I wanted to get a new mainboard, and this girl said she's gona buy me 1 for xmas. I'm kinda limited in the amount to around 50 bucks, and want to get the most out of it. Here's what I found:

Asus A7V8X-X
Socket A
FSB: 200, 266, 333
Memory: 3DIMMS, max 3 GB PC3200, PC2700, PC2100
1 AGP 8x
6 PCI,
audio, lan, usb 2.0, spdif and all that good stuff...

with h&s for 60USD

It's important 4 me that I can overclock my cpu, my friend has the same board, just the $130 version of it with firewire, s-ata, and raid. I dont need all that. He can change his cpu voltage, multiplier,........ and thats what I want. I dont think that the cheaper version got a different bios, so that should do what I want.

is that a good deal or does any1 recommend me a different mobo?

IF Overclocking is a magior factor, i would highly consider getting a board from ABIT. They offer one of the most modable Voltage and FSB, and have very nice features to keep your agp and pci rulling at the proper spee.
Not to mention their boards are decently cheep.

|Drew|

Try A7N8X or the Deluxe version

drew, any specific one you would recommend?
TonicX, I cant spend that much

I would probly reccomend the NF7-S
You can find that for around 70 bucks
OR if you want the newer version with firewire and the updated ultra chipset
Get the AN7, its about 100.

|Drew|

where did u find the NF7-S for 70bucks? I looked on froogle, and the cheapest I found was around 100

The Asus A7V8X-X has no overclocking features, so do not get that one.

The Soyo SY-KT400 DRAGON Ultra Motherboard is a popular board and I found it for $87.00 Click Here

Do not know if they will ship to Germany or if that is a requirement?

I was just reading reviews over the asus board and found out that the oc functions are there, but they arn't this good. you can't change the voltage as on the regular version, and some other things. No, shipping to germany aint required since I live in the us currently. I'll look into the soyo board. thx

first off, you want the -S model..its much better for overclockin.

I just did a search on pricewatch.

|Drew|

Drew knows his boards. Abit NF7-S Motherboard $30.00 just sold-out at http://www.dumpinggoods.com They have a nice selection of Abit boards under $50.00

edit, I found it through http://www.epinions.com
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Motherboards_AB...therboard_NF7_S

I only find the NF7 for around 70, the -s is 98+

whats the difference between the two?

Correction, the NF7-S for $30.00 I sourced earlier was a refurbished board. I would not buy a refurb even for $30.00

Source: http://www.ocprices.com/?rev_id=151

very similar to the NF7-M, the NF7-S lacks the IGP of its brother, instead featuring the SSP chipset and an extra serial port. It also features SATA unlike the M version (which does not). Otherwise the two boards are very similar indeed.

what is IGP?


so the nf7 would be a pretty good buy since I dont need the sata functions, right? as long as they didn't downgrade the bios from the nf7-s I'm happy

I must agree here, ABIT offers excellent performance:price ratio. You can find boards FROM abit that offers all the overclocking possibilites that you would want, plus a bit extra.

I found the difference between the nf7 and the nf7-s:
the nf7-s has:
SATA
Firewire
Nvidia SoundStorm

I think I'll be fine without those features, and will see that I can get the NF7. thx for your help guys! :beer:

I have the NF7-S right now and it's an OC machine! Very very flexible, if you can get it for 70 bucks that a definite steal so get it! Only issue is the Nforce drivers can give you fits, but if you get the board post here and ill give ya some tips on initial setup because it can be tricky.

ok, thx. I pretty sure I'm gona get the NF7. I can't wait to get it and finally overclock my cpu

Nvidia SoundStorm is a must get

why? I have a sound blaster live, and as I said, I have a budget to go for

well i like the asus because its over all i think the easiest to over clock with,, it dosnt limit you in any way when it comes to tweaking for speed and power well thats just a suggestion good luck

i use pricegrabber.com to find the prices
pricewatch is okay but not very organized in the retailers part

newegg.com