nForce II showdown, 8 boards, there can be only one...

[Hungry Jack]

I thought this review (http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=article&dId=492&dPage=1) might interest y'all. I noticed that the Gigabyte board came out on top and, after having installed an Abit NF7-S, I can say that they're spot on with the comments about layout. NF7-S sucks as far as socket layout is concerned, making cables go every which way but loose. I could see the Gigabyte layout as being easy to tie back and would look nice with rounded cables. Also... it's just a prettier board, period :D

I like that it's got PATA RAID support, better Ethernet, and FOUR RAM slots. Better yet, the RAM slots are colour coded by channel. Neat :)

[breez]

Gigabyte seems really nice board, but at least in our country it's insanely expensive. We're talking about 2x price difference to NF7-S v2.0.

They reviewed v 1.x of the NF7-S. 2.0 would've overclocked much better.

[johnoh]

On the conclusion page they mention the top fsb each board hit, but that was it - no mention of voltages used or a summary chart or anything else. Did I miss a page on overclocking somewhere?

[Hungry Jack]

Wow, here (Australia) the price difference between the NF7-S and the 7NNXP is only $75. It's still a lot more money to pay for what you get but at the end of the day, I think it's the better choice for the long run.

I didn't realize they reviewed the version 1.0 NF7-S. From what I've read, the revision 2.0 is a fairly significant improvement. Still, the extra features of the Gigabyte board make it a tough choice, I think.

[thorilan]

i was gonna get a nf7 rev2 board and my second choice was the 7nnxpV ( an updated version)
but now i think i might go with the gigabit board (money is trivial to me)

the only reason 7nnxpv wasnt the first on my list in the begining was that nobody had much experiance with it and had nothing to say about it

[Socket eh?]

The only problem I have with the abit board is the power connector location. Other than that, I have no complaints.

[rugbyroy]

I agree with the atx power cable being in a silly position. I like it on the top, or on the right somewhere so I can hide the insanely huge atx cable!

[DeathONator]

I was getting all excited about the gigabyte board, but then, sadly, I noticed that it dosn't have CPU mounting wholes for my waterblock :( !! What gives? Just 'cause AMD dosn't say to put them there, they don't. Oh well abit will be cheaper anyways.

[breez]

I think the ATX-connector is near the regulators for a reason.

[james.miller]

where does it say the gigabyte has a clear lead?? i cant see it. Infact, it didnt win ONE single test.


hmmm. yeah, its so good lol

Overclocking - We have a winner!

Overclocking on the 7NNXP was bar none, one of the best setups available. Under the Frequency / Voltage control menu are all the options you will need to overclock the system. FSB adjustments are adjustable from 100MHz to 300MHz in 1MHz increments.

CPU voltage is adjustable from 1.3v up to 1.8v in 0.025v increments. DRAM voltage is adjustable from 2.5v up to 2.8v in 0.1v increments. AGP voltage can be adjusted from 1.5v up to 1.7v in 0.1v increments.

AGP/PCI divider locks are available to keep the PCI and AGP within their specified bus speeds allowing a much more stable overclock.

well, where do i start?

1)NO noforce 2 board will do 300mhz fsb. the option to select it is about as useful as barb-wired underware.

2) the cpu voltage on the nf7-2 is selectable from 1v to 2.3v. seem to be better than the gigabyte....

3) agp voltage - totally useless, and the nf7-s can do the same. At any rate, it doesnt affect overclocking at all.

4) ........
AGP/PCI divider locks are available to keep the PCI and AGP within their specified bus speeds allowing a much more stable overclock doesnt EVERY nforce2 board do that?

5) they didnt actually provide ANY usfull info about overclocking it.

6) The nf7-s WASNT a v2 - look at the colour of the board. v2's are red. Also, look at the bios options they said it has - nothing like what my v2 can do.

7) That review is, IMO, totally useless.

[Hungry Jack]

Originally posted by thorilan
i was gonna get a nf7 rev2 board and my second choice was the 7nnxpV ( an updated version)
but now i think i might go with the gigabit board (money is trivial to me)
The only difference between the 7NNXP and the 7NNXPV is that the V version has an integrated Geforce 4 MX GPU on it. One isn't an update of the other, they're two different boards.

The Gigabyte doesn't have holes! Oh no! Doesn't that mean you can't connect an SLK? Ouch, I think I just revised my board choice...

[Mr B]

I don't have a problem w/ the power connector location on the Abit. And yes, it's there for a reason, next to the regulators, etc...

If you have a PSU with a long enough lead, just secure it in a way that routes it above the CPU, and then straight down to the socket. Quite "out of the way" that way...;)

Frankly, the layout on the NF7-S is pretty good, IMO. They *could* have put a 6th PCI slot between the AGP and PCI1 slot, and be able to boast they have 6 slots, but they know damn well no one will use it... If you're buying one of these boards, it's for performance...which entails a high end vid card. You aren't likely to mount anything in a PCI slot immediately below the AGP, even if the card your using would allow it (a lot of the newer ones would take that slot anyways....).

They *could* have put a fan header down by the CMSO battery, but they realize most of us will likely use a oversize/high flow intake fan, and want to plug it into the PSU instead...

They *did* put the FDD connector way up in the top right corner....got that bit of obselescence out of sight, out of mind. How long is your FDD cable? Mine is under 6"...the FDD socket is literally right next to the drive.... I could even shorten it up further by an inch or so.

They *did* put the four holes around the CPU socket (v1.2 and up). YAY! 'nuff said.

They *did* make those LEDs on the board bright as hell, didn't they? :p

They *should have* put a sink on the SB...but they aren't the only ones guilty of this one.... I stuck a 40mm i486 HSF on mine...just clears my current (Ti4200) AGP card. When I upgrade that, I'll have to rethink my SB cooling... :rolleyes: Works great for now, though.

I woulda laid out the mosfets a bit better...gonna be a pain to put sinks on those...:(

The DDR slots are a bit of a bugger to get at, but there is a solution to that, too....just get good DDR the first time...put it in and forget about it. :D

I dunno...I guess I'm happy w/ mine. Hope they come up w/ a fix for the onboard sound being kinda crackly and skippy, though. I like the idea of just having the vid card only in there....lots of "breathing room" for the board to get air.

B.

[thorilan]

The Gigabyte doesn't have holes! Oh no! Doesn't that mean you can't connect an SLK? Ouch, I think I just revised my board choice... yeah this is why i havent got a mobo yet . if i can get a special amd mounting thingy that works with cathers cascade i will get this board . or if in the next version there are holes .

[cbakey]

Why was the Asus A7N8X Dlx not included in this article?

[Cathar]

Yeah, but the Abit boards overclock like mad, give you Vmem, Vcore, Vdd and Vagp voltage options in the BIOS, and they give you the full range of multipliers from 5x to 22x for any CPU (newer than a T'Bird) that you plug into them.

Abit boards also have fantastic quality power regulation. When pushing the voltages really hard, the boards hold up well, while others I've personally found to get rather flakey.

If overclocking is your thing, then a few cables here and there is something to easily look past. Other boards may offer superficially better layout or features, but it all means squat if you have to overclock 10-20% less because the board doesn't have the real goods to back up the features.

Oh, and another thing, how come the Abit gets 8.5/10 and gets third place, while the Epox gets 8/10 and receives second place?

Editorial bias? Also, I've almost never hear of an Abit NF7-S Rev2.0 that will only do 206FSB, at least not until I read that review.

[Cathar]

Oh, they must have clearly reviewed a VERY old Abit board.

ABIT’s well known Softmenu overclocking system is present with all your usual features. FSB adjustments from 100MHz up to 250MHz in 1MHz increments are available allowing for the maximum to be squeezed out of the CPU.

If you have an unlocked Athlon, you can also adjust the multiplier from 8x up to 20x. CPU core voltage can be adjusted from 1.5v up to 1.9v in 0.025v increments. DRAM voltage is adjustable from 2.5v up to 2.8v in 0.1v increments. Memory dividers are also selectable from this menu overall giving ABIT an overclocking package which will make most enthusiasts happy.


This was true of the Rev 1.1 and earlier boards, which stopped selling back in January.

The Rev 1.2 boards and the newer Rev 2.0 boards, both of which have been selling for the last 6 months now offer:

1) 100-300MHz FSB in 1MHz steps
2) 5x to 22x multipliers - your CPU doesn't have to be unlocked first - the board unlocks the CPU automatically
3) 1.3 to 2.3v Vcore in 0.025v increments
4) 2.5 to 2.9v Vmem in 0.1v increments
5) 1.4 to 1.7v Vdd (chipset) in 0.1v increments
6) 1.5 to 1.8v Vagp in 0.1v increments

I mean the review is very misleading. For a review that is released in July, why are they reviewing boards that haven't sold for 6 months as if they are the boards that are shipping today?

Hmmm?

Kinda makes you wonder about ANY of the conclusions drawn on anything...

[thorilan]

probly took them that long to review it now that i have gone back and looked at some of the goofy things they said.