Abit NF7-S

I'm trying to decide between the Asus A7N8X-Deluxe and the Abit NF7-S for a new 2500+ Barton. I've heard that the Abit boards display radically high or low temperature readings. Is this an issue on this particular board? I really like the active cooling on the Northbridge with the Abit but Asus has made me happy in the past. Abit fans, now's your chance to win over an Asus user

I've heard that the Abit boards display radically high or low temperature readings. Is this an issue on this particular board?

Click to expand...

No. The NF7-S boards are IMHO the best board out there for any AMD chip. There have been different bios releases that have changed the way temps read, but none that are radically high or low. I've never had temp issues with this board. Other than those associated with trying to get the highest stable oc I can. But that's just part of the process of finding your highest oc. If you are planing on oc'ing your barton, then the NF7-S is the best choice. It is a solid, very stable board. The soft menue lets you make most any adjustment you need. It's up to you, but I would strongly recommend the NF7-S.

the only thing that could possibly go againsts the board is the s-ata. its still buggy. other than that, there isnt a bad thing i dont think anybody could say about the baord as a whole. It's the fastest AND most stable board i've ever used (and that includes the a7n8s's)

board get's great marks all around, but i have heard of issues about it's core being lower than what is stated..is this true?(also planning on getting this or the asus board)

I own both boards and my experience has been the same as james.miller. This board is alot more stable than my a7n8x was and it ocs alot better.

The temps are read using an in socket thermister instead of the on die diode so they are not the most accurate thing in the world, but I don't think they are radically off(Personally I don't think its all that valid to compare temps from 1 motherboard to the next regardless of how accurate they are because all motherboards tend to read slightly different temps). That and the layout of the board are the only 2 negatives that I really have with it, but I consider them small prices to pay for the best AMD board around.

AFIsoldier not sure what you mean by its core being lower? If you are refering to vcore settings the NF7-S has vcore selectable up to 2.3v, which is head and shoulders over the A7N8X.

no, i read somewhere that the core voltage isn't what it says it is(bios set to 1.8, actual is 1.74; for example)

i dont think so, no - otherwise id be doing 2.4ghz at 1.62v which would be nothing short of incredible for a cpu of my stepping. The bios and any windows program reads lower than what you set, but in reality i really dont think it's actually running lower.

another vote for the Abit here

I Just upgraded from a A7N8X deluxe 2.0 and it didnt like anything after 200fsb...And two weeks after my purchase of the Abit im testing 220fsb right now and so far stable.. The bios is better imo.. With my asus it used to freeze alot and made me scared to change things in bios ...being afraid my bios would fry... Plus on my asus the sound would always crack and the Abit is awsome ( might have to do with a newer NB\SB) ..anyways go with the Abit and you wont regret it

Thunda

I had to make the same choice, for the same chip. I ended up with Abit because:

A) It Overclocks like a mofo
B) Is cheaper
C) Looks prettier

I previously had an ASUS board that was rock solid and this one is as well. Go for the Abit.

Well for some reason I never got an email notification about this thread and here I am with all these great answers

Thanks for the advice and opinions everyone, I think I'm gonna go with the NF7-S ver 2.0 but I've decided I'll get a new 2500+ first and leave it stock for a while. I've been too busy lately to mess with the computer much more than to post and play DoD and CS with the clan. Thanks again

Hey, I traded *my* ASUS A7N8X Deluxe for an NF7-S a few days ago. Just waiting for the "mail" to arrive!

After reading a lot about both boards - and owning and clocking with the ASUS board for quite some time I decided to switch to ABIT.

For any decent results the ASUS board requires volt mods, sketchy and dagerous at the best of times (fatal at the worst...), and I got to the point where I felt too damn scared to do next Chipset volt mod and realized that the board just wasn't meant for overclocking on. The ASUS board also has some *VERY* serious BIOS corruption issues, that, if you are overclocking, will almost certainly result in you paying for a new BIOS chip, or performing multiple (also really sketchy!) BIOS hotflashes. Not fun at all.

I probably won't get a higher overclock with the NF7-S, but I managed to trade for the cost of shipping, so I am very happy.

<---- one convinced user. ABIT it is