MotherBoard Choice driving me nuts

[FhaeTon]

I would like to ask for anyones advice and or comments on a the best possible buy for a motherboard.

I have 2 in particular models in my sights:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127207

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131540

[HTM|Minion]

Although I do not use SLI as of yet I have nothing but respect for ASUS mobos. I believe Lunch_Meat uses a board similar to this...and he has been rocking my UT world ever since.

[FhaeTon]

wow I hope Lunch sees this. I bet he could help me a lot then.

[HTM~impos]

Lunch would have to give you the definitive first-hand answer, but after he and I looked at mobos a few months back, he chose the ASUS SLI board (the cheaper of the two links, as I believe there wasn't the Premium version available at the time, in fact I think he got the first SLI board, period...). He's been happy with his choice, just be warned that it comes with a bit of a learning curve compared to a single graphics card, in that you need to Google or research for optimal drivers and optimal settings for those drivers. Believe me, his machine is sweet, if I had the $$, I'd be right there with him... I'm sure when Lunch sees the topic, he'll expand on this answer.

Take care, Zat, g/l with whatever ya choose and see ya 'round the servers...

[HTM|Lunch_Meat]

Hey Z

Back in January I bought the Asus A8N SLI deluxe. Been very happy with it. I got 2 6800 GT's with it.

It really stands out when playing Far Cry and HL2, but for UT you could save yourself some money and not go the SLI route. I was planning on playing alot of different games when I got the system, so for me I could have saved alot of money and had similiar results without the SLI. (But it looks really cool :wink: )

If I was planning on buying a new system right now I would look into what runs the new unreal engine the best and go from there. But thats me, 98% of the time I'm playing unreal.

My System:

Asus A8N SLI delux NF4 SLI (2) PCIE
AMD 64 3500+ 939
2 XFX PCI-E 6800GT 256mb
2 Gig Corsair DDR 400
WD 74G Raptor SATA 10,000rpm

Send me a pm with any questions. I'd be happy to help.

[FhaeTon]

Nice Lunch I like your system and I can surely tell it performs well I see you have improved immensely. :wink: But I will go the SLI board route while I have the money in preparation of UT2K7. Thats why I'm looking at the ASUS Premium SLI Board and the 1 XFX Geforce 7800GT card since it has near the power of 2 6800 GT cards then I will add another later to take full advantage of the SLI. Ofcourse once I get the other card I gonna Overclock from hell. :twisted:

Oh Yeah! Need votes people need votes. :P

[HTM|Lunch_Meat]

Hang on dont buy just yet.

They were very specific when I bought mine that you have to have 2 of the exact same video cards to make it work. Not only 2 6800gt's and not only the same manufacturer, but the same production model.

In other words Asus said that the sli may not work if you have bought the same card from the same manufacturer at different dates. The manufacturer will change small things with the cards sometimes during every production cycle. Thats why I got mine with back to back seriel #'s.

They might have improved upon this with the new board but lets check before you order.

[FhaeTon]

Oh really? wow that something to ponder. I think I'll be ok since the 1 card is so powerful it will carry me for a while. when I upgrade if I can get a match I'll sell that one and buy 2 more newer ones.

[HTM|Lunch_Meat]

That sounds cool

Then I would go with the Asus. Nothing against abit. I can only say that from my experience so far Asus has been a great board.

I see with the new board you dont have the connector between the v-cards like I have with mine. Lets you configure the one or two card setting in the bios alone. That sounds good. The less you need to play with tiny parts on a motherboard the better. :wink:

[FhaeTon]

I did Now I just need to learn how to assemble it once all the parts get here. I hope I get your assistance.

[HTM|Lunch_Meat]

Sounds like fun

I had mine built by cyberpower. :x

Then I had to take it apart and put it together correctly.
Next time I'm doing it myself. I went the cyperpower route because it was just a few hundred more and came with a warranty (which now I believe will make excellent toilet paper if I ever need it)

I ran mine out of the box with the 1 video card setting (thanks to cyber power) It ran great, in fact with UT the difference in 1 video card and 2 is negligible. So I think your gonna be very happy with the performance

[FhaeTon]

I've noticed a lot of people that bought there comp from a online store all seem to have to reconfigure parts :?: I wonder why you would think they know what there doing.

[HTM|Sp@ceMonkey]

Dude, get a lan party. They are the top rated for over clocking, and fastest at normal speeds. Look for ratings on it. It is extremely compatible with EVERY THING. When it comes to mother boards, they are alot easier to come by on the quality/price ratio.

[FhaeTon]

Well I chose the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Model #: A8N-SLI Premium
price=$176.00 at newegg. I think this board has the power and flexibilty to do everything I need for a couple of years.

[GoatBoy]

I have the DFI LanParty SLI-DR board with a pair of BFG 6600GToc video cards in SLI. Very sweet.

The ASUS A8N-SLI Premium board is a very nice board as well. You won't be disappointed.