Pls recommend me a s.A MB.

[striving]

Hello,
I would like to ask you to recommend me a MB for socket A.
Here is what I am thinking about with the prices.
They are all nForce2.
Unfortunately I could not find suitable enough benchmark results... so I want to hear your opinion on these !

// the CPU is Sempron 2400+ socket A, the system will be used for gaming (a little) and I may do overclocking, but I am not a great fan.

thanks


SOLTEK - 75FRN3 - $61
( 75FRN3, nVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 + MCP, FSB: 400/333/266/200MHz, Dual Chanel DDR400, 6-Channel AC'97 Audio )

ABIT - NF7 - $67
( NF7, NVIDIA nForce™2 Ultra 400 chipset with MCP, FSB: 200/266/333/400 MHz, Dual DDR 200/266/333 (Max. 3 GB), LAN, AUDIO: 6-Channel AC 97 CODEC )

EPOX - 8RDA3i - $62
( 8RDA3i, Nvidia Nforce 2 Ultra 400+mcp chipset, 200/266/333/400 system bus, 5xPCI, 1xAGP 8x, max 3GB DDR 3200, 6 channel audio, LAN )

BIOSTAR - M7NCD Ultra - $60
( M7NCD Ultra, nVidia Nforce2 Ultra 400/MCP, SATA, RAID, ATX, Socket A, 6-ch S/W Audio, 5PCI, AGP8X, CNR, 3DDR, FSB:400MHz, Dual DDR 400, ATA 133, 6 USB2.0, LAN )

MSI - K7N2 DELTA-L - $65
( K7N2 DELTA-L, nVIDIA nForce2 SPP + MCP2, FSB: 400/333/266 MHz, SATA, AUDIO: ALC650 AC'97 2.3 S/PDIF extension compliant codec, 6-channel, LAN: IEEE 802.3, Ethernet 10/100 Mbps )

 

[tweebel]

As far as performance is concerned there is not that big a difference between A-brand motherboards. Furthermore (as far as I can see from the descrition below) all support dual channel memory and a little overclocking. So the next thing you'll have to look at are the price and the motherboards features. The info on that you will be able to find on the manufactures websites.
If you find differences it'll probably be something with FireWire, onboard sound, onboard LAN (10/100mbit or gigabit) amount of available USB ports, PCI slots and Serial ATA but as far as I know all nVidia Ultra chipsets support Serial ATA.
Also check how many years the guarantee lasts.

Just compare your needs to the items listed above and see which you like better.

And last but not least, a complete overview:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030721/index.html

A very big nForce Ultra mainboards test.

Good luck.

 

[pat]

I've used the soltek before for myself and some built and found it a very good board. Stable, inexpensive, overclock well and performing good.
the Abit should be goo too. But havent used/seen one. I highly recommend it. Dont bother about dual channel capability for now. If you're going to have 512 megs of RAM. just buy one stick of generic RAM, not 2x256Megs. If you need more, you'll just ad another 512 megs of ram later.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[Flinx]

I know and like the NF7:

On the good side:
..... Best Japanese capacitors, great for overclocking.
On the bad side:
..... Low on features compared to the MSI.

The loving are the daring!