MSI Neo2 Platinum vs Asus A8V Deluxe

[ccmg]

Hi all,

I have decided to upgrade my currnet rig and I need some advice on if I should go with the MSI Neo2 Platinum or the Asus A8V Deluxe. My parts list is:

Athlon 64 3000 S939 Venice
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR400
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
Soundblaster Audigy Platinum
Seagate 200gb HD
NEC 3500A DVD+-RW

 

[Tylanner]

I'm in the same boat....

I was also looking at the DFI nF3 Board and the EPoX EP-9NDA3+.

 

[kingdomwinds]

i hear that msi is great ocer but asus delux is rock stable but does not oc well. I stay away from epox trash. My epox 9a3daj would not even detect my ide drives. My ide drives were perfectly functioning on my other mobos.

 

[nealh]

Neo 2 pLat..I love this board ..easiest setup and very good stable overclocker IMHO

 

[Ike0069]

If you plan to OC, the Neo2 is the best OC'ing S939 (AGP) board available. The Asus will do mild OC's, but don't expect very much. It's definitely not an OC'ing MB.
I do think the Epox 9NDA3+ is also a very good option for OC'ing.
I haven't really seen any good reports on the DFI NF3 board. It still has plenty of bugs to get worked out, so I wouldn't suggest that one.

Now if you don't plan to OC, don't even bother with the Neo2. Just get the ASUS.

 

[Linearsoup]

im on the msi now as i broke my asus(should really update my sig)its great for overclocking but the chipset fan is very loud on mine.the asus is passive so whisper quiet.anyone had any joy replaceing the fan with a zalman or something.

 

[rothchilds]

msi if you are going to oc. you can also look at the non-platinum if you dont need onboard sound and dual ethernet and save yourself some cash, the -f version I believe.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Linearsoup
im on the msi now as i broke my asus(should really update my sig)its great for overclocking but the chipset fan is very loud on mine.the asus is passive so whisper quiet.anyone had any joy replaceing the fan with a zalman or something.

Do you have the Neo2 Platinum?
Haven't really heard many compliants about the NB fan. Mine is actually very quiet. It's sound like maybe you just got a bad fan.

 

[Linearsoup]

yep i have the Neo2 Platinum,just seems loud to me,might be cause i got used to the asus.dont really like how the ram has to be in slots one and two,one and three would be better i think,apart from that its a good board

 

[QuantumPion]

I'm about to return my asus a8v due to some sort of voltage problem that was causing instabilities. I replaced it with an abit a8v which so far I like a lot better.

 

[imported_Kensai]

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum.

 

[keeleysam]

Neo2. Love mine.

 

[AthlonPowers]

NB fan on my Neo2 is silent, but then I've only had it a week

 

[Linearsoup]

mine must be bolloxed,allways seems to be spining at full speed,might have set something up wrong somewhere but i cant think what.would be a very happy camper if i could sort it out.

 

[Makaveli]

I also purchased the Neo2 Platinum Awesome board, only thing IDE placement could have been alittle better. but I like the memory placement cause my XP90 cools them aswell. its rock solid so far. My board had the 1.5bios picked up my Venice no problem first boot. Currently using the 1.8 bios.

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: ccmg
Hi all,

I have decided to upgrade my currnet rig and I need some advice on if I should go with the MSI Neo2 Platinum or the Asus A8V Deluxe. My parts list is:

Athlon 64 3000 S939 Venice
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR400
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
Soundblaster Audigy Platinum
Seagate 200gb HD
NEC 3500A DVD+-RW

I am running early versions of both boards with updated BIOS' on both (BIOS 1013 on A8V Deluxe Wi-Fi and BIOS 1.90 on K8N Neo2). At the time when the FX-53 was released the K8N Neo2 was not out yet, so I bought my retail FX-53 with the A8V Deluxe. When the K8N Neo2 was released a couple of months later I bought one from Monarch Computer and dropped my FX-53 into it.

The A8V Deluxe is an excellent and stable board with performance at default settings pretty close to the K8N Neo2, but the K8N Neo2 still beats it. The MSI board is also more tweakable than the A8V Deluxe through the BIOS settings. I wouold go with a K8N Neo2. Theres a $25.00 Mail-in Rebate on them right now from MSI-approved online vendors. Mwave is selling them for $115.50. Link:

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/DeepSearch.hmx?scriteria=K8N+Neo2&ALL=y&TP=2

Got an FX-57 about a month ago so I pulled the A8V Deluxe out of storage and dropped the FX-53/A8V Deluxe into my wife's PC, keeping the K8N Neo2 for myself and dropping my FX-57 in it. BIOS 1.8 wouldn't fully recognize my FX-57 until I updated the BIOS to v1.90 through MSI LiveUpdate last Monday morning.

On a side note, you should know that if you run DS DIMMs in all four (4) slots in either of these boards (K8N Neo2 and Asus A8V Deluxe) your memory speed MAY default to DDR333 at 2T. Mine did on the A8V Deluxe (although that was with the FX-53 with the early memory controller and BIOS 1008) and the FX-57 in the K8N Neo2 (BIOS 1.80) when I was running 512MBx4 Mushkin PC3500 Level II Dual Packs (BH-5).

I received a Mushkin HP3200 2GB Dual Pack Monday (8/8) afternoon so I pulled the 512MBx2 PC3500 Level II Dual Pack out and dropped in the 2GB HP3200 Dual Pack. This 2x1GB kit runs at its rated 2-3-2-6 1T at DDR400 at 2.6V default in my K8N Neo2. As I type this my machine has been running the Prime95 "Blend" torture test for over 30 hours. Now that I know its totally stable at the defaults I'm going to see if it runs stable at DDR416 at 2-3-2-6 1T like it did for several reviewers.

Hope this info helps...

 

[n7]

Neo 2 is pretty much universally agreed to be the best OCing mobo for s939 AGP.