Most reliable nForce4 board? Chaintech, Asus, or Other

[Rizban]

Like many here, I've been waiting for nforce4 boards to appear before starting a much needed upgrade from my Athlon 1GHz system. I've read lots of stories here and elsewhere of problems with Asus's A8N-SLI where many boards need to be RMAd before a good board is found. I'd really rather not go through the headache of returning motherboards after all my hardware arrives. What do you all think is the most reliable nforce4 board? I've heard good things about the Chaintech VNF4/Ultra.

I don't need SLI and I'd like to keep my system quiet, so any chipset fans have to be replaceable with a passive chipset cooler (which the ASUS board seems to be).

Any recomendations? Are there good choices now or should I wait a few more weeks for an upcoming board which may be a better bet?

TIA

 

[imported_slippy]

The verdict is still out, and probably will be for a couple months until more people have a chance to try the boards, and more boards are lived with for awhile. I love my a8n-sli, but it isn't newbie proof. I think tons of magazines like Maximum PC hyped system building and SLI to noobs and that's why we see forums in the mess we see them today when it comes to the a8n-sli.

THese magazines seem to be out there to sell people on the dream that they too can be a builder, but if a person has never seen the inside of a computer before, or have had the minimal experience of opening a case and puttting in a pci card, maybe it's not a good idea to advise these people to try to make something out of the absolute latest bleeding edge technology.

I don't know, I have to take it all with such a grain of salt these days because I never know who I'm talking to.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The Chaintech does seem to be a relatively problem-free board. Pay attention though, there is the VNF4 and the VNF4 Ultra.

Also, I would recommend that you add a quiet fan if you plan to overclock.

 

[Rizban]

THese magazines seem to be out there to sell people on the dream that they too can be a builder, but if a person has never seen the inside of a computer before, or have had the minimal experience of opening a case and puttting in a pci card, maybe it's not a good idea to advise these people to try to make something out of the absolute latest bleeding edge technology.

I've always built my systems, so I feel comfortable with whatever technology is out there. I am thinking more about specific hardware failures such as failure to post, sata ports and others not working, etc.

I think every board manufacture out there has people saying "Don't buy anything by company X, their boards are terrible, i've had to RMA 3 of them", etc., etc. However, it seems like the Asus may be more problem prone than others. I am glad you have a good one though. I am just trying to see if others feel that the Asus is the best bet in terms of reliability or if there are better options if you just want something that will work the first time.

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: Rizban
I've always built my systems, so I feel comfortable with whatever technology is out there. I am thinking more about specific hardware failures such as failure to post, sata ports and others not working, etc.

I think every board manufacture out there has people saying "Don't buy anything by company X, their boards are terrible, i've had to RMA 3 of them", etc., etc. However, it seems like the Asus may be more problem prone than others. I am glad you have a good one though. I am just trying to see if others feel that the Asus is the best bet in terms of reliability or if there are better options if you just want something that will work the first time.

Here is my 2 cents on the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra board (which I own). This is a VERY fast, very stable board right out of the box... It is easy to set up, has a unique design to facilitate front to back case airflow (see the pictures on the chaintech site, and notice how the CPU and memory are placed), and already has passive cooling on the chipset itself. And if you do not need SLI, then it is hard to beat the price for this board, considering it is an Nforce 4 Ultra.

As for overclocking with this board, there are 2 caveats. 1) if you are going to overclock it, you MUST add a fan to the chipset, or risk frying it (as the reviewers on x-bit labs discovered). 2) if you are going to overclock, the stock BIOS will not take you very far -- it tops out at between 220 HTT and 240 HTT. There is a beta BIOS that gets around this, and a final BIOS should be ready soon (and the beta BIOS really does let the overclocking rip! I am currently running mine at 300HTT).

So if you are not going to overclock, and are looking for a cheap, cool, and quieter board, this one is great board to get! If you are going to overclock, be aware that you need a chipset fan and a beta bios, and this is still a great board to get! I would not trade mine for any of the other NForce4 board out there.