best mb for the opteron 144?

[piginspring]

Looking for a quality mb for my new opteron 144. Budget is between $60-100. Any suggestions? Thanks much!

 

[piginspring]

bump!

 

[EXman]

well for $14 more Monarch has the Ultra-D and you'll get top OC with that mobo. Usually $120-130 so $114 is a great price.

 

[abs0lut3]

At this point only Asus A8R-MVP because its price is going to drop even further when A8R32-MVP comes out next week. The cheaper option would be Gigabyte GA-K8NF9, Epox EP-9NPA7I or K8N Neo4-F.

 

[piginspring]

Epox used to make some highly respected mb's which have excellent oc capability. How come now the only two players are just ASUS and DFI?

I can afford the extra 14 bucks for the DFI. But even for these two boards, i.e., A8R-MVP and DFI ultra-d, there're still quite some issues, poor usb performance, incompatibility with certain memoery etc. Are there any other good choices? Thank you all!

 

[Allio]

The Epox 9NPA+Ultra is fantastic but just out of your price range at $105. You haven't mentioned exactly what you mean by 'quality' - what's your priority? Overclocking? Features? Stability? Warranty? Some magical unobtainable combination of all of them?

Edit: with a 144 I assume you're planning to overclock, so I'd definitely go for either that Epox, the A8R-MVP or some kind of DFI board.

 

[piginspring]

Allio,

I can afford the extra $5. My priority would be: Stability - OC - cost efficient ... I guess most if not all boards at this price range would have similar features. Basically what I'm looking for are onboard 1G lan, SATA/PATA raid 0/1, 1394, USB... Could you provice more info or point me to a nice guide? Also, what else I need to consider for better OC this opteron 144?

Thanks!

 

[5t3v0]

Since a 144 has a low multiplier, overclocking is achieved by using high HTT (> 280MHz). Since most value & midrange RAM will not run 1:1 at this speed, it becomes necessary to use a memory divider. Most boards only offer the basic 4: 100 (1:2), 133 (2:3), 166 (5:6) and 200 (1:1). DFI is the only manufacturer to offer more options in between which gives you much more flexibility for setting memory speed.

If you take my example of a 144 overclocked to 2.5GHz (9x280). The 166 divider gives a memory frequency of 229MHz, where as the 133 divider gives 180MHz. Unless you have memory that can handle 229MHz, you are forced to underclock to 180MHz. Not a big performance loss in games but annoyingly wasteful none the less.

The DFI has 120 (3:5), 140 (7:10), 150 (3:4) & 180 (9:10) dividers which at the 280HTT, allow for memory speeds of 168, 194, 210, and 252 respectively.

If I was buying a mobo all over again, I would get the the DFI Ultra-D, in fact I might still & sell this Epox on ebay. I might also be able to improve on this disappointing cpu overclock at the same time!

 

[Copperpipe]

If you;'d like to gamble a little, why not give the new Asrock 939SLI32 board a try: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2706

 

[mcvigo]

not a good ocer but since the voltage doesnt seem to go over 1.4 i think , but since its an opteron it might. Dont know how high the htt can go

 

[piginspring]

DFI Ultra D seems to fall in "you'd either love it or hate it". How much chance we may get a defective one? Is there a reliable retailer we could order it from?

Also, a bit confused about the "excellent oc capability" of the opteron's. Since they have low multiplier, don't those a64 3xxx+ have better chance of oc?

 

[Mogadon]

Originally posted by: piginspring
Epox used to make some highly respected mb's which have excellent oc capability. How come now the only two players are just ASUS and DFI?

I can afford the extra 14 bucks for the DFI. But even for these two boards, i.e., A8R-MVP and DFI ultra-d, there're still quite some issues, poor usb performance, incompatibility with certain memoery etc. Are there any other good choices? Thank you all!

It's just in this 'era' that DFI and ASUS are at the top and ASUS have only been there since they released their AN32-SLI board. DFI are at the top because they got a new designer, oskar wu, who's a bit of a genius.

Don't let this fool you though, in every 'era' of new chipsets etc. they'll always be a king and chances are the king won't be from the same company that produced the king for the last batch. Remember before we moved to A64's ABIT was at the top, when we move to socket 940 and probably NForce 5 we may well see a shakeup at the top.

This is the reason to me that it makes no sense to have brand loyalty in the computer industry. It changes so quickly that you can't rely on one company to always be the industry leader.

And to answer the original question - I believe the DFI Infinty boards can be picked up for around $100, they don't have all the features of the ultra-D but seem to overclock about as well. Here it is at newegg for $94 shipped.

 

[5t3v0]

Originally posted by: piginspring
Also, a bit confused about the "excellent oc capability" of the opteron's. Since they have low multiplier, don't those a64 3xxx+ have better chance of oc?

OCing ability has little to do with multiplier. It is more down to the chip architecture, quality of the silicon, manufacture process etc. Lower multiplier chips are more or less identical to the higher multi chips, just have been locked at the lower multi for marketing purposes.

Opterons overclock better than Athlons because they are made for the server market & reputed to be higher quality & more conservatively clocked. There seems to be a limit of 2.8-3GHz on the 1-way Opterons regardless of the multiplier. So for a 144 you might max out at 300-310 HTT, but for a 148 it might be 260-270.

For a low multi cpu, it is even more important to have a top board than with a high multi cpu because HTT frequency will be higher. I wish I'd realised this at the start.

 

[poohbear]

good info there 5t3vo. I got my arock dualsata2 mobo simply cause i did'nt wanna ditch my $300+ agp card. If i had pci-e, the ONLY option for me would be dfi to maximize on my lil opty. currently running it @ a paltry 274HTT x9 cause the dualsata2 has a 274mhz cap. my opty baby handled it no probs.

to the original poster, why quible over $15-$20 & later regret the decision? just make a one time purchase now and be happy for months (if not years) to come.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: poohbear
If i had pci-e, the ONLY option for me would be dfi to maximize on my lil opty. currently running it @ a paltry 274HTT x9 cause the dualsata2 has a 274mhz cap. my opty baby handled it no probs.

You can easily run a higher HTT by flashing your motherboard with an OC Bios (OCWB1 or OCWB2). I'm running my 144 at 300x9 (2.7GHz).

 

[piginspring]

That's what I'm asking. For examples, if you wanna hit 2.6G, with 146, you only need to bump up the default HTT by 60M. Isn't that better than 144's 9x multiplier?

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
...

For a low multi cpu, it is even more important to have a top board than with a high multi cpu because HTT frequency will be higher. I wish I'd realised this at the start.

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
Since a 144 has a low multiplier, overclocking is achieved by using high HTT (> 280MHz). Since most value & midrange RAM will not run 1:1 at this speed, it becomes necessary to use a memory divider. Most boards only offer the basic 4: 100 (1:2), 133 (2:3), 166 (5:6) and 200 (1:1). DFI is the only manufacturer to offer more options in between which gives you much more flexibility for setting memory speed.

If you take my example of a 144 overclocked to 2.5GHz (9x280). The 166 divider gives a memory frequency of 229MHz, where as the 133 divider gives 180MHz. Unless you have memory that can handle 229MHz, you are forced to underclock to 180MHz. Not a big performance loss in games but annoyingly wasteful none the less.

The DFI has 120 (3:5), 140 (7:10), 150 (3:4) & 180 (9:10) dividers which at the 280HTT, allow for memory speeds of 168, 194, 210, and 252 respectively.

If I was buying a mobo all over again, I would get the the DFI Ultra-D, in fact I might still & sell this Epox on ebay. I might also be able to improve on this disappointing cpu overclock at the same time!

I'm in the same boat...I'd buy an Ultra-D and just make sure the memory I bought has a reputation for "playing nice" with the Ultra-D. However, I have a 20-pin PS and apparently the Ultra-D sometimes has issues when not using a "native" 24-pin PS. I'm considering an Abit kn8 Ultra which sells for ~$90 but I need to so some digging regarding the kn8, 20-pin PS' and ocing. I'd like to buy the Abit AN8 Ultra, but either the price is too high (e.g., ~$125.00) or it's not in-stock.

I'm just not too happy with the mobo choices/prices these days...I wish ATI would hurry up and get their SB600 chip out already and drop their prices $70 for the Sapphire Pure with SB600

 

[piginspring]

Glad to find someone's in the same boat. I know DFI is usually the top pick for oc'ers, but the negative stories are also always around, such as the memory issue you mentioned, and its having problem with 20-pin power supply.

Isn't there something that's comparable with the DFI ultra-D (not necessarily having so many oc options)???

Originally posted by: Budarow

I'm in the same boat...I'd buy an Ultra-D and just make sure the memory I bought has a reputation for "playing nice" with the Ultra-D. However, I have a 20-pin PS and apparently the Ultra-D sometimes has issues when not using a "native" 24-pin PS. I'm considering an Abit kn8 Ultra which sells for ~$90 but I need to so some digging regarding the kn8, 20-pin PS' and ocing. I'd like to buy the Abit AN8 Ultra, but either the price is too high (e.g., ~$125.00) or it's not in-stock.

I'm just not too happy with the mobo choices/prices these days...I wish ATI would hurry up and get their SB600 chip out already and drop their prices $70 for the Sapphire Pure with SB600

 

[Copperpipe]

If I had an Opteron 144, a strong 20-pin PSU, and limited budget, I'd give the new Asrock 939SLI32 mobo a try. Preliminary reports indicate it's a great overclocker, has decent performance, and has a couple more features (SLI, gigabit LAN, 1394, etc) than the Asrock ULi 1695 (Dual SATAII) board, and only costs about $80.

Somehow I've got a feeling that the 1697 chipset will enable higher HTT speeds without any of the cold/warm boot or 274 mhz oddities of the 1695 board although this is purely speculation on my part.

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: Copperpipe
If I had an Opteron 144, a strong 20-pin PSU, and limited budget, I'd give the new Asrock 939SLI32 mobo a try. Preliminary reports indicate it's a great overclocker, has decent performance, and has a couple more features (SLI, gigabit LAN, 1394, etc) than the Asrock ULi 1695 (Dual SATAII) board, and only costs about $80.

Somehow I've got a feeling that the 1697 chipset will enable higher HTT speeds without any of the cold/warm boot or 274 mhz oddities of the 1695 board although this is purely speculation on my part.

For me...the Asrock 939SLI32 mobo would never work. I've got an Ultra X-Connect PS with the modular cables and the ATX cable is pretty stiff. This Asrocks mobo has the ATX socket right next to the backplate so my ATX cable would be terribly "pinched". This is the reason I wouldn't buy an Epox board (poor ATX socket placement for my PS).

I'm really not trying to be "picky" about a mobo, but each mobo I consider just has 1 issue or another which is serious enough to prevent me from pulling the trigger.

 

[5t3v0]

Its true that there's no perfect motherboard these days. They all all seem to have their design flaws or incompatabilities. Budarow is right about the Epox ATX power socket, its in a right stupid place. Luckily I have a new psu with very long cables. The Ultra-D also has its design gaffs. The chipset hsf for instance is placed underneath the video card slot so if like me you've got a large 3rd party vga cooler, you've got to do some mods to it to get it to fit. Quite a few boards dont leave enough space around the cpu socket for the popular larger coolers. The list goes on. When you consider what you're paying for a board these days compared to the socket A days, its all very frustrating.

In answer to piginspring's question, the 146 is a better option if you dont have a board that can handle the higher HTTs. However, on a goad board, the 144 will overclock almost as well & therefore deliver the best bang for buck. Just gotta find that perfect board....

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
Its true that there's no perfect motherboard these days. They all all seem to have their design flaws or incompatabilities. Budarow is right about the Epox ATX power socket, its in a right stupid place. Luckily I have a new psu with very long cables. The Ultra-D also has its design gaffs. The chipset hsf for instance is placed underneath the video card slot so if like me you've got a large 3rd party vga cooler, you've got to do some mods to it to get it to fit. Quite a few boards dont leave enough space around the cpu socket for the popular larger coolers. The list goes on. When you consider what you're paying for a board these days compared to the socket A days, its all very frustrating.

In answer to piginspring's question, the 146 is a better option if you dont have a board that can handle the higher HTTs. However, on a goad board, the 144 will overclock almost as well & therefore deliver the best bang for buck. Just gotta find that perfect board....

I had intended to buy an Opty 144 for my next build, but read a few posts regarding the "multiplier" argument and went with an Opty 146 instead.

Since I'm having a hard time picking out a mobo for my next build...I've got 1/2 a mind to swap out the A64 3000+ in my current rig for my Opty 146 (which is on a shelf collecting dust) just to see how much of an OC I can get with the EVGA mobo and Opty 146 combo. However, since my system is rock stable I kinda like to live by the old "if it ain't broke...don't fix it" moto

 

[5t3v0]

nothing ventured, nothing gained. that's my moto m8. gets me into all sorts of bother.

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
nothing ventured, nothing gained. that's my moto m8. gets me into all sorts of bother.

LOL

 

[Budarow]

Hey...Abit's AT8 mobo is catching my eye I hope the newest BIOS corrects some of the issues with this board. If so...and I can get 1 for <$100 shipped, think I'll pick 1 up.