Need recommendation for nForce3 Ultra motherboard .

[bupkus]

Please notice my slow post two posts up. Thanks.

 

[bupkus]

I'm just thinking that I sold a PC to my niece with a Celeron D that she wanted for her hubby. When she gave it to her husband he didn't want it as he just doesn't like computers. I respect that so I'm gonna buy it back from her today and either use it for a main box or a server of some type.
That was perhaps just a side note.

Question, most folks like the A64 for its gaming appeal. Since I no longer play UT2004 nor any game for that matter I'm attracted to the A64 for a cooler, quieter and cheaper cpu than an Intel. Can I hope for a very stable A64 in the 754 flavor? Can I still use the 754 for a recommendation for my nephew in the even he wants to transplant his Radeon 9800 Pro from his AXP 2.0 GHz to a 754 A64?

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: nzimmers
I don't know if anyone mentioned this one, but I think the Asus K8N-E Deluxe seems to be a honey of a board

6 SATA ports ( with onboard raid controller) 2 firewire ports, Nforce3 250Gb chipset, Gb lan, and lots more

I am really seriously thinking about getting it myself

Asus K8N-E Deluxe - New Egg

I just built one of those. I really like that board. IMO that MB is the best 754 board available at the moment. Pair it with a 3400+ for like $300 total (MB & CPU), and you have a screaming fast system.

 

[nzimmers]

Yea.....I figure I will probably get the K8N-E deluxe and a 3000 or 3200, I dunno, I am in Japan and the AMD chips are a little mroe expensive here.

Then in about a year I will get a dual core system - top of the line everything

I think the K8N-E delux would be a good replacement for my 2.4C northwood and MSI piece of junk ( god I will never buy MSI again, personal experiance)

 

[bupkus]

I have two possible purchase paths. For me personally, I think I may want to save the $38 and go with the Soltek IF it provides all the features I need with the functionality and stability of the ASUS you mention.

For my nephew I just may let him install his 9800 Pro into my coming A64 just to see how much more enjoyment he can find in a A64. If so, I can then explore a pc for his specific needs.
Excuse me for talking this out here, it helps me think through the ideas to type this down and everyone's feedback is quite invaluable.

 

[nzimmers]

well, if you want to save alittle money, why not just go with the DFI board? If you were just building a 2nd system to monkey around with then yea, the soltek would be fine, but if it's going to be your main system, DFI or Asus is money well spent.

Occasioanlly I will buy a really cheap MB from a 2nd or 3rd tier company just to play with (its a bad habit !) anyways, cheap boards that I thought would be okay sometimes aren't and the ones I thought mmight be junk occasionaly turn out to be good purcyhases but eventually over time they all tend to fall apart.

If you think you might open the case more than once or twice with the system you are building, then go asus or DFI.............

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: nzimmers
Yea.....I figure I will probably get the K8N-E deluxe and a 3000 or 3200, I dunno, I am in Japan and the AMD chips are a little mroe expensive here.

Then in about a year I will get a dual core system - top of the line everything

I think the K8N-E delux would be a good replacement for my 2.4C northwood and MSI piece of junk ( god I will never buy MSI again, personal experiance)

Japan? May I ask why? I'm assuming, of course, that you were born in USA, but as long as you mention it, isn't there just a little culture shock for you? If I'm prying I understand if you don't want to answer.

 

[nzimmers]

I'm working over here.............and yes there is culture shock...........actually its more like bewilderment..........there's alot of 2+2=5 type stuff going on here. Here's an example: 256 sony duo memory card on 1st floor of electronics store: (approx) $78............same store on 2nd floor: $128.................I see this kind of thing all over. I'm coming back to the states in late summer or early fall, I will be purchasing German cars only from now or (or american) I've just had enough =P

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: nzimmers
well, if you want to save alittle money, why not just go with the DFI board? If you were just building a 2nd system to monkey around with then yea, the soltek would be fine, but if it's going to be your main system, DFI or Asus is money well spent.

Occasioanlly I will buy a really cheap MB from a 2nd or 3rd tier company just to play with (its a bad habit !) anyways, cheap boards that I thought would be okay sometimes aren't and the ones I thought mmight be junk occasionaly turn out to be good purcyhases but eventually over time they all tend to fall apart.

If you think you might open the case more than once or twice with the system you are building, then go asus or DFI.............

I like your idea. However, neither the DFI nor the Soltek have IEEE1394 which I may use with my external hdd (it has both USB 2.0 and IEEE1394). I do have an Adaptec FireConnect 4300 sitting unopened on a shelf I can use. I should, however, consider that feature as a built in.

I wonder about SATA, too. I have several PATA drives by WD,
120GB, 160GB and an unopened 200GB so I probably won't be getting a SATA drive for quite a while.

I don't really see anything on the ASUS that the DFI doesn't have besides the firewire.

 

[bupkus]

Yah, I just would rather have the dfi than the soltek. Just call it a culture or techie thing. I can't really explain better.
Now to select the right cpu. I'm told that the memory isn't that important with the A64 cause of not requiring the 1:1 thing with the fsb and memory as with the AXP.
That is really quite nice. Just a quick backstep; what's with the Hyper Transport?

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: nzimmers
I think the K8N-E delux would be a good replacement for my 2.4C northwood and MSI piece of junk ( god I will never buy MSI again, personal experiance)

My thoughts exactly I'm rplacing the MSI POS soon.

Here's some of the ASUS build pic's... before after.

Here's the MSI build... here.

I don't have the patients for cable mgmt. 😛

 

[bupkus]

I gotta go run a tech support thing now. I'll be back in about 30 minutes.

 

[nzimmers]

I'm drooling over that K8N-E deluxe!

I have lots of SATA drives so that's one of the major selling points for me

I too could use a good CPU recommendation for 754

 

[Amaroque]

the 3400+ is the best stock 754 CPU. 2.4GHz at stock speed w/o any extra cooling. I built the K8N-E Deluxe as an experiment in how quiet I can get a computer w/o watercooling. When I didn't have the 9800 Pro in there it was quieter then a PS2 even while running Prime95 for hours.

All the fans are thermally controlled, and no fan runs over 1000RPM. Except the CPU fan runs at 3000RPM while running Prime95 for hours. Here it is with a fanless GF2 GTS. I wasn't happy with any 3D performance so I swaped that out for a 9800 Pro.

If you're wondering the specs...
Retail HSF
CPU @ 2.6 GHz stock Vcore
1 GB Crucial PC3200
Radeon 9800 Pro
Antec True430
WD Caviar 120 GB
Sony CD RW/DVD
No stinkin floppy. 😛

 

[powerMarkymark]

Originally posted by: bupkus
Did they give a reason for that?
Also, can you link me to that thread?

Here is the link to the thread I am talking about.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: powerMarkymark

Originally posted by: bupkus
Did they give a reason for that?
Also, can you link me to that thread?

Here is the link to the thread I am talking about.

It seems the only person on that thread really pushing the 754 was ribbon13.

 

[powerMarkymark]

Yes, he brought it up but when I purchased, the shop confirmed his views.