What is considered the best Socket A mobo?

[Staz]

I think my current mobo, a Gigabyte GA-7N400Pro2, is on it's last leg, and I need to replace it, but don't have the money to upgrade to an A64. My current CPU is an OC'ed XP-M 2500+ to just over 3200+ speeds. I also need duel channel ability and have an SATA hard drive. Other than that, I am open to specs. I just want the fastest, but also most stable board that can handle my OC'ing. Don't want to spend a ton either, so keep it under $100. Any recommendations?

 

[PingSpike]

The abit NF7-S revision 2.0 is a pretty popular choice. Careful of the similarly named watered down boards. Excaliberpc has them.

 

[joelslaw]

I would just go to the newegg mainboard pages, put in the feature you really want and see what it comes up with in your price range.

This is the page I'm talking about
http://www.newegg.com/app/manu...?catalog=22&DEPA=1

 

[slpaulson]

The DFI infinity is supposed to be a pretty good board too.

 

[Staz]

That DFI Infinity looks good and is at a good price. But why is their LANPARTY one so much more expensive? I don't see much of a difference, only 2nd Ethernet port that supports Gigabite Ethernet, 2 extra USB 2.0 ports, and a 2nd SPDIF port. Not sure $45 is worth that. Am I missing something?

 

[Shimmishim]

no, you're not missing something

the infinity is just as good as the lanparty minus the extra junk...

just go with the infinity or abit nf7-s

 

[Mem]

That DFI Infinity looks good and is at a good price. But why is their LANPARTY one so much more expensive? I don't see much of a difference, only 2nd Ethernet port that supports Gigabite Ethernet, 2 extra USB 2.0 ports, and a 2nd SPDIF port. Not sure $45 is worth that. Am I missing something?

Not really,I can tell you the DFI Infintiy rocks,using one at the moment(replacement for my old leaking Epox board) and it has all the important things you may need, like SoundStorm,SATA RAID,Lan etc...also designed for overclocking so good OC board as well.

Setup on mine was simple with no problems, stability is awesome,the latest BIOS update is also dated last month.

 

[LED]

DFI for OCing and Shuttle AN35N-Ultra for performance/value(no Soundstorm)...the Abit ain't to shabby either for 1 medium

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
no, you're not missing something

the infinity is just as good as the lanparty minus the extra junk...

just go with the infinity or abit nf7-s

Yup, those are the best two. DFI is said to get higher FSB OC's, while the NF7-S will give you higher cpu speed OC's.

 

[SP33Demon]

What you guys think about this one?

 

[Staz]

LOL, that's my current board, the one that is failing. It's not the boards fault, I have uninstalled it and reinstalled it into so many cases, I probably broke or cracked something somewhere. My main issue is with it's AGP port sending out yellow-ish signals. A new videocard nor a new monitor fixed it, so is probably a bent or broken pin on my AGP slot.

As for the board, it's really good and very stable, one of the most stable I have ever had. Only 2 downsides to it are that the BIOS has minimal OC ability, had to switch my multiplier using jumpers...:< Also, this board doesn't have the holes around the CPU socket where you can mount advanced heatsinks, so I couldn't get once of those nice ZALMAN CNPS7000B-X series HSF units. If they fixed those 2 items, wouldn't be asking as I would just buy the same one again.

 

[SP33Demon]

Ok thanks for the explanation! Btw, what do you mean when you say the board has to have "dual channel"? Don't all nForce2 Ultra 400 boards have dual channel bus (2X200)?

 

[11427]

My opinion,..

All around,.................. Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Overclock,.................. DFI Infinity
Gaming,..................... Abit NF7-S
Price / Performance ... Shuttle AN35N
Honorable Mention,..... MSI K7N2

All are pretty good boards,... pick one with the features you want, at the price you are comfortable with. Should be able to get any of these for less then $90 nowadays.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: 11427
My opinion,..

All around,.................. Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Overclock,.................. DFI Infinity
Gaming,..................... Abit NF7-S
Price / Performance ... Shuttle AN35N
Honorable Mention,..... MSI K7N2

All are pretty good boards,... pick one with the features you want, at the price you are comfortable with. Should be able to get any of these for less then $90 nowadays.

What about the Gigabyte that the OP has? I've read nothing but awesome reviews on it...

 

[11427]

Dunno,... not familiar with that one. Looks like a good board but I have never used one so,..... no comment ;-)

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Originally posted by: 11427
My opinion,..

All around,.................. Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Overclock,.................. DFI Infinity
Gaming,..................... Abit NF7-S
Price / Performance ... Shuttle AN35N
Honorable Mention,..... MSI K7N2

All are pretty good boards,... pick one with the features you want, at the price you are comfortable with. Should be able to get any of these for less then $90 nowadays.

In my opinion the Price / Performance boards are the only ones that should be considered for socket A processors right now. In addition to that Shuttle there's the ASRock K7Upgrade-880, for those who need the few extra features.