Which nForce2 Mobo? [Poll]

[Ardan]

What do you guys think? I plan to buy an Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton core) and either one...I just simply can't choose. I'm also getting the Antec SLK3700AMB case and possibly the Coolermaster Aero 7+. I might get an SLK-900U and a decent 80mm fan if people give me good enough reason to choose that over what appears to be a very good cooler. If I was to go with a thermalright Heatsink, then I guess that would obviously mean the NF7-S Rev 2.0 but I hate the layout of that board and I can see that the GA-7N400 Pro does not have mounting holes.

I ruled out the EPoX board for my own reasons and I am now down to just those two boards. Or further...if I am getting this case and i'm using a relatively quiet 120mm fan in the front but a powerful one in the back...would a retail HSF be okay? I don't hear ANYWHERE how well the retail fan/heatsink does on the 2800+ and I may try some mild overclocking, but not much. If i'm not doing mild overclocking (note: I will never try to get to 2.5Ghz), would the giga-byte be okay? I have 512Mb of Crucial DDR333 that I bought in January and I would REALLY like to be able to use this memory. Can anyone tell me if that memory will work fine with both?

Thanks for your help!

 

[wicktron]

Flip a coin.
You won't be disappointed with either. I loved my NF7-S when I had it. I'm thinking of putting together another nForce2 system with the Gigabyte board.

Retail AMD HSF would be OK if you're not doing any overclocking. Your RAM will be fine. The Gigabyte is a fine OC'er from what I've seen.

 

[CrystalBay]

Soltek NV400-64L 76.00 at newegg seems to perform faster than dual channel... I may have to jump on one

 

[DAPUNISHER]

the Abit is mature and refined, has Soundstorm, and is an unsurpassed overclocker from all accounts.

 

[Insane3D]

NF7-S without a doubt. I would pass on the Gigasuck.

 

[Ardan]

I wouldn't call them 'gigasuck'...Giga-Byte is a good manufacturer and I have to admit that I haven't heard any of my friends have issues with gigabyte.

Also, the 7N400 Pro has soundstorm so I wouldn't say that Abit's use of SoundStorm makes it that much better. Besides, I am going to use my existing sound card so I could care less about it .

I'm also not going to be overclocking my new 2800+ to a 225Mhz FSB and run it at 2.5Ghz or something because there isn't enough of a difference to do that. I don't know, maybe i'm the only one that can wait a half a second longer to load programs . The only thing going for it with me right now is the Rev 2.0 and Abit's wonderful BIOS (just like it always is). The 7N400 Pro has a much better layout than the NF7-S in my opinion, as evidenced by the ATX connector being near the DIMM slots and not being in the most difficult place imaginable, and the AGP and DIMM slots are spaced enough to eliminate that problem with the two being too close to each other.

Thats what makes me consider the Giga-Byte board. However, in the end, I think I would be going for the NF7-S anyways because of its maturity.

 

[Insane3D]

I wouldn't call them 'gigasuck'...Giga-Byte is a good manufacturer and I have to admit that I haven't heard any of my friends have issues with gigabyte.

With the amount of crap boards I have gone through with them, I do call them Gigasuck. If you don't want to o/c, it should be fine for you. One thing to think about is Gigabyte never had an NF2 motherboard before the Ultra400 came out, while all the other major players did. Who do you think has more experience with bioses?

I'm also not going to be overclocking my new 2800+ to a 225Mhz FSB and run it at 2.5Ghz or something because there isn't enough of a difference to do that. I don't know, maybe i'm the only one that can wait a half a second longer to load programs

The Gigasuck should be fine in this type of enviroment.

The only thing going for it with me right now is the Rev 2.0 and Abit's wonderful BIOS (just like it always is). The 7N400 Pro has a much better layout than the NF7-S in my opinion, as evidenced by the ATX connector being near the DIMM slots and not being in the most difficult place imaginable, and the AGP and DIMM slots are spaced enough to eliminate that problem with the two being too close to each other.

As much as you may consider it a "bad layout", the ATX connector belongs where it is on the Epox and Abit boards. The reasoning for this is the closer it is to the boards power delivery components, the cleaner and stronger power feed you will get. When you put the ATX connector on the other side of the board, those components have to pull all that power through those little traces in the board. It's not very efficient, and can affect the boards voltage stability, but mostly at higher speeds.

I keep hearing reviewers mention this is a bad location because of the power lead from the PSU running over the CPU area, and I just don't understand that. Epox has been putting their ATX connector there for awhile, and it is simple to just run it over by the ports of the board, and down to the connector wiuthout getting anywhere near the CPU. It just takes a extra second a maybe a zip tie or two. Any mainstream PSU has a long enough lead unless you are using some giant 15 bay case or something...

As far as Dimm location, it's pretty much the same on every NF2 board, except for GB who added a fourth dimm out of spec for the chipset. How is there placement better when they have a fourth slot taking up more room? There is no problem on any NF2 board with two dimms "being too close together". Ask anyone who uses a NF2 board and high speed memory from Kingston, Geil, or Corsair if they have trouble with their sticks touching with heatspreaders on them.

Anyways..get whatever board you like. As for all the trouble I went through with GB boards in my systems over the years, and in customers systems, I will not use them in anything I build again, and will keep calling them Gigasuck. If only you knew the crap I have gone through with GB boards...ugggghhh. Anyone remember their awesome KT333 board. :frown:

 

[Ardan]

As far as Dimm location, it's pretty much the same on every NF2 board, except for GB who added a fourth dimm out of spec for the chipset. How is there placement better when they have a fourth slot taking up more room? There is no problem on any NF2 board with two dimms "being too close together". Ask anyone who uses a NF2 board and high speed memory from Kingston, Geil, or Corsair if they have trouble with their sticks touching with heatspreaders on them.

You didn't get what I said at all. I said that the DIMMs were farther apart from the AGP slot so you didn't have a problem with an AGP card practically touching the DIMM slots. I know that I probably won't change memory much but I DO know I WILL add memory in the future and I would find it to be a tremendous pain to have to take out my AGP card just to put any memory in there.

. . . and the AGP and DIMM slots are spaced enough to eliminate that problem with the two being too close to each other.

You can see what i'm saying there. I mentioned specifically the AGP slot...why would someone be concerned about the spacing of the DIMM slots from each other?

I don't really know if there is a correlation with the ATX power connector. I had boards with it over there and some weren't stable. AnandTech's own article praises the location of the ATX connector and they have shown that the board is VERY stable. Now, of course, I am going with the Abit board but I was just pointing out that it doesn't have a detriment on stability on the board.

 

[Insane3D]

I missed what you said about the AGP slot. Sorry. On my Epox 8RDA+ and my Abit NF7-S, I have no problem with changing memory with the AGP card in. Of c ourse, I don;t use the ultra long GF4's.

As for the ATX connector, I didn't say it would be unstable @ regular speeds, it comes into play more @ higher speeds.

 

[Ardan]

I might go with the 7N400 Pro, not sure. The board definitely doesn't suck, thats for sure.
Here are a few quotes from Evan Lieb in the article about the GA-7NNXP that i'm sure many of you have read:

In fact, if we had to choose between the Gigabyte 7N400 Pro, ABIT NF7-S and ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, we?d choose the 7N400 Pro any day of the week.

All three motherboards are priced nearly the same in the U.S., so there?s little point in passing up a motherboard that offers more features and the same performance for the exact same price tag.

Therefore, we have no problem recommending the Gigabyte 7NNXP or 7N400 Pro to Athlon XP users who desire the absolute fastest motherboard with stellar overclocking ability, in addition to the best feature set we've seen from any Athlon XP motherboard to date.

They said they could get a 2500+ Barton to overclock to 222Mhz FSB, which is just fine and it was perfectly stable and as I mentioned I won't be overclocking it allll the way to 222Mhz anyways. If anything i'd overclock it only to a 3000+ speed (i'm buying the 2800+ Barton). The only real big thing up in the air is if I will buy the Aero 7+ or not. If I don't, I want to get the SLK-800 or SLK-900 with an 80mm fan that pulls around 30-33 CFM of air...and since the board strangely doesn't have mounting holes I would have to go with the NF7-S.

Oh yea, I have a GF4 so I do have to deal with that AGP thing.

The only thing up in the air is if it will run my 3-month-old 512Mb (2x256Mb) Crucial DDR333 memory okay and i'm sure it will. If people could give me REAL reasons to get the NF7-S instead, let me know . I am still leaning towards the NF7-S so it wouldn't be too hard to convince me .

 

[Insane3D]

They said they could get a 2500+ Barton to overclock to 222Mhz FSB, which is just fine and it was perfectly stable and as I mentioned I won't be overclocking it allll the way to 222Mhz anyways.

Alllll the way to 222mhz? That's not really exciting considering the board is certified to run a 200mhz FSB...a whole 22mhz over?!?!? The Abit and Epox flirt with 250mhz...


Well, I trust Evan's judgement completely, but you won't see a Gigasuck anywhere near my systems for a good long while. Maybe they are great now, but I'm done with them for a good long while. I just started using Abit boards again after getting burned by their KX133 and KT133/133A boards.

Also, I think things that matter after the sale, like bios support for example, will be much better with the big boys like Abit and Epox...not to mention the extended support community of enthusiasts who use these boards day in and day out...

Your choice...

 

[Ardan]

Look, I am buying the NF7-S and I already said that I was. I was simply saying the Gigabyte board is not a terrible motherboard. It is perfectly fine for the majority that will not be pushing their Athlons up to 250Mhz FSB as well . Considering that it matches the performance of the NF7-S, but simply has more features for the price. Sadly, it doesn't have mounting holes since I decided I want to go with the SLK-900U and a fan that puts out 32-40CFMs of air. Also I think I would really hate the CTRL+F1 combo key in the BIOS. I think people that don't really know what they're doing in a BIOS probably won't go in there in the first place .

I have also unsubscribed myself from this post I made, because I made my choice so nobody has to respond to it now. Just thought i'd let you guys know that I don't need help anymore.

 

[Corporate Thug]

this has been done, NF7-s always wins

 

[Ardan]

Indeed. My problem was that people I know whom can give good opinions because they've seen both are just unable to give their opinion to me. Heaven forbid they have to *gasp* tell someone what they think of two products .