CougTek
Hairy Aussie
I read this light review (light because it's from Firingsquad) comparing the DFI LanParty NFII Ultra B (please, a glass of water after pronouncing this) and the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe. Not swallowing everything that was written there, but still got interested in the DFI board, I started browsing my lists to see how easily I could get one and how expensive it is. Quite expensive indeed : 215$CDN. Ouch. Abit AN7, my so-far-favorite nForce2 mainboard, costs me only 149$CDN.
Then, I started browsing other DFI boards to see if they had another model with a few less features and I stumbled on the NFII Ultra Infinity. 127$CDN : much more affordable. But wise guy immediately thinks that a 90$ (even Canayan $) must hide something important. So wise guy starts browsing DFI's web site to look for major differences between both boards. wise guy only found two things : gagabit LAN and PCB color : Wise guy maybe not so wise afterall.
Sure there are more things bundled with the LanParty variety, but once the board is sitting inside my system and helping me to increase my Folding stats, I don't give a s**t about the bundled stuff like front panel and use-once-for-curiosity softwares. Both the cheaper NFII Ultra Infinity and dearer LanParty NFII Ultra B (again, water please Bartender) share the exact same PCB layout (here and here), same Realtek audio chip (ALC650, too bad the 658 didn't make it), the same 4-ports Silicon Image SATA controller, the same overclocking features (BIOS are updated simultaneously, check here and here), the same passive north bridge, three-phase VRM design and additional 12V ATV connector, etc. The only noticeable difference I've found is the LAN chip, but I can live without gagabit Ethernet if it can save me 90$.
So, what do you think about both of them? The only two issues I have with the layout are the placement of the system fan headers and the capacitors too close to the CPU socket. Apart that, I think it's nice enough to make a spot on my purchase list instead of the Abit AN7. I don't have good enough speakers to notice the difference between the Realtek ALC650 and ALC658 anyway and I believe the four-ports SATA controller combined to a large passive north bridge might be good trade-offs. The tiny NB fan on one of my GigaByte GA-7N400 Pro mainboards has started screaming, so I'm suddenly less fund of active NB cooling solutions (like the one on the Abit board).
Opinions?
Then, I started browsing other DFI boards to see if they had another model with a few less features and I stumbled on the NFII Ultra Infinity. 127$CDN : much more affordable. But wise guy immediately thinks that a 90$ (even Canayan $) must hide something important. So wise guy starts browsing DFI's web site to look for major differences between both boards. wise guy only found two things : gagabit LAN and PCB color : Wise guy maybe not so wise afterall.
Sure there are more things bundled with the LanParty variety, but once the board is sitting inside my system and helping me to increase my Folding stats, I don't give a s**t about the bundled stuff like front panel and use-once-for-curiosity softwares. Both the cheaper NFII Ultra Infinity and dearer LanParty NFII Ultra B (again, water please Bartender) share the exact same PCB layout (here and here), same Realtek audio chip (ALC650, too bad the 658 didn't make it), the same 4-ports Silicon Image SATA controller, the same overclocking features (BIOS are updated simultaneously, check here and here), the same passive north bridge, three-phase VRM design and additional 12V ATV connector, etc. The only noticeable difference I've found is the LAN chip, but I can live without gagabit Ethernet if it can save me 90$.
So, what do you think about both of them? The only two issues I have with the layout are the placement of the system fan headers and the capacitors too close to the CPU socket. Apart that, I think it's nice enough to make a spot on my purchase list instead of the Abit AN7. I don't have good enough speakers to notice the difference between the Realtek ALC650 and ALC658 anyway and I believe the four-ports SATA controller combined to a large passive north bridge might be good trade-offs. The tiny NB fan on one of my GigaByte GA-7N400 Pro mainboards has started screaming, so I'm suddenly less fund of active NB cooling solutions (like the one on the Abit board).
Opinions?