A few questions about the Abit NF7 from a mobo newb

[Ken90630]

Hey, Everyone:

In what is seemingly becoming a never ending process to decide on the right board for my Barton 2600 build, I'm considering an Abit NF7 (the plain version, not the -S version). I simply don't have time to scroll thru a zillion postings on the official NF7 forum, so I thought I'd post my questions here in the hopes someone can answer them for me:

1) How easy will this board likely be to set up for a first-time builder like me? Any weird things to know about, and am I gonna have to flash the BIOS?

2) Has this board been out long enough that I can assume it should run perfectly right outta the box? (Assuming it's not defective.) Any lingering, unresolved issues? Any probs with W2K Pro or XP Pro?

3) How good are the installation/BIOS set-up instructions? Are there any? Are they in Taiwanese-lish or English? (Readable, in other words?) No offense, by the way, to Taiwanese folks -- I just wish the documentation on some of these mfgrs' products & Web sites was a little better.

4) For those of you who've had your NF7 for more than a year, how's the reliability been? Had to RMA one or two boards to get a good one?

5) If you've needed it, how is Abit's phone tech support?

I'll be running a very basic build with one hard drive and no overclocking (ever). Thanks very much for any input you can offer.

 

[Corporate Thug]

1. the board will not be any easier or harder than any other board. you dont have to flash the bios or anything but if you want to, Abit has a windows based utility that works flawlessly for me
2. it shouldnt give you any issues
3. instructions are fine, they come in many languages
4. no problems
5. never used them

 

[magratton]

Originally posted by: shady06
1. the board will not be any easier or harder than any other board. you dont have to flash the bios or anything but if you want to, Abit has a windows based utility that works flawlessly for me
2. it shouldnt give you any issues
3. instructions are fine, they come in many languages
4. no problems
5. never used them

What he said. I have the -s version and am very happy with it.

 

[Ken90630]

Thanks very much, guys. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[ianching]

Don't worry Ken, it should work fine. Nowadays, all motherboards come with READABLE English instructions or BIOS.

I own a NF7-S and have recently built 2 PC's for my friends with the NF7 (no S) board, all of them worked great right out of the box, just make sure you have the latest drivers and patches when you build your rig and I'm sure you should have no problem with it. If you're going to run WinXP, make sure you download the USB patch in Windows Update before installing any USB devices.

If you're not going to overclock, the stock BIOS is good enough unless you experiece any problem. There're a few user-modded NF7/NF7-S BIOS available in ocforums which probably will overclock better.

Good luck with your board!

 

[Megatomic]

I've had 2 Abit NF7-S boards (no non-S though) and they have both been excellent. Even with the stock BIOS from Abit they overclock very well, I have had no need to use an unsupported BIOS yet.. I'd go ahead and get the latest revision myself, as shady06 says the windows-based flasher works great.

Good luck, post back if you need help or want to brag.

 

[Noid]

There are driver vs. OS issues regarding sound and HD's.

BUT !! ,,, there are PLENTY of sources to get the right driver setup for yourself.

Other than that, I've had a v1.2 since the 1st arrival in the states.
It needed some volt mods, but they are NOT issues with the v2.
(I think Ive owned it over 1.5 yrs now ,,, maybe 2 years)

It's truely an amazing MB to own. (really)

The v2.0 is GUARANTEED for 200fsb out of the box.
(cant go wrong there ,,, most reach 215 easy)

Be sure to buy 2 stcks of DDR at the same time (matched set).
(ignore the 'match set dual channel' sales pitches,,, just get 2 sticks from same place at same time)

Feel free to PM me ... if u have more Q's.

P.S> Be sure to get a PS with at least 430 watts.
(I own an Antec)

 

[Ken90630]

Thanks, guys, for the great info. Very helpful.

I think I've narrowed my choice down to either the NF7 or an AOpen AK79D-400VN (not talked about much here on the forums). Will let you know what I decide, probably in the next day or so. They both look like great boards.

Oh, and it's not that I don't appreciate all the feeback, but I just wanted to reiterate what I said in my original posting about not doing any overclocking. Just don't want anyone else to spend time talking about that since I don't need to know about the board's performance in that area.

Oh, one other question: For those of you who've owned your NF7 (or-S for that matter) for more than a year or two, have you had any prob with the northbridge fan going bad? Reason I ask is that I've read about some mobos' NB fans buzzing or failing after a couple years. One thing I particularly like about the AOpen board is that it uses a heatsink rather than a fan on its northbridge. I know I could replace the fan with a Zalman HS or something if it goes bad, so that's always an option (but I'd void the warranty). Just tryin' to consider all things here.

Decisions, decisions .... Thanks again.

 

[Noid]

NB fan failings are rare.
(not saying it doesnt happen)
BUT,,,, THAT can happen on ANY mb.
(and Abit's RMA is VERY GOOD)

Just go over to the Abit forums ,,, they have an ONLINE RMA service.

Abit RMA service
(browse the Nforce2 forum while your there )

I got a spare NB HSF unit that was never used...
(if ya need one)

 

[Ken90630]

And the winner is:

Drum roll please ... I've decided to get an Asus A7N8X for this build.

I'll tell you though, I coulda just about flipped a coin on this one. It was really a toss-up between the A7N8X and the Abit NF7. And there were a couple boards from AOpen & Shuttle that I liked the looks of too. After considering all factors and the ones that are gonna matter most to me, the A7N8X squeeked out a narrow victory!

Thanks, guys, for all the info on the NF7. I feel a little bad that I didn't choose it after the helpful replies and offers of further assistance ... but you guys know how the research & decision making process goes. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy one of every board I was considering.

After I finish this "basic" build, I'm planning on putting together a more "power" machine (P4- or Athlon 64-based) sometime in the next couple of months. I'll likely be soliciting opinions on that when the time comes.