Athalon 64, X2 or not

OK, OK. I am taking a little time collecting the parts. Kinda stretching the purchases out a little to make them fit the cash flow. If Fry's has something on sale, I'll grab it or if Newegg has a deal, I'll grab it.

Monarch has some deals occasionally. Are they OK?? I have been trying to buy a retail Opteron 165 as they all say that their warranty is very short for the OEMs.

At this point I have spec'd the parts per our previous conversations and now I am collecting the bones in order to build the monster, Igor.

Happy trails and THANKS!!

 

Hiyall,

I have been holding off on the mainboard purchase (MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum non-SLI) but the Newegg reviews and the alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar forum are showing big cracks in the veneer.

Apparently, Hardcop has pulled their recommendation with this statement-

"We at HardOCP are sorry to report that this MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/ non- SLI motherboard has experienced errors in the field with overclockers. There seem to be some bugs that MSI cannot fix that are specific to this board that we never experienced in our testing. That said, we are pulling our award given, and advise you to look elsewhere should you be in the market for an enthusiast motherboard. "

I know that I want:
1- 4 184-pin Dimm slots (4Gb total)
2- 1394 Firewire
3- At least 2 extra PCI slots, maybe 3 or 4
4- ATX
5- At least 1 PCIe x16
6- Socket 939 for x2
7- On board sound
8- SATA2


Please help with comments on these buying guidelines that I am nost sure about...

1. SLI- Not going to use SLI so are boards w/o SLI a better choice??
2- RAID- Same as above
3. Nvidia 4, Nvidia 4 Ultra or ATI x200
4. Not going to use ATI Crossfire so avoid a board with it??


Thanks again,

Lar

 

Larry:

Great Catch - will have to do some reading when I get back home. I think Arie's suggestion is a good one, ASUS A8N-SLI Premium. I know I just bought one. You can also check out Abit - I'll send you some other suggestions tonight. Right now, I've got 10 hours of driving ahead of me.

 

The Newegg reviews of the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium seem mixed and a few are a little frightening (though many have had good experiences with it, a well... incl PeteC and Arie). Also, I have read that this ASUS board gets pretty hot.

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium at Newegg

It appears that mainboard support at any of the mfg is pretty bad these days.

I seem to be caught between the OCers and the no-no-no'ers which means that I am caught between procs, too. My whole family will depend on this computer. I am not a major gamer. Stability is very important to me and I don't like to constantly tinker with things once they are good. My '78 VW Scirocco cured me of that trait (neighbor sez "if it's the weekend, we can always find Larry under his car in the driveway "). I have been tinker-free (and Scirocco free) for many years now (thanks, TA!). LOL

Oh, I forgot to add SATA2 support to my previous list of needed mainboard features (which I have now edited). Many boards still have only SATA 150 support.

Thanks, Lar

 

Have personally used ASUS A8N-SLI premium with 4200+ XP. No problems so far & this system is used for rendering in 3dmax and is running for days on end.

 

/me waves.....

Glad I am not the only 3D CGIer around here.

I use more... ahem... Pedestrian apps, some of which don't recognize a second processor or core.

I am building my AMD64 box for those that do. Anything to cut render times down. Planned: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual 1 MB L2 cache socket 939.

Pretty high end for a mere hobbyist.

 

I have researched mainboards for meeting my needs and for having generally good reviews. It is quite a range.

ABIT KN8 SLI $
ASUS A8N SLI $
ASUS A8N SLI32 Deluxe $$$$
ASUS A8N SLI Premium $$
DFI LANPARTY UT SLI Ultra-D $$
DFI LANPARTY UT SLI-D $$
MSI K8N Diamond Plus SLI x16 $$$

Sadly, they are all SLI and some with RAID, too.

1. I would be paying for features that I will not be using.
2. Will they work as well without those features being used?

OC is still an issue as my current plan is to get the Opteron 165 1.8MHz and bring it up to 2.2. Other option is a 4200+ x2 at 2.2MHz but is more expensive and has only 2x512Mb L2 cache vs the Denmark's 2x1Mb L2.

Uh, oh... I am getting dizzy again.

 

I don't pay for features I don't need. If you find you need them you should be able to get an add-in card later (so try to get the maximum number of PCI slots). The lower priced Abit and Asus boards have good websites, constant driver updates and large knowledgebases (I have not been to DFI). If they meet your foreseeable needs, I can't see why not. Money saved now on something you don't need can be put towards future upgrades (on something that you do need).

Pity about the neo Platinum, I was thinking about one for myself (you were the guinea pig ...I was waiting to see what you thought of it )

Matt

 

Sarissi,

Don't worry even if some of the apps don't recognise the second core or CPU. As I have said earlier, Windows XP recognises them & tries to use all of them concurrently.

 

Larry:

I'd say you have assembled a pretty good list of high end boards there and I like the manufacturers you have focused on. Personally, I am running an Abit AN8 Fatal1ty board with a 4000+SanDiego, an Asus SK8V socket 940 with an FX53, a couple of DFI Lan Party socket 462's with OC'ed 2600+ Mobiles running at 2.4 GHz and as mentioned, am about to add an Asus A8N-SLI Premium with an FX57 to the mix. It would be tough to name a favorite.

Your comments re: the non-SLI MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum are the first I've heard in this regard re: overclocking but they sure send up a red flag that I wouldn't dismiss. My initial thinking would be to assess the MSI SLI counterpart, as they appear to be problem free and are not quite as expensive as some of the other options you have listed. However, I think the best board you've listed is the DFI. Its also the priciest, the most finicky re: memory and most difficult to set up which brings one back around to the Asus or the Abit boards you listed. Every board on your list is an excellent overclocker and based upon your abilty to research and the time you have put into this, you should now be totally convinced of the merits of that Opteron 165. I'd encourage you to stick with your guns on the CPU and with that in mind, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the boards you have listed.

As far as throwing in another personal preference comment, my philosophy differs from a few others. If I'm going to spend a pretty good chunk of change to buy a big ticket item and for a few more bucks, I can get the super deluxe version, I usually opt for the super deluxe and rationalize it as "better safe than sorry" - even if there are some options that are never fully utilized. I've waivered on this a couple of times and later gone back to buy the super deluxe version that I never thought I'd need - Thats when things get unnecessarily expensive.

 

Well, of the choices I named, I have got it down to the ASUS A8N SLI Premium or the MSI K8N Diamond Plus. More than I wanted to spend but.....

Main reasons? The DFI's are too finicky (reviews concur) and, Rock, I do not do finicky... no way. I looked at the percentages of the reviews of all the boards at Newegg (I have to base it something!) and their percentages of Excellent vs Good (EXC/Good) reviews. The Abit is 68/20 and the ASUS A8n SLI is 62/17. The ASUS SLI Premium is 74/14 and the MSI K8N Diamond Plus is 76/14. Each having many hundreds of reviews seems to give these numbers validity and I would think that the more someone pays for a mainboard the more that they would expect. I know I will.

Looking around, ebay has some great prices on these mainboards. How would ASUS, for example, feel about honoring a 3 yr warranty when bought from an ebay seller (asuming that is was new, of course)? What about the refurbs or open box items at Newegg?? Thoughts or experiences?

Thanks again again,

Larry

 

Larry:

I admire your thinking - sure can't argue with the methodology you've employed or the direction you are favoring. I believe its important to note that most high end boards come with a full compliment of cables, add on connectors and a collection of other interesting do-ma-jigs. Buying a full retail package from a reputable supplier ensures that one gets all of these goodies. Buying elsewhere can be iffy. Having said that, on occassion I have purchased refurbished boards with full manufacturer warranties and both my Asus SK8V and A8N-SLI Premium were purchased used. My Abit Fatal1ty was purchased used and then RMA'ed for a replacement. I'm not afraid to take chances on my own stuff and a lot of times, I buy something because its too good to pass up and not because I need it or was looking for it. However, when building something for a client its always brand spanking new components from a reputable source with full manufacturer warranties.

Unfortunately, there's no easy answer - the choice is yours. Just be careful and keep both eyes wide open.

 

Rock, what about RMA'ing a used board or one bought off of ebay? How did you make that happen with your used Abit? Lar

 

Lets just say that it can be done although I wouldn't recommend this approach. I bought my Fatal1ty board from a friend so I knew the board's history and I did an advance RMA so it was cross-shipped and I had the replacement within two days.

Trust me, your best bet is going to be to buy a retail package from a supplier like NewEgg or MWave. You want to make sure you get all of the hardware and software that should ship with the board.

 

I have not seen any negative comments about RMAs with NewEgg, only positive (and some very positive).

Matt

 

I love Techbargains.com. They email you when your deal's search parameters get posted on their site. Monarch has the Opteron 165 OEM for $270. Great price. (Rock'n'Matt, thanks for the RMA info).

1. Drawbacks to OEM proc?? Often similar price as retail. I am getting a Zalman cooler so the lack of a fan is not an issue.

2. Monarch OK to deal with?? (edited note: seller ratings NOT good so will pass on them but the OEM proc question is valid). If OEM, do I have to deal with the seller, not AMD??

Thanks, Larry