Anything wrong with the Asus K8N-E Deluxe or ZipZoomFly?

[JackHawksmoor]

I?m going to drive people on here nuts with my indecision. I?m getting SICK of waiting for new stuff to come out, so I?m thinking of just ordering Asus? K8N-E Deluxe (their Nforce 3 board) and a PNY Geforce 6800GT from ZipZoomFly and the rest of my system from NewEgg.

I won?t be overclocking AT ALL.

It would look like:

ZipZoomfly:
$154.00 Asus K8N-E Deluxe
$399.00 eVGA Geforce 6800GT
NewEgg:
$99.00 Antec Sonata/380Watt TruePower
$12.99 Antec 120mm Case fan
$11.99 Sony Black Floppy Drive
$127.00 200GB Seagate IDE Drive
$416.00 Athlon 64 3400+ Newcastle 2.4Ghz/512KB L2
$174.00 2 x 512MB Crucial RAM
$27.00 Shipping

$1,393.98 total

Or possibly I?d substitute in some of that new faster Crucial ?Ballistix? ram for $267, although that?s probably not worth 4% faster performance.
I also MIGHT get another Audigy 2 for this, or else I?d use one of my old Sound Blaster Live!s (higher CPU utilization I suppose, but the sound quality is fine for me).

At any rate, is there any risk to ordering from ZipZoomFly?and more to the point, is this system going to be stable and compatible? The last time I built an Athlon system was with a 1GHz Thunderbird and a HORRIBLE, EVIL Asus/VIA motherboard. I spent 6 months with the thing, installing new BIOSs and drivers literally at least once a week and could NEVER get complete stability (it got close towards the end, but I couldn?t use my serial ports without crashing?). I finally dumped the CPU and motherboard for an Intel combo and haven?t used AMD since.

I like that the Athlon 64 outperforms an equivalently priced Intel chip, and I like that it runs cooler, and I like AMD?s Cool ?n Quiet technology. BUUUUUUT I?m really nervous about plunking down $570 on AMD stuff that I?m scared I?ll have to swap out for Intel. For me ALMOST completely stable and ALMOST completely compatible isn?t good enough. I want something 100% as bulletproof as an Intel chipset. Something I know I can throw in a new sound card, or new GPU, or new disc drive, or whatever into and have it just work.

Any thoughts? Seriously, if I buy this and have more problems, I am NOT risking AMD again.

Oh, technically I?m also wondering if it would be smarter to wait for BFG?s factory overclocked 6800GT (370mhz versus 350mhz core). Should be about 5% faster performance for free with no risk.

 

[Krk3561]

ZZF is awesome! They are my 2nd choice when ordering parts, if newegg doesnt have it or ZZF is cheaper, i go with ZZF.

Ive heard the NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb chipset which the K8N-E Deluxe has is pretty good.

 

[jkresh]

zipzoomfly is very highly rated (you can check resselleraitings if you want but they are just below newegg in terms of lifetime ratings).

As to 100% stable, nforce3 apears to be a good platform (nforce in general is much more stable then via) and asus almost always makes good baords, but as the board just came out, and there have been no reviews its hard to say that it will run perfectly.

 

[xenolith]

Originally posted by: Krk3561
ZZF is awesome! They are my 2nd choice when ordering parts, if newegg doesnt have it or ZZF is cheaper, i go with ZZF.

Me too.

 

[JackHawksmoor]

Okay, thanks. *TAKES DEEP BREATH* I guess I may actually, finally take the plunge tonight. I'm nervous about this, but I'd feel dumb spending the same amount on an Intel system that's up to 23% slower (depending on the RAM).

 

[imported_dawurz]

Wow, our desired systems are very similar.
The only difference is I DO plan to attempt an overlock and I am a, gasp, noob, or at least a first time overclocker:

Is a 10 to 20% upclock reasonable with the following?

K8N-E (presuming the lock is present and where are the damn reviews!)
Athlon 64 3400+ Newcastle 2.4Ghz/512KB L2
Thermalright SLK948U (or the not-yet-released XP-120) w/92mm

On one question for the wizards: Is Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL 2-2-2-5 1GB Kit DDR400 XMS3200 Dual-Channel Xtra-Low Latency Memory w/Black Heat Spreader a wise choice, or is an overclock possible with less expensive memory? I am a bit overwhelmed with the memory choices out there. I also know about OCZ 3700EB, but read the 2-2-2-5 may work better in the 200-250 range, for a less agressive overclock (and one suited for a first-timer!), and even one suited for the K8N-E.

Many thanks for any responses.

other parts planned:
WD2000JD 200GB SATA
Sonata case w/True550 & addl 120mm (sunon, panaflo, vantec - not sure yet)
audigy 2
logitec z-5300
9800XT (in hand, for now)

 

[EngenZerO]

I am sorry, but I think zzf sucks. I had the worst RMA experience with them a few weeks ago. I was lied to on the phone by them by the RMA tech and a Sales Manager (finding out about my status and processing). I was told that I was @ fault because I had not recieved an email that they sent me. Basically, a ton of bs. They said due to a manufacturere defect they would send my items back to the respected manufactueres for further evaluation (even after they had told me my RMA would ship back to me in three days). I finially got a hold of someone after getting a run around for 40 mins on the phone and I yelled till I got my way. The guy who finally helped me ended up sending me a new motherboard and cpu. Just hope you never have to RMA anything to them, they suck with that.

 

[sao123]

My experiences with zzf are both + & - .

+: every item i ordered was comparable in price to newegg, but with zzf, had free 2nd day shipping.
I currently have 2 rma's into zzf, and so far have no trouble. I am sending back 2 case fans, which they sent me the wrong item (i got 92mm fans, needed 80mm), and also had a WD740 Raptor arrive DOA. I am sending it back with advance replacment.

-: Every oder they take has a 24hr processing period before they begin to pack your stuff and send it to you. Dont ever expect it to ship out the same day...that includes an advance replacement RMA...it still required a 24hr processing period.


With the 2nd day shipping, if you live in the eastern us... order before COB tuesday... cuz even with 2day shipping...the 24hr processing period guarantees you wont get your stuff till monday. Screwing you, if you were planning to assemble over the weekend.

 

[Illissius]

You can get the K8N-E Deluxe at newegg now.

 

[JackHawksmoor]

YES YES YES YES YES! About freaking time. I'd rather just deal with Newegg. I think I'm going to place an order, and just forget about the GPU for now.