Small, feature filled & stable - Cheap too!
Written: Jan 30 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Connections, Feature Filled, colorful, good performance, good price.
Cons: Missing front panel USB socket, no RAID, no S-ATA.
The Bottom Line: Great board, great price. It's got the features you need, it's stable, and it's nice too.
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| FekIhr's Full Review: Gigabyte - 7N400-L - Socket A ATX Motherboard with... |
I have been somewhat "disappointed" with AMD systems as of late - especially with the small die sticking out of the top of the CPU, exposed components, and the need for copper shims - but - I decided to once again give AMD a run, and this was the board I picked to do it.
I have had great results with other Gigabyte boards - very easy to set up, nice features, and they're pretty colorful to boot. If you've got an open-sided system with lights and the works - then THESE are the boards for you.
Let's give a run through of this little beauty:
* Nice colors - gotta admit, you don't see many Aqua Green boards with Orange memory sockets, a yellow CPU socket, purple, green, blue, red - wow, did I get all the colors? A shame I have to have cables blocking the view!
* Nicely marked front pannel connector. This board has a color coded front panel connector. Each connection is separated out, and has polarity markings that are easy to see. THESE are a lifesaver for system builders who, ehm, don't always get the connections right ... or just negelect to read the manual (wink). Saves you from blowing out a reset button or frying your motherboard with a careless connection.
* Color coded IDE connectors - the Primary and Secondary are coded so you don't have a mix-up going
* CPU socket is clear of obstruction and electronics, and has a protective plastic pad glued to the board. As obscure as this sounds, it's a necessity! Ever have a heatsink with a hard to use screwdriver tab ... where you need to stick the screwdriver in, push down hard - and - AHH! The screwdriver slips out of the hole, cracks a circuit, and junks the board! This board is a bit safer for those poorly designed heatsinks. It's got a clear spot around the CPU with no traces or components for a pretty good area (about 4 square centimeters or so) - plus - a plastic shield protecting the board below. An errant screwdriver will do far less damage to this board than with others. ( And for the curious, I junked a dual processor P3 board this way :( ... my wallet cried )
* Overclocking friendly! You can easily change settings from the board or from BIOS. Includes hardware monitoring software for checking up on the fans and system temperature, etc.
* Built in periphials - includes a Sound Card with surround and optical support ( NOTE: the optical and surround connectors are optional ) and a built in network card. Keeps your expansion slots open for other uses.
* Dual Channel DDR up to 3 Gb - if you desire performance, you've got it.
* 6 USB 2.0 ports! 4 onboard USB ports, 2 External USB ports (included) - 6 ports for your USB devices - way better than the standard 2. Gigabyte has always been good for giving you a *lot* of USB connectivity with your board. However, this board lacks the second external USB connector for a front panel USB connection. A minor pain, but bearable.
* Small form factor - it's a more compact board for tight cases. Slightly smaller than a regular run-of-the-mill ATX board - which is handy for those cases that are a tight squeeze.
* Mysterious rounded motherboard corners. Why? I don't know. But they look good. I guess the board won't poke your fingers when you touch the corners. Gigabyte is the only company offering this as far as I know, so it deserves a mention.
* Free Norton Antivirus and Internet Security with the retail package. Yep, full version included for free. The programs are not the best in my opinion. But, they're pricey - and they come free with the board.
Now on to the performance - This board makes a pretty good in my opinion. I'll put this up against my other system - a decked out P4-2.4.
Equipped with a Athlon XP 2600 (running at 1500mhz), I can say that this is very impressive.
I'll make the specs pretty simple, I hardly understand those big drawn out technical benchmark things - and I'm an industry professional (Not in the hardware though :))
First off, the specs on each.
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System 1
CPU : P4, 2.4
Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-8PE667 Ultra
Memory : 1Gb DDR 333 (2x 512, Infineon)
Video : ATI Radeon 9600
Hard Drive : Western Digital 7200RPM 80Gb
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System 2
CPU : Athlon 2600 @ 1500Mhz
Memory : 512Mb DDR 333 (1x 512, Micron)
Video : Asus V8200 T5
Hard Drive : Western Digital 7200RPM 80Gb
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The P4 obviously has a bit of an advantage, and it does perform slightly better than the Athlon... but, the P4 - with all its components - totals in at about a $2,000.00 price tag. The Athlon totals in about $800.00.
( On a side note, if my P4 were stripped down to near the Athlon, its price would go down to about $1400-1500. )
With Office XP - both systems get word opened within about 3 seconds.
Adobe Photoshop gets up and running within about 6 seconds on the P4 - Athlon clocked in at about 10 seconds.
Steam / Day of Defeat / Counterstrike - both systems at 1024x768, 32 bit, fog, etc - in other words - full quality...
The P4 is absolutely perfect - little choppiness, smooth scrolling, etc. The Athlon, a bit slower, but it's about 85% as good as the P4. Set that res down a little, and you're all set.
And last - uptime and reliability - this board with an Athlon is just as rock-solid as the P4. You can have it running for a couple weeks without a BSOD or error - impressive! (Both systems are used for business - so - they get massive uptime. We can go for a week or two at a time without a reboot or powerdown. Oh, Steam/Day of Defeat? That's the Customer Service software ;) )
Overall - a great board for your needs. I'm very satisfied with it ... and it's got me hooked on AMD CPUs again.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 74.99
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Epinions.com ID:
FekIhr
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Location: New Britain, CT
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Run of the mill IT professional. Nothing to see here (I guess.... )
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