Starting from scratch again, which one?

I think Abit's NF7-S looks like a great board, expecially bang/buck. There are others that are cheaper and others more expensive but I think the NF7-S owns its pricerange (115-125).

However I just ordered a DFI Lanparty NFII for $170. I really liked its features/accesories and can't resist going all out on motherboards for some reason.

As for the low end (<100) boards, I think Epox has that market. (Soltek good too)

The Asus and MSI you mention are great boards too but there not my pick.

Keep in mind I don't own any of these, I do however read lots of reviews.

Hope I helped your decision rather than just making it more confusing.

I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe board. It is great and I have had no problems with it. Here is my system:
<A HREF="http://www16.brinkster.com/davemar14/main" target="_new">http://www16.brinkster.com/davemar14/main&lt;/A>

MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR is the best nForce2 mobo now

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<b><A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new"> My Rig</A></b>

Yes and I have one HAHAHAH

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Ok, so I have reviewed the MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR and Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo's. After doing more research on them, it appears that there are less problems with the Asus and more options. No offense to the MSI group.
So, my next question would be, which memory? I know Corsair is the way to go, but DDR or DDR2? I want to go with a higher memory fsb, thats another question. Should it be the 333/400/434? Should I get twins or one? Which is the best latency to go with?
I appreciate all the help with this. I want this to be the best system I have from scratch.
I've already decided to go with the Antec 1000AMG case.
I still have not been able to decide on a vid card either, I really can't afford a very high end.


Thanks,

Gem

Trying to get there, but seems to be no shortcut!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by geminiguy on 06/16/03 11:09 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

Its very good that you've done research. I'm one of the people in the MSI group and I've taken no offence to what you said. Asus makes a very good board, it should give you happiness for quite a while.

As for memory, I don't think DDR2 is available yet. I'd suggest getting twins, maybe Corsair TWIN-X or the HyperX Dual DDR kit. I know the TWIN-X is compatible with the Asus A7N8X rev. 2 but I'm not sure about the HyperX. Corsair's have pretty good latency for their RAM.

For vid card, maybe the 9700 non-Pro. Can easily overclock that vid card to Pro speeds at a lower cost. Those are my opinions, of course the final decision lies in your hands. Enjoy your new system when its done!

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=24106" target="_new"> My System Rig</A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=535386" target="_new"> 3DMark03</A>

Search THGC mobo forum, I bet you will see more problems with A7N8X compared to K72 or K72 Delta

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i own the a7n8x deluxe board, and ive had no problems with it, absolutely brilliant, and MSI seems to be just as good too, and a touch faster, though the asus was $50ca cheaper for me so i bought it instead, my vote goes to whichever one is more readily availabe and less money for you

as for RAM corsair XMS cas 2.0 is excellent RAM, i run mine with 2-2-2-5 timings and no problems, everything is nice and stable, and if you want dual channel ram, id stay away from the paired sets, too expensive, just buy 2 512 sticks of XMS

and a radeon 9500 pro will serve nicely for a gaming machine (stay away from the 9600 its slower)but if you can afford it a non pro 9700 would be amazing



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