I think it's safe to say that DFI has
produced the ultimate AthlonXP motherboard
for enthusiasts and gamers alike. In the process DFI have shed
their old image, and truly become a consumer-friendly manufacturer.
With a retail price of
$200 CDN
($155 US), the DFI LANParty NF2
Ultra B motherboard is one of the more expensive AthlonXP motherboards on the
market, but it's clearly the best, and one I would recommend without a second
thought.
In terms of on board
features the board has Serial ATA/Serial ATA RAID, nVIDIA SoundStorm 5.1 audio,
10/100 and Gigabit LAN, and IEEE 1394. Things don't stop there though; DFI
also include bright green UV reactive cables (IDE and floppy), a front panel
USB/IEEE 1394/Audio drive bay as well as their PC LAN party computer PC
Transpo carrying strap!
The design of the
motherboard is also very good, almost everything is placed in their most ideal
location. I would have liked to see DFI
use an active cooler on the Northbridge as it does get very hot.. but other than
that, and the ever-decreasing importance of IDE vs. SATA hard drives there
really isn't much to complain about.
Performance of the
motherboard is simply top notch and it's easily the fastest AthlonXP
motherboard we've tested! The DFI LANParty NF2 Ultra B simply flew through all the
benchmarks and if you're an AMD enthusiast you'll love how well the motherboard
overclocks too. With an AthlonXP 3200+ wer were able to hit an amazing
246 MHz FSB which is almost impossible for
other nForce2 boards to reach. I have seen a few people hit 250+ MHz FSB but all
the motherboards were modified. DFI was even kind enough to include
the four adjacent mounting holes around the CPU socket so you can
mount the larger socket A coolers without any difficulties.
If you're looking for
that one great AthlonXP motherboard, look no further as the DFI LANParty NF2
Ultra B has everything you'll ever want. From excellent hardware bundle (on board
and extras) to awesome performance, it's impossible for one to ask for more out
of a retail motherboard!
PCStats highly
recommends the DFI LANParty NF2 Ultra B Motherboard for the AthlonXP, heck, I'd use this board in my main rig
any day!
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