Specs. and bundle
Specifications| BIOSTAR K8NHA Grand | |
| CPU Support | All S754 processors |
| Northbridge | None (single-chip, see below) |
| Memory Support | 2 slots, DDR1. 266MHz/333MHz/400MHz . 2GB max, single-channel |
| AGP | 8x port |
| PEG16X | None |
| Southbridge | Single-chip NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb |
| Audio | ALC655 CODEC from nForce3 250Gb |
| Audio Connectivity | 6-channel support from I/O section |
| PCI | 5 x 32-bit 33MHz PCI 2.1 slots |
| PCI Express | None |
| IDE | 2 ATA133 compliant ports from nForce3 250Gb |
| IDE RAID | None |
| SATA | 2 ports from nForce3 250Gb |
| SATA RAID | None |
| Networking | Gigabit Ethernet via nForce3 250Gb and Vitesse SimpliPHY physical layer |
| USB | nForce3 250Gb, 4x backplane USB2.0, 4x I/O USB2.0 |
| FireWire | 2x FireWire400(1394a) from VT6307 2-port controller |
| Other I/O | PS/2 ports, Parallel and COM ports |
Bundle
Note that an extra 4 USB 2.0 ports are available from headers on the board. The problem with BIOSTAR bundles in the past has been in not fulfilling the features count on its range of boards. That, I'm sad to say, is the case here. FireWire, USB 2.0, S/PDIF, and SATA (both power and transmitting) cables are optional extras. It seems foolish to buy single cables on their own. BIOSTAR really does need to take a second look at how its boards are packaged. The accompanying manual is barely 20 pages in length and simply discards any BIOS discussion.
I'd suggest downloading newer drivers than the ones supplied on the installation CD, which, incidentally, could not be read in three separate optical drives. That's always the case with most motherboards, though. An application pack CD, consisting of Norton Internet Security 2004 and Ghost 2003, would normally offer some recompense for a substandard bundle. However, in this case, attempting to install either application led to a complete system crash and the dreaded BSOD. A lot of work needs to be done in this area if BIOSTAR is to succeed.
