Which SLI? Asus, Gigabyte, MSI

[wylecoyote]

Ok, for those of you who have the A8N-SLI already, i ask you to put down your adoration for your motherboard (or perhaps lack thereof, depending on it's recent behavior) and try and answer this question with from an unbiased standpoint...

If you had the choice, money being no object (they're all priced comparitively anyway), and availablity being no object, which SLI motherboard would you choose?... MSI K8N Neo4 Plat. SLI, Asus A8N-SLI, or the Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI?

Things to consider... AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REFUTE OR SUPPORT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ACCORDING TO YOUR EXPERIENCE...

Asus-- Good reputation, solid features, excellent layout, etc., mild overclocking?
Gigabyte-- Excellent features (including 1394b), included DPS card, slightly better SLI performance (+2-5% over A8N?)
MSI-- Best overclocking potential?, bluetooth included, lack of PCI x1

How do these boards compare based on overclocking? SLI performance?

Please write your nonpartisan, unbiased, open-minded pick of the three, and thoughts on why or why not.

THanks alot guys... much appreciated.

 

[wylecoyote]

I'll start things off by saying that I might go for the Gigabyte... looks like a pretty solid package, except for perhaps the memory voltages... but then again OCZ booster might remedy that as Anandtech pointed out.

 

[wylecoyote]

bump. -sigh-

 

[TheGeek]

bump for you

 

[TheGeek]

bump

 

[bob661]

The only SLI board out are the Gigabyte and Asus one's. If you hit your back button, you will see reviews of the Asus one. I haven't seen reviews on the Gigabyte board yet.

 

[wylecoyote]

Anandtech did a review of Gigabyte's board... they had nothing but glowing remarks, except for the ram voltage options. Frankly, it seems like the best board out of the three. Huge features (DPS card, 1394b, LAN wireless card).

I haven't seem many reviews of the MSI, except for an early one on Tom's Hardware (versus the A8N no less) that I'm reluctant to believe simply because the boards were such an early revisions (I think the MSI wasn't even a production version).

Just to stir things up, the A8N seems to, well, in a word, suck. Right now, everyone is having a variety of problems... I realize this isn't necessarily unexpected as it's such a new board, but can we expect Gigabyte and MSI to have 3 weeks of bunk boards as well before they put out boards actually worth buying?

So there all you A8N owners.... sucky board? Disappointed? Which out of the three would you choose?
C'mon, post your thoughts.

 

[TheGeek]

thers something like two threads dedicated to the asus board...and hot $hitty it is. lol. i think I might go with the gigabyte one. mwave had it in stock for $260. anyone have any links to a review of the gigabyte board?

 

[hkhawk]

Hey, another thing that nobody has mentioned is the fact that the Diamond (which I believe is only going to be sold in Europe) has the Creative onboard sound. I wonder if this can do DD Live. I doubt it but I would like to learn more about this feature because if it can that would be a great positive. We get the Platinums though so we're out of luck.

 

[Redstorm]

I am going to go for the MSI K8N Diamond, I like the audio solution compared to the competition and that fact that the bundle comes with the Wireless / Bluetooth adapter included.

The MSI board does have a 1x PCIe slot (2nd PCIe slot when not in SLI mode is a 1x slot) but hey your buying this rig to put 2 Graphics cards in it. and anyway what are you going to plug into a 1x slot now - absolutely freaking nothing.

The Asus board looks to have a few issues that will take some ironing out. Nice to be first out of the blocks but it may come back to haunt Asus if the community backlashes against a shoddy effort.

The Gigabyte board has some potential but I don't like the 2nd NIC or the Realtek ALC850 Audio, on the plus side the 1394b (but who uses that anyway)

Till the reviews come out comparing the three im leaning towards the MSI board but that might change as im holding off till I can get a pair of 6800 GT's at least another 2 to 3 weeks at best I think, by then the reviewers should have had a good shot at the boards and we will all be able to make a more informed choice.

Edit: Forgot the MSI has 6 SATA II vs 4 & 4 SATA 150 on the others.

 

[bap4201]

my vote is for the asus, if you are not an enthusiast.

 

[wylecoyote]

Onboard audio isn't too big of an issue for me... an audigy 2 zs card pretty cheap. However, as I plan on getting a 3200 winchester, overclocking is, hence my shying away from the Asus. MSI looks good, and the press release specifically stated it was designed with overclockers in mind first and foremost. The Bluetooth/wireless thing is great as well... I dunno... it's between the Gigabyte and the MSI. Once again, I've seen in a couple places the Gigabyte outperforming the Asus by a small but definately significant margin. I've worked with the Neo2 Plat. and it behaved well... so like always, wait for a review or two between them. Hint hint, Anandtech.

So Asus owners... speak up. A8N = POS?

 

[Redstorm]

I'm not going to buy a separate audio solution, So the MSI board looks really attractive from my perspective. Those reviews would really seal the deal if the board performs well in OC and is on par performance wise with the others.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: hkhawk
Hey, another thing that nobody has mentioned is the fact that the Diamond (which I believe is only going to be sold in Europe) has the Creative onboard sound. I wonder if this can do DD Live. I doubt it but I would like to learn more about this feature because if it can that would be a great positive. We get the Platinums though so we're out of luck.

It looks like the Platinum SLI has Creative onboard too, but it's the Live! chipset, so no big deal.

Link

The Ultra has AC97.

 

[imported_DangerMouse]

Before getting Gigabyte mobo i would at least wait for feedback/threads on this forum.
Their last line of socket 939 mobos were simply terrible. Plus memory voltage is limited
to 2.8v and board is more expensive than Asus one.

 

[TheGeek]

its between the gigabyte and MSI for me

 

[RealityTime]

The DFI NF4 SLI board is going to own all your sli base

 

[wylecoyote]

I heard the DFI SLI is actually XLI...basically SLI but through an Ultra chipset. I don't know how they compare performance wise, but I think SLI has an edge over XLI. Honestly, I'm not sure though. Nvidia worked with the Big 3 (Asus, Gig., MSI) developing the Nforce4... so I assume they've got an edge. DFI is king for overclocking for sure... but can i wait for it... probably not.

 

[TheGeek]

Originally posted by: RealityTime
The DFI NF4 SLI board is going to own all your sli base

roflmao

 

[d3vilz]

I just hope my zalman 7700 fits onto the MSI Sli!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I'm one of the lucky ones to get an A8N with working PCI lock. With working locks, I would recommend this board for anyone except "hard core" overclockers. Its a very stable board(for me) and is loaded with features. And I think a lot of the problems people are having will be addressed by bios updates. And there is no guarantee that these same issues will not exist in the new boards from other makers.

The one glaring problem for overclockers is the lack of manual memory dividers. Without access to manual dividers using good pc3200 ram like the TCCD chips is pretty much a waste if you running a 3000+ or 3200+. Use some pc3200 value ram, or get some 550-600DDR ubber ram and run 1:1

Without manual dividers this will never be a great overclocking board. However with working locks its a good overclocker. My current settings just passed 24hrs of Prime95 (blend)


My current settings

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

A few individuals at XtremeSystems have some prerelease boards from MSI and DFI, and it's pretty clear that these two are the best of the NF4 pack.

I think ASUS pushed their board out the door early to pick up sales in advance of everyone else, especially before Xmas.

 

[wylecoyote]

I would agree Asus pushed their board into the pool before she could swim...
And as for the Xtremesystems folks with the pre-release boards from MSI and DFI, could you post a link?

For some reason I'm attached to the Gigabyte, but could be swooned by MSI easily. DFI may be to far down the road for me to wait.

 

[RealityTime]

Originally posted by: wylecoyote
I heard the DFI SLI is actually XLI...basically SLI but through an Ultra chipset. I don't know how they compare performance wise, but I think SLI has an edge over XLI. Honestly, I'm not sure though. Nvidia worked with the Big 3 (Asus, Gig., MSI) developing the Nforce4... so I assume they've got an edge. DFI is king for overclocking for sure... but can i wait for it... probably not.

no dfi will have a full fledged sli board, plus their ultra will have a rigged up sli setup. but there is going to be a full-fledged dfi sli board.. and it will own!

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Here's one for starters:

Link

The best way to find out what's good and what's not is from someone else's firsthand experience.