View Full Version : Updated NF7-S Review
Marci
09-23-2003, 07:48 AM
Well it's taken sometime to let this product mature to the point where it's performing beautifully... so I've finally updated and completed my NF7-S Rev 2 review from months gone by...
All in all, if your wanting pure overclocking performance and unbeatable speed for the AMD Platform, this is the ONLY real contender.
If your not an overclocker, you have no need for this board's features, and you generally WILL have problems unless you really know how to fine tune a bios for stability.
Head over HERE (http://www.over-clock.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST&f=20&t=53) to read it now!
Use & Abuse, link and spread... comment as you feel fit! 56k warning... LOTS of pix (As usual ;) )...
Nebulous
09-23-2003, 08:19 AM
Dang! Most xcellent and thorough review! Now that's what I call a review!
Awsome!! :toast:
texuspete00
09-23-2003, 09:36 AM
Yeah.... sweet and all about the OC.... How many graphs can I look at with identical bars... Asus/epox/abit... the same... whodathunkit! Not yours though, perfect!
Marci
09-23-2003, 09:42 AM
I figure there's no point reviewing a board on it's performance alone as many do... as performance is all down to who set the board up...
I'd rather review it's POTENTIAL for performance, and then if it proves to match it's potential I'm happy... hence why this review has taken over 6 months to finally be able to hand-on-heart give it the score it got...
BigDov
09-23-2003, 11:57 AM
hmmm....... that link's down for me. I got THIS (http://www.over-clock.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=20;t=30) one to work though.
xigfrid
09-23-2003, 12:56 PM
Originally posted by Marci
I figure there's no point reviewing a board on it's performance alone as many do... as performance is all down to who set the board up...
I'd rather review it's POTENTIAL for performance, and then if it proves to match it's potential I'm happy... hence why this review has taken over 6 months to finally be able to hand-on-heart give it the score it got...
Unfortunatly for ya, there is what i call the "new" revision2 coming for 1 or 2 weeks on the market :
they have :
-newer C1 northbridge with Ultra written on them : they can do 240Mhz with only 1.4Vdd
-new packaging which include only 1 bracket for both firewire and USB2
They don't o/c far better or lesser than the standard rev2 without Ultra written on them execpt that you don't need to Vmod the vdd now ;)
btw nice review but it should be on public server: i don't like to have 10 000 registrations in the world :smileysex
Marci
09-23-2003, 01:00 PM
Should let guests view topics without having to register... will go sort that now... just had to transplant the forums onto the new server...
Marci
09-23-2003, 01:02 PM
should let guests read now...
BigDov
09-23-2003, 01:38 PM
Oh yeah, forgot to mention- GREAT review! Being a new NF7-S v2 owner, this was a huge help for me.
:D
Snoodge
09-24-2003, 02:28 PM
Originally posted by xigfrid
Unfortunatly for ya, there is what i call the "new" revision2 coming for 1 or 2 weeks on the market :
they have :
-newer C1 northbridge with Ultra written on them : they can do 240Mhz with only 1.4Vdd
-new packaging which include only 1 bracket for both firewire and USB2
They don't o/c far better or lesser than the standard rev2 without Ultra written on them execpt that you don't need to Vmod the vdd now ;)
btw nice review but it should be on public server: i don't like to have 10 000 registrations in the world :smileysex
Are you serious? 240FSB with 1.4vdd sounds fiiiiiiiiiine by me jeeeezuz...
I think my Kingston HX3500C2 is holding me back though... My dream for a long time has simply been a Barton @ 10 x 250 1:1 ram ratio with 6-2-2-2 timing in dual channel... Oh how glorius the performance would be =/
xigfrid
09-24-2003, 05:09 PM
just forgot to add : my brand new NF7-s from rma has a
C1 southbridge !! which don't heat as much as the A3 southbridges
but so far only 240Mhz stable, and only with d10 bios :(
JeffPH
09-24-2003, 06:39 PM
nice review marci :) well done
XtremepH
09-24-2003, 08:35 PM
Originally posted by xigfrid
Unfortunatly for ya, there is what i call the "new" revision2 coming for 1 or 2 weeks on the market :
they have :
-newer C1 northbridge with Ultra written on them : they can do 240Mhz with only 1.4Vdd
-new packaging which include only 1 bracket for both firewire and USB2
They don't o/c far better or lesser than the standard rev2 without Ultra written on them execpt that you don't need to Vmod the vdd now ;)
btw nice review but it should be on public server: i don't like to have 10 000 registrations in the world :smileysex
I think I got that as my current board since it came with 1 bracket for both fireware and USB2 and a SATA cable that didn't come with my other ABiT board. Too bad I think the bios chip went bad after a nasty flash.
texuspete00
09-26-2003, 08:05 AM
Tell me more about the new v2.0! I got a 1.2 in the short while they were out, and have been salivating over the v2.0 but didnt want to get one as I thought the same could happen again!
So it wont be a 2.1 or anything? Then I know excal would have 'em.
xigfird- Pretty sure the v2.0's have been C1. They are saying newer C1, (why no C2? they really want to make this hard to find on us or what), my v1.2 has the a3.
XtremepH
09-26-2003, 08:14 AM
Originally posted by texuspete2k2
Tell me more about the new v2.0! I got a 1.2 in the short while they were out, and have been salivating over the v2.0 but didnt want to get one as I thought the same could happen again!
So it wont be a 2.1 or anything? Then I know excal would have 'em.
xigfird- Pretty sure the v2.0's have been C1. They are saying newer C1, (why no C2? they really want to make this hard to find on us or what), my v1.2 has the a3.
Yeah it won't be called a 2.1 since I got mines from excaliberpc and it still says rev2.0
texuspete00
09-26-2003, 01:36 PM
So you have a new and improved 2.0? I'm still confused, it is alluded to that there is some kind of new one, not the same c1/v2.0 that has been out all along. He says they say C1 ultra. I know the 200fsb guaranteed boards are calleed Nforce2 400 ultra but sounded like this c1 that says ultra is somehow different (250 on 1.4v).
I dont know. I do know about the C1, v2.0 good for 225 ish or more, I want to know if they are realeasing new NB's in the next week or so, and if you are implying you got that one, i.e. better than the one Marci has. All v2.0's have C1's.... where are these golden boys!
XtremepH
09-26-2003, 01:55 PM
I wasn't implying I got one better than what Marci has. I was saying I have one of the new boards that xigfrid has. I just got it last week sometime from excaliberpc I haven't tried it out yet since Im waiting for my new power supply unit to come.
texuspete00
09-26-2003, 04:56 PM
Ok, I'm more looking for any clarification about this
Unfortunatly for ya, there is what i call the "new" revision2 coming for 1 or 2 weeks on the market :
they have :
-newer C1 northbridge with Ultra written on them : they can do 240Mhz with only 1.4Vdd
I havent heard of this anywhere and I'm a forum junkie.
Marci
09-27-2003, 03:25 AM
It is ENTIRELY possible that Abit have silently changed the revision of the North & Southbridge without changing the board revision. It's also more to note that Abit do not MAKE them... they buy them in, so the nVidia will have brought out the newer stepping with different text etc etc.... in which case these will be sliding out onto boards nice n' quiet...
The only way to find out is to look at quantities of boards and compare Southbridge denotations.
Looking at all the ones we have here (a good 15 or so picked out at random, all received new within the past 48 hours), all Southbridges are the usual nForce2 MCP-T FBxxxx.x 03xxA4 S Taiwan. The FBxxxx.x being serial number at a guess whilst 03xx is the year & week number.
All the NORTHbridges on those boards are nForce2 SPP Gxxxxx.x 03xxA1 A Taiwan Ultra 400.
I think it would be more likely that a C1 stepping of this Northbridge would be appearing silently on boards than a change in southbridge.... as at the end of the day, what affect could the southbridge possibly have on how high the FSB goes?? Ram is run off the Northbridge...
If I remember rightly, the C1 Northbridges never actually said "Ultra 400" on them, but were actually Ultra400 chipsets. Now they DO say Ultra400 on them with an A1 stepping, so which way would revisional changes go on this? A2? A3? B1? C1? I'm not clued up on the conditions for how steppings change from chip rev to chip rev to be able to come to any conclusions...
ALL of these boards also have the newer USB / Firewire combi bracket & include a SATA cable (as the NF7-S boards always have) and a SATA > PATA adapter.