Barton 2500 with... ASUS or ABIT?

[AnitaPeterson]

Hi there,

I have to redo my secondary rig, and it seems to me the Barton 2500 is the best bang for the buck right now, and I'm thinking of pairing it with a nForce 2 board.

However, I'm torn between the ASUS A7N8X and the Abit NF7. I have faith in ASUS, it's products never let me down. I've never used Abit before, but it sounds like a good brand.

Yes, I've read the threads about them in the motherboards forum, but if anything, I'm more confused than ever, There are too many people complaining about all kind of stuff in both threads (and the threads are HUUUUGE!), almost making me think either one of the two mobos will be plagued by problems.

Besides which, I already lost count of the number of models in which these motherboards come, and the add-ons... So I'll just let you know what I'll do with the system:


* I'll be doing audio/video processing. So a good onboard sound solution would be good to have, if it's really good quality (in any case, I have a SB Live! Platinum standing by from my old rig)

* I will NOT be overclocking

* I will be doing a LOT of Photoshop

* On-board FireWire (IEEE 1394) would be good but is not mandatory, I already have a standalone PCI FireWire card.

* I plan on using two HDs, one internal Zip, and three CD/DVD ROM units (therefore the two IDE ports on the motherboard will HAVE to be supplemented by at least one ATA controller)

* I will NOT be setting up RAID, and don't plan on switching to SATA in the foreseeable future.


LAST, BUT NOT LEAST: IT HAS TO BE AS INEXPENSIVE AS POSSIBLE !



Considering all these, which motherboard would you advise getting.

 

[Corporate Thug]

i think they are more or less the same in price, i would go with abit

Asus tech support sucks

 

[Elcs]

Id recommend the ABIT NF7-S Rev 2.0.

Rock solid, Soundstorm (onboard sound) certified (Analogue isnt too great but Digital output is supposed to be quite good), Onboard Firewire, Onboard SATA RAID.... although you dont intend to move to SATA soon, you can pop their Serielle (SATA -> PATA) connector to remove 1 HDD from the PATA channel and allow it to access the SATA channel.

There is extensive customer support on Anandtech for Nforce2 boards and Ive been impressed by the amount of help Ive got about my NF7-S off the nice big thread in the Motherboards forum.

Do a Forum Search on both boards and do a little reading. I wouldnt base my decision on only one opinion.

 

[slpaulson]

Having owned both, the abit has better sound... much less hiss.

I've also heard great things about the DFI infinity, and it's cheaper than the others.

 

[Actaeon]

My first NF7-S V2.0 was horrible, it wouldn't read my CDRom correctly, it wouldn't detect my 2nd HD, it would beep if i even tried to overclock. Thanks to Abit's RMA, I managed to get a new board, thats been flawless. RMA was user friendly, though It was kind of expensive. Since I had to have my computer running, I had to give them $150 to cross ship me a board, i then had to ship my old board back, and wait an extra 4-6 weeks for my $150 back.

I still recommend the NF7-S despite the problems with my first one. Its been a solid board, has tons of OCing options (arguably the best OCing board), more than enough features, and very stable. I've had this computer running about 6 weeks overclocked with everyday use, which included some installations, patches, surfing, etc etc, (before BF1942 crashed my computer ).

I never had any experience with ASUS, but they seem to be a solid company with very good products. One major complaint I always hear about is there RMA/Return service. I heard they are very picky and slow with there RMA service, so if you happen to get a bad board you may find it may be difficult to get a replacement board. Something I would be worried about.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

wow, Abit scores 4-0

keep'em coming!

 

[Sid59]

ABit .. i have one and not a single complaints. on the other hand, i dont' have an Asus and also have zero complaints.

ABIT!

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
wow, Abit scores 4-0

keep'em coming!

Canada has limited online ..but ..here and here about 210in CDN $ 160USDguess you could visit..TigerDirect.ca, 171 Esna Park Drive Markham, Ontario L3R 4J1, Canada

 

[AnitaPeterson]

which flavor of NF7?

 

[AnitaPeterson]

oh, I'm not worried about the choice of stores... there are many local little stores that are quite reliable, and there's also ncix.com, our own version of newegg...

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
which flavor of NF7?

NF7-s v2.0

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
which flavor of NF7?

its not..it is a Shuttle an35n ultra and reviews. Been running mine trouble-free since Nov. 2k3 w/ a retail 2500+ Barton @ XP3000+ the entire time using all 3 dimm slots w/ 512MB pc2700 of Kingston in each.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I own the Asus, but in your case I'd take the Shuttle.

 

[MDE]

Another vote for the Abit. I've also had both the Abit and Asus and the Abit's sound is better and just feels like a more solid platform to me. I've never had a hardware instability problem with the Abit. The Asus is on RMA number two, and Asus's RMA process does suck. They don't even update the RMA progress on their website (good luck finding it too).

 

[n0e5cape]

Another vote for Abit, just built a new computer with an AN7, no complaints except for some BIOS trouble that was fixed quite easily with the BIOS flash utility that works within windows.

Where I live the AN7 is 3 bucks more than NF7-S tho....

 

[MichaelZ]

asus RMA is awful.

 

[ROcHE]

NF7-S Rev2. I hope it's an april fool's joke not to try to overclock that 2500+. You can probably do at least 2100mhz at default voltage with retail fan. It's up to you but I would try it

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Another question here: what's the best RAM for the NF7-S?

I'm not talking about Samsung vs. OCZ, I'm talking specs...

2x256 MB seems to be within my budget (same price as a single stick of 512, but I understand a dual setup is faster), however I'm "a bit" (har, har!) confused in regards to the characteristics...

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i got the Asus E deluxe model, it was a very flaky board, garbage. i returned it and got a DFI and have been happy ever since.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

if your not overclocking or doing much else just nab some value ram and save yourself some money.

bonk

 

[AnitaPeterson]

This promps the question: is the NF7-S a pretentious board, or will it take any brand of memory?

 

[Peter D]

Abit NF7-S v2.0.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I own the Asus, but in your case I'd take the Shuttle.

the $ difference between the Shuttle and the Abit is about $40 or so..the price of a stick of 512MB Kingston ValueRam pc2700(3200 if shopped w/ an eye on MIRs) but I believe the OP is Abit-inclined. Goodluck with whatever you assemble.

 

[Nick5324]

Another vote for Abit, customer service/RMA with Asus is garbage

 

[Nohr]

Just something to note, according to AnandTech's March Mid-Range System Buyer's Guide the AN7 is practically the same board as the NF7-S.

"You may also want to take note that the ABIT NF7-S Rev.2 that we've talked about here extensively is virtually the same motherboard as the AN7. The primary difference is the Guru overclocking technology onboard the AN7 and a different BIOS to support that technology. Essentially, the AN7 and NF7-S Rev.2 are one in the same motherboard."

I own an Asus A7N8X Deluxe rev 1.04 and it's alright. I use the onboard sound and I can hear computer type blips and static when I turn the volume up high. Though that could be a problem with my early revision board, I'm sure the newer 2.0 revs are better. I wouldn't mind an ABIT myself.