Abit NF-M2 nView

Performance:

With the Abit NF-M2 nView being marketed for home theater PCs with its integrated DVI and VGA as well as using a microATX form factor, for this review we had not used our standard testing practice with gaming and workstation benchmarks. Instead we had opted for testing MythTV on this motherboard along with a variety of Linux distributions.

The onboard GeForce 6150 graphics work fine with the latest NVIDIA display drivers, and is supported by Nouveau. However, using x86_64 Fedora (and Fedora derivatives) would result in the Anaconda installer freezing during the initial load phases -- this is a problem with 64-bit Fedora and the NVIDIA nForce 430 Chipset, and is not specific to this motherboard. The NF-M2 nView had functioned flawlessly with x86_64 Ubuntu 6.10 Feisty Fawn. The MythTV derivative MythDora 3.2 had also operated without fault on the Abit NF-M2 nView motherboard. With the exception of the x86_64 Fedora issue with the nForce 430 Chipset, the Abit NF-M2 nView motherboard had run great under Fedora Core, MythDora, and Ubuntu Linux.

Conclusion:

The NF-M2 nView is certainly an interesting creation from Universal Abit. The NF-M2 nView is Abit's first microATX Socket AM2 motherboard along with being their first motherboard with integrated graphics using both VGA and DVI for multi-monitor support. It is unfortunate that no S-Video or composite out is supported by this HTPC motherboard, but with more televisions and audio/visual equipment featuring DVI connections, it should not be a problem for much longer. The Abit NF-M2 nView is also unique with the variety of overclocking features including support for DDR2 memory voltage up to 2.50V. This motherboard also features GeForce 6150 graphics, 7.1 channel HD audio, and Silent OTES. To top off this motherboard is reputable Linux support. At $90 USD for this Abit motherboard it is certainly a respectable deal considering the features packed by this motherboard.