New motherboard advice

Disaster1Disaster1
edited August 2004 in Hardware
Looking for a new motherboard, right now my specs are:

Radeon X800 PRO
80GB Western Digital HD
1.0 GB PC2700 DDR Ram
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
DVD +/- RW
DVD ROM
Antec 430W PS
AMD 2700+

are there any MOBO's out there right now that will give me suffecient room to upgrade in the future? I plan on upgraded my processor in the next year at least...maybe sooner. I currently have a VIA KM400 chipset and it is pretty buggy. I am looking for something reliable and upgradble...been looking at the Abit NF-7, but am not sure if there is something better for me.

Comments

  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited August 2004
    you can get an nf7-s, which is the top of the hill socket A board. the problem, as far as upgradability goes, is that you are pretty close to the top of possible CPUs to fit in that board, especially considering that pretty much anything above the cpu you have is going to have an fsb of 200, which means pc3200 ram, which means when you upgrade that cpu you'll be upgrading your ram too.

    what i would suggest is wait til you have some money put aside, get yourself a new mobo (s939, s754 if the prices plummet) a matching cpu and some new ram. a big upgrade :D
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited August 2004
    The ABIT NF7-S is still one of the best, if not THE best, socket A motherboard around.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited August 2004
    Do I need the NF7-S or just the NF7, since i already have an Audigy soundcard? What is the NF7-M?
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited August 2004
    you just need the NF7
    the S has soundstorm, which some pople argue is better than the audigy
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited August 2004
    I'd get the NF7-S and sell or trash the audigy. Soundstorm audio is far, far, FAR better than the audigy. It's even better than the Audigy 2. The NF7-M has integrated video.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Get the NF7-S. Avoid the NF7-M since you already have superb video.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Will your memory run at all at 200? If not you need to be thinking about that also. I have been real pleased with my NF7. So much that I got another. (which would be built now if the case hadn't arrived damaged)
    Long term, a 939 mobo is the way to go. Anandtech really liked the MSI K8N Neo nF3U. http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=11
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited August 2004
    I don't know what you mean by will my memory run at 200...sorry :(
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Will your memory run at 200MHz, IE, PC3200.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited August 2004
    I doubt it...I don't really know how to try to find out either. The NF7 does not support PC2700 DDR ram??? This sucks I don't know what to do...I am not getting great performance from my video card at all either...I had similiar problems with my 9800 and everyone told me it was my MOBO, cause of the VIA chipset (search for my posts) and that is why I was going to FINALLY get a new one...I can't afford new ram too though :(
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Your ram will work.
    You can run your standard 166 bus speed and be fine.
    What most of us do though is run the bus at 200, or higher and then use a lower multiplier on the CPU. Even if you use a low enough multiplier so that the cpu isn't overclocked the machine will still run faster because of the higher bus speed.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited August 2004
    Cool. I am not really interested in trying to overclock at the moment. I am more interested in simple stability at the moment. I have had CONSTANT problems with my AGP port with both ATI and NVIDIA cards...I probably should have upgraded it a while ago. With all cards I have had to find only 1 set of drivers that would work...for instance for my 9800 the CAT 4.3 was the ONLY driver that I could get to work. I can't find any updated BIOS, the updated chipset drivers actually make the problems WORSE. I have tried everything to get them stable, FASTWRITES ON/OFF, AGP Aperature, Advanced Smartgart options...I am just tired of screwing around with it, and from previous post on these boards I was advised my MOBO was the culprit. If I spent $400 on a video card I want it to work. Another $60 or $70 won't kill me if it is reliable...Agreed?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Disaster1 wrote:
    I doubt it...I don't really know how to try to find out either. The NF7 does not support PC2700 DDR ram??? This sucks I don't know what to do...I am not getting great performance from my video card at all either...I had similiar problems with my 9800 and everyone told me it was my MOBO, cause of the VIA chipset (search for my posts) and that is why I was going to FINALLY get a new one...I can't afford new ram too though :(

    Buy a good mobo that supports your CPU now. Then the RAM will WORK. What you are looking at is a need for a solid foundation. To be hyper stable at existing slower stuff limits what you can do for expansion SOME, but not necessarily so current stuff cannot WORK now so you can replace other things to build on the foundation over time.

    Rule 1 in budget-minded System Integration is buy best for what you can use now and expand mostest later. That fights rule 2: Most stable for current will be less expandable into future compared to something that just takes future tech.

    The NF7-S is more flexible than many other boards. Result should be that you should be able to use what you have if it is good quality in it, though settings might not be stock to get it working (for RAM, they might be actually slower than perfect or even BIOS stock, but will still WORK, but RAM later will be cheaper than motherboard for THIS CPU later and what you have NOW in essence is not something doable for you).

    I missed seeing what brand RAM you have. I have run even Corsair VS to one step faster than rated natively, and am now. A 2700+ should run at 2800+ speed if not a lemon processor. What the mfr recommends, other than pure minimums, is to get best overall, so they spec more high end stuff. BUT, what board can ALSO handle is often less than ideal, though not always much more than ideal.

    So, we need a board that can handle the 2700+ base rate, and existing RAM, and most expandable board up from that but including that. since we have a Radeon, question becomes, does Disaster1 still have an NVidia card around that is decent to use for now??? NVidia chipset still works BETTER in general with most NVIDIA cards than with some ATI-based cards. So lets build stability on an NF2 chipset board if we can. I do not know enough fine details of the AMD high-end to get specific, so will help build a framework to work in and balance needs with future wants as much as possible.

    Disaster1, I would suggest you Google 'F7-S +Spec' (leave the ' ' off the search request you type into Google's search input box) and see what you get, for your own knowledge. See if it CAN take your speed RAM and a 2700+ that is slightly OC'd. The rest should carry forward for you easily for now, except possibly the Radeon card versus the NVidia chipset in terms of pure stability thinking sense (I'll let the rest of you talk extremer, here the request was for stable now as well as more extreme later, and you all are right that we need to talk BOTH here)-- mfrs somewhat tune more for thier own things by nature, they have thier own stuff in mind in design and have it handier for testing.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited August 2004
    Hopefully the Radeon will be alright. That is all I have, my previous card was a 9800 and like I said, I had problems with it also...and intermittent problems with a Ti4200 a friend lent me. Do a lot of people here have an ATI card with an NF7-S that can give me some feedback as to their compatibility? I don't want to have the same problems. From what I have read I should be OK. I am not sure what brand my RAM is...it is not the greatest I know that. I would say it is middle of the road...not the best, but not the worst.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Disaster1 wrote:
    Cool. I am not really interested in trying to overclock at the moment. I am more interested in simple stability at the moment. I have had CONSTANT problems with my AGP port with both ATI and NVIDIA cards...I probably should have upgraded it a while ago. With all cards I have had to find only 1 set of drivers that would work...for instance for my 9800 the CAT 4.3 was the ONLY driver that I could get to work. I can't find any updated BIOS, the updated chipset drivers actually make the problems WORSE. I have tried everything to get them stable, FASTWRITES ON/OFF, AGP Aperature, Advanced Smartgart options...I am just tired of screwing around with it, and from previous post on these boards I was advised my MOBO was the culprit. If I spent $400 on a video card I want it to work. Another $60 or $70 won't kill me if it is reliable...Agreed?

    I wasn't really interested in O/C'ing when I got my NF7-S rev 2.0 but am going hog wild ever since! When you get one you won't be able to help yourself either. They are just so inviting! Oh yea, I now have 3. :D

    I also have a 9800 Pro in mine and it works just great! :thumbsup:
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited August 2004
    Hehe thanks, I asked the same question in another post again...I thought this one was dead. :) I am sure I will get into OCing a little at a time, it is kind of hard to convince myself to OC a $400 piece of hardware right now though ;)
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