Going from Intel to AMD - Most stable mobo for 4000+

[Valour]

Hi all... I'm looking for some opinions on a new PC I'm going to be building in about a week or so. I normally spend several weeks collecting information on the latest and greatest components, and then sift through the never-ending sea of posts about the actual parts that I decide I want to use. Usually there are enough negative posts about each part that I second-guess myself about 5 times a minute until I actually receive the UPS shipments. Anyway, with all that being said, I was just starting my usual upgrade procedure mentioned above and was fully expecting to devote several weeks to "doing my homework" when I was unexpectedly offered a REALLY decent price for my existing PC. This REALLY makes upgrading a no-brainer now, but the downside is I have very little time for the "homework" now, because the buyer is needing to buy now, or will go elsewhere. So my dilemma is that I have to rush a little more than I would like to, because once my PC is sold, I don't have another until the new system is built.

Briefly, I've been an Intel guy since I built my first PC (P3 800) and have always been happy. I've decided that I am going to make the switch to AMD now, as I see no reason not to, but more importantly, many reasons that I should make the change. That being said, I am not an over-clocker, but am not against the idea in the future. I'm basically looking for stability first and foremost. Over-clocking flexibility is just gravy from my perspective.

I know I will be buying an Nvidia 7800GTX PCI-X video card for this new pc. I'm also thinking of getting the AMD Athlon 64 4000+ ClawHammer (not convinced and was thinking maybe the 3800+ was a better idea). So the real question is which motherboard to choose. I have been buying Asus mobos since I can remember, but have never been overly impressed with their support. The boards I am thinking of getting (but certainly not ruling out any others) are:

Asus A8N-SLI Premium
DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum

Sorry for being so long-winded. I guess I could have just summed it up with the simple question of which motherboard is best when considering I am looking for STABILITY #1, over-clocking is a bonus, but nothing I am even thinking about doing in the near future. Thanks for any insight.

 

[ChiPCGuy]

All of the boards you cited have quirks. Some more than others. If you don't want to tinker, then don't buy the DFI!!!! Very picky on hardware, especially the PSU and RAM. I recommend the ABit KN8 Ultra as the best rounded and rock stable board I have used to date, but lacks firewire if you should care about that. Another rock stable board is the AOpen nCK804Ua-LFS, but has a horrible bundle. The AOpen board has firewire, but the only way to access it is to use the on-board header. Problem is that AOpen didn't ship a bracket with the board, which means you MUST have a case with a firewire port in it. Someone at AOpen needs to be hit on the head with a tack hammer. Another excellent rock stable pick would the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra, which has an awesome bundle, but might be a little bit of tight fit for the GTX video card you are using--the IDE cable ports are directly in line with the PCI-E slot, which will definitely cause you to use flat cables. I have used all of these aforementioned boards, and can speak from experience on the matter.

A simple persual of the forums should reveal what boards are hitting home runs and which are not. ASUS has not been hitting any home runs, for the possible exception of their latest x16 board--appears to be very good, but the jury is still out. Lots of folks do not like the MSI board you cited, where others would die a horrible death defending it. I, from past experience, am rather gun-shy from using anything MSI related. Well, they make good video cards...

Why a Clawhammer 4000+ ?????? You really should go after the San Diego core version. Runs cooler, more flexible on RAM configuration, SSE3....

 

[computerABUSER]

hmmm, it's funny you should mention that Valour as I am about to upgrade my old AGP system at the end of this month and I too am going with the socket-939/pci-e system 🙂

oh! but I am gonna go and take the sli route 😀 here is my 'probable' ysytem:

Mobo: MSI K8N Neo 4 SLI Platinum

CPU: AMD64 4000

Video Card: MSI Geforce 7800GTX

although after looking at it a little more I might drop the " SLI Platinum" edition but still get the "Sli" feature...oh! yeah!! I gots to have the SLI stuff 🙂

Regards,
CA

 

[akugami]

I don't think any of the current crop of mobos to be out and out home runs. I have the Asus A8N-Deluxe (think of it as the little brother to the A8N-Premium) and while it has it's quirks I'm prefectly happy with it. In fact, for the moderate overclocker I say it's probably one of the best boards out there. Yes, you can get higher overclocks with something like the DFI or one of the other motherboards but Asus is definitely not bad. The DFI is a high end board and probably the best overclocker but as others have noted, it's finicky with what hardware it will play nice with. If having the absolute high end or an insane overclocker is not a must for you, then the Asus A8N-Premium is a good choice for ease of use and moderate overclocking. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a GIGABYTE GA-K8N Ultra board either. Not the best overclocker but a solid feature packed board with moderate overclocking capabilities.

 

[VivienM]

Same situation as the OP... Any thoughts on the EVGA/Jetway SLI board? (the one they bundle with their 7800 GTs)

 

[Valour]

Thanks for the info, guys. I've been leaning towards the A8N-SLI Premium, but have read SO many threads about people with issues (memory, PSU compat, buggy drivers, etc). As mentioned in my original post, there is never going to be a clear choice, because there are always going to be defects, user errors, and incompatibilities to deal with.

ChiPCGuy, I am going to take a long hard look at the boards you mentioned. Thanks for the info. Also, thanks for pointing out the Clawhammer "mistake". I certainly want the San Diego 4000+ instead. I think I suffered from a little information over-load when I was looking at the differences before. 🙂

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: Valour
Thanks for the info, guys. I've been leaning towards the A8N-SLI Premium, but have read SO many threads about people with issues (memory, PSU compat, buggy drivers, etc). As mentioned in my original post, there is never going to be a clear choice, because there are always going to be defects, user errors, and incompatibilities to deal with.

ChiPCGuy, I am going to take a long hard look at the boards you mentioned. Thanks for the info. Also, thanks for pointing out the Clawhammer "mistake". I certainly want the San Diego 4000+ instead. I think I suffered from a little information over-load when I was looking at the differences before. 🙂

Hmm, haven't really heard of any PSU problems specific to the ASUS Premium. If you get a cheapo PSU you're probably going to have problems with any MB you get.

As for Memory, it seems that most if not all the current MB's can be picky on Memory. If you're just going to get two sticks, then pretty much any MB should be fine. With four sticks you start to get headaches from several MBs, but you can probably still get them to work.

Drivers ? Yep, there certainly problems with the IDE & Firewall/Forceware portions of the Chipset Drivers. This affects all NF4 MBs though.
Simple solution, don't install those parts of the Driver package and you'll be fine.

The issue that tipped it for me (to the Premium) is that it has Fanless Chipset cooling :thumbsup:
You'll see alot of talk on just about every make MB about noisy/failing Chipset Fans. Personnally I didn't feel like having to replace a Chipset fan some time down the road, so Fanless cooling cinched it from that point of view. The Premium board runs pretty cool too - highest I've ever seen mine 38C / 100F - can't beat that.

The Premium is SLI capable also. Not that I'll likely run SLI, but the extra features included with this is something I was also looking for.

Don't be afraid of this board, it's solid once you get it set up correctly. If you have problems, there's certainly plenty of folks on here that will help you get things straightened out too 🙂

The 3700+ has a San Diego Core, just like the 4000+ if you're looking to save a few $$$. It may/may not OC as high as a 4000+ as well - depends your other components.