To AMD users: why did you prefer nForce2 to kt400 or kt400a?

[overclock]

I was just tired of having to play the VIA upgrade game. Everytime AMD comes out with a new CPU I have to upgrade motherboards. The nForce was offering 400mhz fsb before it was even announced by AMD. That's looking forward, not simply keeping up with the game. Now that nVidia has come on the scene, VIA will stop producing crap and get the chips right the first time. Nah, we'll probably see the KT600a chipset by Christmas. But by then Athlon64 will be out.

 

[axemanxt40]

I went with an nforce 2 for several reasons

1 I needed something stable with 400mhz FSB

2 I didn't feel like buying a sound card for 90 bucks, and this has a great sound solution

3 Dual Channel memory

4 all the little extras features definitely helped

 

[sandorski]

I too didn't vote, nothing applied to my decision. Better PCI performance and PCI/AGP bus locking are my main reasons for choosing NForce2. I didn't get IGP, Soundstorm, SATA, or Firewire(have this on my Audigy, if I need it). AGP 8x doesn't mean anything to me, but having USB 2.0 is nice, if I ever need it.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Add the PCI/AGP lock, the auto-unlock of TBreds, and then an "All of the Above" option.

nF2 >> j00

- M4H

 

[CrystalBay]

Very easy to set up.................

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: Confused
LOL @ mechBgon!


But, however, he did actually mention everything that made me go for the nForce2 board. I didn't even consider a KT400 board back in February...the only dilemma was which nf2 board to go for!!


Confused

Hehe. Same here


He is a great guy!

 

[dunkster]

Every Monday, I expect to see Anand, AMDMB, HardOCP - somebody - review a production KT600 board. If Via can deliver a single-channel mem controller that matches Nvidia dual channel performance, I'll probably try Barton/KT600 combo. Relatively inexpensive combo with adequate performance.

Still waitin'. KT400 just doesn't cut it today. KT400A looking better. KT600 may be the best overall solution for a relatively inexpensive Barton system with decent performance.

Who needs Nvidia? If I have to invest in expensive matched dual-channel memory, I'll invest in P4/Springdale combo. It's getting harder to ignore the performance advantage offered by Intel/Springdale combo over any Athlon system, even if more expensive.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Um an Epox 8RDA+ is $84 at the moment.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

There's no option for "Hopped on the Bandwagon" I'm a sucker for propoganda, and at the time I was choosing a motherboard everyone was raving about how swell the nForce 2 was, and since the 8RDA+ was extremely cheap and I was on kind of a budget I bought it. Also when I bought my board the KT400a was just starting to emerge and I needed a mobo ASAP so I didn't want to get that then have a better one come out quickly.

 

[CTho9305]

Where is the "My a7v8x (kt400) cost half as much as an a7n8x (nf2), OCs great, and is only marginally slower than an a7n8x in benchmarks" option?

 

[ProviaFan]

Where's the "that mechBgon guy recommended it to me" option?

 

[squidman]

The point why i dont add anything else - like PCI/AGP clock lock, is because its a "plus" not the main reason why people got this board. Also, im doing this for marketing (its due in...4 hours) research, like how companies establish an unafficial monopoly, etc.
thanks to all!

 

[NokiaDude]

I'm using an Abit AT7-MAX2 and I think its <Rodney Renolds> KICKASS <Rodney Renolds>. On-board Sound, LAN, 2x Firewire, 8x USB 2.0. And the on-board sound has digital out goodness!

 

[Gravija]

i got my NForce2 because it was gonna be faster than my old p3 559mhz anyway, plus i can hit 200x11 easily

 

[dionx]

i didnt want to have to deal with 4in1 drivers. plus the nforce name sounds alot cooler than acronyms and numbers. the features that came with the board are just extra and convenient and justifies the price.

 

[RanDum72]

Its fast and stable, period.

 

[First]

Originally posted by: CTho9305
Where is the "My a7v8x (kt400) cost half as much as an a7n8x (nf2), OCs great, and is only marginally slower than an a7n8x in benchmarks" option?

Probably in the "That applies to no one thread." Having tested somewhere north of 25 nForce2 boards of the SPP, IGP, and Ultra 400 variety and probably even more KT400 boards I can say that nForce2 boards easily overclock better (AGP/PCI lock being one of the reasons, better silicon being the other), nForce2 is anywhere between 7-25% faster than the best KT400 boards in the most commonly used budget/enthusiast/overclocker apps (FPS video games, workstation apps, business apps, etc.) and comes with better features (nForce2 APU can be taken advantage of with a few SPDIF ports and good speakers with a receiver, better PCI throughput, etc.).

And the A7V8X (KT400) is $15 cheaper and comes with less onboard features than A7N8X (nForce2).

 

[Confused]

Originally posted by: squidman
The point why i dont add anything else - like PCI/AGP clock lock, is because its a "plus" not the main reason why people got this board.

Actually, that probably is a main reason someone would get this board. It means that they can overclock the FSB to whatever value they want, without having to worry about PCI dividers, and getting the PCI bus within spec, and not pushing it too far.


Confused

 

[MiExStacY]

basically cause it saved me over 70 bucks alone because i would have to buy a better sound card and NIC which the nf2 deluxe gave me

 

[beatle]

I'd have to say overclocking. Locking the AGP/PCI bus and giving me total control over the multipliers and FSB is excellent. Soundstorm was also a huge draw for me, as being able to output everything in dolby digital is a great feature. Dual channel DDR is also a draw, though with its limited benefit, I wouldn't have made a decision over this.

 

[Blooz1]

PCI lock first and foremost. I was interested in the bandwidth that 200+FSB would provide, and not having to worry about PCI speed was a major factor in my decision.

 

[Jeff7]

Good audio built in, dual channel, 400FSB, other useful onboard thingies. As for the name, even the mighty nVidia screwed up good with their 2.4x nForce drivers - pulled them completely after they really screwed up some systems, mine included; a big thanks to WinXP's System Restore though, it fixed things up nice.

 

[nick1985]

the dual ddr is nice. good audio too.


<------- <3's his A7N8X

 

[randomlinh]

a7n8x dlx... wanted the dolby encoding and digital out... dual lan on board, firewire, etc. and yes, partially because of the nvidia name too.

the supposed mult unlock would have been nice, but didn't work w/ my 2400xp, had to connect a bridge. oh well.

 

[Regs]

The Nforce 2 locks AGP/PCI bus's so you can OC away without instability. Not to mention the integrated graphics with duel channel ram, and soundstorm. Plus its improvements of the IDE channels and controllers for transfers.