Abit AV8 3RD Eye or Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SL

gwyn

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Feb 29, 2004
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hi all
not sure which one to go for, Abit AV8 3RD Eye or Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi
here is the rest of the rig im thinking of getting.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester 90nm
1 gig pc 3200 crucial
Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 160GB SATA 8MB
HIS ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR IceQ or HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256MB depending on the mobo.
Chieftec dragon Case
Antec trueblue 480
LiteON 16x DVD-ROM
NEC ND3500
no sound card.

thanks
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Go for the nForce of course of course!

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 

gwyn

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Feb 29, 2004
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thanks for the reply guys
Im still not sure what to do as the Abit is much cheaper than the Asus is the Asus that much better.
also is pci-e the way to go?
thanks
 

endyen

Splendid
The only board I would even look at for s939, is the gigabyte board(s). Just dont put a 3400+ chip in it. They are not official, and so the bios does not recognize them.
For those who have that combination, this board comes closest to supporting them, as you can set the multiplier and HTT manually.
 

lostinspace

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I have the AV8, and I like it alot- had all of the features that I wanted. And I have heard that the OC crowd really likes the 3rd eye so if that is what you are looking to do...

Another thing you may want to consider is the customer service. Abit replaced my BIOS for free because I was unable to post and couldn't flash. They also have very active forums that are filled with users using the exact hardware you are considering. I don't know what Asus has to offer, but you may want to consider those points.
 

lostinspace

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Forgot the PCI-E...

If you strive to have the best gamming rig and often play against others, then PCI-E will keep you on the top of the curve. Otherwise you probably wont really 'need' it for another few years, at that point you will be ready to upgrade anyhow and PCI-E will have matured.
 

airspace31

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LostinSpace,
The prob you mentioned "There is an acknowledged compatibility issue with AV8s and Antec power sources".
Is that just on Abit boards are do all AV8 mobos have a prob with Antec power?
Do you have a link to that forum?
 

lostinspace

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Here is a link for their forums after I put in a search for AV8 antec.

http://forum.abit-usa.com/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=787595&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descendi

I believe it is only the AV8. Something with the power not being as "clean" as the AV8/AMD 64 combo needs. Antec acknowledged the problem early on and found it easy to fix on the manufacturing level. A unit straight from the factory should be ok. Older models could be repaired by shipping it to them.

I unwittingly ordered the AAA combo of grief (A64/AV8/Antec) and the only problem I had was the older BIOS on the AV8. I didn't experience the Antec related problems in the couple of days I had it running. But the PSU was still within zipzoomfly's RMA period so I thought I might as well be safe and RMA it now rather than to be stuck with it later.

Also, I believe all of the Antec PSUs that have been adjusted to work with the A64/Abit will have a sticker on the cellophane wrapping saying "64bit compliant" or something similar to that.