High End Gaming - Which motherboard?

[nucleicoutfit]

I've noticed a lot of reports of the eVGA 7800GTX card not fitting into the DFI NF4 UT SLI-DR or the Expert model properly, as it hits the fan that's on the nForce chip.

I was wondering if perhaps I should get another motherboard to avoid this, 'cause I ended up ordering the eVGA 7800GTX.

What about the Epox 9NPA+SLI?

I was considering the ASUS nForce4 SLI (939) A8N-SLI, but I read on a newegg report that it doesn't work well with the new Lian Li PCV1000BW case that I bought, which forces you to install the motherboard upside down, which will then prevent the heatpipe on the chipset from operating correctly.

So far, aside from the motherboard, here are the parts that I have down for ordering. Any further advice is greatly appreciated as this is my first high end system.

Athlon 64 X2 4400+
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Platinum
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W
eVGA 256-P2-N527-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JD 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD R+W
Lian Li PCV1000BW

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: nucleicoutfit
I've noticed a lot of reports of the eVGA 7800GTX card not fitting into the DFI NF4 UT SLI-DR or the Expert model properly, as it hits the fan that's on the nForce chip.

I was wondering if perhaps I should get another motherboard to avoid this, 'cause I ended up ordering the eVGA 7800GTX.

What about the Epox 9NPA+SLI?

I was considering the ASUS nForce4 SLI (939) A8N-SLI, but I read on a newegg report that it doesn't work well with the new Lian Li PCV1000BW case that I bought, which forces you to install the motherboard upside down, which will then prevent the heatpipe on the chipset from operating correctly.

So far, aside from the motherboard, here are the parts that I have down for ordering. Any further advice is greatly appreciated as this is my first high end system.

Athlon 64 X2 4400+
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Platinum
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W
eVGA 256-P2-N527-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JD 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD R+W
Lian Li PCV1000BW

If your planning on OCing then get an Opty 165/170, retails are hard to find, but you can still get OEM's.

As for the mobo problem, I have no idea.

 

[nucleicoutfit]

I don't plan on OCing... I'm not that experienced at it, and I absolutely can't afford to fry anything. I need to have this computer for at least the next few years.

 

[nick1985]

Epox 9NPA3+

 

[jonnyGURU]

I now have the DFI LanPartyUT nF4 SLI-D and I hate it.

I mean... it works, but it was a pain to build and looks like crap in my window case.

Problems:

1. I'm actually using the eVGA 7800GTX and the back of the card completely blocks the fan on the NB chip. Hope the NB chip doesn't overheat!!

2. SATA 3 and 4 are blocked by the back of the video card in PCI-e 1 as well. You can use the ports if you use SATA cables that have a 90 degree connector on the end, but the board doesn't come with those (the board comes with normal SATA cables.) But wait... if you have a case that has sideways drive bays like I do, you'll need a SATA cable with a 90 degree connector on BOTH ends. I haven't seen those around. Anyone know where I can find such an animal?

3. I don't get the removable audio riser card. If they made it where you could take it off so you could use your own 3rd party card, at least include an I/O shield that doesn't have the six holes for the jacks.

4. The placement of the CPU socket doesn't line up with the TAC vent on any case on the market. At least my RAM has ventillation. :roll:

5. I don't HAVE TO use the auxillary power connectors on the board, right (there's two Molexes)? But heaven forbid I want support from DFI because I'll need to have an SLI certified ATX12V2.2 PSU with both Molexes connected before they'll even talk to me. 🙁 I have the PSU.. But I think having the drive Molexes plugged into the board looks like ass.

6. The floppy cable that come with the mobo are stupid long and the IDE too short. Last I checked, 99% of the cases on the market had the floppy towards the bottom of the bays, directly mid-section to the board, thus warranting a very SHORT cable, and the optical is all of the way at the top, thus requiring a very long cable. Hmm... If you're going to include cables, make them to accomodate MOST cases. The people with odd ball upside-down cases should be on their own for finding cables.

Mind you... the board has some great features that warrant it's phenomenol popularity, but I'm not really appreciating them right now..... So my pick is going to actually be the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe. 😉

 

[jonnyGURU]

Here's a pic showing the video card/northbridge/SATA fiasco on my DFI:

DFI_obstruction.jpg

Oh... and did I mention the manual sucks too?