nF4 SLI MB with the greatest stability

[josecastello]

1) I am willing to build a system based on a NF4 SLI motherboard. I am not willing to OVERCLOCK the system and my primary concern is STABILITY. I will be doing 3D graphics (my machine needs to be on for several days).
I will install 4 to 6 SATA HD drives, a dedicated PCI soundcard, and a PNY NVidia Quadro FX 1400 card PCI Express. I won´t be using SLI, but I see that MB with SLI usually get more features (like an extra SATA chip).
2) I will install 2GB of RAM. Which is best: 512x4 or 1x2 modules. Any recommendation regarding satbility of the system?
3) Silence is my second concern. Any suggestion for a silent cooler for a AMD 64 x2 3800+
4) I will be installing the system into a 3U rack, so space is not an issue.
Thanks for your advice.
JR

 

[Fresh Daemon]

I am not willing to OVERCLOCK the system and my primary concern is STABILITY.

If you don't actually need SLI, and want maximum stability, get the Tyan Tomcat K8E. Tyan is built for servers and is rock-solid stable. It has 4 SATA ports, but you can always get an extra card, it has 4 PCI and 2 PCI-E 1x slots.

I will install 2GB of RAM. Which is best: 512x4 or 1x2 modules.

1x2GB modules will allow you to run 1T. 4x512MB modules will generally run at faster timings (low-latency 1GB modules are rare and very expensive). Neither makes a huge difference. If money is no object, get the fastest pair of 1GB OCZ sticks you can find.

Silence is my second concern. Any suggestion for a silent cooler for a AMD 64 x2 3800+

The Zalman 7x00 series are quiet. You can also get a Thermalright XP90 or XP120 and mount a very quiet fan (Nexus or other Yate Loon derivative), that will be very quiet. Try www.silentpcreview.com for roundups of quiet cooling solutions.

 

[josecastello]

What about the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe. I say it because, BOXX (a pc maker for 3D systems) is probably using this MB for building its AMD single processor dual core AMD systems.
(Note: I wasn´t able to read from BOXX website which MB they use, but the specificatios matched only that MB)
Thanks for your advice

 

[Capt Caveman]

If noise is an issue, then the Asus A8N-SLI Premium uses a passive heat-pipe to cool the nf4 sli chip over the noisey and crappy fan that the deluxe has. fwiw, the ASUS SLI motherboards also give you 3 pci slots which none of the other companies do.

Also, 2x1gb kits that have 2-3-2-5 timings can be had in the low 200's.

 

[josecastello]

Capt,
Any particular recommendation for such a RAM (2x1GB)? Do you still prefer those than the 4x512 combination?
Thanks

 

[imported_Harbinger]

might be a silly question (dont know your budget) but wouldnt an opteron platform be better for a 3d workstation ?

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: josecastello
1) I am willing to build a system based on a NF4 SLI motherboard. I am not willing to OVERCLOCK the system and my primary concern is STABILITY. I will be doing 3D graphics (my machine needs to be on for several days).
I will install 4 to 6 SATA HD drives, a dedicated PCI soundcard, and a PNY NVidia Quadro FX 1400 card PCI Express. I won´t be using SLI, but I see that MB with SLI usually get more features (like an extra SATA chip).
2) I will install 2GB of RAM. Which is best: 512x4 or 1x2 modules. Any recommendation regarding satbility of the system?
3) Silence is my second concern. Any suggestion for a silent cooler for a AMD 64 x2 3800+
4) I will be installing the system into a 3U rack, so space is not an issue.
Thanks for your advice.
JR

1- I dont know if you are going to RAID HDD on each controller, but most motherboard has trouble running both controller (native and onboard) with RAID array at the same time. I rather recommend that you get a standard nvidia chipset motherboard and add a PCI RAID/IDE card. This will insure more stability and performance.

2- Rather use 2x1Gb of memory. This leave room for future upgrade and the memory controller will be able to perform at full speed.

3- The stock fan is not so bad, but no cooler can do good if there is not good air circulation inside the case. Recirculated hot air won't cool anything. I suggest to give it a try and if you don't like it, then get an after market one like the Zalman, which is silent. I suggest you to scrape the stock thermal compound and replace it with artic silver or equivalent thermal compound. The stock one simply become too sticky and will make the stock cooler removing a pain, sometime taking the CPU out of the socket.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: josecastello
Capt,
Any particular recommendation for such a RAM (2x1GB)? Do you still prefer those than the 4x512 combination?
Thanks

No Problem. Since you don't plan to overclock, you want the tightest timings and the OCZ Platinums can be had for a good price, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227210

As mentioned earlier, 2x1gb will give you the flexibility to upgrade down the road and for what you're doing, you may need 4gb later. Also, by going 4x512mb, you will be able to get tighter timings but it'll be more expensive and you'll be hit with the 2T penalty which will offset the gains from tighter timings.

 

[virtualrain]

I think the Asus A8N-Premium SLI board has everything you are looking for. Add an XP120 and a low-noise 120mm fan, and you will be very happy. BTW, I echo what others recommend regarding RAM... The OCZ 2GB Platinum kit is king for your kind of application.

 

[Aenslead]

Wow... that's a nice rig you got there, virtualrain! I wonder how much it costed...