which 939 overclocking board for my system

[macadami]

Hello avid motherboard forum gurus! I've used an Asus a8n-sli deluxe board for a long time, but recently switched it over to my htpc since the northbridge fan died and bought a cheap open box Biostar TForce4Sli board from newegg to put in my gaming computer. I read a couple of reviews over the biostar that all said it was a stable, well overclockable board...however this is far from the truth unless by overclocking they meant 5mhz or something and stable as in for the limited amount of time you keep everything at stock speeds. Anyways my system is a Fx 60 with a Vigor Gaming Monsoon 2 TEC cooler, 2 gigs of high performance ram, xfx 8800gts 320mbs, a corsair(seasonic) 520w psu, and a sata 320 gig drive all wrapped up in a lian li pc65b.

Everything I have besides the board is quality to my knowledge for overclocking and stability...so i ask you which board was/is the best for 939? There are still quite a few 'new' 939 boards on ebay and 24 or so on newegg so hopefully one of your recommendations will be attainable. Thanks ahead of time!

 

[raven_87]

when you say high performance RAM? can you specify brand, timings, voltages etc please...

not only your mobo, but your PSU is just a wee bit to weak for my taste...

overclocking?

My favorite 3 for 939.

DFI NF4 line
DFI XF 3200
Sapphire (in general - but the X series is quite nice)

NB fan died?? gee... I've only said that about those models for teh past...idk, year or more. let this be a lesson to you kids.....

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

Of the two boards you have listed, I would choose the Asus A8n-Sli Deluxe board. It simply outshines the Biostar by leaps and bounds in the overclocking arena.

If you still want to use the Asus for your main system, replacing the northbridge fan should not be a problem.

 

[jitpublisher]

The DFI FX 3200 boards are the ultimate overclockers/tweakers dream. (as you see in my sig, I am still running one)
But you really have to be up on BIOS settings and what they are for, and I am not kidding here.
Google for some reviews on line.
There is literally page, after page, after page of menus followed by page after page of submenus allowing you to tweak every setting know to mankind, plus a few more. So much to the point these boards can be overwhelming for all but the most experienced builders.
But if you like to fiddle around, and tweak to the extreme, for socket 939 this is the board to get.

 

[raven_87]

edit: apparently I'm retarded....

 

[Guest]

I originally ordered the biostar for my HTPC, but realized when my cooler came in that it would not fit properly on the asus board the way i'd need it(had a small fan placed ontop of the dead northbridge fan for cooling). I tried running it without the northbridge fan I added but stability went downhill real quick when under full load. I've read a little bit about the DFI's complexity, I'm a beginner oc'er i guess, meaning I understand just about everything I can tweak on a normal good board but am curious if having basic knowledge of htt, fsb speed, multipliers, ram timings, voltage, ram dividers, and the old max out one thing at a time rule would be enough for me to get a good OC out of the DFI's without having the learn what the best speed/voltage/resistance modifier for every contact on the board is.

At this time what appears to be the best boards available on ebay/newegg are a DFI LANPARTY UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert, DFI NF4 Infinity, ABIT AN8 32X, ASUS A8N32-SLI, and a ASUS A8N-SLI Premium.

 

[doglips]

I vote for the A8N32SLI Deluxe....You dont have to be a BIOS genius to figure it out as I've heard you need to be with the DFI's (although I do know DFIs are the best!)

 

[raven_87]

slight bias judging from sig....

that said: it doesnt take a genius to really take hold of these boards...
all it takes is basic common sense, desire to learn and some time.

all very well worth it in the end