new mobo choice

What is the diffrence between the a7n8x vs. the a7v8x version ...i hate all
these choices ,but the reviews say that the a7n8x is a good board to go with
....upgrading from a k7s5a elite mobo .is it worth the difference to upgrade
to a 400 fsb board runnin

amd athalon xp 2000
2 sticks of ddr 256 ram pc 2100
nec 1860nx multi sync lcd monitor
nvidea fx 5200 graphics 128 ddr video with dvi-d video output (awsome)..

 

Actually both those boards have been superceeded for some time now... The
main difference between them is that the A7N8X is based on a Nvidia chipset
and the A7V8X is based on a VIA chipset. Nows where I get in to to
trouble... Generally Nvidia based motherboards are faster than VIA based
ones, however the latest VIA motherboards are more stable (historically they
had a lousy reliability record though).

Keith Alger

 

OR...
You might even want to try another motherboard... the ABit NF7-S with
optical out
n everything. Nforce2 board, reliable, fast, lots of features. I have an
A7N8X also...
it's good... but you'd have to get the deluxe to have Serial-ATA etc and all
the nice
goodies. The NF7-S gives you all the goodies at like $30 less or so than
the deluxe
asus board. for years I never gave abit a second thought but I see a lot of
good
comments around on their NF7-S.
Jeff

 

A7N8X has the nvidia chipset.
A7V8X has the VIA chipset.

The nvidia will give you better performance.

Here's the specs on your OLD k7s5a:
http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7s5a_v3.html

Here's the specs on the A7N8X:
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x/overview.htm

Huge difference in the performance of the boards.
To utilize the increase you will need faster memory - pc-3200 - your pc2100
runs pretty slow.
You will gain in the video area as the A7N8X has the 8x AGP yours only has
4x AGP. Your FX 5200 supports 8X AGP.
K7S5A can only handle 100/133 (200/266) FSB - the A7N8X has 400 FSB.

Hope this helps. Post back with any other questions if you want.
Ron

 

Since it sounds like you are planning to replace both the
motherboard and the cpu, I would suggest that you switch
to Athlon64. An AthlonXP processor upgrade might have been
a good idea if your motherboard could handle something like
an XP3000+ or XP 3200+, but it doesn't make any sense these
days if that kind of processor upgrade requires that you also
upgrade your motherboard.

If you go with AthlonXP again, you are pretty much at the end
of that product line already if you get an XP3000+ or XP3200+.
However, with the Athlon64 3000+ and 3200+ the product line is
just starting and you should have lots of room for future
processor upgrades.

An Athlon64 3000+ cpu and A8V Deluxe motherboard combo would cost
only about $80 to $100 Canadian (or about $60 to $75 USD)
more than an AthlonXP 3000+ and A7N8X Deluxe combo. There is
also the advantage that an Athlon64 3000+ only dissipates about
2/3 as much heat as AthlonXP 3000+.

 

Thanks ron for your advice and help ,now its time to shop for some boards
,and possibly a new processor but as most people looking for fast speed at a
low price is sometimes hard to find..