Abit KN8 Ultra or Asus A8NE

[conlan]

I just picked up a FX-55 and am looking for a good, stable skt.939 mobo. I normally buy Asus by default, but i don't like the looks of the A8NE layout. Abit used to be the king in the BX days, but seem to have fallen on hard times in the last few years. Anyone have either of these mobos care to chime in??

Abit
Pros: better layout, Ars recommendation
Cons: cheap chipset fan, Abits recent reputation

Asus
Pros: it's an Asus
Cons: poor layout, PCI-E x 16 slot is too close to Cpu socket and Memory slots

EDIT: anyone know where i can find the supported memory list for Asus? Abits is right on the product home page, i can't find Asus anywhere.

 

[Moffat Cafe]

Noisy chipset fan on Asus.

 

[conlan]

Yeah, i'm going to order a chipset fan with either mobo i order.

 

[Zap]

I have a KN8 (non-Ultra) in my wife's machine with an FX-55. It is a nice board but not without problems. What I like are the frequent BIOS updates, layout and the openess around the chipset (can easily replace HSF with a better/quieter unit). What I don't like are the lousy stability when overclocking (will pass stability tests, but occasionally completely lock up) and HAVING to frequently update BIOS. For instance, I put in that FX-55 this past Friday. It wouldn't POST. Had to swap the A64 3700+ CPU back in to flash BIOS to latest, then it worked fine w/o overclocking. The CPU overclocked fine in my DFI Expert board but caused locks with the Abit board (overclocking using unlocked multiplier). Also, why did I have to update BIOS? Both CPUs were San Diego core. Oh yeah, the original shipping BIOS wouldn't POST at anything over 250MHz HTT.

I guess it's still decent (for the nice layout) if you aren't doing much overclocking and run the latest BIOS, though you may have to pop in another CPU to flash it.

I haven't used the Asus boards, so no comment on those.

For overclocking I had much better luck with my Biostar Tforce6100-939 boards than the Abit KN8.

 

[conlan]

Thanks for the replies, i'm leaning towards the KN8, anyone think i should change my mind??

 

[corsa]

not sure what case ur using, but the placement of the PCI-E slot on the Asus allows u to remove HD's without removing the vga card... umm why arent u thinking DFI ?

 

[AsRock]

Been using a Abit KN8 ( SLI ) since March 06 and No problems whot so ever been Rock Solid..

 

[Bill Kunert]

Had a KN8-SLI for about 4 or 5 months with no problems. I like the heat pipe cooler on the chip set and voltage regulator.

 

[patentman]

I've had the Asus board now for about 10 months. Been runnign my 4800+ at ~2.8Ghz for 9 of them with stock cooling. I don't think the chipset fan is that loud.

 

[conlan]

Thanks guys, i went with the Abit, i never could find Asus' supported memory list, and the PCI-E slot is in a much bettter spot, at least for my case.