GB GA-K8N Ultra9 -or- DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D

[J Nice]

Opinions on either of these two? Just trying to decide by today which one I will go for.

Should I be concerned if the Winchester (90nm) is not listed as a supported CPU on the Gigabyte website?

Luckily newegg has them both in stock right now.

-J

 

[snapgt]

I'm interested in both boards you've mentioned, plus the MSI NF4 Ultra board. I am leaning away from the DFI due to RAM issues that some have encountered, plus the fact that it does not have all the ports that the MSI offers.

I'm curious to know if the Gigabyte mobo will have any issues with heat, as the chipset has a passive cooling solution vs the HSF solution found on pretty much all other motherboards.

-snap-

 

[J Nice]

Yeah, I just noticed the GB GA-K8N Ultra9 only has passive cooling. hmmm....

Anyone have anything to add to that?

 

[tallman45]

With 8 SATA ports I would guess that any heat issues would stem from the drives (if you used them all)

 

[MTSteel]

What ports does the MSI have the DFI does not besides the serial and parallel?

 

[snapgt]

Serial/Parallel are important to me - Parallel printer, granted I could get a new printer, but why bother?

Serial is great for doing side-projects, when you need to connect a piece of hardware to the serial port. Again, I could use my current PC to do that stuff, but why bother?

Basically, if both boards perform nearly the same (especially for somebody with very little intention to OC in the near-future), I'll go with the more feature-packed board everytime (assuming reliability is equal).

Btw, does anybody have any input on the fact that the Gigabyte boards have passive cooling for the chipset?

-snap-

 

[MTSteel]

I understand that many still need/want those two ports, just wanted to be sure that was the only difference, as I do not have use for them

 

[J Nice]

Snap -- I ordered the DFI because of the active cooling over the chipset. Sounds like you are leaning towards the Gigabyte, so trust your best instict. If you're not going to OC and you need the LPT, then go for the GB.

Once caveat, you could grab a PCI card w/ parallel connectors for under $10...

Plus, the DFI has a serial I/O connector onboard, so you just need a serial header you can slip into a PCI bracket.

 

[snapgt]

Actually, after doing some reading on HardForums, I am back to leaning towards the MSI. Main reason being the passive cooling on the GB, which has spelled trouble for a number of people - early board failures, etc.

Good luck with the DFI. I was thinking of getting that board, but the lack of parallel (true, not a big issue at all with a parallel connector PCI card), but the issues that came up with DOA boards, and RAM issues and what not, has me worried.

-snap-