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A64 mobos

I

imported_jediknight

Senior member
A few questions, interspersed through my rambling message..

OK so the local computer stores are finally stocking some nForce3 250Gb mobos (damn, I wish Newegg would ship to Canada!).

The Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR (nForce3 250Gb) sells for $129 (CAN),
while the MSI K8N Neo Platinum sells for $190 (CAN).

1) Is the Soltek mobo any good? Just wondering why it's so cheap for such a nice chipset. Only difference I can see (in terms of features, at least) is the Soltek only has 2 RAM slots, while the MSI has 3.

2) What is the advantage of having a working PCI/AGP lock, btw? Do any of the first gen (nForce3 150, K8T800) mobos have a working lock?

The ASUS K8V SE Deluxe (VIA K8T800) ($156 CAN) also looks interesting, with a wifi card slot.. which could come in handy.

3) Is the nForce3 250Gb firewall any good? (IE. How does it compare to software based firewalls?)

And on a website that actually ships in Canada (gasp!) I see the Epox 8KDA3J and 8KDA3+. Both of these are quite expensive (once shipping is factored in.. and the A3+ is the most expensive of all I've seen @ $239!)

4) (If you haven't guessed) I'm deciding on which mobo to buy for my very soon to be completed A64 system. I know the Epox won the latest mobo roundup, but is it worth spending $100+ more than the Soltek?

Any thoughts, opinions welcome..
 
if the Epox 8KDA3J is inexpensive I would jump on that I love mine. Though Soltek's are ussuly pretty good from what I have heard I have never used them though.
 
On paper, the MSI sounds good.. but I've heard some horror stories on the support website..
I wonder if that is a common thing (IE. the QC sucks) or it's just because more people are likely to complain about a board on such a site than give it praise (why go to the tech support site if you're board is working fine?) It's a highly recommended board, and has good reviews.. but I wonder..

I find it odd that all of the boards I've checked can't run with three double sided RAM modules at full speed (DDR400).. why is this?
 
Originally posted by: jediknight
I find it odd that all of the boards I've checked can't run with three double sided RAM modules at full speed (DDR400).. why is this?
Click to expand...
It's a limitation of the A64's onboard memory controller.
 
I've been a Soltek fan since first trying the Golden Flame series. I've based many builds on them since and all are still going strong. I know two people that have had bad capacitors on theirs but it appears to be a very isolated issue. I haven't bought a Soltek outside of the nF2 offerings because they keep failing to provide the overclocking options I desire. I'll check this one out and see what it's got, if it can show similar overclockability to the Golden Flame series I found my next board 🙂
 
I'd buy the Soltek without question, they always work flawlessly for me... now I just need to figure out where I can buy it!!
 
I have this board and it seems great so far. OC'd to 2.42 without changing any voltages on stock cooling.
 
Originally posted by: MDE
Originally posted by: jediknight
I find it odd that all of the boards I've checked can't run with three double sided RAM modules at full speed (DDR400).. why is this?
Click to expand...
It's a limitation of the A64's onboard memory controller.
Click to expand...

Actually, it's a limitation of DDR memory. No chipset/memory controller can run more than 1GB/2 sticks at full speed. Intel for example, probably drops 20-30% general performance.
This is the primary reason we need DDR3.
 
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