Gigabyte 7NNXP (nForce2 Ultra 400): Gigabyte Goes nForce
by Evan Lieb on July 5, 2003 10:53 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Gigabyte 7NNXP: Board Layout
Overall, we were quite pleased with the 7NNXP’s layout. We like the fact that Gigabyte places the 7NNXP ATX (20-pin) connector at the top right-hand side of the PCB to the right of the DIMM slots. Since standard PSUs do not have an extra long ATX cable, this location is excellent. It will reduce clutter and greatly minimize the intrusive ATX wires from obstructing the installation/uninstallation of the CPU HSF, memory modules, and any other components that you may decide to modify or uninstall in that area. If you’re using a high-quality PSU with an extra-long ATX connector, then you have nothing to worry about, but the ATX connector location is still ideal for those users who can’t afford the best PSUs.
The 7NNXP’s ATX12V connector is located just below the DPS (Dual Power System), one of the 6 “Dual Miracles” that Gigabyte markets with their high-end desktop motherboards. However, it has proven to be nothing more than a marketing gimmick based on our own extensive testing. The location of the ATX12V connector is not ideal since standard PSU’s ATX12V cable runs directly over the CPU HSF. This means that you would have to unhook the ATX12V cable just to uninstall your HSF. As we’ve mentioned countless times before, this is not an issue with higher quality PSUs, but if you’re not overclocking, it seems pointless to spend extra cash on a high-watt, name-brand PSU.
For many reasons, it was wise for Gigabyte to place the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors above the midsection of the motherboard and to the right of the DIMM slots. First, this allows for bundled IDE cables to reach the upper bays of your ATX case. Secondly, it permits installation of optical drives in the first and second bays. This would not be possible if the Primary/Secondary IDE connectors were placed where the IDE RAID connectors are located on the 7NNXP. In addition, this location offers better air flow and case organization, and enables the user to make use of the Slave connector on the bundled IDE cables. All in all, you can’t go wrong with this site.
The position of the Floppy connector is less than ideal, however. In a Floppy drive installation, you’ll notice that the Floppy cable will create some case clutter and disorganization. Fortunately, the Floppy connector is right next to (and slightly above) the Primary/Secondary IDE connectors, and all the connectors will be centrally located. Still, it is not clear why Gigabyte couldn’t just place the Floppy connector at the bottom of the board near the IEEE 1394 FireWire ports.
A very nice touch to the 7NNXP is the location of the DIMM connectors. They are far enough away from the AGP slot so that it doesn’t force users to uninstall their video card if they need to install or uninstall some memory. Can you imagine unscrewing your video card, unplugging your VGA cable, and physically uninstalling your video card from the AGP slot just to swap memory? Slowly, but surely, motherboard makers are taking notice of this complaint and are properly implementing the changes during layout decisions. DFI was the first of several motherboard makers to acknowledge openly that their engineers literally designed their motherboard around user requests.
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Anonymous User - Sunday, September 14, 2003 - link
Flash again. Yes, like many, I set the "kill bit" for Flash. No Flash is no problem. Spywareblaster free has a flash kill ability for those who do not wish to manipulate the registry. Uninstall flash with macromedia uninstaller, then check kill flash with spywareblaster. All reversable. Love the reviews here and still prefer Abit.nguyendot1 - Saturday, September 13, 2003 - link
I have this mother board with the newest bios. The ITE raid chips do NOT support ATAPI Optical devices. I have the manual sitting in front of me and it specifically states in the troubleshooting section that it does NOT support cd-rom drives. This is just great... THat was a rather large factor in me buying the motherboard, so i could have optical drives out the wazooo... Guess not now.Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - link
I would be interested in hearing more about the DDR memory and this board. I just sent the motherboard (actually mine is a GA-7N400 pro with the nVidia and AMD Barton 2800) back for replacement because I couldn't get it to boot reliably more than 3 or 4 times; I was using Mushkin PC3200 Blue DDR dual bank, 2 sticks of 512mb each. When I tried one in each bank for dual channel, I couldn't even post as far as video or a single beep. When I tried one stick it would boot 2 or 3 times then not again. When I moved it to another slot it would do the same, boot 2 or 3 times then not. The keyboard would not be present every now and then also. Of course there is no word from Gigabyte. Their tech specs are:Memory
1. Type:Dual Channel DDR400/ 333/ 266- 184pin
2. Max capacity: Up to 3GB by 4 DIMM slots
Does anyone know how I would even guess which memory would work here, or is there something I'm missing with the CAS ? I do like the features on the board, but because of the support I am thinking that is unfortunate.
Anonymous User - Saturday, July 26, 2003 - link
"In fact, if we had to choose between the Gigabyte 7N400 Pro, ABIT NF7-S and ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, we’d choose the 7N400 Pro any day of the week."Why is it that you'd choose 7N400 and not NF7-S?
Anonymous User - Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - link
Any reports of sound problems or quality questions?Evan Lieb - Monday, July 21, 2003 - link
Sorry anonymous user #24, but you simply haven't researched your issues enough. "Issues" such as the following are not issues at all:- Audio stuttering at boot-up is something that happens with lots of boards and is hardly all that much of an issue.
- There are no issues with the ITE RAiD controller if you're know what you're doing (the latest board and controller BIOS), and since I've used it many times with no issues (including the 7NNXP's ITE controller) it's user error.
- The Smart Fan control DOES stop once you disable it in the BIOS. I tried it myself multiple times.
- The voltage values loaded automatically in the BIOS are not incorrect or bad in any way like you claim. The values (such as 2.6V VDIMM) are prefectly acceptable practice.
- BIOS Athlon XP CPU temps are almost always inaccurate, welcome to three years ago.
- Gigabyte's easytune utility works just fine, your issues are odd.
Next.
;)
Anonymous User - Friday, July 18, 2003 - link
I am amazed at how superficial this review is. There could not have been very professional or detailed testing, since a quick look at the forums over on www.nforcershq.com gigabyte forum will show how many flaws/bugs this board has. I have confirmed those on my GA-7NNXP also.Let's see about the list; 1. False starts and lock-ups upon power-up, improper automatic voltage settings on ram and other components, stutering audio on boot of win-xp, most heatsinks require modifications with a cutter to fit around the on-board capacitors, the last few BIOS versions have the north-bridge fan failing to run if the "easy-tune" util is running, the easy-tune util has not been ported to this specific board, so most of it's features do not operate and it shows inaccurate temperatures, there are reported issues with the ITE Raid unit, The system is exceptionally fussy about running in dual-channel DDR, The cpu cooling fan dips in speed even if you turn off smart-fan settings in BIOS,
and last but not least, since there is not yet a properly working temperature monitoring utility and bios version, it is anyone's guess what temp your CPU is *really* running at.
Since these, and more, issues are littering the other forums, I really have to wonder about reviewers who simply boot windows and run game benchmarks. They are so happy to get a free board, they report NONE OF THE NEGATIVES, hence you can not make a valid purchase decision based on these content free superficial reviews.
Sorry, that is that.
Anonymous User - Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - link
Read This For Some Real problems not mentioned in this article :www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22527
Anonymous User - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - link
Anonymous User - Sunday, July 13, 2003 - link
I agree. This is just one of the yellow underlined links on random words in that article:http://adforce.adtech.de/?adlink|82|60988|1|16|AdI...
I scoured my entire machine for stupid link-stealing programs, data-miners, annoying malicious ad-programs and found nothing using any of the latest scanners. Flash is borderline bearable at the best of times, but Anandtech is the only website I use on a regular basis that gives me flash overlay ads. Use some common-sense: If you're going to advertise, at least get paid for it, and make the adverts relevant to those using your site.
WHO IN GOD'S NAME WOULD READ ANANDTECH AND THEN CLICK ON A DELL ADVERT? FFS PPL Something has to be done about this