nforce2 recommendation please?

[Ace51]

i currently have an amd 1800xp, 1 gig of mushkin pc2100 ram and an epox 3kha+ board. the motherboard died yesterday and i need a new board now and i'm debating between the dfi nf2 ultra infinity board, the Abit NF7-S v2, the asus a7n8x-e deluxe or the epox 8RDA3+ (i think i might have this one crossed out now since soundstorm looks like a feature that i'd want). i'm mostly concerned with system stability but after reading the reviews it looks like a lot of people are having good luck overclocking the xp mobile CPU's which i might try. i also want to keep the motherboard cost under $100. what do you guys think i should get? should i try the mobile cpu? what speed of the mobile xp should i go with (looks like most people are going for the 2500 or 2600). thanks so much for any inputs!

 

[Fern]

I'd go with the NF7-S or DFI. I'm hearing better FSB OC's with the DFI, but better cpu OC's on the NF7-S. If Soundstorm wasn't a factor and you wanted to save some money, I'd say look into the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra. I got mine for about $55.

Yeah, the mobile w/b a good choice (2600+ with stepping IQYHA from excaliber.com who gaurantees the steppins). You could run @ 266 and just ramp the multi till you got better ram.

Oh, be careful to stay away from the NF7-S2, it's not the same as the NF7-S v2. Some make mistakes when ordering.

 

[Ace51]

thanx fern but excaliber.com doesn't look like it's the right website, can you check for me please? i don't really play games much now but was told that soundstorm yields better sound quality compared to other onboard options. $20 dollars difference is fine with me but i just want the most stable board i can get my hands on. does the asus not seem to handle o/c well? i'm hearing a lot of complaints on the DFI board with the original bios that the board comes with and you just need to flash it to the latest one? thanks again!

 

[Ace51]

also, i'm currently running non-sata drives but some have said that certain motherboards comes with a convertor for sata? is the performance increase worth it?

 

[Fern]

Sorry man, it's excaliberpc.com. Linked HERE Here's a link to IQYHA 2600+ http://www.excaliberpc.com/pro...o.php?products_id=4099[/L]

Yeah, my NF7-S came with the seriell (sp?) converter. I used it on my IDE drive for a while (I accidently installed the sata drivers the first time I set up the board, so thought what the h3ll? and went with the converter). About the best thing I can say is that the cable is so much smaller and neater that the regular IDE one. Not really aware of any performance gain.

 

[Gamingphreek]

DFI hands down if you have the money. Then the Abit then the Asus. I shouldve gotten the DFI board but i went ASUS. The Asus is a nice board but it is not a good OCer more meant for pure stability and features.

-Kevin

 

[Ace51]

that's what i'm lookin for though, pure stability. i'm thinkin that i probably won't feel much performance increase going from 1.8xp to 2.6 xp mobile since i really don't play too much games. so asus would be my best bet?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Ace51
that's what i'm lookin for though, pure stability. i'm thinkin that i probably won't feel much performance increase going from 1.8xp to 2.6 xp mobile since i really don't play too much games. so asus would be my best bet?

There are no stabilty issues with the other two boards. If you're not that interested in the OC potential, just go for features vs price.

 

[Ace51]

ok you guys convinced me, i ordered the DFI from newegg today and i will keep you guys posted on how the new boards turns out. thanks so much for the recommendations!

 

[Gamingphreek]

DFI was the best one there... i like the Asus but sometimes the board doesn't overclock past 200FSB no matter what... so in other words Stable very stable but buggy. Decent amount of features.

-Kevin

 

[Shimmishim]

i wouold have gone with the abit nf7-s

just be warned that the bios support for the infinity sucks really bad...

people have been able to use that board due to the numerous beta bioses that have been released....

don't get me wrong... it's a solid board but you gotta consider things like support when you buy a mobo... hence why even anandtech talks about that in their reviews

 

[Ace51]

so i should flash it with the latest bios from their site right away when i get my board?

 

[SickBeast]

There's not much difference between the Asus and the Abit.

Asus pros:

-passive northbridge cooling
-two integrated NIC's
-4 USB ports built right into the motherboard
-"cool 'n quiet" fan speed controller

Abit pros:

-more voltage selections
-can unlock multipliers above 12.5x
-has two connectors for the power supply (P4 connector)

I personally prefer the Asus, but my CPU can't run any faster than 2500mhz anyway (so I have no need for the higher multipliers). I've used both boards for quite some time, they're both great.