Which Motherboard?

thunda · 19th February 2006, 6:09 PM

Could I get a few opinions about as to which 939 m/b to get. The Asrock Dual-SATA2 has now served it's purpose in allowing my to slowly upgrade to the A64/PCIe world and will be moving onto the missus rig.

Now I don't wish to go mad with overclocking but I'd like a little voltage to play with, so I'm thinking if the board allows say 1.65V vcore and maybe 3.2V vdimm it will serve me well. Not interested in SLI either. All I'll be adding to it is my X850XT and an X-Fi. So far my choices are

Abit Kn8 Ultra
DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity
Epox 9NPA3J

As you can see they're all worth around the same price, so considering what I'm after is there any need to get a better/more expensive board than these? Any horror stories and/or pleasent suprises been had with any of these by you guys? Any other suggestions?

Cheers

SnooP-WiggleS · 19th February 2006, 7:45 PM

the abit board should do the job fine. Main thing is the board can get to reasonably high HTT (say 300 at least), and has voltage options, which both the abit and dfi can do fine (not sure about epox, probably..)

thunda · 19th February 2006, 10:42 PM

Yeah I'm leaning towards the Abit, nothing against DFI boards just the Abit looks a better layout, the Abit has cooling on the mosfets too, something which I would normally mod on a board anyway but in this case it's done for me, fits my requirements and it's red not that brown :P

Anyone else wanna put in their 2 cents?

Oh is it true Abit are a lot fussier about their compenents these days?

SLATYE · 20th February 2006, 2:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thunda

Anyone else wanna put in their 2 cents?

I'd still get Abit - but I'd go for the KN8-SLI instead. Quite apart from SLI support, it's got firewire and passive chipset cooling. It's only about $20 extra, and that's pretty worthwhile (considering that it'll cost that much to replace the chipset fan on the KN8-Ultra - and 40mm fans die all the time).

djjc · 20th February 2006, 4:21 PM

even though i own a DFI, id still say abit. the chipset HSF sucks bigtime, and to replace it you loose a PCIe slot. layout is much easier to work with with the abit.

thunda · 20th February 2006, 5:30 PM

Cheers guys, sounds like I was on the right track and thankyou SLATYE for your alternative thinking, you're right. On all boards I've owned I've replaced the chipset HSF and yes the cost of one would be the difference between the non SLI and the SLI boards.

bangmango · 23rd February 2006, 12:12 PM

What DDr voltage options has the Abit board has?

FB008 · 23rd February 2006, 12:44 PM

i'd go abit as well. i reckon they have the easiest layout to work with (except for the floppy connector)

and abit is more plug and play friendly, i think DFI seems to require lots of love and attention to get it running sweet, but once you know what you're doing and got the settings just right it's excellent

madhatterjc · 24th February 2006, 1:59 PM

yep, another thumbs up

for abit. They've been really reliable on the 4 systems I'm maintaining / built for friends and family. And there are great bios options that can help you find that dream OC

.

On another note the KN8-SLi, yes there aren't many reviews but a few I've seen have said its a DUD! Major vcore stability issues among other things... any truth to that? I'm currently waiting on more stock b4 getting mine

Knobi · 24th February 2006, 8:12 PM

ABIT is a pretty good board. That would be my choice

FireTech · 24th February 2006, 8:36 PM

What about the upcoming ABIT AT8 and AT8 32X guys?

EDIT: Forget the AT8 - Now discontinued in Australia. AT8 32X is due to replace it.

19th February 2006, 6:09 PM	#1
thunda Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Adelaide Posts: 735	Which Motherboard? Could I get a few opinions about as to which 939 m/b to get. The Asrock Dual-SATA2 has now served it's purpose in allowing my to slowly upgrade to the A64/PCIe world and will be moving onto the missus rig. Now I don't wish to go mad with overclocking but I'd like a little voltage to play with, so I'm thinking if the board allows say 1.65V vcore and maybe 3.2V vdimm it will serve me well. Not interested in SLI either. All I'll be adding to it is my X850XT and an X-Fi. So far my choices are Abit Kn8 Ultra DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity Epox 9NPA3J As you can see they're all worth around the same price, so considering what I'm after is there any need to get a better/more expensive board than these? Any horror stories and/or pleasent suprises been had with any of these by you guys? Any other suggestions? Cheers __________________ i5-3570k @ 4.2GHz \| ASROCK Z77 EXTREME4 \| 2x GIGABYTE GTX560 \| 2x8GB G.SKILL ARES 1600 \| ASUS XONAR ESSENCE STX \| SAMSUNG 830 256GB SSD \| LEADTEK DTV2000DS PLUS \| SAMSUNG S27B350 \| CORSAIR HX750 \| WINDOWS 7 PRO

19th February 2006, 7:45 PM	#2
SnooP-WiggleS Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Ballarat, Victoria Posts: 2,662	the abit board should do the job fine. Main thing is the board can get to reasonably high HTT (say 300 at least), and has voltage options, which both the abit and dfi can do fine (not sure about epox, probably..) __________________ RIG - CPU: I5 2500k @ 4.3ghz \| RAM: 8GB 1600 \| MOBO: ASUS P67 \| GC: ATI 5850 \| HD: 4tb \| Audio: m-audio delta 1010lt -> USB DAC -> Head Direct Re0 \| Case: Antec Sonata 3 PSU watts and Rails calculator OCAU WIKI's - heres what i've added, what can you add? The OCAU PSU wiki. Video Card wiki. Quiet PC

19th February 2006, 10:42 PM	#3
thunda Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Adelaide Posts: 735	Yeah I'm leaning towards the Abit, nothing against DFI boards just the Abit looks a better layout, the Abit has cooling on the mosfets too, something which I would normally mod on a board anyway but in this case it's done for me, fits my requirements and it's red not that brown :P Anyone else wanna put in their 2 cents? Oh is it true Abit are a lot fussier about their compenents these days? __________________ i5-3570k @ 4.2GHz \| ASROCK Z77 EXTREME4 \| 2x GIGABYTE GTX560 \| 2x8GB G.SKILL ARES 1600 \| ASUS XONAR ESSENCE STX \| SAMSUNG 830 256GB SSD \| LEADTEK DTV2000DS PLUS \| SAMSUNG S27B350 \| CORSAIR HX750 \| WINDOWS 7 PRO

20th February 2006, 4:21 PM	#5
djjc Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Coffs Harbour / Taree Posts: 1,352	even though i own a DFI, id still say abit. the chipset HSF sucks bigtime, and to replace it you loose a PCIe slot. layout is much easier to work with with the abit. __________________ My OCAU Wiki Contributions - OCAU A64 Overclocking Guide - What Is Technology DFI Owners Club - [Logitech 'G' Owners Club Member #22] - OCAU Camera Club #282 Old Gallery New Gallery

20th February 2006, 5:30 PM	#6
thunda Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Adelaide Posts: 735	Cheers guys, sounds like I was on the right track and thankyou SLATYE for your alternative thinking, you're right. On all boards I've owned I've replaced the chipset HSF and yes the cost of one would be the difference between the non SLI and the SLI boards. __________________ i5-3570k @ 4.2GHz \| ASROCK Z77 EXTREME4 \| 2x GIGABYTE GTX560 \| 2x8GB G.SKILL ARES 1600 \| ASUS XONAR ESSENCE STX \| SAMSUNG 830 256GB SSD \| LEADTEK DTV2000DS PLUS \| SAMSUNG S27B350 \| CORSAIR HX750 \| WINDOWS 7 PRO

23rd February 2006, 12:12 PM	#7
bangmango Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sydney/Australia Posts: 731	What DDr voltage options has the Abit board has?

24th February 2006, 1:59 PM	#9
madhatterjc Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Perth Posts: 101	yep, another thumbs up for abit. They've been really reliable on the 4 systems I'm maintaining / built for friends and family. And there are great bios options that can help you find that dream OC . On another note the KN8-SLi, yes there aren't many reviews but a few I've seen have said its a DUD! Major vcore stability issues among other things... any truth to that? I'm currently waiting on more stock b4 getting mine __________________ -ABIT- Ownage #35 Brotherhood Against PM Bidders - Member #1982

24th February 2006, 8:12 PM	#10
Knobi Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Eeede-laide Posts: 2,385	ABIT is a pretty good board. That would be my choice __________________ Fox Mars\|E7400@ 4Ghz\|4GB Team RAM\|Storm G4, MCP 655, Rad, DD Chipset block\| 1x SG SATA 2 160GB HD, 1TB SATA2\|ATI HD5770\|Corsair 600W\|CM Stacker\|HDA X-Plosion \|22" VW222U\|

24th February 2006, 8:36 PM	#11
FireTech Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Sunny Sydney Posts: 1,651	Crossfire and Passive cooling What about the upcoming ABIT AT8 and AT8 32X guys? EDIT: Forget the AT8 - Now discontinued in Australia. AT8 32X is due to replace it. Last edited by FireTech; 6th March 2006 at 8:39 PM. Reason: Board discontinued...