8rda3+ or NF7-S 2.0

[Rutkus]

ok, i caught the upgrade bug again, i'm wanting to replace my rig 2 in my sig, i want a new board for the first upgrade and i'm torn between the epox 8rda3+ and the NF7-S v 2.0.

I don't know which one to pick. reviews show both are really great overclockers, i will eventually be replacing the chip with a barton 2500+ and buffalo pc3200, I have an 8rda+ already, and if the 8rda3+ is essentially the same thing then there is no sense in buying it.

the epox seems more feature rich, like the dual 10/100 ports however, the NF7-S 2.0 seems to be a really good overclocker and stable under high overclocks, the goal is to get the 2500+ up to 2.4 or 2.5ghz on aircooling. anyone have experiences with the boards? they seem to be the same price and i just keep going back and forth, help me pick please.

[USAPGAPRO]

NF7-S = best mobo ever made.

[shiyan]

The only problems it has is that the temperature readings are not that accurate (according to many users), and the issue with 166fsb chips, which is solved witht he L12 mod to set the default fsb to 133Mhz.

Other than that it is great. I have one and really like it.

I have no info on the Epox though... it too might have some problems.

[Cuda]

The Rev. 1.1 8RDA+ and the 8RDA3+ are different. The 8Rda3+ is like the Rev. 2 in that it supports 400 fsb and gives Vdd adjustments in the BIOS. (I'm not saying the 8RDA3+ and the Rev.2 8RDA+ are the same board, only that they have similar features).

Also, I used the Buffalo pc3200 in my sig sys. I wish I had used the 3700 instead for that little bit of fsb headroom.

[thunda_au]

There is no contest, get the Abit. No soundstorm audio on the 8RDA3+

[Deathknight]

NF7-S. I had an Asus A7N8X with dual nics and when I bought it I was like 'Oh wow look at all the cool features on this board'. I didn't use a single one of the 'cool features' like the dual nics. I certainly use the excellent ocing capabilities of the NF7-S though :D. The soundstorm audio is just gravy ;)

[Rutkus]

sounds good, i got one on the way, now i just gotta snatch up a barton...

[blackhabit]

i love my NF7-S 2.0

[Angry_Games]

NF7-S 2.0 easily.

[Mr Lish]

8RDA+

[seer33]

nf7-s holy****ttt

[Minjin]

I've pondered this question as well since I have a KR7A-133R that I was considering upgrading. For one, I'm not sure its even worth the money to "upgrade". Secondly, I'd like to stick with Abit but every time I go into the Abit forum to browse, almost every thread on the front page is about NF7 problems. If they're supposed to be such a great overclocking board, why are so many people having difficulty getting high fsbs?

What about other boards like the DFI or the Albatron? I can understand how the bigger companies like Epox and Abit will have more fanboys that will spread their opinion far and wide, but I'd expect a couple people speaking out for the "little guys that could"...

Mark

[Rezin777]

I agree with what Minjin says, I hear so many people saying the NF-7 is great, but so many people having problems hitting high FSBs with it (without mods). I have recommended it to a friend and helped him set it up, it seemed like a nice board. We had to do some IDE cable modding to get an older western digital to work, but otherwise it was fine. He won't be using a high FSB at the moment though because of his A core chip. I've had my 8RDA+ to 230 fsb without any volt mods needed. I'm just curious what is so nice about the NF-7s.

[Rutkus]

well i got a NF7-s, i believe that some people hear that its such a great board and how people get such crazy overclocks that they go into overclocking it with their hopes up and push it too far right out of the box. I think that no matter where you look you'll find negative posts no matter how good the board is rated.

maybe people don't always know what they're doing, I own the 8rda+ and the NF7-s now, and i have my 8rda+ at 2.4ghz, and my NF7-S at 2.3ghz with 220fsb, i'm satisfied for now but we'll see in the future for me, i consider anything over 200fsb "high" they are both great boards and give me more bang for the buck. whats really cool is the 8rda+ is in a rig with a 250watt sparkle PS that i got for like $11 way back when :)


Originally posted by Minjin
I've pondered this question as well since I have a KR7A-133R that I was considering upgrading. For one, I'm not sure its even worth the money to "upgrade". Secondly, I'd like to stick with Abit but every time I go into the Abit forum to browse, almost every thread on the front page is about NF7 problems. If they're supposed to be such a great overclocking board, why are so many people having difficulty getting high fsbs?

What about other boards like the DFI or the Albatron? I can understand how the bigger companies like Epox and Abit will have more fanboys that will spread their opinion far and wide, but I'd expect a couple people speaking out for the "little guys that could"...

Mark

[THunDA]

Yup im also im to market for a new mobo..After reading around it seems like a easy choice ..NF7-S .. My current Asus is good but the Vcore fluctuates too much and it doesnt like higher FSB's.. Think ill be ordering a Abit soon :)
Does the Abit unlock all the multi's in bios ?
Does it have all voltage options like Vdimm,Vcore,AGP,Chipset(?) in bios ?

thx Thunda

Also do you guys see anything in my sig that might give me a problem with a NF7-S mobo?

[james.miller]

Originally posted by shiyan
The only problems it has is that the temperature readings are not that accurate (according to many users), and the issue with 166fsb chips, which is solved witht he L12 mod to set the default fsb to 133Mhz.


That was for boards up to version 1.2. v2.0 baord have exactly the opposite problem - 133mhz cpu's need to be modded to 166mhz fsb.

[Mr. Fri]

There is no contest, get the Abit. No soundstorm audio on the 8RDA3+

Is the soundstorm that much better? Do I need a high end speaker system to notice the difference or will it be obvious with a low end (or even a stereo) setup?

[Rutkus]

i don't understand soundstorm but then again, i use an audigy gamer so it wouldn't really apply to me either.