Help me choose motherboard

[Qua Sar]

Hey i'm looking for a SLI motherboard ATX style that is a good OCER pci-e graphics corsiar xms ddr 400 i'm thinking ... any ideas??

 

[potato28]

ePox boards are very good for the price.

 

[Qua Sar]

i'm not even sure if i should get sli? any thoughts on how i should choose to get sli or not i am a gamer. btw

 

[Icepick]

In my opinion, SLI is a waste of money. Just get a good motherboard with a single video slot and buy a good modern video card from either the 7800 or X1800/X1900 line.

 

[loafbred]

I think it depends wholly on how disposable your money is. A proper SLI rig will cost quite a bit more, but will attain a combination of speed and image quality that you can't reach without SLI. I continue to shy away from it, for the following reasons:

1. Fear that I won't get enough mileage out of two expensive video cards.

2. Power consumption and heat generated.

3. Fear that driver bugs won't get enough attention, due to the comparatively small number of users.

4. I'm happy with the quality I get from one 4-500 USD card. Speed takes priority over quality for me, and I'm getting very good speed in pretty much any game, at 1280x960, 2-4X AA and 8X AF. I don't know anyone who has an SLI rig, so envy hasn't influenced my judgement yet.

 

[Qua Sar]

alriught so any board suggestions minus the sli

 

[kmrivers]

why don't you try this thing called research. in fact this thread is dedicated to you.

 

[GOREGRINDER]

if you want a board that will be a good oc'r and provide good gaming alternatives,.. then get an nforce4 sli board from either dfi,msi,or abit,...for graphics,.. you could maybe wait about a month er so,.. 7900 will be out and itll be all cards and prices on the table from both companies,....if you go with an ATI based gpu,.. then get an ATI crossfire board for later add on

 

[loafbred]

I didn't mean to scare you away from SLI... as a matter of fact, I now regret, a little, that I didn't get an Abit SLI board and two 7800 GT's. I would have had to buy a stronger PSU, but I just decided to get a better one for my second machine, so it would have worked out okay had I gone SLI. My case is already a noisy wind tunnel, so increased noise wouldn't have been a problem for me. It's probably a little silly for me to be more concerned about SLI driver issues, as there are always driver issues with certain games.

If you're starting completely from scratch, you just might want to spend a little more now for SLI. If you're upgrading and want to use a marginal power supply which really isn't strong enough for a loaded SLI rig, and want to keep the fan noise low, you might not want SLI.

Again, I have no first-hand experience with SLI, so take my ramblings as nothing more than a little food for thought.

 

[Qua Sar]

what do you guys think of DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D
or
Asus A8N-E

These two seem good overclockers and good motherboards for socket 939 am i right? Is there any key features i'm not thinking of between these boards so i can make my deciison.. is one quieter than the other or less heat

 

[Radiohead57]

I can defintely vouch for the DFI NF4 series. Rock solid stable, bios to kill for and OCs probably the best of the bunch. You gotta know your way aound a bios but once you get used to all the settings and a genearl idea what they are all for you're more than good to go.

 

[kasia00]

I agree SLI waste of MONEY!!!

 

[Qua Sar]

what about the asus a8n-e anyone?

 

[Fallengod]

DFI ultra, Asus A8N-E, or Epox 9npa+ultra.

Epox 9npa+ultra is what I run. Its a great cheap board. You should consider it. It overclocks great, has all features including firewire. Rock stable with my opty 144 ocd. You could even get the cheaper version of it(The 9NPA3 ultra) for $85 instead of $100 for the 9npa+ultra if wanted.