Lookin for some Mobo...

pinstripe007 · Jan 18, 2004, 07:19 PM

Opinions and Experiences between the two below.

Abit NF7-S ver.2.0

and the

DFI nForce2 Ultra 400 LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B

Thanks for any input...building a new rig and I'm looking for stability @ 220FSB with Barton +2500, Golden Dragon 3500 DDR.

WildChild · Jan 18, 2004, 07:31 PM

Abit NF7-S ver.2.0

Bane the ECF · Jan 18, 2004, 09:17 PM

Ditto, NF7-s.

~~Crash Override~~ · Jan 18, 2004, 09:35 PM

Yes I know its not on your list

And yes I know I keep pimping it out

but

Giga-Byte GA-7N400 PRO or PRO2 are kick ass motherboards

Really good features and the original PRO is soundstorm certified. However the PRO2 has gigabit ethernet and an upgraded audio codec that puts even soundstorm to shame

Not badly priced either and I know they have settings for up to 300 on the FSB (I know on stock HSF I could run my CPU at 200FSB without an issue)

However the nice thing about the original PRO is that it has much better CPU voltage support. It has increments of .05 on the v lines if I recall correctly, whereas the PRO2 just has percentages

That said however I havent had any probs with my PRO2

pinstripe007 · Jan 18, 2004, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Override
Yes I know its not on your list

And yes I know I keep pimping it out

but

Giga-Byte GA-7N400 PRO or PRO2 are kick ass motherboards

Really good features and the original PRO is soundstorm certified. However the PRO2 has gigabit ethernet and an upgraded audio codec that puts even soundstorm to shame

Not badly priced either and I know they have settings for up to 300 on the FSB (I know on stock HSF I could run my CPU at 200FSB without an issue)

However the nice thing about the original PRO is that it has much better CPU voltage support. It has increments of .05 on the v lines if I recall correctly, whereas the PRO2 just has percentages

That said however I havent had any probs with my PRO2

I had thought about that but I am going to put a Thermalright SP-97 on the board and I found out that it does not have mounting holes, which means uncompatible...but I did think of this board. Thanks for the input though

tek · Jan 18, 2004, 11:24 PM

DFI, just wait till Craig attacks this htread and starts rambling on about his l33t DFI board, it'll convince you

Good mobo, better than ABIT for overclocks, up to 3.2V for RAM!! 2.0V for CPU, CMOS Reloaded (save several bios's), etc, etc.

DFI all the way kid even check some reviews search for "ABIT NF7-S vs. DFI Lanparty NFII Ultra B" on www.google.com.

~~Crash Override~~ · Jan 19, 2004, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pinstripe007
I had thought about that but I am going to put a Thermalright SP-97 on the board and I found out that it does not have mounting holes, which means uncompatible...but I did think of this board. Thanks for the input though

ah ok

I didnt know that you planned on using a mountable HSF

If you didnt have that one already I was gonna suggest the Thermalright sk900u with a nice thermaltake smart fan II

those 2 together are quite the nice combination. Upstairs we've gotten the 2500+ up to 230FSB

With better memory we hope we can push it higher later 2.53GHz =

WildChild · Jan 19, 2004, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Override
Yes I know its not on your list

And yes I know I keep pimping it out

but

Giga-Byte GA-7N400 PRO or PRO2 are kick ass motherboards

Really good features and the original PRO is soundstorm certified. However the PRO2 has gigabit ethernet and an upgraded audio codec that puts even soundstorm to shame

Not badly priced either and I know they have settings for up to 300 on the FSB (I know on stock HSF I could run my CPU at 200FSB without an issue)

However the nice thing about the original PRO is that it has much better CPU voltage support. It has increments of .05 on the v lines if I recall correctly, whereas the PRO2 just has percentages

That said however I havent had any probs with my PRO2

WOW another gigabyte head ...lmaooo ....COOOLLLLL!!! Didnt wanna rock the boat ...lol...I had the n700pro not pro 2 and it was a great board...many features not included in the other boards,but alas they cut corners and cmae out with the pro2 which is a lower pcb board then the original pro board.Pro was 6 pcb layered pro2 is 4 pcb layer.

~~Crash Override~~ · Jan 19, 2004, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by WildChild
WOW another gigabyte head ...lmaooo ....COOOLLLLL!!! Didnt wanna rock the boat ...lol...I had the n700pro not pro 2 and it was a great board...many features not included in the other boards,but alas they cut corners and cmae out with the pro2 which is a lower pcb board then the original pro board.Pro was 6 pcb layered pro2 is 4 pcb layer.

frightening thing is the Pro2 is still a killer overclocker though

The only things missing IMO is the MCP-T and the incremental cpu voltage rather than percentage based

but this thing is still smoking

Right now Im only running it at a 182FSB with my Corsair XMS2700. I'm gonna try taking it up higher later but I need to get some better cooling on this thing that will still be quiet as I have to sleep near this beast at night.

pinstripe007 · Jan 19, 2004, 02:27 PM

Update...for anyone that would like to know.

I was concerned about the new Thermalright SP-97 fitting on the DFI LANPARTY NFII Ultra B. Well I received an email today from Thermalright that said that it is not compatible out of the box. However, with proof of purchase, they would send a "fix."

Since I had not purchased the mobo...I guess I am going with the Abit NF7-S so that I can put the SP-97 on.

As always, thank you all for the opinions and if anyone else has got one, that will be great...since my decisions are never set in stone.

BWX · Jan 20, 2004, 04:42 AM

Both nice boards, the DFI seems to have more memory timing options, and maybe a little more juice when OC'ing (the ram voltage anyway)- but the Abit is a solid board-
MOST people never have a problem with them.. hm-hm, craig.
I think the Abit is quite a bit less expensive too.

WildChild · Jan 20, 2004, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Override
frightening thing is the Pro2 is still a killer overclocker though

The only things missing IMO is the MCP-T and the incremental cpu voltage rather than percentage based

but this thing is still smoking

Right now Im only running it at a 182FSB with my Corsair XMS2700. I'm gonna try taking it up higher later but I need to get some better cooling on this thing that will still be quiet as I have to sleep near this beast at night.

Got a guy who unlocks all that stuff in the bios,using his bios as we speak ....I'll check and see what he unlocks in the modded bios.

This is what he has added and unhidden and unlocked for the bios for that board:

Re: Gigabyte Modded Bios
« Reply #1 on: Jan 14th, 2004, 09:44am »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2

1) Bios Version: F5 + ITE ATA-TAID + SATA 4227
Unhidden:
- CPU Internal Cache
- CPU External Cache
- Quick Power On Self Test
- Boot Others Device
- System Bios Cacheable
- Video Ram Cachable
- ACPI Function
- FSB Spread Spectrum
- AGP Spread Spectrum
- AGP 8 Support
- Add Vdimm : +0.3V option
- add ITE ATA-RAID bios
- add SATA Bios Version 4227

Link Provided Below:

GA-7N400 Pro2 Bios

**Asmoday** · Jan 20, 2004, 11:04 AM

Actuelly i'm going from the nf7-s 2.0 to the Dfi mobo...how it fairs , only time will tell (this weekend)

zerodamage · Jan 20, 2004, 11:06 AM

Just do what wildchild says, or he might hurt you.

WildChild · Jan 20, 2004, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by zerodamage
Just do what wildchild says, or he might hurt you.

LMAO....

dorkz · Jan 20, 2004, 11:20 AM

NF7 m8. I got one non-S version and It R0X!

BWX · Jan 20, 2004, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by d4rkz
NF7 m8. I got one non-S version and It R0X!

I got the non-S too

Best AMD mobo ever made. (IMHO)

But pinstripe is getting the NF7-s -hes' gonna be building up a nice system soon.

**Roadee** · Jan 20, 2004, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by zerodamage
Just do what wildchild says, or he might hurt you.

But he is just a widdle guy

Kinda reminds me of Mighty Mouse!!

Just add the cape...

pinstripe007 · Jan 20, 2004, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BWX232
I got the non-S too

Best AMD mobo ever made. (IMHO)

But pinstripe is getting the NF7-s -hes' gonna be building up a nice system soon.

hee hee, first parts coming tomorrow via Fedex...but the mobo (NF7-S) <--- I have decided, I'm going to save that extra cash for some nice round cables and some software; and the cpu (+2500), next week. I'll have that new rig up at the end of February beginning of March. I cannot wait...anyway back to the topic

I decided on the NF7-S because it has been test over and over with the best stability and because the SP-97 really doesn't fit on the DFI board. Thanks all for the opinions and Wildchild forgive me this time for not listening...LMAO!!!!

~~Crash Override~~ · Jan 20, 2004, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WildChild
Got a guy who unlocks all that stuff in the bios,using his bios as we speak ....I'll check and see what he unlocks in the modded bios.

This is what he has added and unhidden and unlocked for the bios for that board:

Re: Gigabyte Modded Bios
« Reply #1 on: Jan 14th, 2004, 09:44am »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2

1) Bios Version: F5 + ITE ATA-TAID + SATA 4227
Unhidden:
- CPU Internal Cache
- CPU External Cache
- Quick Power On Self Test
- Boot Others Device
- System Bios Cacheable
- Video Ram Cachable
- ACPI Function
- FSB Spread Spectrum
- AGP Spread Spectrum
- AGP 8 Support
- Add Vdimm : +0.3V option
- add ITE ATA-RAID bios
- add SATA Bios Version 4227

Link Provided Below:

GA-7N400 Pro2 Bios

Pretty good set of bios there WC

I like having more options for my raid and SATA drives as well as the .3V Vdimm option

should help in overclocking