Good (stable) 939 mother board for x1800xt or x1900xt ?

[you2]

What is a good mother board for x1800xt or x1900xt? Boards I've been thinking about are: asrock 939sli32 and epox 9npa+ ultra. I'm unsure how reliable the asrock is (brand I'm not familiar with) but it is cheap and has passive cooling on the north bridge. Also it looks like it has good clearance for the larger video card. The epox seems to be well liked - concerns are the fan on the north bridge (large video card will ride next to it).

Other info - the system will have 1 sata hd (probably raptor 74gb) 1 optical and 1 or 2 pci card (sound and cheap scsi or tv tuner or neither).

I'd like to over clock 10 to 20 % but no more (will likely go with 3700 san diego or opty 144/146 - probably sandiego with retail heat sink). Last but least it'll have 2 sticks of 1gb ram (probably cheaper g.skill type).

I'm fine with the lan being 100mb/s as long as it is reliable and I'd like the usb to work but again it can be slow (i presume the asrock still has slow usb but maybe it has been fixed via bios upgrade)

 

[Ultralight]

I'd go with the EPoX because at stock settings it is rock stable and it also is a very good overcloker. I would ask on the EPoX thread here about those video cards and how they set. By the way, EPoX just came out with a new BIOS in mid-April.

The 3700+ San Diego is a good chip, very popular, but if you are into ocing you'll find many here that will go with an opty first.

G.Skill is becoming a very popular RAM.

 

[you2]

I am open to other boards though I'd like to keep the mb price below $120

 

[Ultralight]

Both ZipZoomFly and NewEgg have the EPoX for under a $100.00. That is a great buy.

 

[you2]

yea - but i'm worried about that north bridge fan

 

[you2]

by the way if i go with the epox which one should I go with if I don't need the extra devices (i.e, firewire, sata2, raid, ..) Should I still go with the 9npa+ ultra or should i consider the 9npa3, 9npaj and/or non ultra (i.e, are the builds/components/capacitors different?)

 

[Ultralight]

I know a number of people who have gone with the 9NPA3 (no firewire). I think there is a thread here so if you do a search for the 3, or even the J, it should help you gain some more persepective.

As for the northbridge fan and the newest video cards someone just asked this on the main EPoX 9NPA+Ultra thread and Mem answered it well. Check it out.

 

[you2]

What about the A8n5X or jetway 939G54-SLI-G - the jetway seems to have a really nice board layout - the asus a8n5x seems to be newegg highest rated board - hum - wished i knew more about jetway as a company...

 

[PClark99]

The MSI NF4 Ultra board would definitely be a safe choice.

 

[Ultralight]

Originally posted by: you2
What about the A8n5X or jetway 939G54-SLI-G - the jetway seems to have a really nice board layout - the asus a8n5x seems to be newegg highest rated board - hum - wished i knew more about jetway as a company...

Persinally, I'd stay away from Jetway, but I certainly would look into the ASUS. Do a search here.

 

[you2]

hum ok. i'm running in a circle - the a8n5x is the strip down version of the a8n-e. I was all set on the epox till i went with the x1800xt. Bleh. hard to pick a new mb

 

[imported_BS]

ASRock is a division of ASUS. As I told you in the other thread its been rock stable with my X1800XT. The one concern for you to look at is the Heat sink to cool the chipset are very high and could block you from installing long PCI cards.

 

[you2]

yea i have to admit that asrock is tempting if it proves durable. It is cheap and has a decent layout and anandtech gives it very good marks in the performance bucket.