Best Mainstream mobo?

[menorton]

i am trying to upgrade to a 7800gt, so i need a mobo that is PCI. I do not want to waste the money on sata,raid, or SLI., nor am i into overclocking. Try and keep it to below $80 as well. I prefer the following in order: Reliability, price, noise, performance. I am trying to make this mobo as silent as possible, and the reason i am not too concerned with performance is becuase most AMD64 mobos tend to perform around the same.

I am looking at the Epox EP-9NDA+ Ultra, and anandtech gave that a gold medal, but then xbit and a few others had it seriously lagging behind performance wise.


Any ideas? Please list price and reviews if you are going to rec. a board. No refurbishments either. And yes, i did read that huge guide


My specs:

amd64 3500+, 130nm, stock hsf
2x512 Mushkin Ram ddr400
Thermaltake purepower 420wt
audigy 2 zs
Antec P180 case, 3 fans on 'low'

 

[lifeguard1999]

$88 for DFI NF4 Infinity nForce4

I own a DFI, so I am partial to it.

 

[menorton]

that is nice. however, i read over in the HardOCP forums that the DFI "plain and simple, they arent as reliable as other brands. they have a higher DOA rate and general incompatability/instability rate than any other high end boards

IMO, you shouldnt have to flash a board with a BETA bios just to get it generally stable, or to get it to flat out work with whatever components you are using."

moreover, on the AT forums, that one massive guide said that for my market segment (something reliable, cheap price, good performance, no frills), the best board was the Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra. How is the DFI better then the Epox at the similiar price? Do you have any reviews?

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Check out the MSI Neo4-F . . . it has worked great for me so far with the exception of maybe certain BIOS . . . but the latest 1.7xx ones work great . . .

Even if you're not OC'ing it will be a fine board . . .

$84 on Newegg