Last minute Mobo choice...

[jch216]

Ok, Thanks everyone for the help so far. I'm down to the last minute before dropping $500 for the guts of my system. I was set on the Abit NF7-S, but after seeing that the gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 is $25 cheaper and looks like it has almost all the same features plus a duel Bios I am considering this one too. Does anyone care to lend any last minute advice?

The NF7-S and the gigabyte were neck'n'neck in this review.


http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.html?i=19673


Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1, nForce2 Ultra400 chipset for Socket A ATX motherboard RETAIL
Specifications:
Supported CPU:AMD AthlonXP / Athlon / Duron processor
Chipset:nForce 2 Ultra400 + MCP
FSB:400/333/266/200
RAMDR*4 (dual channel) DDR400/333/266 Max 3GB
IDEual channel Ultra ATA 133/100/66 Max 4 Devices
Slots:1 x AGP pro slot (8x/4x-AGP 3.0 compliant), supports 1.5v display card only. 5 x PCI slots (PCI 2.2 compliant
Ports:2xPS2, 2xCOM,1xLPT,1xLAN, 4xUSB and Audio Ports
Onboard Audio:AC97 (ALC650) 6 Channel onboard Codec
Onboard LAN: Realtek 8100C 10/100 Ethernet

[thronka]

I like the dual bios option. I also like the nfroce2 because if you plan to overclock th nforce2 locks the agp bus speed and pci speed so that other devices are uneffected by overclocking.

[JPMiller]

I doubt anyone here can give you a solid reason to buy one over the other...go with your gut...get the dual bios because I can tell you want to!

[jch216]

lol... not really JP. I just like the pretty colors!


I was thinking that maybe because the Abit has been out longer that it would be wise to go with it to avoid possible bugs. But the gigabyte would match my abit video card in color(blue).

Looks like Gigabyte's new nforce mobos are going to be a winner.

[thronka]

i have a red mobo with green cards :P what a match

[jch216]

Uh oh, I found a review of the Abit that has made my decision. My case is going to have a red/blue color scheme inside and the abit 2.0 is a red board. Awesome. It must be sign from the Mobo gods.

[ToddS]

nooo don't, get the Gigabyte board, they're amazing..

[freefall]

Just a few things about the GA-7N400-L1 (I bought one today, unfortunately I won't have ram until tomorrow to use it )

1. There is no active cooling on the northbridge, something that annoys me to no end (the power connector is still there though)

2. There is no dual bios on this model

3. There is a different south bridge, the MCP instead of the MCP-T (no idea what the difference is)

4. No AGP Pro.

5. No Audio combo kit (I have no idea what this is, nor that the other model had it when I bought it though)

6. Only 1 IDE cable, instead of 3.


While I'm still happy with my purchase, this is really the bottom of the barrel board. I was very disappointed at not getting the dual bios, and I've yet to find a review that will tell me if its faster/slower.

[ToddS]

That's why they should get the Gigabyte GN-400 Pro