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Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI

F

figfiddle

Banned
I have been thinking about the cost of building my next system which I already have pruchased several components for. Maybe I should forget about the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI motherboard for now and just build a quality system I can upgrade in the future. After all, when I first set out to build a new system I was going to economize as much as possible. But before you know it I'm looking at building a supercomputer.

My Dell 8400 is starting to show its age. My Asus ti4200 video card is running on one leg operating off a 4X AGP slot. Look at my new proposed system an tell me what I would have to upgrade 1 year from to switch over to an SLI based system.

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum nForce3 Ultra @$134.99

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor Socket 939 Winchester core @214.00

XFX GeForce 6600 GT AGP video card @229.00

Corsair VS1GBKIT400C3 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 memory @152.00

1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB Serial ATA w/ NCQ hard drive @113.00

CoolerMaster Praetorian Aluminium Mid Tower Case (Black) @115.99

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer Limited Edition sound card @$86.00 after rebate

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive ND-3500A (Black) @67.00

Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM (Black) @$29.00

NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive @$9.99

OCZ ModStream 520W Power Supply @$129.00

Windows XP professional SP 2 @$145.00
 
One more thing I forgot to mention is how long would it be before they work all the bugs out of these SLI motherboards anyway? Yeah I will stop dreaming for now.
 
I've asked the very same question. Based on your choices (which are very similar to mine), I figured that the SLI computer would probably cost about $250 more when you purchase it. (Presuming you find a video card that is PCIe for that price). It could be as much as $400 more if you have to go higher end with the video card.

So the question boils down to this. Can you wait? (assume yes, since you're asking) If yes, then can you afford the price difference (for better incremental upgrade potential & potentially better performance)? If yes, then wait.

There may be bugs with SLI, but it doesn't sound like you're going to use SLI out of the gates anyways, so you don't need to worry about SLI bugs.

I don't think NF4 will have many bugs to be worked out (just guessing here...).
 
SLI motherboards will cost minimum $200 give or take 5 bucks when they become available in the retail channels...
 
If you are to switch over to an SLI system one year from now you will have to upgrade your video card and motherboard. Everything else you selected can be used in an AGP or PCI-E based system.

If I were you I'd save a few hundred bucks and pull the trigger on the AGP system you spec'ed out. The only SLI motherboard available today is the ASUS and it's going for 300+ if you can find them. It's going to take a couple of months for the manufacturers to roll out all the bug fixes anyway. Early adopters who buy the latest and greatest pay too much for what they get IMO. Waiting around for the next best thing to become available or drop in price is a no-win situation. Then you'll just be sitting around without a computer. Just go with the AGP system you mentioned and upgrade the motherboard and video card next year if you still need PCI-E. You won't be dissapointed!
 
Personally I am waiting until the AMD64 PCIe solutions are widely available. Buying AGP now cripples you later, and is a waste of $ IMO. If you can wait, do so.
 
Man I am just tempted to get this build over with as I have purchased some of the components already but then again if I just wait a couple of months my cash outlay will be less over the next yaer as far as upgrading anything. Hmm.

Just as a side note I don't know if any of you have the Coolermaster Praetorian case. I just got it last week and this thing is just amazing from the fit and finish to the removable motherboard tray to the thumb screws holding the side panels on to the 4 included case fanes, etc. So far this has been my most impressive purchase.
 
Well If you do go for the AGP solution, The neo2 takes a socket 754 (Im almost positive) and deifnatly go for dual channel memory.
 
Something tells me that if I buy one of these first generation SLI motherboards that in 6 months they will have version 2.0 and then I will want to upgrade again.
 
Wait 2-3 weeks and you can probably pick up a standard non-SLI NF4/KT890/Xpress200 PCI-e mobo for about the same price as the Neo2. You'll have an easier time upgrading your mobo and/or video card and selling them later on.
 
Originally posted by: pjwinkler
Well If you do go for the AGP solution, The neo2 takes a socket 754 (Im almost positive) and deifnatly go for dual channel memory.
Click to expand...


The neo2 is compatible with socket 939 only.
 
Since there is a bit of a premium on the AGP 6600GTs compared to the PCIe versions (about $50 at this point based on Newegg's pricing on the XFX 6600GT PCIe and AGP versions) you might as well wait and spend a bit more to get one of the NF4 PCIe boards. Whatever extra the newer board costs over the older AGP version, the money you are saving by buying a PCIe 6600GT ought to at least make up for the premium you will pay for the newer mobo, plus you will already have one decently priced SLI capable card. Once the prices on the SLI boards drop, you can transfer everyting over to it and add in a second 6600GT once the prices drop down below $150 eventually. Unless, that is, the prices of the 6800 Ultras have by then dropped down into the price range where the cost of 6800U minus the money made off selling the 6600GT would actually work out to be less than that of getting the SLI board and a second card. In either case, AGP is a bad way to go with the 6600GT.
 
Originally posted by: figfiddle
Just as a side note I don't know if any of you have the Coolermaster Praetorian case. I just got it last week and this thing is just amazing from the fit and finish to the removable motherboard tray to the thumb screws holding the side panels on to the 4 included case fanes, etc. So far this has been my most impressive purchase.
Click to expand...

I got it because you picked it! I was following one of your threads, noticed the choice, checked it out and it seemed great to me, and I liked the look. Someone at work also said it's a great case. I like that it has a fan in the top of the case. Mine hasn't arrived yet from ZZF.
 
ASUS MSRP for the A8N-SLI is $180. The market will saturate real quick (check any MoBo price graph on Nextag). Besides, game development is way behind and aimed a lot lower than PCIE or SLI. BE PATIENT!
 
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