Asus A8V or MSI Neo2-FIR

[boatillo]

First off, its the upper class MSI with the VIA chipset I am interested in - not the Neo2 Platinum with the NF3 chipset. The layout is abominable on that board and will barely fit my hsf, not to mention I dislike active chipset fans and the locked SATA ports sit right above the AGP card.


Ok I will be teaming one of these motherboards up with a 3500+ Winchester. I don't plan to OC any right away but I want the option to do so in the future when maybe the CPU is showing its age some, or just for a little fun - nothing serious as it will only be on air (Zalman 7000B-alcu) using OK ram...maybe 200-300mhz tops. The main reason I picked these two is their layout, nearly perfect for my system.

MSI Neo2-FIR
Pros - nice coloring, passive chipset hs, heatsinks on the mosfets, and I like the position of the 12v connect as it can run with the power connector to my rear fan....anything else you guys can add?

Cons - are slots 1&2 for dual channel ram right beside each other or opposing colors? Maybe a worse bios than the asus....add anything else?


Asus A8V
Pros - passive chipset hs, asus reliability, ram slots 1&2 not hugging each other, I like the blue coloring on board parts...even if the pcb is lame.

Cons - 12v connector nearly touches the fan cover on my Psu, lame board color, anything else?



Any experience you guys can add? I know lots and lots of people own the Asus board but I don't think I have ever seen someone using the MSI one...everyone gets that platinum. Thanks


(PS: I was planning to wait on the DFI s939 AGP they *had* said would be made alongside the pci-e ones....but its looking like it won't come out now)

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

I think you'll be happy with either board. The key to a stable A64 system is in the choice of PSU and memory.

I'll even complicate things a little by suggesting the Soltek SL-K8TPro-939 as another option.

 

[mrscintilla]

I was thiking of buying between these two too, given the mid-range nforce4 board is still absent on the market. I read some review on the MSI neo2-fir, and they cited around 220 mhz as the oc limit. that's awefully low. Can someone confirm the oc ability?

 

[boatillo]

Yes I was also considering the Soltek board for awhile, its colors are attractive, fairly good layout; however, I don't like the position of the 12v on it (very snug with my hsf, may even sit a bit under the 'flower') and the IDE connectors are lower on the board, may make the rounded cables Im using too short to reach upper drives.

Also monarch doesnt offer the soltek in its combos...and its hard to pass up free HL2, Farcry, AND napster with their deal.

 

[MrCodeDude]

You care way too much about the coloring of your motherboard. That being said, I'd still go with the MSI Neo2-FIR.

 

[boatillo]

Any particular reason mr cool? It seems that MSI is a poor OC'r compared to other s939 boards.

 

[mrscintilla]

poor OC is my own assessment from the 220mhz number I saw in the reviews. I'd like to hear owners of the actual board to report their #s before I conclude that it's an poor overclock. and I'd like to know whether it has a working agp/pci lock... NEo-2fir owners, where are you?

 

[boatillo]

The MSI Neo2-FIR does indeed have working agp/pci locks according to reputable online reviews. So thats no problem, but all the reviews I have found online (just a handful really) have experienced about 240-249 fsb max on overclocks before the system becomes unstable. This is still a good overclock, but compared to the 290+ that the Neo2 platinum and Epox boards can see its a little sparce...and in fact is among the worst overclock on any of the s939 boards (the Soltek was topping out at this too)

However AMD did use the Neo2-FIR as their VIA reference board so that says something about what they think of the board.




BTW anyone have a picture of a Neo2 Platinum with a Zalman 7000 installed on it? Its hard to tell really how snug it will be...would you have to use different RAM slots because the first is too close? Would the IDE connector closest the socket get in the way? All I know is that you cannot use it with any huge passive hs's on your video card.

 

[boatillo]

Am I right in thinking the ONLY differences between the Neo2-F and the Neo2-FIR is the promise controller (2 SATA & 2 IDE extra) and 2 firewire ports?

 

[slash196]

Asus is high quality, I've heard some VERY bad things about the MSI VIA boards...but it's up to you, just my two cents.

 

[boatillo]

Seems to be the case with nearly every s939 board though slash...I probably couldn't read all the complaints people have posted about the Asus in a day of sitting here surfing.

Thats the main prob, lack of any interest in the Via Neos means people like me don't have anything to really go on. TONS of people own the Asus A8V and Neo2 Platinum on the other hand so I see lots of this didnt work...this fried...my fan quit moving...

Maybe I will get the Neo2 Platinum, I just *really* wish I could see what a Zalman 7000 looks like on it first.

 

[mrscintilla]

actually, 7700 fits on the neo2-fir, according to zalman. so 7000 should fit with plenty of space.
I'd say that firewire difference is significant, at least for me..

 

[boatillo]

Oh yea, no problems with a 7000 or 7700 fitting on the Neo2-FIR or Asus boards because of their traditional layouts. I, however, was wondering about the Neo2 Platinum and my 7000.

Zalman's website says it fits so long as you are not using their silent VGA cooler as well...meaning its gonna come close to the video card, and the ram/ide are also going to be snug.



And Ive never owned anything using firewire and doubt I will really need to hook up 4 SATA or 6 IDE devices in the near future heh. In which case I can save about $20 buying the lowest MSI board....and if you need firewire hook up a SB audigy 2