DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B vs. ABIT AN7

Hot Hardware pits the DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B (nForce2 Ultra 400 + MCP) against the ABIT AN7 (nForce2 Ultra 400 + MCP-T):

Besides the chipset of these two motherboards being the same, they are quite different when looking at the details. It’s obvious from an enthusiast point of view that the DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B motherboard offers an all around package that is hard to beat. While the ABIT AN7 doesn’t have all the bells and whistles its competitor had, it shines as well where it matters most, in performance. Throughout the benchmarks these two motherboards were almost dead even with a slight advantage going to DFI. Maybe only a small point to fret over was the memory subsystem performance of the ABIT AN7 motherboard, but again this can be easily resolved with a simple BIOS revision in the future.

Deciding on a motherboard is never easy, but in this case we think the decision is easier because each board will appeal to a different audience. Only the true enthusiasts among us will be able to completely appreciate what the DFI LANParty solution has to offer: 4 SATA ports, Dual LAN, a distinctive look and an amazing bundle. The price point of the DFI motherboard is higher, currently around $145 or so while the Abit AN7 lists for around $105. However, the NFII Ultra B’s price is right in line with what you are getting in return. The ABIT AN7 motherboard is in most ways your basic run of the mill nForce2 Ultra motherboard, but certainly performs better than average and shouldn’t be overlooked with its powerful “uGuru” overclocking feature. Each motherboard offers its own special feature for overclocking. DFI offers its CMOS Reloaded feature, while ABIT sports its uGuru processor and “On the Fly” overclocking. We feel the uGuru system is not as mature as we’d like to see it yet, but it’s a stride in the right direction and will work well enough for most uses. So in the end, it comes down to performance. While both motherboards performed admirably, the DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B did manage to outpace the ABIT AN7 by a hair in almost every benchmark. From our standpoint we’ll conclude that both of these motherboards are great products overall, delivering performance and features proportional to their respective price points.

HotHardware
DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B vs. ABIT AN7
The Clash of the nForce2 Ultra’s

Compare ABIT AN7 prices
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