Which AM2 motherbaord?

[ZoSo]

I'm getting tired of my old system here, and not being able to play the newer games or fully enjoy some of the games I have all ready. So I've decided to build a new system and I'm going the AMD route.
But deciding on an AM2 m/b board is kind of a problem at this point. I'd like to hear from any AM2 users and there experiences so far, I'd really appreciate it.
What I plan on using it for:
Gaming of course
A little graphics work
music development
As far as over clocking, I'll probably o/c it just a little, nothing over the top.
Also I'd rather have a system that is high on dependability, and stability rather then really high performance.

I'm leaning towards the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe.

Other hardware on the list so far:
eVGA 8800GTS
Athlon X2 5000+(maybe the 5200+)
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB
PC Power and Cooling 750w PSU

TIA

 

[ZoSo]

Anyone?

 

[SunnyD]

Nah, everyone and their mother are going to brow-beat you for even considering AMD at this point. They'll all say 680i mobo + E6x00 Core 2.

Personally, I'd wait for AM3 to come out. It's right around the bend, and should give you the opportunity to upgrade to a Barcelona when it's available.

 

[Iron Woode]

I have an MSI K9N Platinum and so far its a very stable board.

I am happy so far.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Nah, everyone and their mother are going to brow-beat you for even considering AMD at this point. They'll all say 680i mobo + E6x00 Core 2.

Sad but true. Too many "I have $200 to spend on motherboard and CPU" questions with "if you don't get an E6600 with a 975x chipset board then you suck" answers.

For the OP, so far I've used two AM2 boards. The Biostar Tforce6100-AM2 was pretty basic but overclocked well enough. The Biostar Tforce550 did not overclock well, but it worked well enough within its limits.

I just ordered an Abit NF-M2 Nview so in a couple of days I'll have an opinion on that as well.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Nah, everyone and their mother are going to brow-beat you for even considering AMD at this point. They'll all say 680i mobo + E6x00 Core 2.

Sad but true. Too many "I have $200 to spend on motherboard and CPU" questions with "if you don't get an E6600 with a 975x chipset board then you suck" answers.

For the OP, so far I've used two AM2 boards. The Biostar Tforce6100-AM2 was pretty basic but overclocked well enough. The Biostar Tforce550 did not overclock well, but it worked well enough within its limits.

I just ordered an Abit NF-M2 Nview so in a couple of days I'll have an opinion on that as well.

They speak the truth. I built an AMD X2 PC and I used this board. It's been very stable and reliable. I've been very happy with this board. I'm not OCing at all, but you should be able to get a mild OC out of it.

 

[chucky2]

The AMD 690 series of chipsets is due to come out within the next month or two...if you can wait for boards based on that chipset, it might make your life easier down the road for AM2+...just something to consider, no guarantees.

Chuck

 

[atom]

DFI boards have been good to me lately.

 

[34Ford]

Originally posted by: atom
DFI boards have been good to me lately.

Like this one? DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 Socket AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136015

 

[tomt4535]

Originally posted by: 34Ford

Originally posted by: atom
DFI boards have been good to me lately.

Like this one? DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 Socket AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136015

Excellent board. Cheap, Stable, and overclocks well. Moddable to SLI very easily. Ive used it on several systems and I loved it.

 

[atom]

Originally posted by: tomt4535

Originally posted by: 34Ford

Originally posted by: atom
DFI boards have been good to me lately.

Like this one? DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 Socket AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136015

Excellent board. Cheap, Stable, and overclocks well. Moddable to SLI very easily. Ive used it on several systems and I loved it.

Agreed, built 3 systems this year with that board. One of the best overclocking AM2 boards out there, but more importantly I didn't have any incompatibility problems with the board so no headaches getting it up and running.

 

[ZoSo]

Hey thanks everyone
I was starting to think about getting the GIGABYTE GA-M59SLI-S5 it uses the nForce 590 chipset.
But, that DFI is looking pretty good too, maybe I'll go that route until the new nVidia chipset is released.

I thought about going with the Intel setup, but after pricing everything out, going with AMD will cost me about $650 less. Plus there's always "upgrade" down the road

 

[corsa]

DFI Infinity NF UltraII-M2 @ PC Modding Malaysia

 

[rei]

ABIT NF-M2 NVIEW is heartily recommended. At least from first look. Mine's in the box here and hasn't been assembled yet.

 

[DrMrLordX]

How many AM2 boards out there right now hit the 350-360 mhz HTT mark reliably?

edit: looks like the DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 can hit 400-440 mhz HTT without mods? Good grief.

 

[34Ford]

Well Im glad I found out about the DFI.
I just found this forum yesterday and I was almost ready to buy the Asus M2N-E and I have always liked Asus.
But I saw the problem with memory voltages.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
How many AM2 boards out there right now hit the 350-360 mhz HTT mark reliably?

The Abit NF-M2 Nview supposedly doesn't have any problems going up to 400MHz HTT, limited only by the fact that 400MHz HTT is the highest setting possible in BIOS. Not bad for a chipset with IGP, plus one would be hard pressed to find a CPU that can go past that on default multiplier.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Wow, nice one. If only I could get a Brisbane to go with it . . . *)

 

[atom]

Boards that consistently go 350HTT and above are:

DFI Ultra-M2
Abit NF-M2
Biostar 6100 (dont know the exact name but its the mATX one)
Asus Crosshair
The DFI 590 Board

DFI also recently released some Infinity boards based on the nvidia 5 series and RD580 chipsets. There are a couple reports saying the 5 series ones do pretty good as well.

 

[Zap]

Rejoice, for my Abit NF-M2 Nview board has arrived! UPS did a ninja style delivery again. I stood up and started walking as soon as I heard the doorbell, but the truck was already down the street by the time I opened the door. Unfortunately I have my last programming assignment due tomorrow, and then finals are next week... gonna have to wait until Wednesday before I have time to mess with it... after that I'll post my impressions here in another thread.

 

[crucibelle]

Waiting to hear your thoughts on this board, Zap. I'm thinking about getting that one, myself.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I'd like to hear more as well. I'm curious as to how well the IGP works while overclocking.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
I'd like to hear more as well. I'm curious as to how well the IGP works while overclocking.

Heh, I wasn't actually intending on using the IGP, but maybe I'll try it out.

 

[DrMrLordX]

It's your board, so do as ye like. It's all good to me. In all likelihood, OCing won't affect the IGP much unless the board has some serious issues with bus speed locks (and it probably doesn't).

 

[rwiethorn]

For those who bought this board (DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 Socket AM2), what speed did of memory did you get?

DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) or the DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) , and volatage? Or, does it not matter?

I'm not planning on over clocking, just want it to work when I start it up, and stay running

Thanks,
rwiethorn