Im thinkin about getting an NF7-S board as an interim upgrade to my rapidly ageing system Itll be taking my 2100 ram and my XP1600+ for now, with more upgrades down the line. The main thing i wanna know (apart from testimonials for the board, obviously ), is how loud the NorthBridge fan is on it? And would I be able to swap the stock NB heatsink/fan with one of those blue Zalman chipset heatsinks and not compromise system stability? Reason is that ive finally rid my system of all the annoying buzzy little fans, but im totally sold on the NF7-S from all its reviews. And, of course, im loathe to tolerate any little fans anymore Any suggestions? *cos if i can whack a Zalman on there, ima be ordering the board pronto*
have you considered the DFI Infinity, out of the box most will do 250-255 FSB, also it has a passive HS as stock, pleanty people a swiching to the infinity its an excellent board. 'doc
The NB on my Abit NF7-S 2.0 started to make a strange buzzing sound a few months after I brought it. So I replaced it with a passive cooler off a Asus board. Seems to work fine.
mines started making a nasty droning sound, gonna swap it with a swiftech NB cooler as soon as I can be arsed. In my experience the passive Zalman will be fine but not for overclocking. Other people may have different stories. But as doc said above, the infinity is the way to go, by all accounts.
Damn, now i gotta think a little more I guess ill just search a bit more thru the forums for some help. Peeps have been saying that the DFI board takes a little more work to get running smoothly.
Been reading alot about this 200fsb prob on the DFI boards. Is it just probs getting OVER 200fsb or actually getting 200fsb itself? All im planning to do in the long term is grab a 2400+ or 2500+ and clock them a little, till i can afford to upgrade to Athlon64 - If i do the 2500+, it will mean using a 200fsb. AM i gonna have probs doing this, or is it unnecessary worrying on my part The DFI does look good tho, and is a few quid cheaper. Actually, while im here, what would u guys recommend I get as a new processor? Im basically looking for 'bang-for-buck' and 'overclocking' ability here, as I really dont have much more than £70 to spend on a processor. Peeps elsewhere have mentioned the 2400+ and 2500+ as good clockers, but as usual im looking for a blessing by the good peeps at bit-tech
Get an Infinity from PC world, if it clocks crap take it back, i got mine from their had the FSB upto 260 1:1 and 255 1:1 totally stable, also had my xp2400 non-mobile to 2.7g in the board, i lubs by infinty. 'doc
It does have its issues though, firstly getting to 200 sees to be the milestone. Once you are there, then basiclly you can get anything up to 250-270. Secondly it has a nagging cold (or sometimes warm) boot issue, and its recommended to pick up a bios saviour. IMO despite all the crashes and cmos clears its WELL worth the money. The board is stunning, 3.3 vdimm, 4 SATA and its cheap! It would deff be worth getting some mosfet sinks as well (or making your own) even at 2.9 some of the fets get very toasty. However if you wanna simple setup, and an easy ride then get the NF7. Simple as basiclly.
Thanks for all the help guys. Im basically looking for a quick-fix till i can commit to a 64-bit setup, so ima choose the NF7 (never been a bit fan of mobo tweaking). Just got some sound deadening material, so hopefully that will eliminate any whine that the NF7 northbridge fan has. Thanks for the processor suggestion Dan. One question tho. Im currently using a Zalman flower cooler with a 92mm fan on my (unclocked) Athlon XP1600+ processor. Temps are about 55C max and 35-40C idle. Would i be able to move this over to a processor like the mobile 2500+, or should i invest in a new quiet cooler. If so, could anyone suggest a good one that is quiet and wont cost the earth? Again, thanx for the help. Cpu Citys prices look quite nice, so i may wait a while and then buy the whole lot (plus Ram) in one go. Shouldnt be long tho.
The NB fans are for the most part totaly silent. It will most certanly be drowned out by your hdd or psu fan. But i think its a cheapie fan so its longevity is questionable (I have my doubts it has ball bearings). But if you are concerned about noise there are passive after market ones like the ones from Zalman. I'd get a matching one for your SB too, mines quite toasty right now.
They are silent first but then noisy after a while. But like somebody suggested you should take a look at the DFI Infinity.
My fan started making annoying sounds too, so i ripped it off and replaced it with a zalman passive HS. Works great @ 440 FSB.
You could move over but would be an idea to upgrade, any new thermalright would be a good buy slk900 or variant (sp97)
Thanx for the pointers guys. Seeing as im a Zalman acolyte.....can anyone vouch for the 7000 series (the circular ones) fitting ok on a NF7-S board?
You can switch the NB-fan on the NF7-S to a Zalman NB47J, and if you're going to use the Zalman Flower cooler, the NB cooler will get some airflow from it. Using your Zalman Flower cooler on a Athlon XP-M should be no problems. The XP-Ms come in couple of versions, with consume around 35-45W. Your current Palomino 1600+ gives off over 60W. So if you want to continue to use that cooler getting a XP-M is a good idea!
