Asrock 939SLI32-eSATA2 vs ASUS A8N5X

[eoniverse]

The boards meet different needs...but I not certain how really useful those needs are. I currently have one PCI-e card and I'm not certain having SLI is even worthwhile given I don't game a whole lot. But the AsRock board doesn't support future SLI (however there is a hacked BIOS I know of floating around - so I presume there will be more) And it has a the AM2 upgrade path. But my Big Typhoon would not fit on the riser card (I assume) so once you add in the expense of a new cpu hsf I don't see much savings benefit by it. The ASUS is stable but the NB chipset runs hot/loud and will have to be replaced. I do like to overclock but not to insane levels. The AsRock bios reads weird in what i've gathered from threads vs a VIA or NF4 bios. So is AsRock really going to be a bigger pain to overclock than ASUS? I can't tell if it's more stable than the ASUS either. And then I really like the support of ASUS.

OK.

I think I just needed to get it typed out. I think the ASUS is the board to get. Anyone want to talk me out of it?

Yes. Price is a consideration. That's why i was looking at these two boards. I don't use SATA (yet) and I don't use RAID. But having options like those on the AsRock is nice...

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

I was also looking at the Asrock 939SLI32-eSATA2 motherboard. All the reviews I have read were great. Granted Nvidia has disabled the SLI feature on the newer drivers.

I was all set to purchase the Asrock, but at the last minute I found a NIB Asus A8N-SLI on the forums for sale at an excellent price. Went that way instead. Has I not purchased the A8N-SLI, I would have gotten the Asrock. I don't plan to run SLI, but having a second PCI-E would allow me to plug in other PCIex1 or PCIex4 card latter

 

[eoniverse]

Well... I ended up with the ASUS board. Quality and superior CS wins again.

There was simply too much unknown about the AsRock for me to feel comfortable with it before purchase. Yes - I've read the NewEgg opinions, other site reviews, and the stuff here. I realise the AsRock board is currently a solid performer. If Nvidea had not purchased AsRock I would probably have bought it but I am not certain how poor the future support for the AsRock line will now become, I don't feel that driver's will still be updated as often as they should , and I think there was a measure of petty vindictiveness in the whole SLI issue. Not that I don't understand Nvidea's business perspective. It's simply that end users always pay for this type of action - never the company. I don't feel like being one of those end users.

It would not surprise me to see AsRock go the way of 3Dfx.

One thing that has come from my AsRock consideration is that I will be more open to considering ATI in the near future. I am currently committed to a 7600GT but that will only be for about a year - give or take.

 

[Skitzer]

Originally posted by: eoniverse
Well... I ended up with the ASUS board. Quality and superior CS wins again.

There was simply too much unknown about the AsRock for me to feel comfortable with it before purchase. Yes - I've read the NewEgg opinions, other site reviews, and the stuff here. I realise the AsRock board is currently a solid performer. If Nvidea had not purchased AsRock I would probably have bought it but I am not certain how poor the future support for the AsRock line will now become, I don't feel that driver's will still be updated as often as they should , and I think there was a measure of petty vindictiveness in the whole SLI issue. Not that I don't understand Nvidea's business perspective. It's simply that end users always pay for this type of action - never the company. I don't feel like being one of those end users.

It would not surprise me to see AsRock go the way of 3Dfx.

One thing that has come from my AsRock consideration is that I will be more open to considering ATI in the near future. I am currently committed to a 7600GT but that will only be for about a year - give or take.

"ASROCK motherboards, introduced by Asustek Computer?s Hua Ching subsidiary".
ASUS, not Nvidia, owns ASROCK.
Everything I have read about the Asrock 939SLI32-eSATA2 mainboard has been positive.
Did you read the Anandtech article on it? Link
It is based on the ULi M1697 and M1695 chipsets not an Nvidia chipset.
I'm sure you made a good choice with the Asus board but I would venture to say, IMO, that the ASROCK would have been a better one.