• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Good, Reliable Mobo for Budget AMD

M

matzner

Junior Member
I'm looking to update core hardware on my aging PC (mobo, proc, ram, vid). Keeping it fairly budget, I am going with a AMD 64 3200+, 2 GB crosair value ram, EVGA GF7600GT. The only thing holding me back is mobo decision. I would like something good and stable, overclocking isn't a big deal to me though minor OC might pop up (read: air cooling). SLI would be a great option for another vid card in a few months.

I'm looking to spend about $100(+/- 20). I was thinking something like the A8N SLI, EVGA SLI. Something to that effect. I don't know much about this stuff anymore, the last system I built was a P4 2GHZ w/ Radeon9000...

THANKS
 
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D mobos $84 for OEM board at newegg. Mods to SLI, directions are at the top of this forum.

Never mind its openbox, too much of a risk.
 
asus a8n sli,a8n sli deluxe,a8n sli premium,a8n 32sli all of these are first class motherboards....the other couple that come to mind are the abit kn8 sli and the biostar tforce k8 sli board.any one of these boards would do you fine.just depends on which you prefer and how much you want to spend..............
 
Ok, I am leaning towards the Asus A8N SLI, but the Abit KN8 has 16X SLI and the Asus is only 8X SLI. I would like the extra PCI slot on the Asus and generally I like the layout better, so my next question: is 8X SLI that much of a limitation, say when running dual GeForce 7600GT cards?

Thanks for all of the replies.
 
asus a8n-sli or a8n-sli deluxe or asus a8n-sli premium... goes up in price respectively...
i'll be an asus fan until dfi mb's work with all hardware on the market and doesn't require a website/forum just to help users with problems.
 
And for people who want an Antec P150 that comes with a power supply that doesn't get along with Asus motherboards, what's the next best S939 NF4 Ultra/SLI budget board? (Does NOT have to be SLI, DOES have to have a passive cooling system - no little northbridge fan!)

Since I like Asus boards the best and I wanted the P150 I simply included the added expense of another power supply on my system, but this case I'm building as a budget PC for my parents and simply want reliability and cost-effectiveness.

That means SILENT NORTHBRIDGE COOLING because those obnoxious little fans have a habit of dying, but it also means a reliabile brand for the motherboard like Asus. What is the next best? Abits were always a little flakey when I used to use them.

Heck, I may just go ahead and drop an extra whatever dollars to get a different Antec power supply since the Asus boards are so good and I DO still want the P150 because it is an excellent case.

Also, anyone recommending DFI for budget, stability, and ease of use is being ridiculous.
 
Originally posted by: yacoub
And for people who want an Antec P150 that comes with a power supply that doesn't get along with Asus motherboards, what's the next best S939 NF4 Ultra/SLI budget board? (Does NOT have to be SLI, DOES have to have a passive cooling system - no little northbridge fan!)
Click to expand...
Since the demise of the AN8 Ultra as far as Abit's (& I'm an avowed Abit fan) the KN8 SLI is the cheapest passively cooled board that they do (other than the NF-95 - see below suggestion).
Gigabyte also do some basic nF4 boards with passive cooling.

If it's for your parents (unless they are major gamers) & on a budget why don't you get them a solution with integrated gfx like the MSI K8NGM2-FID or an ATi RS482 based equivalent?

 
As long as it is passively cooled 😉

Planning to get them an X1600 Pro since it is passively cooled and only $100, to ensure there's no videolag or use of system memory for video.

Just gotta decide on the motherboard. Still looking at an A8N-SLI Premium (what I use on my main rig here) just because I am familiar with it, have had great stability with mine, and the passive cooling works well.

I'd love to get away with spending $30-50 less than this board runs though.
 
you may want to check out the abit boards.the an8 sli,an8 ultra,kn8 sli are all boards around the 100 dollar mark.newegg has has the an8 sli for less than 100 dollars.just make sure you use compatable ram and put in the latest bios.thr kn8 abit boards are also a good set of boards.the mentioned boards above are all passively cooled with heatpipes.the other option is to get an asus a8n-e ultra board and install the 5.00 dollar zalman passive heatsink[like i did] and go with that.its extremely easy to do and cools very well.it does not interfear with video cards either.the asus a8n-e is probubly the best nf4 ultra board out,it does everything well,very well.its rock solid too.i build computers for a living and with out a doubt its the best board for all around use.i have also installed the same heatsink on the asus a8n sli board and it works equally well.no video card interfearence either.asus places the nf4 chipset between the video card slots so the cards miss the cooler even though it stands up off the motherboard.with just normal case cooling the heatsink keeps the temp of the chipset between 38-46c.well within safe limits.below 55c and your fine.give the asus boards a look as they are much better and more stable than any of the abit boards and honestly to install the zalman passive heatsink takes only a few minutes and mounts perfectly.a very nice fit almost like it was made for it.
 
An MSI K8NGM2-FID will cost you $80 & that's for mobo & half-decent int. gfx. (& yes passive).
An Abit NF-95 (feature set isn't quite as good as the MSI) is ~$60 & again passive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top