Is the NF7-S a good motherboard?
Yes.
Is it fast?
Damn straight!
Is the nForce2 chipset any good?
I'd have to say yes. Overall its a pleasure to use. Its fast, responsive and quite probably the best choice for an AMD CPU based chipset.
But isn't integrated sound supposed to be rubbish?
Once upon a time, yes. AC'97 was the lowest of the low. In its infancy it was basic, problematic and used a lot of CPU power, but all that has changed now. The nForce2 MCP-T SoundStorm audio is nothing short of excellent. Having gone from a Creative SBLive to this chipset I'm very pleased. The Audio Control Panel is both useful and powerful, the sound quality is superb and its very easy to use. It really is as good, if not better than the Creative SBLive and similar cards.
What are the differences between the NF7 and NF7-S?
The NF7 lacks the SerialATA controller and SoundStorm Audio. The latter of course means you don't get the Audio Control Panel, the S/PDIF output, the 3D sound processing (primarily for games) and the AC-3 encoding.
Does it overclock well?
The BIOS settings available are the best you'll find, and they keep getting better. ABIT is very committed to the enthusiast market, and thus make their motherboards as tweakable as possible. The level of overclocking depends on the components you choose and a certain degree of luck, so choose well and cross your fingers. Also remember that your mileage may vary, there is no such thing as a guaranteed minimum in overclocking.
Will this motherboard unlock my CPU?
Technically no, however due to ABIT's "5bit FID" unlocking of the multipliers is not required as you will have access to all the multiplier values in the BIOS vis the SoftMenu III. The results are the same, and no tricky warranty voiding bridge painting required.
Which slots should I populate for DualDDR?
You should populate in reverse order from 3 to 1. The RAM slot that is furthest away from the CPU socket is DIMM3 and should be populated first. For DuallDDR you need a second DIMM and this should be placed in the middle RAM slot which is DIMM2. The RAM slot nearest the CPU is DIMM1 and should be populated last.
How can I verify that my RAM is running Synchronously and/or in DualDDR mode?
This is actually quite difficult. It would be nice if the POST screen you see on boot told you if you were running in Synchronous FSB and/or DualDDR, but at this time it doesn't. As far as I know there aren't any tools for testing this either. For now you have to assume that if you have put your RAM in slots 2 and 3 then DualDDR is in effect, and if your FSB ratio is at a 1/1 value (3/3, 4/4, 5/5, 6/6) then its running Synchronously.
Is it problem free?
Largely, yes. There are a few known issues, but ABIT is doing a very fine job of trying to perfect this motherboard. I (and many others) have the fullest confidence in ABIT making this good motherboard even better.
Do you REALLY believe that?
Yes. Look at the support ABIT did and is still doing for motherboards like the KT7. Its about 2-3 years old and they still occasionally release BIOS's. It wasn't perfect to begin with, but its now considered one of ABIT's most successful motherboards.
Should I buy this motherboard?
Yes, but I suggest you speak to the retailer and ensure that they have motherboards in stock which have had the Mic issue resolved, unless you don't mind RMAing the motherboard yourself to have this issue fixed.
Should I wait for revision x.x?
That's up to you. While later revisions can always be expected to be better in some way, some of the differences may be so minimal that they have no impact to you. For example the known differences between the revision 1.0 and 1.1 are mounting holes around the CPU socket and slightly different component packages (different capacitors, etc). Overall the motherboards are feature identical. So the question in that case is 'do you need the mounting holes'? Of course you could be waiting a long time too as there is rarely any information on when these revisions are going into retail circulation.
If the NF7-S is so good why are there so many people in this forum complaining?
Its a support forum for people who want support, if they didn't have a problem they wouldn't be here. It is put here and maintained by some of the staff of ABIT USA, who do this purely out of the goodness of their own hearts. People don't say anything when they are happy, as they don't have much to say, but when there's a problem they have plenty to say. I suppose that's human nature. So don't assume that everyone here is here because they have this motherboard, as most of them are only here as they have a problem.
Why is ABIT any better than (insert brand here)?
ABIT is committed to the enthusiast market, more so than any other brand. Many consider ABIT as one of the founding fathers of the enthusiast and overclocking communities and I have to agree. While the larger companies like Asus, Gigabyte and MSI were busy working on various integrated motherboards for use in OEM machines, ABIT were developing things like SoftMenu and their MAX series. Of course there are a lot more enthusiast products available now but ABIT has the experience since they were here at the start.
But there are some problems, so what are ABIT dong about them?
OK, nobody's perfect, but ABIT will do everything they can to rectify any issues that are within their control. Please remember that they make the motherboards not the chipsets, drivers or other components. They do of course make other components, but this is a motherboards forum so put that to the back of your mind for a moment. Some of the issues people experience have to be addressed by the chipset manufacturer (nVidia in this case) in their driver software, so that's not down to ABIT but they will endeavour to get answers where possible.
I'm not from the US, so can I expect help?
The staff of ABIT USA are good people who will try and help you verbally, as will the more dedicated forum members, but you can't expect direct help. For that you have to contact your nearest ABIT offices. See the back of your manual, or the contacts section of the ABIT site.
Who are you and why should I listen to you?
I'm just a normal person (well, fairly). I have owned several ABIT motherboards (KA7, KT7, NF7-S) as well as some other brands (Asus, Chaintech, Gigabyte, MSI). I like ABIT motherboards, their BIOS's are excellent and the motherboard features are always of a useful nature. They are not perfect, but at least they are trying to make themselves and their products better.
Are you sure you don't work for ABIT?
Absolutely sure. I wish! I'm a 'Client Side Developer' for one of the worlds largest media organisations.
So, then, why are you writing all this?
Because I don't think its fair on this motherboard, and on ABIT, for people to read this forum and think its a bad motherboard, and I'm trying to stop the same questions being asked repeatedly. I'm just trying to set the record straight.
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