A8N-SLI Premium vs A8N32-SLI vs EPoX EP-9NPA vs DFI LanParty SLI-DR

[Cycloptis]

Now, I probably won't be doing any overclocking, so the best stock performance is probably what I'm looking for, but I've heard some very diverse opinions on these four motherboards:

The A8N-SLI Premium seems to be the latest motherboard from ASUS (correct me if I'm wrong), plus it has that heatpipe generating less noise.

The A8N32-SLI has the dual 16x slots, but the extra bandwidth seems to have little effect as of yet.

The EPoX has just recently come to my attention and appears to be acclaimed by a sizeable amount of the community, though I haven't found any professional reviews on it yet.

The DFI LanParty SLI-DR seems to be an overclockers dream but again I probably won't be doing any overclocking. Regardless it seems to have great stock performance as well.

I've heard of stability issues for the Premium and the SLI-DR, but again those don't always hold true for everybody.

I'll be using this setup:

AMD Athlon X2 4800+
2GB OCZ DDR400
400GB 7200RPM HDD
ATI Radeon X1900XT (I know this is ATI, so don't ask)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality

I'd really appreciate some answers with reasons behind them, and this is really starting to drive me crazy since I've been spending weeks trying to pick this last component.

EDIT: Other recommendations are fine, but I would prefer to have links to reviews of those if possible.

 

[onioneater36]

I'd offer 1 vote for the A8N32-SLI since I have one... I really like mine so far except the one thing I would caution you on is that you have to disable LEGACY USB in the BIOS or you don't pass MEMTEST86 when you test your memory. So far, it has been everything I expected it to be (fast, stable, quiet). The A8N32 also has the heat pipe. I like the 8 phase power system that keeps everything cooler, more stable. Plenty of SATA's (6) and PATA's (4), 10 USB's, 2 firewires, 2 gigabit enets, etc, etc, etc. Great software tools & drivers. There online help & support has been OK too.

Athenatech Case A605BS.450 w/430W PS
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Corsair XMS Twinx2048-3200c2pt @ 2-3-3-6-1T-2.75V
eVGA GeForce 7800GT CO SE
WD 250GB 7200 SATA2
Lite-On SHW-1635S DVD
WinXP SP2 Retail

 

[Cycloptis]

Originally posted by: onioneater36
I'd offer 1 vote for the A8N32-SLI since I have one... I really like mine so far except the one thing I would caution you on is that you have to disable LEGACY USB in the BIOS or you don't pass MEMTEST86 when you test your memory. So far, it has been everything I expected it to be (fast, stable, quiet). The A8N32 also has the heat pipe. I like the 8 phase power system that keeps everything cooler, more stable. Plenty of SATA's (6) and PATA's (4), 10 USB's, 2 firewires, 2 gigabit enets, etc, etc, etc. Great software tools & drivers. There online help & support has been OK too.

Athenatech Case A605BS.450 w/430W PS
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Corsair XMS Twinx2048-3200c2pt @ 2-3-3-6-1T-2.75V
eVGA GeForce 7800GT CO SE
WD 250GB 7200 SATA2
Lite-On SHW-1635S DVD
WinXP SP2 Retail

I was leaning towards the A8N32 or the DFI myself, and this of course re-enforces that notion, but I hope you understand that I would be wanting more than one opinion. However, thanks very much!

Oh and I added a poll just now.

 

[imported_red5]

I am stuck between the A8N 32 and DFI too. I would like the SLI X16 as on some of the newer X16 boards such as the A8N-32 there is a decent performance boost with many games, at least with a 7800 or better (the older X16 boards were actually slower).

The only time you ever need or want Legacy USB enabled in this day in age is when you are reinstalling Windows and have to use the keyboard to do that

onioneater36Do you have a USB2keyboard and mouse and maybe external hard drive with that setup, and if so does it ever blue screen? My Biostar N4SLI-A9 will not run my Athlon64 X2 with USB2 without throwing blue screens.....

Also if I get that board, you will help me set it up, correct?

 

[Capt Caveman]

I answered your other thread in general hardware. If you plan on going dual-gpu, only nvidia video cards will work w/ a SLI motherboard and only ATI cards will work w/ a Crossfire motherboard. Thus, you'll get no performance advantage video wise between the A8N32-SLI compared to the other motherboards listed w/ your X1900XT.

I currently use a X1900XTX w/ an A8N32-SLI Deluxe and very happy with my set-up. But I have no plans w/ going dual-gpu, unless I decided to drive multiple monitors then I can throw in another gpu in the other pci-e 16x slot.

 

[Heidfirst]

With modern CPUs & boards you will see very little difference in stock performance between any of them using the same chipset - maybe 1% or 2% at most.

Why are all the boards that you are considering SLI when it doesn't look like you will be running SLI?
Anyway, you might want to consider the Abit KN8 SLI (review) as a good value board (also passive chipset cooling via heatpipe) & if you have the budget the AN8 32X (several reviews around at the moment).

Whatever you get budget for a quality PSU (esp. with an X1900XT).

 

[lopri]

For stock performance I'd also go with ASUS. Probably will be less prone to compatibility issues than DFI's. But when it comes to OC'ing ASUS is not even close to DFI.

 

[onioneater36]

red5...

Have you contacted Biostar? I have a PS2 keyboard. Based on your system and gaming experience and me being a noob, you'll likely have no problem setting up the ASUS and won't need my help, but I'd offer whatever I could.

 

[onioneater36]

I also wanted to mention that I bought the A8N32-SLI board even though I doubt I'll ever run SLI. I was sold on some of the other features (StackCool, 8 phase power, etc). Some of the higher end boards that happen to support SLI have other features that non-sli boards don't.

 

[Cycloptis]

Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Jagbot]

I'm looking more and more for the A8N-SLI Premium. It has every thing that i need, 8 SATA port, 2 PCIexpress, 3 PCI, and so and so. I had the same dilema as you and was looking also at these four board myself, but after surfing this forum, and others, i finaly choose the Premium. It's cheaper thant the A8N32 and the diffirence in performace, base on reviews, on those two board are in the range of 2% to 4%, not justifying the coste. I ilso like the layout of the A8N Premium compare to the layout of the A8N32 and of the NF4 SLI-DR.

 

[imported_red5]

Originally posted by: onioneater36
red5...

Have you contacted Biostar? I have a PS2 keyboard. Based on your system and gaming experience and me being a noob, you'll likely have no problem setting up the ASUS and won't need my help, but I'd offer whatever I could.

I should tell them to fix it, but my last bios update was back in the ace ages.... not sure if I want to wait for the next one.

We're building a system for my sister anyway, I'll give her this board with a single core.