Which board is better? / .....and why?

Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
edited July 2004 in Hardware
I just got these 2 boards in a trade deal and am considering keeping one to replace the ECS K7VTA3 ver 8 in my wife's machine. Or should I sell both and get something else? What does each have to offer over the other? They look real close. I also got another 2500 Barton for her and will keep her current CPU iin the current board as a folding rig.

DFI "NFII 400-AL" nForce2 400 Chipset


ECS "KT600-A" KT600 Chipset

Comments

  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    ????????
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    I would go for the NF2 board, of those two. NVidia NF2 chipset tends to be better than Via KT600 as far as stability and chipset drivers. BUT, have not used a DFI branded board in a long time.

    The KT600 can be flaky on some boards depending on exactly how it is deployed ans with what else. ECS has uneven quality, is a value\econo with a few exceptions. The KT600A IS a fix rerelease for KT600, should be better than KT600 sans A.

    Conclusion-- so close to even that I would choose DFI based on chipset. Both can be uneven as to board-to-board quality. DFI has slightly better rep than ECS. I've overall, return RMA'd more ECS boards (One box I got had one of the better ECS boards in it as far as overall rep, but board got changed out within 6 months, and year and a half later I trashed the computer-- it had a one year depot warranty to start with-- and the CPU had been exchanged for new, one of the RAM socket clips for DIMM 0 socket had literally fallen off and that DIMM had worked loose and shorted and had to be mfr RMA'd, etc, during first year. Overall, that was one of the best rep boards ECS made at the time. ).

    Since I have used neither, will let others talk specifics. But, expect to need to try them to see if individually one is better quality then other for the other hardware you have in that box, from those mfrs. DFI has slightly better rep among OEMs down here, then ECS, with specifc model and rev exceptions.

    NF2 likes NVidia video chipsets better than some ATI video chipsets (again, there are some detailed exceptions to this). So, if you have an ATI card you might well want to try the ECS\KT600A board first instead of the DFI board. Second, if your wife's current board has a Via chipset now, and you do not want to reload Widnows, transition will be easier as far as time and pickyness of driver install details, to try sticking with Via for first tryon. Its EASIEST to reload Windows and recover work stuff from backup when going from a Via driver set to an NF2, as far as time and effort for you, the builder.

    Frankly, I do not remember what is in your wife's computer now as far as board and other things. Could do better if I knew that.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    I say dump em and get an NF7
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited July 2004
    Keep the dfi cos of the Nforce chipset and over clock the barton to 3200 via fsb.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited July 2004
    If your running stock the DFI is better because the NF2 chipset is 5-10% faster than the KT600 chipset.

    If your going to OC, the ECS only allow FSB adjustments (No Voltage adj), whereas the DFI might/should have all adj available. You'll have to check.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited July 2004
    I beieve that DFI only allows fsb overclocking :(
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited July 2004
    if u use that kt600 ill huant to for the rest of your life
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    Since I already have another DFI 400 II Nforce2 up and running with another 2500 Barton @ 200fsb = 2206 that has done quite well so far. I will get rid of the ECS KT-600A board. Neither board has voltage control except for DIMM and the DFI board also has the 4 holes around the socket to mount my Alpha PAL8045. The REaltek 5.1 audio on the DFI board seems to be a better choice also. Thanks for the input. Now my home will be all NF2 and Barton cores. :D
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited July 2004
    If that had been as Epox KT600 mobo, of course my advice would've been slightly different...check the sig :)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    EPoX and KT600!

    100% chance that it'll break, and 100% chance that it'll suck when not working on death throes. ;D
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited July 2004
    Don't Hate on my Epox Kt600. :D That one mobo alone gives me 75% of your FAH Production :Pwned:
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    Not :Pwned:

    It damn well better produce 75% of my production, considering I have two rigs, and only one of them is on 24/7. The other is about 6 hours a day.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited July 2004
    It's on 24/7 (for >12 months straight) but it also serves as my 3 yr old DVD & Game machine. And for god knows why, he just has to watch Spiderman and Shrek at least at least once a day.
Sign In or Register to comment.