Best Socket A overclocker?

[Pete84]

My current motherboard is giving me fits, and as I am on the smaller of budgets, what is the best overclocking motherboard for socket A?
The NF7-S Rev.2 is a much praised motherboard, but is it the best? I will be sticking to my 512mb PC-2700 Simpletech dimm and ultra OC-able 1800+(190 FSB and stable!!!!) for about a year until I upgrade at the last best moment to keep this socket A system going with a new Barton core processor and dual channel ram.
So what is the best overclocking motherboard out there?

 

[fireontheway]

picking the best would be hard as there are many Socket A mobos out there that overclocks well depending on your budget and the features you need. but if you are a bit tight on the budget you might wanna look at the AN35N Ultra.

 

[MDE]

The best overclockers seem to be the DFI Infinity series.

 

[Pete84]

As I am going to be having the motherboard for some time, price is not as much an issue as is performance, although $100 is about as much as I really want to spend.
I doubt that I will need SATA or Firewire, optical out would be a nice feature, though I wouldn't base my purchase on that alone.
What I am really looking for is the BEST overclocker series.
How large of a performance spread is there amoung the different boards? A few %s or 10%s?

 

[MDE]

Most nForce2 boards perform very similarly. The most popular Athlon XP overclocking board right now seems to be the DFI NFII ULTRA INFINITY, it's been known to hit 250 FSB. It has a coax output for digital audio, so if you want optical out the Abit NF7-S will do the trick, but normally only hits about 215-220 FSB.

 

[Pete84]

i have read that the DFI NFII Ultra Infinity has some 'cold boot' problems, that it won't post on the first start up; has that been fixed?
wow, 250 fsb is pretty high, how often can such high ocs be reached? with sweat ram and what sort of processor cores?
have to look at DFI a bit more seriously . . . looks good so far.

EDIT: Are there any differences in the overclocking utilites and 'extras' between the NF7-S r2 and the NFII Ultra? Dual bios . . . FSB change in windows . . . any?

 

[will889]

Abit NF7_S hits 235-240 fairly easy and doesn't lose and core functionability (EG: Boot problems, USB problems). You generally don't need unsupported (read it voids your warranty) bios files like with the DFI Inifnity. Infinity may be really good but it goes by the board itself. You may have to RMA 3 times just to get a working one. So while the Abit may lose in Fsb cloccks to the DFI (250+ vs 240) you get a much more stable platform and a better overall board with which to have a useable system. I would imagine that DFI might release a new version of the board. Or perhaps a better official bios as to allow customers to actually keep warranties in tact. I would get the Abit over the DFI any day. Unless I wanted to take a chance, or have a board just to play with.

 

[Corporate Thug]

DFI or NF7-s

 

[Diogenes2]

I have an NF7-S that has been my main overclocking board for over a year.. Never had any problems in the 230 -235 range..

Got a XP2400-M that will do 2.5, so I thought I would try the DFI to get some of that 240 - 250 stuff that so many seem to be talking about over here..PC Perspective ( formerly ' AMDM.com )
I tried 2 LanParty and 2 Ultra Infinities, without success.. Just a lot of crashes once I started bumping voltages and setting FSB over 235..

Sure, DFI may have some Golden Tickets out there, but I don't think it's worth the effort to try to find one.. Just my experience..

 

[high]

dfi lanparty/infinity

 

[Diogenes2]

Originally posted by: high
dfi lanparty/infinity

It would be hard to find an NF2 - 400 board that won't do 219..

What's your experience higher than 219 ? Why do you feel the DFI is a great overclocker?

Just curious about your experience..

 

[Pete84]

Hmm, think I will go with the Abit. Have had great experiances with them in the past, and the bugs with the DFI's are exactly what I am trying to avoid.
What Ram is the best for overclocking on a NF7-S? PC3200 low latency or high grade dimms?

 

[colonel]

I have the Soltek with nforce2 and this board overclok good...

 

[will889]

Originally posted by: Pete84
Hmm, think I will go with the Abit. Have had great experiances with them in the past, and the bugs with the DFI's are exactly what I am trying to avoid.
What Ram is the best for overclocking on a NF7-S? PC3200 low latency or high grade dimms?

PC3700 Buffalo or Twin Mos with BH-5 overclocks the best that I have seen. If you can find BH-5. I have Kingston PC3500 BH-5 that OC's like crazy with nforce2. Try to get more than PC3200 if yu really want to raise the FSB. If you're just going to do a Mhz clock with slight FSB and just raise the multipler than PC3200 would suffice. Second chioce for me would be Mushkin level 1.

 

[Pete84]

Thanks!
Are there any types / brands of Ram to stay away from?

 

[will889]

Cheap brands of memory, unknown names. Lesser known names, unless you know exactly what memory chips it uses eg: samsung. Get Kinston, Corsair, Kingmax (stay clear of crucial cas 3 PC3200 unless you know how to tweak it). Also 'some' of the geil is good.