Abit v. Asus

[Dweezil]

Newbie here...yup, another one. I'm currently using an Apple iMac (which is actually pretty cool). However, there are many games play along with other various and sundry things I want to do that cannot be done with my iMac...plus, I'm bored and need a new hobby.

I want to build a new system, and -for the most part- have my shopping list ready. I guess my last question before I start signing a bunch of checks is which motherboard would you recommend? The Asus A78NX flavor, or the Abit NF7 flavor? I plan on using an AMD 2800 XP processor, and an MSI FX5900-VTD128 GeForce FX 5900 128MB DDR 8x AGP video card.

So, whadaya think...Asus, or Abit? Abit, or Asus? Let's call the whole thing off... :D Really though...thanks for your intelligent input.

[DaveSauce]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

Well, you'll love your new PC, especially when you start to overclock it, lol..:D:D

Anyway, the leading motherboard on the AMD market right now is the Abit NF7-S rev2.0. I personally am NOT a fan of Asus. For a while, the A7N8X was king of the kill, performance- and feature-wise. However, Asus has a HORRIBLE reputation for customer service.....this is a very well documented problem with Asus (including personal experience).

Anyhow, the newer NF7 boards are where it's at right now. If you want a ton of features, go for the NF7-S (tad more expensive than the regular NF7). HOWEVER, make sure that you are getting the revision 2.0. You shouldn't have a problem if you stick to reputable dealers.

[Radical]

Well, I have an A7N8X Deluxe Revision 2.0, and I have to say that I like it a lot. Originally, I wanted an NF7-S, but I forgot to order it with all of my other stuff :eek:, so I had to go to a local store and get the ASUS. While I think that more people who overclock use the NF7-S, I don't think that the ASUS would be a bad choice, either.

And Welcome to the Forums!

[Dweezil]

Thanks for the welcome. I had read in just about every trade rag that the Asus board was "it". But after I started scanning posts here, I noticed that a LOT of folks were using the Abit board. I think I'll go with Abit, if for anything else, it looks better than the Asus. lol You would think that if we can put a man on the moon, we could come up with a mother board that isn't the same color as a turd. How's the integrated sound on the Abit? I'm trying to save a little bit of money in the sound department so I can spend a little more in the video department. Maybe at some point in time, I'll spring for the Platinum Pro SB card...but for now, I'm thinking that whatever the motherboard can provide is gonna have to be good enough.

...and just for the record (like anyone really cares), I'm not a die-hard mac geek...this is actually the first mac I've ever owned. I just got fed up with my Windows laptops one day (I had two crash in the same day, when I REALLY needed at least ONE of them to be up), and went to the Apple store and came home with my iMac. I figured I should give the mac a try. I really like it for the most part, but all of the games and all of the things I want to do are intended for PC's and not macs. Oh well...live and learn. As soon as I finish my Uber PC, my wife will get the iMac...much to my daughter's dismay. Why aren't any fun hobbies inexpensive??

[Subaru]

Well, I've used the A78NX and Love the sound package that came with it. Can't believe I used that for 1.5 year. Right now, I'm selling it.

[CamH]

I have two recommendations for you: Don't go for the 2800+ processor, it's not necessary. Instead, get the 2500+ and overclock it. The 2500+ will overclock very well and it is quite a bit cheaper.

Second, I recommend an ATi card like the 9800NP instead of the GeForce FX. Right now, ATi makes the best performing cards and will be able to play future games far better than nVidia offerings.

[Dweezil]

Originally posted by CamH
I have two recommendations for you: Don't go for the 2800+ processor, it's not necessary. Instead, get the 2500+ and overclock it. The 2500+ will overclock very well and it is quite a bit cheaper.

Second, I recommend an ATi card like the 9800NP instead of the GeForce FX. Right now, ATi makes the best performing cards and will be able to play future games far better than nVidia offerings.

Thanks...believe it or not, after I posted my original message, I took my daughter to vollyball practice where I sat and read my PC magazine...and they actually recommend the Radeon board over the nVidia board due to some issues nVidia had with playing Half-Life 2. So, it looks like I'll have to do some reading up on the Radeon stuff now.

As for the overclocking of the 2500 processor...will ample air cooling be sufficient, or will it require water cooling? At this stage in the game, I would rather not get into the water cooling thing just yet.

[CamH]

Some good air cooling will take you to around 2.4GHz (~3400+) with a 2500+. If you'll look at my sig, I have, in my main rig, a 2500+ overclocked to 2.4GHz. It uses a Thermalright SLK800A and an 80mm Vantec Tornado. It's pretty noisy, but I think an SLK900 and a bigger, slower fan would yield similar results.

[The_Jizzler]

air will cool it fine, and almost certainly be able to handle 2800 speeds on a 2500 chip

[DaveSauce]

I'm trying to save a little bit of money in the sound department so I can spend a little more in the video department.

Well, if you get the NF7-S, it comes with the nVidia SoundStorm integrated audio. It easily rivals most $50-$70 sound cards on the market, and unless you're an audiophile, it matches the $100+ sound cards. The only thing it doesn't have that the high end cards have is the massive connections, such as the LiveDrive on the audigys, or the break-out box on the game theater XPs (which are very nice to have, since they have USB, MIDI, RCA-Audio, and other connections). Aside from that, it does have one thing that almost no comsumer-level sound cards have, which is Dolby 5.1 INPUT. I have no idea why anyone would need 5.1 input on the consumer level, but it's one extra feature that's nice to have, lol. Mebbe they want their web-cam feeds to be in surround sound? :D

Anyhow, my friend has the NF7-S and he absolutely loves it. The newer ones have the Ultra 400 chiset, so you have guaranteed 200mhz FSB support, and it has an ACTIVE northbridge cooling, so if you want to go past 200mhz there's not a whole lot stopping you, hehe.

And I have to second the motion of getting a 2500+ Barton instead of a 2800+. I have a 2500+ and I love it.....even with the poor stepping that I got, I can still run at 3000+ speeds. I got one early, so they are probably producing the really nice steppings right now. My friend ordered a retail from newegg a couple of months back and he got a KILLER stepping. it does 3200 with no effort at all....literally, lol. His motherboard detected it as a 3200, and it's 100% stable at that speed. He could probably push it to 2.4ghz with no problem at all, prolly 2.6 with water cooling.

[Steve978]

I have a 2500XP with an SLK800A+Vantec tornado an mine runs 2300mhz with ease I never temps are low and I have horrible case cooling, so with some nice case cooling and a good hsf you'll be stylin, i agree with CamH and I'm a huge nvidia fan boy, so as much as it pains me to say it go with the radeon or do what I'm doing and wait for nvidia to pull their heads out of their asses :D

[Steve978]

errr i forgot go with epox :D an 8RDA3+ will see ya right