Abit NF7-S2 or Asus A7N8X-E?

Tirian

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May 23, 2003
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I'm putting together a system that will tide me over for a while, but I need SATA on the board. I've narrowed it down to one of these choices, but wanted some opinions. Currently I'm leaning towards the NF7-S2 simply because it's about $20 cheaper, and this is a system that won't last me more than a year most likely. (I'm holding out on the Athlon 64s until I can get a board with PCI-E and a significant upgrade to my Radeon 9800 Pro.)

Also, I plan to put either a mobile Barton 2500 or 2600 inside with two sticks of 512MB PC3200 memory. (Some people say the 2500 is better for OC'ing, and some the 2600, thoughts?)

This thread is very simliar to one a few pages back, but that was before the release of the NF7-S2, so the comments about the NF7 being outdated seem, well, outdated.

I'll be using this setup primarily for playing EverQuest 2 (yeah I'm one of those) and DVD burning, so really the only taxing thing is EQ2 (which by all accounts should be very taxing, even with my Radeon 9800 Pro) and the occasional FPS. I won't want to get too crazy with the OC'ing, but I'm thinking that by going with the final choice of these two boards and two chips, I can boost my performance a decent amount and still keep the costs down.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
The standard NF7-S Revision 2.0 is one of the best Socket A boards. Revision 2.0 is the only version that's been on the market for serveral months, so no need to actually "look" for it. I know nothing of the NF7-S2, but age isn't a factor, the NF7-S r2.0 is the top board for you money.

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scottchen

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Jun 3, 2003
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The only difference i see between the NF7-S and the 2 is the new features, but haven't heard much about its performance/overclocking potentials, but i'd definently go with the Abit board.

Don't listen to anything Kanavit says, because he's a limped dick Intel loving pussy.

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Coyote

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Oct 1, 2003
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I'd stay away from the NF7-S2, especially if you're gonna do any OCing.

These cheaper mobos, named too closely to the real NF7-S v2, are causing confusion and peeps are complaining.

The NF7-S2 can't run ram at CAS 2.0, only 2.5, have limited voltage adjustments, and don't offer cpu multiplier adjustments. Which w/b a waste if you plan on getting a mobile chip.

Mobile XP 2600+ (11X200)
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
BBA 9800 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win98SE
 

blackphoenix77

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Jan 10, 2004
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I have NF7-S Rev2 and a 2500+ Mobile. I've reached 2.6ghz stable with 1.85vcore and I had an idle temp of only like 36c with Tornado12. But it was freezing in my room(60f) and my case temp was like 28c. I don't think it really matters.

<font color=blue>AthlonXP-M 2500+(12x211)</font color=blue><font color=green>Abit NF7-S</font color=green><font color=red>Kingston DDR400 2x256Mb</font color=red>