Considering new motherboard, and the nominees are...

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Whoopr4theCoppr

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Dec 19, 2003

• Dec 21, 2003

• #1

I'm planning to oc a 2100+. Can anyone tell me which board is the best bang for the buck? The nominees are:

Shuttle AN35N-Ultra
Asus A7V8X-X
MSI K7N2 Delta-L
and possibly
Abit NF7-S (though it's a little expensive)

Can anyone tell me the advantages/disadvantages to any of these boards? I read somewhere that the voltage setting can't be adjusted on the Shuttle board. Is this true?


Thanks.

 

C

cbakey

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Lancaster, PA

• Dec 21, 2003

• #2

Personly i have had the A7N8X and a NF7-s they are both great boards, i did get a slightly higher overclock on the NF7-s, i think in part becouse the A7N8X dose not have a 12v plug on the board like the NF7-s dose. I would recomand a NF7-s to anyone that would like to overclock, its a great board and has many options like the sound storm on board.

 

CalsonicGTR

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Nov 6, 2001

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Illinois

• Dec 21, 2003

• #3

The best bang for the buck on that list is the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra. It is a very popular board around here for budget nForce2 systems. It's not the greatest overclocking nForce2 board, but for its price it does a decent job. One board that you didnt include on your list is the Abit NF7 (non-S) In terms of overclocking, the NF7 overclocks just about the same as the NF7-S. The only difference between the two is that the NF7 doesnt have SATA, Firewire, or Soundstorm audio. It's only $80 at Newegg

 

Balrog

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Massachusetts, U.S.A.

• Dec 21, 2003

• #4

AN35N Ultra $55
XP1700+ $41
Buffalo\Winbond $85
ti4200 $95
Fortron 350watt $37

220FSB x 10.5 = 2310mhz
7-3-3-2.5 @ Auto voltage
14,000 3DMarks
3223/2902 Memory bandwidth

Works for me!

Regards, Balrog

 

deadkenny

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May 26, 2002

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Toronto

• Dec 21, 2003

• #5

If the ASUS m/b listed is really the 'V' (third position), i.e. Via KT400 chipset, then that one is out of the running. The rest are nForce2 m/b's. The Abit is an excellent OC'er, although it is more expensive.

 

Quailane

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Oct 18, 2003

• Dec 22, 2003

• #6

Balrog, how did you get so high? On my dad's an35n-ultra with 2x256mb buffalo with ch-5 chips, it can barely do 205 stable! That is with all voltages bumped up.

 

Deathknight

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Chicago

• Dec 22, 2003

• #7

I am a huge fan of the NF7-S. If you don't need the extra features of the -S then you can save some bucks and get the NF7, which is a great ocer as well and a pretty good bang for your buck..

 

Balrog

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• Dec 22, 2003

• #8

Disable APIC before OS install and running in single channel mode slots 1 & 2 with Auto VDimm, stable, cool and real fast. Benches way better than 205FSB in dual channel. I tried both @200FSB and only found difference in a couple of benchies and that was so small that continuing dual channel didn't make sense to me. It felt bogged down running a high FSB in dual mode like the memory latencies were slowing it down, it flat out flies now. The AN35N Ultra can also run 230FSB+ with real good memory like Mushkin Black.

Regards, Balrog

 

lanman31337

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Nov 19, 2003

• Dec 24, 2003

• #9

I'm running cheap memory, bumped the voltages up a smidge, and my AN35N Ultra screams. See sig for details :~

 

PingSpike

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Nov 19, 2003

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Vermont, USA

• Dec 28, 2003

• #10

Another vote for the an35nu here. Its a great budget board. For the price I don't think it can be beat.

 

N

newg

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Apr 4, 2003

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Maine, U.S.A.

• Dec 28, 2003

• #11

...I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a new Shuttle AN35N.......

 

PiMpShiN

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Nov 27, 2003

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Houston - Westside

• Dec 28, 2003

• #12

the nf7-s is the board to go with. i have the asus and honestly its good but for overclocking i would get the nf7-s. but good job with the 2100+, one of the best overclocking processors.

 

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StinkNBreff

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Nov 14, 2003

• Dec 29, 2003

• #13

An35 for sure !! nf7-s if you can afford it though by all means get it !!

 

T

Tazon

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Oct 14, 2003

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Argentina

• Dec 29, 2003

• #14

i am very interested in this topic too, what is the difference between the AN35 and the AN35 Ultra? also, i am wondering how many of you guys think it is worth having onboard SATA, or onboard RAID.

emilio

 

Balrog

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Apr 25, 2003

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Massachusetts, U.S.A.

• Dec 29, 2003

• #15

AN35N Ultra = Dual Channel
AN35N 400 = Single Channel

Personally from all I've read SATA and RAID sound great and some benchmarks make them look good but for most people they don't provide a noticeable difference. They do have certain applications where they're helpful. If you decide later you want them you can use an add-on card, you gotta use those PCI slots for something. Check out www.dansdata.com and www.xbitlabs.com as they both had recent articles regarding this.

Regards, Balrog

 

bafbrian

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Jan 30, 2003

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Atlanta, GA

• Dec 29, 2003

• #16

Another vote for the Abit NF7-S Rev2.0 here. As for the money thing, I found mine for only $80 brand new. You just gotta know where to look that's all.

 

Balrog

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Massachusetts, U.S.A.

• Dec 30, 2003

• #17

Yup those Soltek are sweet boards, but they pulled their support out if the US so many people have stopped carrying them. I believe they are still available at AJump or MWave.

Regards, Balrog