Thanks for all the posts about the motherboards. I am building my first computer and want it to be very good. So with all your posts I assume the A7N8X Deluxe is the best mobo to get. I want something powerful and performs with great ease. Can anyone give me any pros and cons i should know about the A7N8X Deluxe.I dont know how to overclock, I just post here because everyone has a vast range of informatuon for me to build my first computer. Does anyone know of coolermaster or lian li makes better cases then each other and what is the best heatsink to cool the athlon xp 2700+? Thanks again everybody for your hrlp and when i eventually build my computer it will be the rolls royce (nice metaphor!). About the cases again I want one where I can show off the insides with my coolermaster leds and a blue cold cathode. thanks again everybody.

if you wanna show off your lights like me then get a case with atleast one side window panel transparent or if you wanna really go far then you can pick up an acrylic PC case but BEWARE since the cases are made up of acrylic, they a little harder to put back on and stuff but it is not a huge thing. In my opinion, go with Lian Li cases because they are very nice and the cases are very spacious for air flow. Hope this helps.

A good case goto www.alienware.com and check out the case that they are using. Pretty nice looking eh? You can get a case in the same format for around 80 bucks with side window. I got mine relatively expensive its black, full clear side window with fan and 4 other fan + 420 watts power supply for 150. If you want a durable, expandable, good-looking enough to make your friend jealous then thats the case to get.

I just got my Asus A7n8x couple days ago. Now this motherboard has great expandability and it also overclocks relatively well. Rumor has it that you can increase the FSB up to 200x2 = 400 rock solid stable because it will later support the 400 FSB AMD baron'. Whatever it is I bought this mobo hooked it up and had no regrets

Pros:
-Expandable
-Its Nforce2 and its Asus
-Dual Channel support with a theorical bandwith of up to 6.xg (x=4 i believe)
-DDR 400
-Circuit protection for overheating CPU
never again burn another CPU
-Quiet fan technology noisey fan is a thing of the past
-Soundstorm standard from nvidia (APU sound)
-Serial ATA (SiliconImage)
-AGP 8x
-Dual Lan support Nvidia lan+3COM
-Dolby Digital
-6 USB 2 ports
-IEEE 1394
-The highest performing nforce2 board in most instances
-Protective covers on sides of Slot A to prevent tool slipping dmg when fixing a heatsink.

Cons:
-Might have problem beginning windows like me (I had reinstall XP not a big deal and I might be the only person who had this problem)
-Expensive board (mine = 189 (tax included)
-Need faster BIOS updates from Asus
-No raid
-Board is not fancy to show off (unlike that of Chaintec's or Gigabyte this board is not as ornate)
-Passive heatsink on North Bridge (well its not hot anyway unless you overclock

This board gets a 9.5/10 in my opinion and the -.5 comes from no raid.

I'd opt for a EPoX 8RDA+

It's a better overclocker, stable, and costs a lot less (I paid $102) The biggest difference between the two is SATA and dual LAN, neither or which I need. For the price difference between the 8RDA+ and the A7N8X, you could pick up more RAM or upgrade to a faster video card.

As far as installation, I hooked everything up, flashed to the latest BIOS, changed my settings from default XP1700+ of 11*133 to 8.5*200 (a conservative 16% OC), popped in my XP SP1 CD, and let it install windows. No problems, and very stable.

The 8RDA+ is the best workstation motherboard I've ever owned, and I've had quite a few... (dating back to the 8088)

If you need dual LAN (I only need one to connect to my router) or SATA (drives not really available yet) then the A7N8X is the right choice.

Good luck and have fun!

J5im8yo!

Wassup buddy! For someone "on a budget" you sure do switch boards, etc. mighty quick. Three weeks ago you said you were getting a A7N8X, then on Dec 18th you said you got the 8RDA+:

http://www.computing.net/cpus/wwwboard/forum/4247.html

Despite have the 8RDA+, on Dec 19th you were having gaming problems on an old KT7A:

http://www.computing.net/cpus/wwwboard/forum/4277.html

How are all of your systems doing?

I killed my Kt7a system and got 8rda+ but then the motherboard sucked. I simply didn't like it, it was ugly and performed just ok. I compared the benchmarks to my friend's Asus A7n8x deluxe and it fell behind and I was like wtf. I rather spend 40 bux more for a better board and so I did. I bought an Asus A7n8x Deluxe and returned the Epox. Asus is the right choice and I never regret that I bought it. Even though my friend had the same computer my performance made him jealous.

You mentioned about anandtech last time and its round up. So Epox was honored the value board title for a reason and same goes to Asus and its Power user title. Only once did Epox beaten Asus on a benchmark and Asus had the lead over 80% of the total marks.

Gaming, encoding, high-end workstation you name it Epox is not a better performer.

Asus just lost to the technical support and pricing. While overclocking on anatech they're showing that its not a better oc than Epox well thats arguable I'm saw other sites Oced the board to 200mgz FSB rock solid.

Conclusion: Asus > Epox

By the way switching board has nothing to do with budget can't I just return the previous one? I can also tell you that I've tried the NF7 and Chaintec also. Returned both. ?? So I still spend about 180bux or you count that as buying 4 motherboards?

In 11 days you managed to kill the KT7A, then purchase/get delivered/install/stabilize/benchmark/RMA the 8RDA+, NF7-S, 7NJS, and switch to the A7N8X? (All while tweaking your KT7A) Where the hell do you get your parts from? I'd love to find somewhere that I can order/RMA 4 boards in under 2 weeks!

I suspect someone is lying.....

If you can install/test/benchmark that quickly, maybe you should ask anandtech or tomshardware or one of the other review sites for a job!

LOL

It may not be a "pretty" board like some of the others, but IMHO, who cares about what it looks like, I WANT PERFORMANCE. Bottom line is that the 8RDA+ is a VERY solid performer. I run mine at 200FSB with NO PROBLEMS.

Yea who's lying I don't know last time people say I'm laying and asks for benchmarks I gave it out the second day and shuts everyone's mouth. Why you don't show me some benchmarks at 200 FSB with your 8rda+? Even if you did reach that speed my answer is so what? It simply doesn't perform as well.

Now who said I was ordering and getting it delivered? I didn't buy stuff off the interent and it takes too long to get it deliver and yes maybe I can be anandtech reviewer after all just for my efficiecy ;)

Based on my benchmarks NF7 and 8rda+ are equivalent and chaintec's sound system is better than the rest of the boards. Asus is above both of the mobo benchmark wise. Also you can oc A7n8x deluxe up to 200 FSB no problem. GO check out some site other than Anandtech's.

2 weeks is a long time and I don't understand why I can't get 4 mobos and return 3? It takes 1 day to get a mobo and 512 DDR and one day to return the MOBO. 4 of them is only 8 days?? What you talking about. Just keep finding evidence to prove me wrong and you'll just get shut out like all other threads. Hahaha

In 11 days you managed to kill the KT7A, then purchase/get delivered/install/stabilize/benchmark/RMA

huh??
Killing Kt7a takes approx 5 seconds.
Delivered ? Who said I was buying off internet
Intallation takes 2 hours
Stabilize that takes like what? 10 mins lol
Returned I can do on the same day and test out a second mobo or do it the next day?

Is 11 days not enough?? ;)

Andrew -

Sorry for flaming the hell out of your thread with J5im8yo.

The flame war is over...

i extinguished the flames and made a whole new post that should answer my questions

I am about to get this board "A7N8X" is it worth it... And is the A7N8X Deluxe version anymore different. The one problem I have seen is that you can't put a big cpu fan on as it won't fit. I bought this fan "HHC-L61" but it has heat pipes will it fit on the board.I paied 30pounds for it.
The funny looking thing by the usb 2.0 and the under the printer port can some tell me in detail what it is...
I am looking to buy this board aswell "Asus A7V8X KT400 x8AGP +Lan+USB2+ATA150+FW 1394 Motherboard" is this a better board. Please reply asap....

What does the boot screen look like aswell....And is the "A7N8X" come with raid or is the just with the deluxe version.....