Don't know which motherboard to choose.

[Knobkick]

These are the parts I'm getting:

Athlon x2 4400+
eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX
2 gigs Corsair Value Select DDR 400 PC 3200
Coolmax 550w

However, no matter what board I look at there's always a problem. These are based on Newegg's customer feedback.

With EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra the video card covers the IDE channel.
MSI K8N Neo4-F has a variety of problems the most common of which is a loud Northbridge fan.
Foxconn NF4UK8AA has poor placement of the nForce 4 chip.
DFI LANParty UT nF4 is supposedly a pain in the ass for a noob to install and has compatibility issues with Corsair.
ASUS A8N-E Ultra has loud and failing fans.
CHAINTECH VNF4 Ultra has limited DDR 400 support.
I'm also looking at Albatron's K8NF4U and Abit AN8 but there isn't much feedback on them so I don't know.

So yeah, choosing a motherboard is pretty tough. Then there's the whole dual core support issue. Also I don't know if I should get three sticks of CORSAIR XMS 512MB that are timed at 2-3-3-6? It's a little more expensive than 2 gigs of Corsair Value at 2.5 cas latency. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each? Please help?

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: Knobkick
These are the parts I'm getting:

Athlon x2 4400+
eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX
2 gigs Corsair Value Select DDR 400 PC 3200
Coolmax 550w

However, no matter what board I look at there's always a problem. These are based on Newegg's customer feedback.

With EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra the video card covers the IDE channel.
MSI K8N Neo4-F has a variety of problems the most common of which is a loud Northbridge fan.
Foxconn NF4UK8AA has poor placement of the nForce 4 chip.
DFI LANParty UT nF4 is supposedly a pain in the ass for a noob to install and has compatibility issues with Corsair.
ASUS A8N-E Ultra has loud and failing fans.
CHAINTECH VNF4 Ultra has limited DDR 400 support.
I'm also looking at Albatron's K8NF4U and Abit AN8 but there isn't much feedback on them so I don't know.

So yeah, choosing a motherboard is pretty tough. Then there's the whole dual core support issue. Also I don't know if I should get three sticks of CORSAIR XMS 512MB that are timed at 2-3-3-6? It's a little more expensive than 2 gigs of Corsair Value at 2.5 cas latency. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each? Please help?

DFI + Corsair =
DFI + OCZ =

If you get OCZ with the DFI, then it is the best mobo of the ones you listed, great stability and overclocking. I used a DFI for my first build and I had 0 problems.

 

[d2arcturus]

Ultra-D
OCZ Value

 

[Mrvile]

Excuse me, but what's a "coolmax" PSU?

 

[d2arcturus]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Excuse me, but what's a "coolmax" PSU?

The best description to my knowledge would be that of a motherboard frying.

Consider an Antec, Enermax, Seasonic, etc. for your PSU. Fortron if you want to save some cash.

 

[Muscles]

All nforce boards are good. My advice is just get the board with the features you need at the lowest price. Paying extra for the DFI board simply isn't worth it.

 

[w00t]

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra

edit: This should be a poll.

 

[Valkerie]

nForce board
2 gigs of 2.5 CAS

if you're overclocking, get 2.0 CAS

 

[Knobkick]

Would a 480W antec support all my hardware plus in the future maybe the Ageia physx thing and/or a soundcard?

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra was my number one choice, thanks to the reviews here and on extremetech, but then a customer on newegg pointed out that the eVGA 7800 covers one of the IDE slots and he had to tuck the wires under the card. I'm afraid that they will be constantly pushing up at the card and weakening the connection.

Also, if I just want to overclock the CPU speed by a small amount like 200 mhz would I be able to do that with the valueselect ram at 2.5 cas? Can I overclock that amount on stock cooling and will it wear out my equipment faster or void the warranty?

 

[13Gigatons]

Asus with the new chipset fan = :thumbsup:

 

[Hacp]

Just get the Neo-4 and be done with it. The DFI board pretty much sucks if you want to use 1GB models because you aren't going to get much of an overclock with them. Also, wtf cares about a loud northbridge fan. IMO the GPU fan makes more noise than the northbridge fan... You might want to check out the NEO-4 SLi which has Creative sound and SLI, only 130 dollars at newegg..

 

[CreativeTom]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Just get the Neo-4 and be done with it. The DFI board pretty much sucks if you want to use 1GB models because you aren't going to get much of an overclock with them. Also, wtf cares about a loud northbridge fan. IMO the GPU fan makes more noise than the northbridge fan... You might want to check out the NEO-4 SLi which has Creative sound and SLI, only 130 dollars at newegg..

I have 1GB sticks and a DFI board, and I am currently at 2.85 for an overclock, and I am not really pushing the issue. I think you need to restate your asumptions.

Edit, sorry I should say that I am running a 3700+@2.85

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Just get the Neo-4 and be done with it. The DFI board pretty much sucks if you want to use 1GB models because you aren't going to get much of an overclock with them. Also, wtf cares about a loud northbridge fan. IMO the GPU fan makes more noise than the northbridge fan... You might want to check out the NEO-4 SLi which has Creative sound and SLI, only 130 dollars at newegg..

-_-?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

MSI K8N Neo4-F has a variety of problems the most common of which is a loud Northbridge fan.

I do beleive that this is a pasive heatsink. The higher end models have an active cooling solution in there.

 

[Knobkick]

Yeah, I think I might go with the MSI K8N Neo4 SLI. It's relatively cheap, not too many complaints, and the onboard sound is what got me sold. Now I gotta choose the PSU. I'm checking out FSP 530w, Sparkle 530w, and FSP 500w. I'm getting the Chenming CMUI for a case. I don't know how everything will be compatible with each other.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Fortron, hands down.

 

[Knobkick]

Which one?

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

ThePentiumGuy's Motherboard Guide Thread

The Corsair CAS2.5 stuff is perfectly fine. You won't get a good overclock on the RAM, but that doesn't matter since you can always run a divider when overclocking your CPU. CAS latency doesn't matter that much either. It only gives you like a 2% performance increase. If you do get the DFI board though, just get some OCZ value RAM.

 

[xeodragon]

I'll be getting the EPoX 9NPA+Ultra in a few days/weeks, i heard its a good board for both stock/overclocking speeds. and Anandtech gave it a gold editor's choice award. It seem's like a solid board to me.

 

[Knobkick]

Alright I'm gonna go order everything right now. I'm settled on MSI Neo4 sli and on 2 gigs of corsair value select. I'm just not sure whether to go with the 500w or 530w forton and if they will be compatible with the case and motherboard. Also, I'm not sure whether to get the Samsung Spinpoint or the Seagate Barracuda HDD?