ASUS vs Gigabyte (nofrce4)

[DB27]

Could someone explain what they see as the pros and cons of the ASUS A8N versus the Gigabyte nforce4 boards? Obviously, many of the specs are the same due to the nforce chipset, but I was wondering what influences people to get one versus the other.

 

[joelslaw]

have you found a place to buy the gigabyte nforce4 boards, that has them right now? That's my main hang-up

 

[DB27]

As far as I can tell, the offical release hasn't occured yet, so no one has them at this time (heard next week MAY happen for the non-SLI board).

 

[joelslaw]

From what I've seen, if two boards have similar features, most people just buy based on loyalty. Like myself, I've had great succes with asus mobos, so when I move to an sli rig, I'll probably go with them. It's like giving back to their company for the many hours of fun they've helped me to have (awww, how sweet)

But seriously, I think I read somewhere (manybe here, lol) that the gigabyte sli board overclocks better than the asus sli board

 

[stelleg151]

I doubt the Asus will have the overclocking features that the gigabyte is supposed to have, which is a turnoff for me. However, as people have stated, the Asus is definately winning in the "I am available" category.

 

[gobucks]

actually, the Asus board will likely get better overclocks. Its FSB speed is adjustable from 200MHz to 400MHz in 1MHz increments, allowing for a 100% theoretical overclock (of course, no chip can currently go that high, and i doubt the board would be stable, but still). Also, DIMM voltage goes higher than 2.8V, which is the max for gigabyte on these new boards. And it includes nvidia's ntune software, which is nice.

Still, i don't want to knock gigabyte. From the benchmarks i've seen, it's a great performer, substantially outperforming the reference board (at least in the benchmarks of the K8NXP-9 i've seen, not sure about the SLI), and it's stable. Feature sets are pretty much identical, right down to the dual GbE, Realtek audio controller, etc. One thing to look out for, though - apparently, gigabyte has delayed release of its SLI boards till early january so that they can do some bios tweaks. As such, if you need a mobo soon, it will likely be an Asus. Otherwise, if it's january, then i'd just go with whichever board suits your tastes.

The only board i'd avoid is the MSI one. The lack of PCIe x1 slots just pisses me right off.

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: stelleg151
I doubt the Asus will have the overclocking features that the gigabyte is supposed to have, which is a turnoff for me. However, as people have stated, the Asus is definately winning in the "I am available" category.

LOL

But...then on the other hand, you might be right ...

still..my priority is, which of these boards will hit high HTT/FSB and *not* crank out at 217 (see AT gigabyte review). I want to know which of these boards is the best overclocker.

We do not HAVE *any* of reliable reviews in that matter (overclocking) because ALL the reviews were done with early beta bios and pooped out at really low FSB/HTT.

 

[barkeley]

The question is about which kind of NF4 board we are talking about. If it is the non-SLI (NF4 Ultra) the situation is somewhat reversed. One is close to exist, the other seems for much later.

Gigabyte should be released in the follwoing days, at least their pre-series samples have been tested already in the press. For ASUS we only have a picture and a list of features but no one to my knowledge have evaluated one.
And it seems like this ASUS NF4 Ultra is not for to-morrow as ASUS just announced the release of the A8V-E based on VIA K8T890 chipset for the non-SLI niche!! (2 SATA ports only! like for MSI with the lack of PCIE 1x, I hardly see them as winners)

What I like in the ASUS NF4 Ultra according to the picture is one more PCIE-1x slot than Gigabyte, and above all a passive cooler on the NF4 chipset. But what will be the final design? Hard to tell.

 

[PoshFrosh]

I believe the Gigabyte board has Firewire 800 (1394b) whereas the ASUS board only has Firewire 400 (1394a)

 

[dnavarro]

Hey guys since I see not a lot of info has been given to you guys here a goes....
I ordered the Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI from MWAVE as seen as they had stock (now nobody's got em). This board absolutely rocks. For those of you who say the Asus is better I tell you you are on crack... you know why? Because I have both! The Asus with the exact same FX55 and GSKILL memory clocked to 245FSB 1:1 . The Gigabyte? I am currently priming at 280 FSB 1:1. And I may do more. It also has 1.75 Volts for CPU in the bios (asus has 1.65 which is crap) and although the memory voltage hits only 2.8V in bios that is way more than enough for Samsung TCCD. If you are using High Voltage needin memory than use an OCZ Booster!

I will post pics when I can, but trust someone who has both. I only see possibly the DFI being a better board and that is only for voltage options!


D

 

[Gamingphreek]

The Asus is a bit better.

Gigabyte has a tradition for providing everything except the kitchen sink, but they dont always use the highest quality components.

My first choice would be Asus.

Gigabyte and MSI are in a close second.

-Kevin

 

[bap4201]

i 2nd the opinion of gamingphreek.

 

[Insomniak]

I really want to get a Gigabyte Ultra board, not an SLI, for a single reason - dual BIOS. I love that feature.

Well, that, and Gigabyte makes uber-solid boards.

 

[dnavarro]

I have had both the Asus and Gigabyte SLI boards. And I can tell you the Asus stinks. Unstable bios (all versions available), incompatible with lots of memory (TCCD especially), and it doesn't come with a great package. The gigabyte overclocks way more (high HTT/FSB), better voltage/memory options in bios, good package (WiFi, Firewire 2.0), and it is stable as hell (I am talking over 280 FSB 1:1 in SLI). Exactly as Anand said. I love this board. I hate BOTH Asus's I had. Asus may be fine for the non-overclocker, but then so are alot of boards.

D