Asus A8V Deluxe vs. MSI K8N Neo2

[MadDog31]

Hey all,

I'm working on narrowing down an upgrade for my current system (see weak sys specs in my sig) and I was set on the Asus A8V mobo but then came across some forums where users were clammoring about how great the MSI K8N is. Upon that, I decided to hammer away at some research.

I came across several reviews and benchmarks and the K8N was getting glowing results, from dominating benchies to winning editor's choice awards, etc. The A8V gets good results, but it doesn't make the reviewers and users nearly as pumped about it as the K8N does. (Although I read other reviews on the A8V and those dominate too...ugh...confusing!)

That said, this has thrown a complete wrench in my plans. I currently run an Asus and have had great luck, but I've had great luck with other boards too.

I won't be doing ANY overclocking, and noise is not an issue. I want a nice reliable motherboard that has nice features and can get me great performance on a wide range of things. This system will be running Half-Life 2. Also, waiting 6 months for a new board isn't an option...I'm looking by the end of January. And I'm not really particular on motherboard design FYI.

Thanks for your assistance everyone,
Ian

PS...I'm asking because it seems like all's I can yield for either motherboard is people bitching about them...I'd like to see some pros listed about these boards too!

PPS...I called Monarch and talked to a tech and he said "Asus has always been a reliable board but the MSI one has been decent too." That just confused me more.

 

[Icepick]

Of the two you listed I recommend the K8N NEO2. It's got all the features of the nforce3 chipset including hardware firewall and two Gigabit LAN ports. It's proven to be a good overclocker if you decide to go that route later on. It's one of the fastest motherboards out there at stock speed. It's matured to the point where they've got a lot of the kinks worked out of it with the latest BIOS revision. People will tell you to go with the Asus if you want stability but I've been using the MSI board for over two months now and have had no problems with it. It's rock solid IMO.

 

[Rip the Jacker]

MSI blows up!

Asus doesn't!

 

[Icepick]

^ LOL ^

Do you have an mpeg of this? I'd love to see a motherboard explode.

C'mon man. MadDog is looking for some honest advice. Please provide facts to back up your opinions.

 

[Anubis08]

I have an MSI K8N Neo 2 now and it used to hang on looking for my cd drive and other peripherals the first time I booted it up every time (if it had been off for a while) but it would work on restart from there. Now however I got the newest BIOS and it never does it. I would go with it for a new computer. It works great now: perfect.

 

[natenut]

i have an asus k8v and it seems pretty flaky. i think i have a bad board. Asus for me has been a rock solid performer in the past where as MSI has given me a few more problems. Granted that was a while ago so who knows how they are with the new chipsets.

 

[Amaroque]

Well, I have a K8N Neo2 Plat. It's a picky board to say the least. I haven't used the A8V, but any ASUS products I've used have been solid.

I would have bought the A8V if it weren't for the fact that the NForce3 is a much better overclocker, and ASUS doesn't make an NForce3 939 board.

If you're not looking to OC, I'd get the ASUS board. If you are looking to OC, the MSI is the best NFoce3 939 overclocking board out.

You said no overclocking at all. In that case, I'd say the A8V hands down.

 

[ts3433]

I would look at the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum or one of the Epoxes (EP-9NDA3+ or EP-9NDA3J).

 

[rocketman14]

anyone have opinions on the soltek

 

[Icepick]

I don't own a Soltek, but if I was in the market right now that would be my second choice. I like it's features and the Anandtech review showed it to be as fast as the MSI K8N NEO2 at stock speed. I also like the passive cooling it has (great for quiet computing). I'd say that board is a good buy for the price.

 

[gamerj]

i would suggest the asus a8v deluxe, reliable, very nice overclock options.....
Not very "flashy" to see, but if you dont mod you shouldnt care about that.....

 

[MadDog31]

Man oh man oh man...once again it's looking like it's 50/50 among users. I like the Asus brand b/c I've used them before, but like I said I've had great luck with many boards. I'm going to keep doing some research, checking out reviews and benchmarks and whatnot and try to narrow something down.

Any other opinions between these boards? I'm trying to guage this from as many real-world users as possible.

Thanks for the great responses so far guys!

Ian

 

[FNC Jon]

I liek the MSI board, I have it my self, there was just one issue with it. If you have an antec powersupply your introuble for both of them unless you sen dit back for an updated version as thier capistor in the truepower versions has a glitch in it. My mis is great stable and awsome for overclocking. Only problem i had was with the antec power supply so i am sending it back as we speak. BUt the asus has the same problem so you cannot use that as a disciion maker.

 

[FNC Jon]

sorry i missed the fact of no overcloack, i sugest the asus then, they are about same performace soemitmes msi is better then asus and vice versa depending on the ram. MSI board can be picky with some users so prob asus board. But dont get me wrong I love the MSI board but i use it with overclocking. BUt if you dont want ot overclock i say asus.

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: FNC Jon
I liek the MSI board, I have it my self, there was just one issue with it. If you have an antec powersupply your introuble for both of them unless you sen dit back for an updated version as thier capistor in the truepower versions has a glitch in it. My mis is great stable and awsome for overclocking. Only problem i had was with the antec power supply so i am sending it back as we speak. BUt the asus has the same problem so you cannot use that as a disciion maker.

Hey, what specifically is the "MSI-Antec" issue? I have the K8N Neo2 Plat, and an Antec True 550. I haven't seen any problem there.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I have the MSI Neo2 and to tell the truth I had to RMA my first one... cause it had some power issues... ( Fans would start up when PS was turned on) but if you want to overclock its worth the search for the right one. I still have some issues which i dont care too much... optical mouse light stays on and cable modem shows PC is on even after i shut down my computer...
In your case... not overclocking... I'd go for the Assus... I donno if they had any similiar issues like the MSI boards but... i hear in general the A64 platform is still kinda new for the mobo builders and little bugs remain to be fixed.

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

The MSI can OC more than the Asus, but some kiddies have problems with the board, or F it up (human error) and then send the board back as broken. That's why you hear bad things about the MSI board, when in fact, it's human error. When set up correctly, the MSI is a great OCer.

I have the A8V and it's rock solid, no problems, but I can only OC to 232mz, and can't go higher than that.

In your case, you are not OCing, so I'd say go with the Asus. It even has a way to easily OC where you just pick the percentage you want to go (3%, 5%, 7% or 10%) and the board automatically adjusts everything for you. I've found the best setting for me is 10% over. If you are cooling on air, then you could try 3% over and watch your temps to make sure your CPU doesn't go above 65C at load. You do that with the Asus Probe Monitor program that comes on the driver CD.

If you wanna read all about my setup, go here.
http://www.nogodforme.com/MyBabyTera.htm
It's kind long because I did a bunch of benchmarks, so just scroll past that part and look at the pictures.

OCing the CPU is fun and all that, but in terms of playing HL2, it only gives a few extra frames. Buying a high end video card counts more.

 

[KheeWhee]

I have an ASUS A8V Rev.2 and i overclocked my 3500+ to 245*10.5=2520 with just 1.5 volts on cpy and 2.7 volts on my OCZ Plat Rev.2. I even tried 260*10 and it worked OK at 1.55 volts, but i need a better fan on my thermalright XP-120 to reduce the heat somewhat (52 to 59 degrees).
The ram settings is 1:1 (2:1 on bios, but really 1:1) 2.5 3 3 10 1T.
Very stable, and both SATA controllers are locked, and I also can fit the thermalright XP-120 on it easely contrary to the MSI.
Both are OK by me.

 

[crazyjeeper]

Originally posted by: AnotherGuy
I still have some issues which i dont care too much... optical mouse light stays on and cable modem shows PC is on even after i shut down my computer...

That optical mouse thing is actually supposed to be a "feature" of the chipset or something, per the rumors floating around this forum.

 

[thegimp03]

MadDog, check out http://forums.pcper.com/ and scroll 3/4 the way down...you can read all about amd motherboards there if you're not sure.

 

[Amaroque]

I just noticed, AnandTech recomends an "Antec SLK3700-BQE with 350W" with the K8N Neo2 Platinum. So I'm wondering if the incompatibility is just inexperience.

 

[MadDog31]

Yeah, I've been to PCPER often, in fact I pretty much have been living in those forums for a while...I suppose they'll charge me rent soon.

I'm glad to see more comments...now it's interesting that things seem to sway their way back to the Asus board. The Asus board does sound like it's less tempermental w/ memory and power supplies (?), so now since I was once leaning Asus, last night leaning towards MSI...now I'm back in the middle...which means more research.

I've read over and over how the MSI is among the fastest boards people have tested as stock, but I bet if I find benchmarks and reviews on the Asus, they'll say just the same exact thing.

I think my biggest thing was the difference between the two chipsets. You hear many great things towards one, then read some bad things, then it's the same thing with the other...it's almost like it's a toss-up! This is what is driving me nuts.

Ian

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: NoGodForMe
In your case, you are not OCing, so I'd say go with the Asus. It even has a way to easily OC where you just pick the percentage you want to go (3%, 5%, 7% or 10%) and the board automatically adjusts everything for you. I've found the best setting for me is 10% over. If you are cooling on air, then you could try 3% over and watch your temps to make sure your CPU doesn't go above 65C at load. You do that with the Asus Probe Monitor program that comes on the driver CD.

The MSI K8N NEO2 has this dynamic overclocking feature too so that's a wash. Also, MSI comes with the Windows based CoreCenter which has most of the bugs worked out of it now. It gives accurate voltage readings and temp readings.

As for the Antec power supply issue, I've been using an Antec TrueBlue 480W for 2.5 months now and it's rock solid.

 

[MadDog31]

At pcper.com, they have the MSI K8N Neo2 on their hardware leaderboard for motherboards for both the high-end system and the mid-range system.

http://www.pcper.com/hwlb.php?high=y&#highend

http://www.pcper.com/hwlb.php?...mp;mid=y&#midrange

Just figured I'd add that fuel to the fire to show how cornfusing this all is.

Ian

 

[MadDog31]

Well, I'm partially leaning towards MSI again after further research. Any idea why it seems to be winning all of the benchmarks on several different sites (including the reviews on here)? If anyone else is passing thru and reading this, feel free to add some input.

Ian