Summary

Abit NF7-S

Pros:

• Onboard SATA
• Very good manual

Cons:

• No heatsink mounting holes
• Very bad ATX connector positioning

The Abit NF7-S is an unremarkable board, but does however offer onboard SATA at a very reasonable price, and is a good value buy for a workstation. The layout problems, the barely adequate northbridge cooling, and lack of heatsink mounting holes make this board somewhat less than ideal for the overclocker.

Albatron KM18G PRO

Pros:

• Micro ATX format
• Onboard graphics
• Effective AGP card retainer
• Good manual for a budget motherboard

Cons:

• Layout problems
• No overclocking options

The Albatron KM18G PRO is an OEM board, its not for the overclocker. The onboard graphics is a bonus, and this board offers a lot of features for what will hopefully be a very low price. Look out for this board in the future, it may well be the ideal solution for those on a tight budget.

Asus A7N8X

Pros:

• Onboard SATA
• 6 Channel Dolby Digital Sound
• Dual LAN
• Very good layout
• 200mhz FSB with BIOS update

Cons:

• HSF fitting slightly awkward
• Strange com2 header positioning

The Asus A7N8X is a very good quality board, with lots of features, at a fair price tag. The things that really set this board apart from the crowd are the exceptionally good layout, and the possibility of using a 200mhz FSB after a bios update with some board revisions.

Biostar M7NCG

Pros:

• Very low price
• Plenty of overclocking options
• Onboard graphics
• Micro ATX format

Cons:

• Very limited CPU socket clearance
• Terrible manual
• Only adequate northbridge cooling

The Biostar M7NCG is a board spoilt by the positioning of a single capacitor. It is a nice cheap and cheerful budget board, yes, but if it wasn't for the single capacitor in the way of fitting a decent sized cooler, this board would be a real bargain for the overclocker too. Definitely a good buy if you don't care about overclocking, or can work round the clearance problem.

Chaintech Zenith CT-7NJS

Pros:

• More fancy bits than a wedding cake
• Very useful frontpanel
• Great manual

Cons:

• High pricetag
• Heatsink installation can be very fiddly

The Chaintech Zenith CT-7NJS is the king of nforce 2 motherboards, with every addon and feature you could want. Unfortunately this will set you back around £130. Its well justified, but just too much for many people. If you were planning on buying a front panel and rounded cables anyway and want all the other nifty features, then this board is a great bargain.

With a round up such as this, it is very hard to pick a "winner" as all of the boards are winners, in their own categories, wether it be aimed at OEM users or at Overclockers. The only board that doesn't really fit into a category is the Abit NF7-S which is aimed at the same market as the Asus board, but doesn't come close to the standard of the Asus board. The extra £10 is well worth it.

We beleive the Asus A7N8X offers the best value for money and gets our overall recommendation.

Asus A7N8x - Recommended!

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