A7V8X-X and A7N8X-X what is the difference between these boards?

I am thinking of getting 5 of these boards to install for a charity. I
note that with BIOS revisions 1012 and 1010 respectively, they should
run Sempron 2400's and PC3200 (DDR400) memory.

The A7N8X-X is nearly half as much more expensive than the A7V8X-X (in
England) what differences are there between the two. I cannot spot
anything that would cause me to opt for one rather than the other
except for price.

Anyone got any guidance. Also before I buy am I correct in my belief
that the above memory/CPU/Mobo combination is OK?

KM

 

The only *real* difference is the chipset. N stands for nvidia, V for
Via. I have always had via chipsets, and had no problems with them,
though the nvidia could be better (hence the higher price) but I've
never owned one.

 

Thanks Chachi. For the use these will be put to I'll go with the VIA.

Must admit that I was going backwards and forwards to compare
features. I should have asked the question earlier and saved time.

By better does that mean more stable, less inclined to conflict with
Graphics cards etc?

KM

 

Think the N-force ones have inbuilt gfx? Therefore maybe cheaper overall....

 

Well, I'm not too sure about being better? It could just be that you're
paying for a good name? I can be 100% sure that there would be no
conflicts with nvidia graphics cards though!

 

No, that's not a nforce limited option. I've seen many nforce boards
without onboard vid, and my via mb has onboard vid (although it is
crappy for games).

 

I have one of each of these boards. I got the VIA board about a year ago and
built a system for the wife. I got it for $59.99 US dollars. She only uses
it for web surfing and printing photos. After about 6 month the network on
board stopped working. Although it was still in warranty I just installed a
PCI network card and went on. The wife leaves it on from the time she gets
out of bed until she goes to bed at night. She loves it and want let me
touch it except to update Windows, etc. I have had the Nvidia board as a
test machine for about 5 months now without a single problem. I paid $89.00
US dollars for it and only got it over the VIA board because of the
upgradeability of it. Asus support is lacking but my experience has been
good. Either board would be a good choice depending on your budget. Hope
this helps.

 

There will only be limited use - 3 days a week and then only between
10am-3pm so the systems won't be overused.

I will go for the A7V8X-X option in view of everone's helpful
comments.

The graphics card will be an ATI Radeon Saphire 9250 128mb
(probably more powerful than really needed, but still reasonably cheap
in UK) unless someone advises against it.

KM

 

Both are very stable chipsets now.

The nForce2 has some advantages, but I think most of them are stripped
in the -X version, anyway.

A7N8X-X has a 200MHz FSB (XP3000+, XP3200+), and the A7V8X-X has 166MHz
FSB. Thats the only difference that springs to mind.

The nForce2 has things like PCI/AGP lock for overclocking.

But the VIA will probably do everything you want, too.

Ben