new chipset was partnered with several different southbridges, including one with (MCP-T) and one without (MCP) SoundStorm and dual Ethernet NICs. In 2004 three new southbridges were introduced: MCP-S integrated [[Serial ATA]], MCP-RAID had additional [[RAID]]-functions and MCP-Gb featured Gigabit Ethernet. These newer southbridges did not integrate the SoundStorm unit nor the dual-Ethernet capabilities of the MCP-T.

==See also==
* [[Comparison of Nvidia chipsets]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nvidia.com/page/nforce.html Nvidia: nForce2]
* [http://www.nvidia.com/object/nppa.html NVIDIA nForce Platform Processors]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040825052542/http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=1654 Anandtech: Nvidia nForce2 Preview]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040825052545/http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=1719 Anandtech: Nvidia's nForce2 Performance Review]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040825051845/http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=1731 Anandtech: Nvidia's nForce2 Part II: Diving Deeper]

{{Nvidia chipsets}}

[[Category:Nvidia chipsets]]