Best Nforce2 board?

CretanBull

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Mar 9, 2003
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I'm looking to buy a new nforce2 motherboard to house a 2500 XP+ (barton). I was recently using the MSI K7N2-DELTA-ILSR but had alot of stability problems with it (horrible time finding memory that worked well with it) and finally it crapped out on me. I won't be buying another MSI product for awhile :mad:

I've done some reading and it seems like the best options available to me are the ABIT NF7-S or the ASUS A7N8X-E, although I'm completely open to any suggestions (DFI boards have been recomended to me, but I haven't seen them in any local stores).

Here's what I'm looking for:

Serial ATA (Raid)
Soundstorm Audio
Quality LAN

This is what I already have to work with....

2x512 PC3200 OCZ EL Dual Channel Memory
2X 80GB Seagate S-ATA Hardrives (8mb cache)
Thermaltake Silent PurePower 480W Power Supply
Radeon 9800 Pro Video Card
16X Sony DVD
Plextor PlexWriter 52/24/52A


Any suggestions or possible conflicts I should avoid?
 
I should also note that while proformance is an issue I'm more interested in a stable & hassle free motherboard that's relatively easy to set up.
 
The NF7 board will go great with your OCZ memory. ASUS is a little iffy on memory, to my knowledge, and OCZ has had its issues in the past, but the NF7 has a good track record with OCZ modules. The NF7 is overall the best board regardless of your setup. There's a reason there are stickies about every issues concerning the A7N8X. It's a great board, but it has a few more issues than the NF7. Either way you go, it won't necessarily be "hassle-free" and you should just do your research to be aware of any potential problems. That said, I had no issues when I setup my NF7 and I have been tweaking it ever since and couldn't have been happier.
 
I know people who own both the Asus and Abit boards and both are happy with them, but neither of them are using S-ATA. With the MSI board I was using, setting up S-ATA was a giant pain although I was really impressed with proformance once I got it going.

Thanks for your help so far, it looks like I'll be reading more reviews before I make a dicision...in the mean time anyone else with some advice is welcomed to comment!
 
if your doing to look at a7n8x's, get the deluxe E version

otherwise, NF7-s or the DFI lanparty or ultra infinity
 
As a a previous owner of the Asus and now the ABit. With the same parts except the mobo and same settings, the Asus benched better, but both are good.
 
Originally posted by CretanBull
Has anyone used the NF7-S or A7N8X-X with S-ATA?

I don't think the A7N8X-X has SATA on board. If you meant the A7N8X Deluxe, then yes I have set up the SATA. It was my first (and only, so far) build and I set it up using both in a RAID 0 array. It really couldn't have been easier, but I did do a lot or research before I fired it up. I had all the drivers ready and knew when to install them and such.
 
I've done alot of reading in the last few weeks and I'm still pretty torn between the NF7-S and the A7N8X-E. I'm still interested in DFI boards, but lack of availability in my area takes them off my list.

People seem to have less problems with the Abit board, but their recent split with Nvidia brings future updates & support into question.

The Asus board seems to be a little more problematic during set up (particularly with S-ATA) ... the sticky in this forum alone is almost enough to scare me away, but once set up these boards tend to be stable & dependable - plus I've been pleased with past purchases from Asus.

I will likely be buying one board or the other tomorrow (Friday morning) .... gonna do a lot more reading & research tonight!
 
Originally posted by Niku
NO!!!

that has got to be the WORST board i have ever used...and i only used it for 2 weeks because it stoped working then...2 rmas and its now just barely working enough for my mother to use it

i'm gonna have to say DFI Infinity or Lanparty too because asus's products keep getting worse and worse when it comes to quality too

That's funny, my friend has no problems (except with the nvidia drivers) and I'm going to get one later next month. What was your problem?
 
IDE problems, bios problems...and had done nothing to the bios, major sound issues, SATA would not work period, NO ati card would work in it unless it was already 5 years old, and eventually it just quit working period....

RMAd it...got it back, IDE and Sound probems persisted...RMAd it again but at hte same time replaceed it with a MSI KT4 Ultra and its been working find but the abit board is in moms computers and is still haveing constant problems...

and the whole time it was not stable at ALL
 
Originally posted by CretanBull
The Asus board seems to be a little more problematic during set up (particularly with S-ATA) ... the sticky in this forum alone is almost enough to scare me away, but once set up these boards tend to be stable & dependable - plus I've been pleased with past purchases from Asus.

That sticky should be put into perspective. The ASUS A7N8X Deluxe had over 800 (IIRC) reviews on newegg while the ABIT board only has 41. There are a lot more of the ASUS boards out there, hence the sticky and so many people with question/problems. While I have no experience with the ABIT board, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the A7N8X-E if I were building again. I almost wish I'd waited so I'd have the the additional features with the -E.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

And I've got a few bookmarks for the places I was reading that helped me get the SATA setup if you're interested.
 
Originally posted by Niku
IDE problems, bios problems...and had done nothing to the bios, major sound issues, SATA would not work period, NO ati card would work in it unless it was already 5 years old, and eventually it just quit working period....

RMAd it...got it back, IDE and Sound probems persisted...RMAd it again but at the same time replaced it with a MSI KT4 Ultra and its been working find but the abit board is in moms computers and is still having constant problems...and the whole time it was not stable at ALL

You know that there was a revision of that board right? The Sound and IDE troubles are with ALL nForce2 boards and a Bios update would have probably fix that and the Stablity. The first version had some stabilty issues and issues with the SATA. The MSI KT4 Ultra is a VIA board so it wouldn't have those issues but it also doesn't have the performance of the NF7-S. My friend has a version 2 and it performs like a champ with no problems at all, that is with the exception of the nvidia drivers.
 
I vote the DFI Infinity or LanParty revB (make sure its revB, A was fucking crap).

The average OC im seeing from those boards is about 230 FSB with 240-250 not being uncommon, and the highest being in the 270's.

The newer nf7-s OC for crap.
 
You look at Nforce2 and you throw out Abit and Asus because their QUALITY is low? Are you insane? They are the two BEST boards. Especially for overclocking (getting over 200 FSB). The DFI is a great board, but abit and Asus are great companies too. There Are rumors about reduced overclocking potential with the newer NF7-Ss, but OCing is becoming more difficult with newer parts allt he time because of locked multipliers etc.
 
Originally posted by Iceman_IX
You look at Nforce2 and you throw out Abit and Asus because their QUALITY is low? Are you insane? They are the two BEST boards. Especially for overclocking (getting about 200 FSB). The DFI is a great board, but abit and Asus are great companies too. There Are rumors about reduced overclocking potential with the newer NF7-Ss, but OCing is becoming more difficult with newer parts allt he time because of locked multipliers etc.


are you just not getting it....low quality = SUPER CRAP

i havent had or known any body else with problems with nforce2 boards other than abit and asus.....friend of mine has an epox...no problems with it...and a albatron...i think...i know he has a epox..

the only other problems with other boards could happen with any thing and thats being DOA or completely SMASHED durring shipping
 
Go check out the xtremesystems forums, there are quite a few people getting swayed by the revB DFI infinity. Seems like a really sweet overclocker.

200mhz FSB is NOT a good overclock.
 
Originally posted by CretanBull
Has anyone used the NF7-S or A7N8X-E with S-ATA?

Im in the process of setting up a a7n8x-E deluxe with a 2600+barton right now, should be done by saturday. Ill post about when its done cause i modded the case alot :)
 
Im very happy with my NF7-S r2.0, I actually use the older "pulled" version of the drivers on ALL my NF2 setups...mine + 5 family/freinds, 4 NF7-s and 2 Asus A7N8Xdeluxe all rv 2.0's

I use version 2.41 of the nforce driver software, and use the microsoft default IDE, all use 5.1 surround and noone has any problems (the 2 ASUS needed the NVswap program).

But that top of the line LanpartyB with 4x Sata looks real sweet.

I'd really like to know, the DFI is coming in at high FSB, but I hear the actual bandwidth is LOWER at the same FSB as an NF7-S.... as if DFI bios is using more conservative settings. Any truth to this?

On my system Im at 230x10 on a 2500+ barton with Aircooling with cpuinterface = enable and tight memory timings 11,3,2,cas2 and I know my memory and CPU will go higher but on air its at the max....Ive run it to 250Mhz with ram set to 11,3,3,2.5

So will 230x10 on LanpartyB get the same results or will it bandwidth slower? hmmm?

Has anyone tried setting up a Raid0 with 4x Sata drives? What kind of speeds we get? That alone could be worth it.
 
After much research and reading, I decided to go with the Asus A7N8X-E. Both boards seemed like good choices with similar feature sets but in the end Asus is a company that I've had a good past with and I'm comfortable dealing with them now. Hopefully my good feelings will hold up after I try installing this board :D
 
Good choice, I love the A7N8X.

This is the 3rd PC I've built from scratch(all used ASUS mobos), it ran flawlessly the first time I hit the power button and it still does.
 
i've made 3 computers with NF7-S's and all of them posted first time, no trouble at all with the computers (except one i tried to use the sata adapter with the hard drive but i couldnt get it to work..so we had to go out and buy another ide cable, oh well) and all of them had ati based cards (new ones...9700 pro in one, 9600 pro in another, and a 9800 pro in the last)

i've built 1 computer with the A7N8X and again no problems..posted first time

then theres the 2 epox computers i built...man they had problems all over the place (the main one being the bios chip..it would just sorta lose the bios basically...there is a way to get it back on but its a bitch) i had to rma many times with those computers

lastly i made a computer with a shuttle AN35N and it worked first time as well
 
Abit and Asus are recognized for their quality...just because you got a bad board or you couldn't get it to work doesn't mean both companies make crap. I got my NF7 v2, had no trouble with it from day one. I meant to say OVER 200 MHz in my last post, wherever you get past that is up to you and the other components you choose.
 
I had overclocking and sound issues with a A7N8X Del. Rev2, but I eventually worked them out. I don't have any experience with the other boards, so I can't tell you much about them. Good luck with your "E" model - let us know how it does.

-SEAL
 
Originally posted by Niku
NO!!!

that has got to be the WORST board i have ever used...and i only used it for 2 weeks because it stoped working then...2 rmas and its now just barely working enough for my mother to use it

i'm gonna have to say DFI Infinity or Lanparty too because asus's products keep getting worse and worse when it comes to quality too

Then you are doing something else wrong, I have three of these boards with no problems, sold at least 25 of them to customers (I build computers) and Built like 30 computers in my school with them, so count that, that's 58 Motherboards, all the Abit NF7-S that work perfectly FINE, not ONE problem!
 
Originally posted by Niku
NO!!!

that has got to be the WORST board i have ever used...and i only used it for 2 weeks because it stoped working then...2 rmas and its now just barely working enough for my mother to use it

i'm gonna have to say DFI Infinity or Lanparty too because asus's products keep getting worse and worse when it comes to quality too

You're screaming awfully loud in an awfully crowded place with people who tend to believe contrary to you.

I've personally built seven systems with the Abit NF7-S and not had a single problem you've mentioned.

Epox is not even in the same ballpark as Abit. Read my sig. I know their products intimately.

Sounds like user error to me.


To the thread starter,
Go with an Abit NF7-S, you won't regret it.. Unless, of course, you have no idea what you're doing or get a bad board. Both of which can happen, but some people seem to think it's okay to discount a product because of either of these things occuring. *shrug*
 
Oskar Wu, the guy who designed the Abit BP6, KT7A, etc, is the engineer in charge of the DFI Infinity NF2 project. He released something like 4 beta BIOSes for this board in December alone, fixing minor issues within the CMOS Reloaded feature, double-sided dimms issue when overclocking, bandwidth increase (he hit over 4000 in sandra, now other users are starting to hit these sweet spots at 250-260, two have hit 270+...Oskar can, but remember he is the guy who helped design the Infinity/LP-B PCB and does the BIOS work himself for the Infinity...so he should be able to always get higher than anyone), whew lol, making BH-5 modules clock even higher with better stability, whatever the guys in the AMDMB - DFI forum are having problems with.

the support on this board alone from the guy in charge of the design and bios is more than I have ever seen from any company in this public of a fashion. DFI is trying to build a community with the forums also to get real user feedback. The design of the A, while still my favorite DFI board, was great in some ways, less than stellar in others (mainly vdimm and no mounting holes around cpu and integrated single-channel SATA...and cmos jumper location lol). We asked a lot of forumers and customers what they would like to see in the new revision of the board, and made a lot of changes (some just minor like agp/cpu socket placement, 4 channel sata, 3.3vdimm, one of the most comprehensive bioses i've ever seen for options/memory timings).

We built the Infinity on the same PCB and gave it the same BIOS as the LanParty, but took away all the rounded cables, UV slots/cables, accessory kit, and put it under $100US.

New design means better than before, but new design also means some new issues, main one being the location of resistors/capacitors around the cpu socket and some bolt-on coolers busting them, and of course the new CMOS location is almost as bad, now i have to remove my AGP card to clear the jumpers instead of the Audigy lol...but the CMOS Reloaded feature virtually eliminates having to open the case to clear cmos or auto-load certain bios configs/overclock settings.

We try to offer as much support as possible. I try to hit forums regularly, and of course amdmb is my 'home' forum. We have put up a Ventrilo server (voice, like teamsound or roger wilco) for customer support, as forum/community enthusiasts generally tend to have 2 or more comps and 1 actually running right lol. Phone and email support is always available.

Ok, before anything thinks im trying to feed propaganda lol, I do have the utmost respect for the NF7 (I've never owned one but they ARE the most popular NF2 motherboard), and definitely for the A7N8X which i have owned. I had an Asus A7V from teh day it hit the shelves, and it is still going strong (sold it to a business and it is used every day). Asus has always offered decent support. I say decent not because it was poor, but that was also in a time before this when mobo and other mfg's didn't bother to try and cater to their users in fashion like they are now.

Abit support is hit or miss, I have heard horror stories and I have heard ones that make customers for life. Same with DFI, we get our share of unhappy customers, like any mobo maker does =/.

I'd suggest the NF7 over the Asus board, just because it seems to be 'the board', and there's probably more Abit NF7 series owners than any other that can offer you their own comments, suggestions, etc. Almost every forum is littered with uncountable numbers of threads and reviews of the NF7 boards. That many users can't be wrong...right? ;)

but if you do go for a DFI board, well, I just blabbered long and awful about them =). I don't post much here at the [H], so I guess I try to make my few worthy (or i like to hear myself speak? actually would be i like to see the typing of my own words lol).

have a nice day!

Travis H
DFI Support
 
What's the best NF2 board? "NF7-S".... lol

Check out the DFI NF2 boards and what people say who have owned them and who use to own a NF7. They learned the hard way. ;)
 
The DFI board was on my intial list of boards I was interested in (lots of recomendations, no complaints) but lack of availability in my region took it off my short list. Any distribution problems for the Toronto area?

I'm sure if I had my heart set on a DFI I'd be able to find one, but with virtually every store carrying a full line of Abit and Asus boards it was easier to narrow my choice between those two manufacturers.

It is VERY nice to see someone associated with the company taking an active roll in the online forum community. I sincerely hope DFI's commitment to addressing consumer needs/desires and customer service will have a huge impact on ALL hardware manufacturers.
 
i know Tiger Direct in Canada carries them. Vivian is at CES in Vegas this week so I wont be able to get an answer from her (she's head of marketing in NA) until Monday or Tuesday.

At the dfi site (www.dfi.com.tw) there is a link to check some of the major vendor/distributors of our boards in just about every country.

we do have many Canadian users who have found other places to get the boards in Canada...if you are still interested I can find them for you =)
 
Thanks for the offer, but I picked up the Asus A7N8X-E Deluex yesterday. I'll make my next board a DFI :D
 
Thanks for the offer, but I picked up the Asus A7N8X-E Deluex yesterday. I'll make my next board a DFI
Return it!! I honestly doubt you would have any regrets if you return it for a DFI. And if you are anything like most people I know, you will always have a little bit of doubt in your decision to stay with it.
 
Okay this is my last input even though you already made your purchase...


The NF7-S Rev2 is a great solid board and is fairly inexpensive, while the DFI Lanparty is a great board too and does come with more bells and whistles it costs a chunk more. I love my NF7's but if the DFI was priced the same I would take the DFI in a heartbeat for extras!
 
i would definately have to say go with the Abit NF7-S. it's got to be the most stable board i've ever used, and it's so easy to set up and oc.
 
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