Which one to buy? Epox 8rda+ or Asus A7N8X

[Techie333]

BUilding performance budget system for a friend. Which mobo is better? Isn't A7N8X faster than 8RDA+ because it has 400mhz fsb or something while epox board only has 333 fsb?? Which one is better? I am going to OC a Athlon XP 2500

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I just bought a DFI "LanParty" NF ii with Nforce 2. (333 fsb). It is pricy with the full version (160.00) but is a great board. I understand you can also get a stripped version for around 85.00 or so, but how stripped I don't know (probably no fancy round cables, carrying strap, etc., but what else is "missing", I'm not sure). Anyway, I think for now I would stick with a 333 fsb to keep the cost down.

 

[Corporate Thug]

8rda+ dollar for dollar the best nforce2 mobo, IMO NF7-s is THE best amd mobo right now

 

[Techie333]

NF7-s??? REALLY???
Edit: Yea, but it's also almost $100........i think dollar for dollar, 8rda+ is best.

 

[Tbirdkid]

asus...

 

[Gerbil333]

A7N8X Deluxe 2.0 or Abit NF7-S 2.0. I have both and they're great boards! I can't decide which one I like best.

 

[batmanuel]

My A7N8X Deluxe is a nice, albeit ugly, board. I can tell you that it survives a failed overclock pretty well (as I discovered when I tried to see if my Palamino-core 2000+ could cope with a 333MHz FSB when I finally got hold of some inexpensive Corsair PC2700 RAM). A CMOS clear got it up and going again after it failed to POST repeatedly. I'm not sure how the Epox board handles crashes on startup, but if the Asus board reboots during the early part of the system startup (like it would in a failed OC) the BIOS is programmed to automatically bump the FSB back to a 200 MHz failsafe on the reboot. There is also a handy little jumper that manually boots the FSB back to 200 MHz if all else fails, so you stand a pretty good chance of getting the A7N8X back to normal if the OC goes bad. I'm not as familiar with the Epox, so I don't know if it has all those OC safety features (especially the FSB jumper).

 

[McArra]

Originally posted by: batmanuel
My A7N8X Deluxe is a nice, albeit ugly, board. I can tell you that it survives a failed overclock pretty well (as I discovered when I tried to see if my Palamino-core 2000+ could cope with a 333MHz FSB when I finally got hold of some inexpensive Corsair PC2700 RAM). A CMOS clear got it up and going again after it failed to POST repeatedly. I'm not sure how the Epox board handles crashes on startup, but if the Asus board reboots during the early part of the system startup (like it would in a failed OC) the BIOS is programmed to automatically bump the FSB back to a 200 MHz failsafe on the reboot. There is also a handy little jumper that manually boots the FSB back to 200 MHz if all else fails, so you stand a pretty good chance of getting the A7N8X back to normal if the OC goes bad. I'm not as familiar with the Epox, so I don't know if it has all those OC safety features (especially the FSB jumper).

 

[Techie333]

Does the A7N8X Deluxe at Newegg for $69 come with all the ide wires and floppy wires? I.E. Retail??

Edit: Looks like that one is refurbished.....didn't notice it in the red when I did a search. Are refurbs recommended?

 

[pspada]

I personally would never purchase a refurb.

 

[BuckMaster]

I personally would never purchase a refurb.

ditto

 

[bootoo]

If you're going to get an epox get it fast; newegg has discontinued them and mwave has them "while supplies last." Glad I got mine!

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Techie333
BUilding performance budget system for a friend. Which mobo is better? Isn't A7N8X faster than 8RDA+ because it has 400mhz fsb or something while epox board only has 333 fsb?? Which one is better? I am going to OC a Athlon XP 2500

You know what, you really can't go wrong either way. I've owned all three of the 8RDA+, A7N8X and NF7-S (2.0) and all three were excellent.

 

[SemperFi]

I have both boards. I just upgraded both system in July. I think both boards are excellent. Stable and non problematic. If you are going to add in another controller card such as scsi or raid stay away from the Asus. I had a scsi card that I only had a Cdrom and a burner on . I couldn't get it to boot off of the onboard RAID. Otherwise I really like the Asus that is what is in my machine.

I haven't benchmarked either one so I can't comment there. If you are not needing the onboard raid or would like to spend the money on something else I would reccommend the Epox. It is a very nice board. I was bummed yesterday when I read that the epox is being discontinued. I was going to start using that board in systems that I build for other people. I have a 1700 tbred in it and I bumped the fsb to 166 without changing the multiplier. Stable like a rock.

I just reread your post tedhie333. Since you are going to use 2500xp you may be better off with the Asus with the OC. I have that processor on my Asus. The thing is I only have pc2700 mem so I have the multiplier maxed out at 166 fsb. If I would have spent the $ on pc3200 I could get more out of it. I bought crucial pc2700 1 Gig worth for less that $100 so I can't complain.

 

[SpideyCU]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: Techie333
BUilding performance budget system for a friend. Which mobo is better? Isn't A7N8X faster than 8RDA+ because it has 400mhz fsb or something while epox board only has 333 fsb?? Which one is better? I am going to OC a Athlon XP 2500

You know what, you really can't go wrong either way. I've owned all three of the 8RDA+, A7N8X and NF7-S (2.0) and all three were excellent.

I have to echo this. Buy it based on availability, price, and what's included. Figure out what features you want/need, then purchase appropriately. All 3 of them will perform about the same and all of them are just as reliable.