View Full Version : Which one to get?
Ok, long story short, the mobo of the rig in my sig (an8-sli 32x) is no longer with us. R.I.P.
I need a socket 939 board, which meets the following requirements:
Socket 939. Duh.
PCI-E. 1 is fine, 2 is great.
Stable. I need my pc to be up as much as possible, it's what makes me my monies.
At least 2 SATA.
Local. I need to buy this ASAP, and I can't wait for shipping. I'm in Vancouver, Canada, so that pretty much means I am buying from NCIX or Anitec.
What I've looked at and am considering. Feedback?
Asus A8N-SLI SE
Asus A8R-MVP
Sapphire Pure Crossfire Xpress 3200
Asus A8N5X
My budget is about $110 canadian.
jonnyGURU
10-19-2006, 07:27 PM
I have three different A8N's. An A8N-E, an A8N-SLI Deluxe and an A8N-SLI SE. I think I can say I like the Asus A8N. :D
CAD4466HK
10-19-2006, 07:36 PM
Ok, long story short, the mobo of the rig in my sig (an8-sli 32x) is no longer with us. R.I.P.
I need a socket 939 board, which meets the following requirements:
Socket 939. Duh.
PCI-E. 1 is fine, 2 is great.
Stable. I need my pc to be up as much as possible, it's what makes me my monies.
At least 2 SATA.
Local. I need to buy this ASAP, and I can't wait for shipping. I'm in Vancouver, Canada, so that pretty much means I am buying from NCIX or Anitec.
What I've looked at and am considering. Feedback?
Asus A8N-SLI SE
Asus A8R-MVP
Sapphire Pure Crossfire Xpress 3200
Asus A8N5X
My budget is about $110 canadian.
Stay away from the Sapphire if your going to run SLI, with a sound card,
being it only has 1xPCI and it's below the 2nd PCI-E lane:(
I have three different A8N's. An A8N-E, an A8N-SLI Deluxe and an A8N-SLI SE. I think I can say I like the Asus A8N. :D
I was wondering, what's the major difference(s) between the sli se and the dlx? I see it's missing 4 sata's, the mosfet heatsink, and it has a different chipset fan, but is that all?
Stay away from the Sapphire if your going to run SLI, with a sound card,
being it only has 1xPCI and it's below the 2nd PCI-E lane:(
I think you're looking at a different sapphire board than I am.. click (http://pclab.pl/zdjecia/artykuly/stolarczyk/sapphire-rd580/plyta-gora.jpg) 2 pci-e, and i have a triple slot video card (with all fans mounted, that is). I use onboard sound, so that's not a concern to me.
jonnyGURU
10-19-2006, 07:53 PM
I was wondering, what's the major difference(s) between the sli se and the dlx? I see it's missing 4 sata's, the mosfet heatsink, and it has a different chipset fan, but is that all?
AFAIK, yeah.
CAD4466HK
10-19-2006, 08:03 PM
I was wondering, what's the major difference(s) between the sli se and the dlx? I see it's missing 4 sata's, the mosfet heatsink, and it has a different chipset fan, but is that all?
I think you're looking at a different sapphire board than I am.. click (http://pclab.pl/zdjecia/artykuly/stolarczyk/sapphire-rd580/plyta-gora.jpg) 2 pci-e, and i have a triple slot video card (with all fans mounted, that is). I use onboard sound, so that's not a concern to me.
You are right,your talking about the Advantage model with 2 PCI's,correct?
davidhammock200
10-19-2006, 08:09 PM
If you are going to OC, then a DFI LanParty is the best choice. ;)
You are right,your talking about the Advantage model with 2 PCI's,correct?
Correct. Blue pcb, 2 pci.
If you are going to OC, then a DFI LanParty is the best choice. ;)
I know DFI, but it's a bit over my budget of about $110 before taxes, and not to mention my "less than steller" experience with DFI before. That, and the chipset fan. Ugh. I hate that chipset fan. I don't OC THAT much, every board I've owned will take me up to at least 300mhz, so I don't think that's too big a deal.
SixIron
10-19-2006, 08:59 PM
I have the A8N-E Rev 2 and I have one minor, and one major quibble with it.
The minor irk is the Asus PC Probe II wont throttle down the chipset fan. Thankfully it isn't very noisy.
The major annoyance (to me at least) is that Via Envy chipset sound cards dont seem to work after resuming from S3 standby. To be fair to Asus it may be a Nforce 4 chipset issue.
Other than those, the board is bulletproof.
jonnyGURU
10-19-2006, 09:31 PM
I replaced the NB fan on my E with a Zalman and my Deluxe has a NB WB. :D
I use the nForce on-board sound on all three.
SuperSix
10-19-2006, 10:21 PM
If you are going to OC, then a DFI LanParty is the best choice. ;)
DFI sucks. It has the highest return rate (Slightly better than ECS and PCCHips), and there's rumors they are going to stop making all but industrial boards.
Oklahoma Wolf
10-19-2006, 10:30 PM
DFI sucks. It has the highest return rate (Slightly better than ECS and PCCHips), and there's rumors they are going to stop making all but industrial boards.
Not to mention refusing support for those not running a DFI "recommended" PSU. Even when said PSU happens to be based on one that is recommended.
At any rate, I doubt any rig of mine will ever be graced with a DFI board.
nn_step
10-19-2006, 11:37 PM
DFI, Epox, and MSI are all nice choices
SuperSix
10-20-2006, 12:13 AM
DFI, Epox, and MSI are all nice choices
Epox? Are they still in business?
I agree with MSI, but what ever happened to Asus? Gigabyte? Foxconn?
I think I've narrowed it down:
Asus A8N-SLI SE
Asus A8R-MVP
the sapphire only has 2 sata. I need all the space I can get.
Those two boards are about the same price. It's a pretty hard choice. One has nforce 4 + sli and a chipset fan, the other has an ati chipset which runs really cool.
:(
nn_step
10-20-2006, 02:00 AM
Epox? Are they still in business?
I agree with MSI, but what ever happened to Asus? Gigabyte? Foxconn?
hell yes, they are huge in japan.
Asus boards are known for issues with AMD processors.
Giga-btye are stable but you can't overclock them far
Super Nade
10-20-2006, 09:44 AM
Asus A8N-SLI SE
Asus A8R-MVP
Sapphire Pure Crossfire Xpress 3200
Asus A8N5X
Stay away from the Radeon-Xpress chipsets. They are half baked and have issues running memory at 1T (which is not a big deal, but überclockers shun 2T). :p
If you are going to be using non-TCCD, non-Hynix RAM, I'd give the DFI NF4 Expert a go (very very steep learning curve, but since you are not a total n00b, it should be o.k for you). It is far far better than the earlier revisions of the Ultra-D's (which were a crapshoot) and I was happy with it for the brief time I had it. An excellent board if you have BH/CH type stuff.
Out of your list, I'd pick the A8N-E or the A8N-SLI Dlx (more accesories).
Super Nade
10-20-2006, 09:48 AM
hell yes, they are huge in japan.
Asus boards are known for issues with AMD processors.
Giga-btye are stable but you can't overclock them far
I've never had an issue with ASUS and AMD. They don't clock very well and DRAM tweakability is poor, but overall, my experience has been very positive. I've never had a board die on me. As far as I can tell, these boards (A8V Dlx, A8NSLI, M2N-E) are populated with Nichion, Sanyo,Panasonic and UCC caps.
jonnyGURU
10-20-2006, 10:42 AM
I've never had an issue with ASUS and AMD.
Yeah. That's a BS statement.
As for DFI and "learning curve," I'm sicking of hearing that excuse. DFI has poor quality control. It has nothing to do with learning curve or "fickle hardware." I've had three DFI boards in a row with three different problems. If all three had the same problem, I can see fickle hardware or a "learning curve." But instead, I conclude they're just crap.
Spectre
10-20-2006, 11:32 AM
Asus boards are known for issues with AMD processors.
This is just one observation but I notice no difference in "issues" between AMD processors and Asus vs MSI boards that I build with (and by taht I mean I don't have any issues between the board and processor). Unless you think their is a specific chipset that Asus uses that sucks?
davidhammock200
10-20-2006, 11:52 AM
Yeah. That's a BS statement.
As for DFI and "learning curve," I'm sicking of hearing that excuse. DFI has poor quality control. It has nothing to do with learning curve or "fickle hardware." I've had three DFI boards in a row with three different problems. If all three had the same problem, I can see fickle hardware or a "learning curve." But instead, I conclude they're just crap.Then the LanParty's are the best OC'ing crap on earth! lol
DFI is staying in the high-performance mobo business &
concentrating on new LanParty's & an new line of "un-named at this time" mobos.
They will probably be dropping the Infinity & other lower lines, except for the industrial stuff.
Spectre
10-20-2006, 11:58 AM
They will probably be dropping the Infinity & other lower lines, except for the industrial stuff.
With DFI's "issues" there is no way I would buy industrial products from them. Heck I won't put a DFI board in anybody's system I build.....just isn't worth the support chances.
jonnyGURU
10-20-2006, 12:11 PM
Then the LanParty's are the best OC'ing crap on earth! lol
This may very well be true.
davidhammock200
10-20-2006, 12:16 PM
With DFI's "issues" there is no way I would buy industrial products from them. Heck I won't put a DFI board in anybody's system I build.....just isn't worth the support chances.Obviously the "industrial stuff" is built to totally different standards.
As to the customer build/support issue, I agree unless the customer request it & is willing to pay extra for it. ;)
Spectre
10-20-2006, 12:26 PM
Obviously the "industrial stuff" is built to totally different standards.
That may very well be......but their reputation and brand image is totally trashed in regards to stability and reliability. That doesn't usually do people any favors securing contracts.
davidhammock200
10-20-2006, 12:29 PM
That may very well be......but their reputation and brand image is totally trashed in regards to stability and reliability. That doesn't usually do people any favors securing contracts.I think you are 100% wrong about their "reputation and brand image", especially in the industrial sector.
Spectre
10-20-2006, 12:31 PM
I think you are 100% wrong about their "reputation and brand image", especially in the industrial sector.
Well if you only look at DFI street that would be the case ;)
davidhammock200
10-20-2006, 12:50 PM
Well if you only look at DFI street that would be the case ;)Yes & that is so funny! What do people expect to see on a support forum? :wall:
jonnyGURU
10-20-2006, 01:02 PM
Zzzzzz..... Alright guys... let it die.
Super Nade
10-20-2006, 01:51 PM
Just a clarification (100% personal opinion):
I said I've been incredibly lucky with my DFI Lanparty and Expert boards. All my personal best benchmarking scores were set on these boards. The "learning curve" is indeed quite steep as I spent months tweaking and fine-tuning stuff. However, this has nothing to do with QC and should never be used as an excuse for poor QC. Indeed, I have helped many members with their DFI boards and MANY A TIME we could come to only one conclusion i.e RMA. :(
Would I use DFI in a mission critical application? --> Absolutely not! It is a personal-fun board for entusiasts, nothing more nothing less. As for DFI being industrial quality, heh...:rolleyes:
The support forum has many knowledgeable members, but a few of the wankers who run the forum just make me sick. Add that to highly dodgy customer support and you really have a shitty situation. Thank God for newegg RMA's!
Edit#
I either use Supermicro or ASUS on all builds for my Uni.
Back on topic:
Jonny, how much did your temperatures on the chipset on the a8n-sli drop when you stuffed on the blue fanned zalman? What about the square blue zalman heatsink?
Ok, I just bought the A8N-SLI SE. Great board so far. Not getting me to record setting overclocks, but it'll do the trick. I can already see 2 things about this board which I HATE.
1. The Video card slot arrangement and the cpu arrangement, put together, won't let my thermalright xp90 with a 120mm on it to fit properly and the thermalright V1 on my card to fit properly. I have to use slot #2 in x8. No biggie.
2. That chipset fan. ASDLFAEWJRITHAWOILEHRTJLAKSHFKJASDF I HATE IT. The rest of my pc is >22 db. This stupid fan is at least 35. Anyone wanna sell me a better chipset heatsink?
jonnyGURU
10-21-2006, 08:27 AM
I don't know what the temp difference was, if any, but I'm not worried about it. The Zalman probably actually cools better. lol Those NB fans do suck big time. :D
Super Nade
10-21-2006, 11:19 AM
Try the Evercool chipset fan. It is very quiet and isn't quite the screamer. :)
nn_step
10-21-2006, 01:36 PM
Just a clarification (100% personal opinion):
I said I've been incredibly lucky with my DFI Lanparty and Expert boards. All my personal best benchmarking scores were set on these boards. The "learning curve" is indeed quite steep as I spent months tweaking and fine-tuning stuff. However, this has nothing to do with QC and should never be used as an excuse for poor QC. Indeed, I have helped many members with their DFI boards and MANY A TIME we could come to only one conclusion i.e RMA. :(
Would I use DFI in a mission critical application? --> Absolutely not! It is a personal-fun board for entusiasts, nothing more nothing less. As for DFI being industrial quality, heh...:rolleyes:
The support forum has many knowledgeable members, but a few of the wankers who run the forum just make me sick. Add that to highly dodgy customer support and you really have a shitty situation. Thank God for newegg RMA's!
Edit#
I either use Supermicro or ASUS on all builds for my Uni.
Eh, true.
DFI is for cranking
Epox/MSI for Power Users
Giga-byte if you want it uber stable.
As for ASUS quality, Minor overclocks should not eliminate the life expectancy of the board. (aka an Overclocked ASUS just doesn't last)
The way I see it
DFI, for that overclock that no one will ever match. It seems no one ever beats the records set on the dfi.
Asus / gigabyte / msi, just for... everyone. Great boards, great prices, but only a bit off from being the ultimate board.
Abit, just all around goodness. I hit HTT speeds higher than i did with a DFI (DFI brought me to just under 298, Abit brings me to 300), while using less voltage (1.55 vs 1.4). I like Abit, but I wish it would be more mainstream.
burebista
10-21-2006, 02:24 PM
2. That chipset fan. ASDLFAEWJRITHAWOILEHRTJLAKSHFKJASDF I HATE IT. The rest of my pc is >22 db. This stupid fan is at least 35. Anyone wanna sell me a better chipset heatsink?
Zalman ZM-NBF47/ZM-NB47J, Jing Ting, Thermalright HR-05.
ABIT KN8 SLI (http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/techspec.php?categories=1&model=306) has passive chipset cooling.
Yea, I know about the Abit's with a heatpipe. I had one :( Abit AN8-32x.
The problem now is buying one of those heatsinks. Maybe someone will sell me a heatpipe from the -premium ?
nn_step
10-22-2006, 02:05 AM
Yea, I know about the Abit's with a heatpipe. I had one :( Abit AN8-32x.
The problem now is buying one of those heatsinks. Maybe someone will sell me a heatpipe from the -premium ?
umm why would you want that, when there are better, cheaper, and Quieter options out there?
The heatpipe? Because it's a heatpipe, it'll cool the mosfets too (no heatsinks over them right now), it's quiet, and they go for cheap.
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