Which of the following mobos is the best???

DrDeathhand · Apr 2, 2005

Dear Tomshardware guide people,

I am posting this post, which is from what I read not a rare kind of post but heck I really cant figure out what to get for my new comp system, sooo maby with some advice I can make my final decision.

Allright, first il start of with the specs of the new system that I want to build.

COMP CASE: Thermaltake Armor 8000SWA

PSU : Enermax EG485AX-VHB (G/W)SFMA, Coolergiant AX, 480W (2 fans)

MOBO : Asus A8V Deluxe or MSI K8N Neo2 Platium (cant decide which one so I need your advice on this one)

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester (S939, 2,2GHz, 512KB, Boxed) or AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (S939, 2,4GHz, 512KB, Boxed)

COOLER : ZALMAN CNPS7000B-Cu LED Blue) or ZALMAN CNPS7700-Cu (This depends on the motherboard that il get and if the 7700 series fits on the Asus A8V mobo at all)

RAM : CORSAIR TWINX1024-3200XLPRO XMS3200 1024MB 2-2-2-5 2x184 DIMM Black XMS ProSeries or CORSAIR TWINX1024-3200LLPRO XMS3200 1024MB 2-3-2-6 2x184 DIMM Black XMS ProSeries (This depends on what I hear from you guys which is the best mem for the mobo that you recommend)

Well thats all of the new stuff thats gonna be there, now the stuff I already have that will be part of the comp

Graphics card: Gainward 6800GT 2400GS GLH
Soundcard: Creative Labs audigy2 Platium
DVD drive= Nec 5800A
CDWriter= Plextor Premium
Monitor = Dell 21 inch Triniton P1100 100mhz refreshrate 1024 768 rez
network card= 2x 3com 3c905B-Tx
Harddisk = 2x Western Digital WD800JB ( 80 gigs both

Allright these are the sys specs of the comp I want to build. Now here is the difficult thing. I dont want to sell my AGP vid card because I just got that one about a month or 4 ago and its an awsome GPU card, but it just cant pull its full weight on the system I have right now and thus the online gaming that I used to do has stopped because I am being killed by my frigging bad FPS preformance.

Sooo this is the reason why I am concidering these two motherboards, the Asus A8V Deluxe with the VIA K8T800Pro chipset or the MSI K8N Neo2 Platium with the Nforce3 Ultra chipset.

I have been reading up on both motherboards on all kinds of fora's and well I am still confused as heck

. First of all I have seen that there is a preformance gain with the Nforce3Ultra chipset over the VIA K8T800Pro which is quite nice and that is one of the few reasons its on my list here next to the asus one because normally I choose asus blindly. An other reason why the MSI mobo is there in my list is because I really dont like VIA Chipsets but the only asus motherboard with an AGP sloth for the AMD 939 processors is the A8V Deluxe with the Via chipset. My instinct is saying, get the NFORCE one, VIA SUCKS, but its also saying GET ASUS it RULES over MSI.
Other things I have heard about the MSI mobo is that it is more problems then the ASUS one, but then again, some people always have troubles with somethings, and others not soooo, that doesnt make it much clearer for me either.
I also checked out the layout of the motherboards, which is an important thing to do, concidering you need to be able to place the components you bought on it, and it all has to fit and stuff. I found that well the layout of the MSI board is not as good as the Asus one, the mem banks are to close to each other and the CPU socket, which is not really good when you place your RAM modules in there and then place the ZALMAN Cooler on there there is only VERY VERY little space left between the cooler and the ram, and thats not good, ok ok allright you can place the RAM mem in bank 3 and 4 and then it will have more distance between the socket and the ram and the cooler but well mem is meant to be in bank 1 and 2. The Asus motherboard doesnt have this problem at all because the banks on that board are placed differently.

Now the final problem I am facing, and that is the vid card. Well you read what vidcard I have, so if you check the following site, http://www.gainward.com/html/product/vga/powerpack/6800GT/2400tvdviGS.htm you can see what the vid card looks like. Its quite a broad card, and when you look at the MSI motherboard, you notice that there is this little fan unit, right behind the AGP slot, this unit cools the Nforce chip, and thus is VERY important. I am fearing that the graphics card will never fit in that slot, or if it does that it will block that fan, and thats a nono.

One thing I also dont know, is which of the two types of Corsair RAM modules I can use best for what motherboard. I cant find any latency information on both, soo thats also something I need to hear from you guys.

OK so the basic question is : What motherboard should I choose???
and for what reason?? like: MSI Because it preforms better using the nforce3 ultra chipset.

My next question is: what RAM works on what motherboard.

And an other question is. Can I use the ZALMAN 7700CU cooler on the ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard (I know I cant use it on the MSI one)

And yet an other question is: Has anyone tried to put a graphics card like mine in the AGP slot of the MSI mobo?? and if so, did it fit???

Allright, i hope to hear some answers to these questions.

Edited by DrDeathhand on 04/02/05 09:37 AM.

Rugger · Apr 2, 2005

The <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-230&depa=1" target="_new">Epox 9NDA3J</A> is another great option for the nF3 Ultra chipset. Stable and OCs like a beast if that's what you want to do. I thought Soltek was bringing something to the table that would fit your needs. Pat posted a thread about a week or two ago...On to your other questions.
1. I don't like MSI, but nForce is the better chipset. I'd say look at the different nF3 Ultra chipset mobos and make your choice there. Other people have had success with the Neo2 - it's a wildly popular board. I simply won't recommend them.
2. If the Zalman fitting is a major concern then take a look at the <A HREF="http://www.thermalright.com/product_default.htm" target="_new">Thermalright XP-120</A>. It costs a little more, but is compatible with more boards and performs as well or better.
3. PSU: Better option is the <A HREF="http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270402" target="_new">Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P</A> for $94 (no S/H)
4. If you're buying a separate HSF, then get an OEM CPU to save a few bucks. Unless you want a spare HSF - AMDs stock ones are really effective right now.
5.

For you:
1. Are you OCing? Either of the RAMs you listed will work just fine in either of the boards. If you're not OCing then you can safely go with one of the good value series of RAM, like the <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-299&depa=1" target="_new">Mushkin Dual Pack PC3200 2x512MB model #991145</A> or the <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-321&depa=1" target="_new">Geil Ultra Series Value GE1GB3200BSC</A>.

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

pat · Apr 2, 2005

You will have good luck with both of them..................

April fool!!

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

pat · Apr 2, 2005

Seriously, I dont remember who here had problem with his nforce3 motherboard+nvidia and end up with a VIA motherboard.

Something weird with nvidia drivers and SP2.

Dont know if a fix is available tho

Somebody knows??

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

Rugger · Apr 2, 2005

I think that was Ned. The problem was with OCing a 6800 series card on the nForce chipset. Nobody had issues running them at stock speeds...

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

Rugger · Apr 2, 2005

I've been pretty lucky in not having any issues with SP2 so far
*knocks on wood*

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

pat · Apr 2, 2005

I'm having USB2.0 problems with SP2 myself with an nForce2.
Gonna do a clean install and switch back to SP1a.

I only had to reinstall drivers, as it was after a repair install..

Have yet to have a single problem not resolved with SP2.

tested on many system, many chipsets,...many time..

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

DrDeathhand · Apr 2, 2005

Thank you people for your responds,

but uhmmm I cant really do anything with your posts because you are not answering my questions.

I am not going to buy an other motherboard, its either going to be the MSI one or the ASUS one, but which of the two that is the question, if you read my post again you will see why I am doubting between the two, and thats why I need your experiences and stuff of the two, and the info on the other things that I am asking to make a good judgement.

But again thanks for responding

mozzartusm · Apr 2, 2005

SP2 has been flawless on my ASUS MOBO, but it wont load no matter what I do on my SOYO.

Intel P4 550(3.4)@4.2 posted 4.8
ASUS P5AD2-E-Prem
Ballistix PC2 5300@DDR2 780
ATI Radeon X800XL 459/609
TT 680W PSU

Rugger · Apr 2, 2005

It's working great on my Soyo - LOL!

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

Rugger · Apr 2, 2005

My next question is: what RAM works on what motherboard.

I'll stick by what I said about RAM:

Either of the RAMs you listed will work just fine in either of the boards.

And an other question is. Can I use the ZALMAN 7700CU cooler on the ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard (I know I cant use it on the MSI one)

<A HREF="http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/7700-754-939-940MBlist_eng.htm" target="_new">Here</A> is a list of mobos the 7700 is compatible with - it includes the Asus A8V mobos.

And yet an other question is: Has anyone tried to put a graphics card like mine in the AGP slot of the MSI mobo?? and if so, did it fit???

I haven't tried it.

but uhmmm I cant really do anything with your posts because you are not answering my questions. I am not going to buy an other motherboard, its either going to be the MSI one or the ASUS one, but which of the two that is the question.

I answered your question - you just didn't like my answer. I recommend the nForce3 Ultra chipset over the VIA, but I won't recommend the MSI board. Again, I'll stick with my recommendation - the Epox board. If you decide you want to go with MSI, then that's you decision. If you do, then neither the 7700 or the XP-120 will fit, but the Thermalright XP-90 or <A HREF="http://www.thermalright.com/product_default.htm" target="_new">XP-90C</A> will fit.

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

pat · Apr 3, 2005

SP2 has worked good on any mobo thrown at it, be Asus, Soltek, MSI, ECS, Gigabyte and Soyo.

The only problem, if it can be called that, was having to reinstall drivers for some devices, but it was also sometime the case with SP1.

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

pat · Apr 3, 2005

Its either going to be the MSI one or the ASUS one

I wont jeopardize my reputation actually recommending a MSI or an Asus...

Get something else...

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

mozzartusm · Apr 3, 2005

Actually with my particular board some ATI cards when used on this board cause a conflict that will not allow SP2 to install. SOYO discontinued this board about a month after they made this huge rebate push that they never honored. The board sold for around $169.00 with a $100.00 rebate. There were hundreds maybe more people that were never given their rebate. SOYO still claims they never recieved my info. The sorry Focks are no good dirty low down scum! I made multiple copies of each form and the UPC codes. I e-mailed the copies over 20 times. Guess what? They still say they never received my information. To add to this, they will not warranty the board if anything goes wrong with it unless you have the origianl UPC code and proof of purchase. They required both of those items in the rebate offer. So they double FOCKED alot of people. They had full knowledge that there were some problems with the board, and they unloaded them. Not all ATI cards cause this conflict when paired with SP2 but mine does so to say that SP2 has worke good on any mobo thrown at it is not true. Thats not to say that its SP2's fault, but my original statement is correct. ATI is not to blame here either. SOYO showed there true colors when they discontinued the board and screwed all of us on the rebates and warranty.

Intel P4 550(3.4)@4.2 posted 4.8
ASUS P5AD2-E-Prem
Ballistix PC2 5300@DDR2 780
ATI Radeon X800XL 459/609
TT 680W PSU

Rugger · Apr 3, 2005

He's more likely to say Soltek...

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

pat · Apr 3, 2005

Never had any experience with epox... cannot comment on them. But I guess that they are fine...

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

pat · Apr 3, 2005

I use ATI card in about 80% of my built. For mine, it is 100% of the time. I dont know...I always had good succes with them, no matter of the Chipset. I had a Soyo Dragon+ (via kt266a chipset) and was working good, with a Radeon 7200 DDR VIVO and AIW 8500DV. The 7200 is still working, the 8500 just quit.. Still warranted, so no big deal. The mobo is still running.

I heard about soyo rebate debacle.. Maybe a collective could have some sort of agreement.. But I guess that it will take so much time and only lawyer will benefit of it.

Now, to me,Soyo is blacklisted.. as well as MSI and Asus is in... probation..

SP2,when installed from a slipstreamed CD will always works, as I have to reinstall the drivers anyway after the installation. Otherwise, it happen to me once, the USB drivers were "lost" during the update. all I had to do is to select update and let windows pick the drivers.. They were just unregistred from the OS.

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

pat · Apr 3, 2005

I like Soltek's. They always fire up the first time, Windows install without hiccup and run fast and stable as rock. I just set up a brand new soltek k8an2e-gr with 2800+ and 512 megs RAM.. Boring.. it just works.. My friend was happy of his new system... an upgrade from a AMD Athlon 1000 on a cheap biostar motherboard. To tell you... he like to watch his system to boot up... it cannot believe that booting could be that fast!!!

I now have a Gigabyte motherboard. Soltek nforce4 were not available when I switch to 939 and PCIe, so I pick-up the cheapest board that I could have. This board is very good.. stable and seems fast. Well, my 754 Soltek was maybe faster, but it is because it has 200MHz more. I did OC my cpu to 2.1 GHz, so I feel that I got enough for my money. But right now, Soltek nforce4 are near shipping and I will probably get one.

Unless I have one Soltek that will fail on me, I'll keep getting them.

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

mozzartusm · Apr 3, 2005

I think that it is only the P41875P Dragon2V1.0 that has this problem. The board has just about everything that you could possibly want in features. Like I said, its not all ATI cards and from what I understand its mostly the All-in-Wonder. Again, im not pointing a finger at ATI. Another thing that is just weird about this board is that when you turn it on it powers up and all of a sudden shuts off for about 3 seconds and fires right back up and does fine. This is another vedry common issue with this board. Ive tried slip streaming and everything else other than buying a new video card. I gave SOYO such a hard time over what to do about SP2 that they finally told me that the only option that I had was to pursue ATI about trading my card for another version. In other words they were shifting the blame. They had the rebate thing planned perfectly. It wasnt just by chance that they discontinued the board a month later. The reason that they double screwed everyone on the warranty was because they never had any intention of keeping replacements in stock or fixing whatever the main problem was with the board. If they would have admitted it, they would have to recall all of them.

Now about ASUS, I hear bits and pieces of info about people being upset with ASUS. I have their P5AD2-E-Premium board which is the best socket 775 board on the market but I am curious as to what exactly people are down on ASUS about. Was there a particular board that was screwed up? I really dont have a clue, up until around 8 months ago my newest system was a 1999 compaq with a P3 550Mhz CPU.

Intel P4 550(3.4)@4.2 posted 4.8
ASUS P5AD2-E-Prem
Ballistix PC2 5300@DDR2 780
ATI Radeon X800XL 459/609
TT 680W PSU

pat · Apr 4, 2005

My Soltek always fire up the first time.. but never as this <A HREF="http://www.seany.co.uk/asusfire/" target="_new">Asus...</A>

At least, I hope none of my board will fire up like this one ...

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

mozzartusm · Apr 4, 2005

Which model was that? What were you trying to cook :lol:

Intel P4 550(3.4)@4.2 posted 4.8
ASUS P5AD2-E-Prem
Ballistix PC2 5300@DDR2 780
ATI Radeon X800XL 459/609
TT 680W PSU

Guest · Apr 4, 2005

OMG!! that coulda burned your friggin house down man!! I'd sue!!

 Woohoo!! I am officially an Addict !! 
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endyen · Apr 4, 2005

Looks to me like somebody tried to backfeed power through that usb header.

pat · Apr 4, 2005

Was not mine.. I found that on the net.

But that is quite a mess...

Sig space for rent. make your offer.

DrDeathhand · Apr 4, 2005

Well lady's and Gents,

Thanks for all your answers, but lol only 1 person has really answered my questions, but I ofcourse would like to hear more reactions.

But lol it seems like this has become a topic to speak about other motherboards and stuff like wusy is doing about the Asus A7a266, but I am completely not interested in that.

So PLEASE keep on the topic, and give information about that, if not then please open an other topic and do your stuff there.

Thanks

Which of the following mobos is the best???

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