AMD Mobo of the moment?

[Shawk]

Looking to upgrade. Been looking at the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset.
Baffling array and some new mobo manufacturers on the scene I havent come
across before. Any advice on the type of board I should be considering
would be very much appreciated.

FYI. Probably go for an XP2500 - XP2800 CPU (depending on price - will go
for best I can afford). Advice on best bang for buck CPU also appreciated.

To give you an idea of what I want to do with it. System will be an
all-rounder (office apps, bit of video encoding etc) but I REALLY do like to
finish the day with a few hours of gratuitous violence on 1st person
shooters. Currently enjoying Black Hawk Down, Star Trek Elite Force 2 and
the 3rd person Max Payne 2. Looking forward to HL2 etc.

Graphics are by way of an existing Sapphire 9600 Pro. Mem by way of
existing 512MB PC2700. HD's (2) are both ATA so SATA would be redundant
initially but it would be nice to upgrade to that later.

Need more info then please shout.

Many thanks, Shawk.

 

[Tj]

INTEL is the way to go if you don't want problems.

 

[AMD'r]

I have a Gigabyte G7N400L1, (a bit le$$ than the pro but w/o 1394 & SATA)
with an 2500+ XP Barton and 512MB PC2700, the Asus A7N8X is also a good
choice. The 2500 is the slowest of the Bartons but still the best value $
wise, the 2800 being about 75% more expensive (here in Canada). Pop your
video card into either one of these boards and you won't be disappointed...
at work or at play

AMD'r

 

[S.Heenan]

Looking to upgrade. Been looking at the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset.
Baffling array and some new mobo manufacturers on the scene I havent
come across before. Any advice on the type of board I should be
considering would be very much appreciated.

FYI. Probably go for an XP2500 - XP2800 CPU (depending on price -
will go for best I can afford). Advice on best bang for buck CPU
also appreciated.

To give you an idea of what I want to do with it. System will be an
all-rounder (office apps, bit of video encoding etc) but I REALLY do
like to finish the day with a few hours of gratuitous violence on 1st
person shooters. Currently enjoying Black Hawk Down, Star Trek Elite
Force 2 and the 3rd person Max Payne 2. Looking forward to HL2 etc.

Graphics are by way of an existing Sapphire 9600 Pro. Mem by way of
existing 512MB PC2700. HD's (2) are both ATA so SATA would be
redundant initially but it would be nice to upgrade to that later.

Need more info then please shout.

The Abit NF7-S with a 2500+ is an excellent and popular combination.

 

[Andy]

Looking to upgrade. Been looking at the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset.
Baffling array and some new mobo manufacturers on the scene I havent come
across before. Any advice on the type of board I should be considering
would be very much appreciated.

FYI. Probably go for an XP2500 - XP2800 CPU (depending on price - will go
for best I can afford). Advice on best bang for buck CPU also appreciated.

To give you an idea of what I want to do with it. System will be an
all-rounder (office apps, bit of video encoding etc) but I REALLY do like to
finish the day with a few hours of gratuitous violence on 1st person
shooters. Currently enjoying Black Hawk Down, Star Trek Elite Force 2 and
the 3rd person Max Payne 2. Looking forward to HL2 etc.

Graphics are by way of an existing Sapphire 9600 Pro. Mem by way of
existing 512MB PC2700. HD's (2) are both ATA so SATA would be redundant
initially but it would be nice to upgrade to that later.

Need more info then please shout.

Many thanks, Shawk.

I have the A7N8X Deluxe, been working fine and reliably 24/7 for a few
weeks now.

Andy

 

[@drian]

...but I REALLY do like to
finish the day with a few hours of gratuitous violence on 1st person...
LOL!

Currently enjoying Black Hawk Down, Star Trek Elite Force 2 and
the 3rd person Max Payne 2. Looking forward to HL2 etc.

Me too!

I think one board that ranks as both reliable and stable, is the Asus A7N8X
Deluxe. I read that some Gigabyte boards are as feature packed as well. I
personally would choose the A7N8X, make sure it's a Revision 2.0 board and
up, to get the Ultra 400 support.

@drian.

 

[Shawk]

Me too!

I think one board that ranks as both reliable and stable, is the Asus A7N8X
Deluxe. I read that some Gigabyte boards are as feature packed as well. I
personally would choose the A7N8X, make sure it's a Revision 2.0 board and
up, to get the Ultra 400 support.

@drian.

Thankyou all for the comments. Will start googling the boards you/ve
mentioned for reviews etc.

Appreciate it. Shawk.

 

[John M]

Like you, I'm wanting to do a bit of everything with the new
motherboard I'm planning on buying.

I'm wanting to get the MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR and a 2500+.

 

[Shawk]

INTEL is the way to go if you don't want problems.

like

Never had a problem with the last 5 AMD's Tj but thanks for the comments.

 

[William W. Plummer]

Ditto

I have the A7N8X Deluxe, been working fine and reliably 24/7 for a few
weeks now.

Andy

 

[JAD]

Via chipsets with Intels sucks as bad as Via

with AMD. Even an intel chipset board like ASUS

oh yeah baby P3V4X.....couldn't do a file size over 100megs without corruption....but still a great system for everything else.

 

[stacey]

INTEL is the way to go if you don't want problems.

No, Intel is the way to go if you are doing video editing/encoding. Via IS
the way to go if you want problems! Too many people confuse their problems
with via chipsets and AMD. Via chipsets with Intels sucks as bad as Via
with AMD. Even an intel chipset board like ASUS that has the Via Raid chip
is shitty.

Otherwise it's pretty much a wash between processors when you factor in
costs. If you are going to be doing video work I HIGHLY recomend you
rethink using an AMD 32 as it has no SSE2.

 

[Shawk]

Via chipsets with Intels sucks as bad as Via

oh yeah baby P3V4X.....couldn't do a file size over 100megs without

corruption....but still a great system for everything else.

No, Intel is the way to go if you are doing video editing/encoding. Via IS
the way to go if you want problems! Too many people confuse their problems
with via chipsets and AMD. that has the Via Raid chip
is shitty.

Otherwise it's pretty much a wash between processors when you factor in
costs. If you are going to be doing video work I HIGHLY recomend you
rethink using an AMD 32 as it has no SSE2.

Never a problem with the last 5 VIA mobo's either. Still currently running
three networked here. Shawk.

 

[\(\) |V| 3 G A]

isnt that a bit biased?

i`ve had both intel and AMD based machines, and i`m sticking with AMD. i
cannot say an advantage to either except for intel's heat spreader and the
CPU hold down clamp. amd's leave a bit to be desired on that front.
performance wise, there both good for different things.

end of the day, AMD *ARE* faster than intel, mhz for mhz. and this is what
counts, not AMD's PR rating system figures.

tim

 

[\(\) |V| 3 G A]

i`ve had 3 VIA based boards, 2 in the celeron days, and the asus a7v333. all
3 where absolutely faultless.

if via had locked agp/pci speeds like the nforce2 board do, then i`d be
running an a7v8x and not my a7n8x.

tim

 

[stacey]

Via chipsets with Intels sucks as bad as Via

oh yeah baby P3V4X.....couldn't do a file size over 100megs without
corruption....but still a great system for everything else.

The one I tried crashed everytime I started a 3D app using a voodoo5 while
the 815 board worked perfect.. POS!

 

[stacey]

i`ve had 3 VIA based boards, 2 in the celeron days, and the asus a7v333.
all 3 where absolutely faultless.

We're so proud of you.

Like another user said for many uses they work fine, but most have flaws
that the right hardware/use will bring out. Personally I have no interest
anymore in being a beta tester for Via.

 

[Matt]

Looking to upgrade. Been looking at the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset.
Baffling array and some new mobo manufacturers on the scene I havent come
across before. Any advice on the type of board I should be considering
would be very much appreciated.

Hmmm ... nobody mentioned Biostar M7NCD Pro. Great board and priced low.