Best 939 Mobo out there?

[jpk]

What is the best 939 mobo? I know it's not the latest CPU but since I have a 64 X2 4800 I don't think I'll be looking to upgrade the CPU anytime soon. Currently have a Asrock 939 Dual SATA2 and my USB ports are not running in 2.0. I've tried to update the drives but XP says they're all up to date. Don't know what the issue is.

 

[PClark99]

Asus A8R32-MVP

Asus A8N32-SLI

Either of those are an excellent choice.

 

[godlyatheist]

DFi LP nf4 SLi-dr, only 136 at newegg. Best 939 OC mobo.

 

[jpk]

Thanks for the info guys. Just can't seem to get USB 2.0 working, I'm sure it's a config issue but damned if I can figure it out. The Asrock board is great other than that little thing. It's driving me nuts.

 

[o1die]

I'd check the device manager for a conflict, remove and reinstall. I had to manually install the usb root 2.0 when changing boards recently to avoid a fresh install of windows. You can also try the nvidia website. They have a universal uli device driver program that covers all uli boards.

 

[Rottie]

how can you tell if it is running USB 2.0 or 1.1 or 1.0?

my guess is if you see "USB Enchanced Host controller" from the device manager then you have 2.0 I could be wrong?

 

[kelleybp]

If you're going with a DFI lanparty, go ahead and spring for the Expert. More PCI slots, better OC options, better board layout in general. Just MHO.

 

[chynn]

Originally posted by: godlyatheist
DFi LP nf4 SLi-dr, only 136 at newegg. Best 939 OC mobo.

NOT!!!

Tweaking the motherboard to boot and use high-performance memory at its maximum capabilities can be frustrating (to impossible) for the inexperienced builder.

The chipset HSF gets in the way of graphics cards with extended or dual-slot cooling setups (e.g., eVGA 7800 GTX ACS3 or eVGA 8800GTX) and can prevent them from fully seating in their PCIe slots.

The location of the 8-pin connector for the case-mounted USB, FW, etc. connectors is too close to the main graphics card, so it gets hidden under (and unusable) the two graphics cards mentioned above.

And the DFI reference manual sucks! It doesn't (and their Tech Support won't) tell you what IRQs are shared amongst which PCIe and PCI slots.

My old A8N-SLI motherboard has a much better board layout, but that motherboard has its own set of BIOS issues ... although they may have been fixed since I last visited the ASUS web site.

 

[you2]

If you don't require sli don't buy a board with sli. I've been happy with the ultra-d (dfi) so far but there are less expensive boards. I wouldn't spend too much - sooner or later you will bite the bullet and get something (c2d or am2) that requires ddr2.

 

[Binky]

Drop a $10 USB2 PCI card in and you're set with minimal hassle.

Ok, so I'm lazy.

 

[cubeless]

geeks $40 msi deal... running 312 fsb as i type... been rock solid with 4 mismatched 512 dimms at 2t...

 

[catalysts17az]

First I agree with Kelleybp, the best that ever was in s939 trim was the DFI Expert board. I also agree with Binky the easiest way to get around your problem is to add a $10 pci card. Chynn also made a good point the DFI boards are not for the faint. But if you want something hot and easy to OC (comes with its own OC program) then go with Biostar TForec 6100 s939, if you can find it. its micro atx and has integrated graphics but also has PCI express if (and you should) drop a card in there.