*** The ULTIMATE Motherboard Selection Guide For New Users ***

[KoolDrew]

What about the MSI K8N Neo4-F?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

You're right though. I should have included that board in....

Passive cooler eh? Thanks for that information.

I'm curious what you consider a better alternative to the MSI-Neo4-F?

I would consider the Chaintech a better alternative if you're looking for features (it's an Ultra board, for the same price). Also, if your'e looking for overclocking, but don't need an Ultra board why not the EPoX 9NPAJ? Same price as the MSI. However the passive cooling comment lured me in . Sounds pretty good.

Also the DFI you're referring to, I think it's the DFI NF4-DAGF right (Your link doesn't work)? I haven't heard much about this board so I'm not too sure what to say. Hell it even looks different than the other DFIs.

I need to get some sleep (Been on a flight for a day and a half), then I'll update the guide.

Edit: Updated OP with Neo4-F.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[tennesota]

Thank you for taking the time to put toghther this thread!

I found this thread helpful while researching system boards and other hardware for an upcoming build. :sun:

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

I have the MSI Neo4 Platinum (nForce4 Ultra), and it's EXCELLENT! I got it for only $130 at Newegg. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, and the Dynamic Overclocking sounds pretty cool, but I haven't used it yet. My temperatures are fine, and I'm running my 2.0ghz 3200+ Venice @ 2.5ghz (250x10) with stock HSF. The BIOS options on the Neo4 Platinum are great too. The VDIMM only goes up to 2.85, but that's fine with me. Also, the Reset CMOS button is really useful I'd give it a 5 out of 5

 

[The Pentium Guy]

You know..... after reading some of the later customer testomonials about the MSIs, I'm starting to think that many of their issues were resolved recently. Perhaps I should maintain a less negative attitude towards MSI (after looking though the guide it does make the boards out to be quite lousy). They DO use high quality parts.... and when they work they're great boards. Personally, I do feel that there are better alternatives to them though.

The VDIMM only goes up to 2.85, but that's fine with me.

That's some good information. Thanks.

-TPG

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Happy to help

 

[DARQ MX]

nice guide pentuim guy, I am sure the new guys around here will like it alot, good job...

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Oh, and don't forget that the MSI Neo4 Platinum (the Ultra board) is the only board to include RAID 5 support. I'll be using it when I get my 3rd 80GB drive

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Oh, and don't forget that the MSI Neo4 Platinum (the Ultra board) is the only board to include RAID 5 support. I'll be using it when I get my 3rd 80GB drive

Raid 5? The MSI, Gigabyte and ASUS have those . Good information though, thanks.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Yeah, I meant that out of the Neo4 series, only the Ultra board has RAID 5.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

....Oh. The Platinum SLI doesn't have raid 5?
Edit: Wow. Strange that they'd make an Ultra board have Raid 5, but not an SLI board which costs a good $40 more.

 

[jboschen]

I would like to see an alternative setup for users who don't overclock, aren't on a limited budget but want a fast and **stable** m/b. Otherwise, this is a great guide.

Thanks

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

All boards have their issues. No board can be absolutely flawless. There's always going to be a couple duds

 

[jboschen]

Of course, but once it's up and running there shouldn't be major problems unless it's a known issue with the board/chipset/drivers, and that's what I'm talking about.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: jboschen
I would like to see an alternative setup for users who don't overclock, aren't on a limited budget but want a fast and **stable** m/b. Otherwise, this is a great guide.

Thanks

For users that don't overclock I think a Chaintech should be good. But if you're looking for something that lasts longer, the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium edition would be my recommendation. Any board that overclocks well can also be used for the non-overclocker , and ASUS uses high quality parts in their boards so that should be good. The only quirk I've read about this board is something about SATA harddrives being difficult to install.

I also think that the EPoX is a great choice, but I'm a bit shaky as to the longevity of the board (especially with the chinese capacitors) - I'm sure it'll be good for 3-4 years (or more) though, just not for people that like to keep their systems for a long long time (just not me).

Hope that helped.
-The Pentium Guy

 

[lordsaytor]

You're saying that the DFI LanParty SLI-DR would be not be recommended for beginners. Which part of it is not recommended for beginners? The installation? The overclocking?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Well
1) The DFI is picky on hardware,
2) and it requires a high quality/high power power supply (DFI recommends 480W minimum) - most beginners (mistakenly) use the power supply that comes with their case (which is always bad, unless it's an antec)
2) SLI is annoying to set up (a whole array of jumpers),
3) and when overclocking you might be overwhelmed by all the options in the BIOS

Now if you don't mind doing some extra work to fine-tune your build, the DFI is an awesome choice, especially with all the accessories. Next to that, the ABIT is also an awesome choice, it's just a little overpriced though ($215, and you get a bit less than the DFI). Just keep in mind that you're paying the premium for the accessories for the SLI-DR, and nothing else. SLI-D might be a better choice if you're not looking for all those accessories.

-TPG

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
Nice job!

I disagree with yoru saying the DFI nF4 Ultra-d is incompatable with Corsair ValueSelect ram. I'm using it with the ultra-d, and I've seen numerous others who are using it also. It seems to me that most of the issues with the CVS were caused by the 1/25 bios, and now that nobody's using that anymore, its all good. You should change it to say that the CVS normally works with the Ultra-d, but in some cases they refuse to work together, so its a bit of a risk to get it.

I agree with you, cheesepoofs.

I have a Dfi ultra-d and CVS working fine together. Heck i used those two on my first build.

I don't think the dfi needs much tweaking to get it to run. As I said, I used it for my first build and everything went together perfectly the first time. All I did was plug everything in and press the power button. Didn't need to mess with anything in bios or jumpers.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: Cheezeit

Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
Nice job!

I disagree with yoru saying the DFI nF4 Ultra-d is incompatable with Corsair ValueSelect ram. I'm using it with the ultra-d, and I've seen numerous others who are using it also. It seems to me that most of the issues with the CVS were caused by the 1/25 bios, and now that nobody's using that anymore, its all good. You should change it to say that the CVS normally works with the Ultra-d, but in some cases they refuse to work together, so its a bit of a risk to get it.

I agree with you, cheesepoofs.

I have a Dfi ultra-d and CVS working fine together. Heck i used those two on my first build.

I don't think the dfi needs much tweaking to get it to run. As I said, I used it for my first build and everything went together perfectly the first time. All I did was plug everything in and press the power button. Didn't need to mess with anything in bios or jumpers.

I do agree with you, that the latest BIOS will solve lots of issues, but I mean start with the manual...or should I say pamphlet ? If the beginner is prepared to do some thinking on his/her own, then I agree, this is an excellent board once he starts learning more (about overclocking and what the options in the BIOS are).

 

[coomar]

i didn't find the dfi that difficult, i was a little underwhelmed at the difficulty of setup since it pretty much worked (from reading dfi-street for 2 months before buying the board i was expecting a bit more), the new bioses ease the cvs pain?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

That seemed to be the biggest problem, Corsair VS. About the time the DFI came out, Corsair VS was at an all time low price and most people snagged that with the DFI and found themselves in a hole . Reading DFI street makes you want to get an HP unfortunately

 

[imported_ShadowFlare]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
ABIT FATAL1TY AN8 SLI
$215. Active cooling over the MOSFETS. Active cooling over the RAM (you get "RAMFLOW"). Active cooling over the chipset. Made and designed for the extreme overclocker from the ground-up, with it's high end circutry and high quality parts. Hell, 3.5 vDimm makes this board an excellent buy.

...

Quick note on the EPoX holding the title for the 2nd best overclocker. I actually feel right now that it's the 3rd best because ABIT's taken the title for 2nd. Anand measured the ABIT board with a bios that wasn't good with overclocking (getting 230 out of his processor only) - but I've seen people crank the ABIT board up to 330HTT .

Only 330HTT? Ha! My EPoX 9NPA+Ultra goes all the way up to 355HTT! Actually, I'm sure it can go even higher. I know for certain that the limiting issue is my memory. To get 360HTT, I would need to run my memory at 240 MHz, which I know to not work with it. Maybe I'm able to get higher HTT than what was mentioned in the AnandTech review because of what I have. My specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2.0 GHz with Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu (92mm fan) (maximum overclock achieved was 2.65 GHz)
EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra with Zalman ZM-NB47J on chipset
1 GB (2 x 512 MB) DDR400 Corsair XMS (TWINX1024-3200C2PT) running 2-3-3-8 1T timings (can use 2-2-2-5 1T timings, though; and also can go up to 236.67 MHz @ 2-3-2-5 1T, passes memtest86)
Sapphire Radeon X700 256 MB PCIEx
Enermax Noisetaker AX Series EG495AX-VE 485W PSU
Lian Li PC-60 Plus Black Case

I actually have a total of 8 fans in the case. 2 in the PSU, 1 on CPU, 1 on GPU, and 4 that came with the case. The GPU fan is the only one that isn't at least 80 mm, although I am going to soon replace it with a Zalman VF700-AlCu that I bought.

Of course, 3.5 vDimm is something that I cannot do.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Regarding my statement about the ABIT boards, the only reason I made that assumption was because I was people hitting seriously high overclocks at XtremeSystems (some at 395HTT)
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62087

Then again, these guys all have ... xtreme systems ... with xtreme cooling

It's nice to reaffirm that the EPoX does pack a nice punch though.

Edit: Once I get back from vacation I'll update this thread with NF4 X16 info.
Edit 2: Not that kind of a vacation. A real one .

-The Pentium Guy

 

[CrankyDragon]

Thanks for the detailed guide. I always do a lot of research when purchasing a new mobo and this has really helped me narrow it down. Now if I could just decide between the Asus and the Abit...

 

[Ranulf]

Ugh such choices, thanks for the guide. Been looking around lately and still confused. I'm leaning towards the Epox Ultra board or perhaps Gigabyte's ultra board. I don't really want SLI but MSI's cheap one with the soundblaster audio seems like a good deal since I'm gonna be gaming but I'm not in the mood to fork over cash for an audigy at the moment. Seems hard to find a good board with SATA2, firewire, coax/optical digital out and gigabit lan. Probably don't need gigabit lan or firewire but since I'm building a new system (3000 Venice and maybe some mild overclocking) with a new hd, I might as well get sata2. Choices, choices..