nforce2 vs. nforce2 ultra400?

[Digerati]

I just sold my Epox 8RDA+ (rev 1.1 A2 stepping) and am looking for a new nforce2 board.

I'm thinking of either the Asus a7n8x deluxe or the Abit NF7-S boards.

What I'm wondering is if these boards have the nforce2 ultra400 chipset update in their latest revisions?

I know Epox has the 8rda3+ but I'm also looking for the Soundstorm sound fully enabled, which I think the other 2 boards have.

Anyhow, can I get the ultra400 in the a7n8x deluxe for nf7-s? and if so, which revision do i need to make sure i get? if not, which boards do have that updated chipset? I don't want to buy a board now and find that a whole new crop is about to pop up with better, if not spectacularly so, performance because of the official support fo r200mhz bus speeds.

Thanks!

 

[Winter]

I'm also trying to choose between the NF7-S and the A7N8X... what does everyone recommend?

 

[Anakist]

Apparently the a7n is a "faster" mobo. Apparently it is the "fastest". I am not sure how it is judged or anything. The r2 of the a7n has 200 bus. The older ones can be flashed to handle 200. Here it is from ocau.
_______________________________________________
It's Offical ASUS have released the 1004 Bios which now give the users with 1.03,1.04 and 1.06 Revisions 400 Mhz FSB Support for Barton.

Here is the full list of changes:

1.Fix A7N8X system fails to resume from S3 when using ATI RADEON 8500DV AGP VGA card.
2.Add "Dual Channel mode" or "Single Channel mode" string on POST screen.
3.Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpus...cpusupport.aspx
4.Fix Win98 system shuts down fail if USB mouse legacy item in BIOS setup is enabled.
5.Fix large data transfer failed under Win2K and WinXP with hard disks configured as RAID0.

Note: 5 is the SATA Fix for the board.

Here is the link for the Deluxe Users:
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/down...=A7N8X Deluxe

Non-Deluxe Users:
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/down...elName=A7N8X
________________________________________________

James

 

[Winter]

The Asus boards cost about $130 new, but NewEgg is selling a refurbished one for $80... should I consider it or should I only buy a motherboard brand new?

 

[LeeJend]

Define refurbished?

The board was shipped to a nerd who couldn't plug the cables in right and returned it out of inexperience.

The board did not work for someone who knew what they were doing but the board was quirky in their setup.

Somebody fried the board through incompetence and conned new egg into a replacement.

Some other thoughts:
Can you return a refurbished for full refund?
Will you have to pay return shipping if its no good.
Are the cables, adapters, manual, cd missing or damaged?

The question to ask is:
Are you feeling lucky today? (Picture Clint and the 44 Magnum.)

 

[Sazar]

the supposed extra speed comes basically from the dual channel memory which specifies higher memory bandwidth... ie operations will operate faster with more memory since that is a lesser bottleneck...

the kt400 setup is not bad but I do recommend either an nforce2 supporting 200mhz fsb clock or the upcoming kt600 from via.. which appears to be faster than the nforce platforms...

the via chipsets should retail cheaper.. but they are not sold yet...

the asus mobo does have some issues though.... I HIGHLY recommend you verify which type of memory to use with the motherboard... if not an r2.0...

we ordered a few deluxe versions of the a7n8x... but every single one of them had problems with the ddr 2700 memory modules (samsung and micron) that we had ordered for use from newegg... which was bundled

the corsair memory is good though... we replaced it with the xms modules and it worked well...

its a known issue with some memory types on the a78nx... but the 2.0 revision supposedly fixes the known issues...

 

[chaos945]

Originally posted by Anakist
Here is the link for the Deluxe Users:
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/down...=A7N8X Deluxe

Non-Deluxe Users:
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/down...elName=A7N8X

The above didn't work for me so here are some mirrors.

• Mirrors:
  
  Asus A7N8X Deluxe
  
  Asus A7N8X

 

[Winter]

Define refurbished?

Not sure, it doesn't specify on the site: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=13-131-436R&depa=0

the supposed extra speed comes basically from the dual channel memory which specifies higher memory bandwidth... ie operations will operate faster with more memory since that is a lesser bottleneck...

The NF7-S also has dual DDR though right? I'm leanin towards the Abit if the Asus has memory issues... I don't wanna have to worry about returning things and all that...

Also, are the Asus 2.0's out?
Err nevermind here's one http://www.ateck.com/viewitem.asp?idproduct=453055230
So that one won't have any issues with memory correct?

 

[Anakist]

Hmmm. What about other ram?? I have the a7n dlx and haven't got ram yet. I am just going to get generic ($95aud for a 512 333MHz) ram and run that.

James