Differences between Abit NF7's?

[MIDIman]

I've pretty much decided on getting an NF7. I'm not ready for 64bit, and this one just seems to be the best performance (esp. overclocking) per dollar nforce2 motherboard. If you think otherwise, lmk!

What I don't understand is the differences between the variances in this motherboard. Looking at the comparison chart on Abit's site, we have three of these - NF7, NF7-M, and NF7-S. I don't need serial ATA for now (using 7200.7 8mb ide drives), and I don't need on-board video, but other than sata, what's the difference between the NF7, and the NF7-S? I can only find two - firewire is on the -S, and the northbridge is MCP-T on the -S, compared to MCP on the NF7. pricewatch shows a huge variance in prices...as low as $68 for an "nForce2 SPP" based NF7 and up to $92 for an NF7-S (ultra 400).


What's the differences between MCP-T and MCP? What's SPP (non-ultra 400?) and is it different from the -S? Are there any other differences other than what I've mentioned?

 

[Ionizer86]

NF7-S has firewire and the nForce APU. BTW while comparing prices, don't compare "as low as" prices and "up to" prices.

MCP-T is the southbridge, not northbridge. It offers more features over the MCP, such as the audio processor, firewire, and the possibility for board makers to hook up dual lan.

SPP indicates that the northbridge is not the IGP version (ie it has no integrated graphics).

 

[Corporate Thug]

NF7 is the basic board
NF7-s has onboard sound (with other add-ons like SATA)
NF7-m has onboard graphics (again, with other features like SATA)

 

[Ionizer86]

But NF7-M also lacks other features such as the audio processor. If you don't want integrated video but want a very robust solution, the NF7-S is it.

 

[MIDIman]

Originally posted by: shady06
NF7 is the basic board
NF7-s has onboard sound (with other add-ons like SATA)
NF7-m has onboard graphics (again, with other features like SATA)

...and finally, is there really any performance difference between NF7 and NF7-S? Is the regular NF7 still considered an "ultra 400" board?

Honestly, neither sata, nor firewire, nor onboard video is needed, but I'd prefer the updated audio engine. Is that on the regular NF7?

 

[WTT0001]

No, only the NF7-S has the soundstorm sound thing (don't remember the actual term, sorry)