*NEW* MSI K8N Neo3-F, Nforce4, Socket 754!! $78.00

[daveybrat]

Just found this today while browsing, and thought how it would make an excellent budget gaming system:

MSI Nforce4 S754 Newegg

Pair this up with a 6600 PCI-E and a Sempron 2600-2800+ and you've got a very nice budget rig. And since it's MSI, it probably has some overclocking abilities too!

 

[Treyshadow]

Your kidding me. MSI included the d-bracket on the Neo 3-F but left it out on the Neo4 Platinum SLI?

Sheesh. Well at least when you get with tech support they just ship it out.

 

[daveybrat]

Anyone try this board out yet?

 

[MrC4]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Anyone try this board out yet?

I built a new system using this board, a Sempron 3000+ retail, and a 6600 pci-e last Thursday for around $400.

Other than the board feeling a bit flimsy, system booted up perfectly on the first try and installed Windows without a hitch.

Nice, fast, and stable is how I would rate this board using the listed combo above.

 

[ir0nw0lf]

The other cool thing about this board is that it not only has a PCI-E x16 slot for video, it ALSO has what MSI calls a AGR slot/riser:

One AGR (Advanced Graphics Riser) slot
The AGR slot is a special design that only supports compatible AGP VGA cards. For more detailed information on compatible AGP VGA cards, please refer here

 

[sheltem]

Hm, this might be a nice bridge for a budget system that I built back in Janurary. I have a Epox Nforce 3 board (60 bucks) and an Athlon64 2800+. I was thinking about upgrading to PCI-E mobo, so that I could use this combo for at least another year. This is a nice solution as I don't also need a new CPU.

 

[Twofootputt]

Originally posted by: sheltem
Hm, this might be a nice bridge for a budget system that I built back in Janurary. I have a Epox Nforce 3 board (60 bucks) and an Athlon 2800+. I was thinking about upgrading to PCI-E mobo, so that I could use this combo for at least another year. This is a nice solution as I don't also need a new CPU.

I think you do need a new CPU; this is a Socket 754 mobo.

 

[MrC4]

Originally posted by: Twofootputt

Originally posted by: sheltem
Hm, this might be a nice bridge for a budget system that I built back in Janurary. I have a Epox Nforce 3 board (60 bucks) and an Athlon 2800+. I was thinking about upgrading to PCI-E mobo, so that I could use this combo for at least another year. This is a nice solution as I don't also need a new CPU.

I think you do need a new CPU; this is a Socket 754 mobo.

I think he meant an Athlon 64 2800+, otherwise it would not work with his Nforce 3 board.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

United Micro has this motherboard combined with an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 512k cache 754pin OEM and a Thermaltake A4006 Heat Sink & Cooling Fan for $266.00 shipped. I to would like to know how well this motherboard overclocks? What's the better choice in the AMD Athlon 64 CPUs the 754 or the 939? There's a pretty good review for this motherboard at Trusted Reviews Quote:
"By any standards this is a budget motherboard that relies on the chipset features, and fortunately, nForce4 is a very good chipset. The MSI K8N Neo3-F however, doesn?t have the hardware Firewall that is included with nForce4 Ultra. The ports on the backplate are a little limited ? there?s no Firewire for example ? and the Realtek ALC655 audio only has three mini jacks with no option of digital output.

The Phoenix 6 BIOS gives you a decent range of options to adjust memory timings, and the Core Cell Menu also enables you to alter CPU and Hyper Transport timings, as well as memory and chipset voltages.


Verdict

MSI has come up with a decent budget nForce4 motherboard, but the icing on the cake is its AGR technology, which is a clever idea that will help you delay the move from AGP to PCI Express graphics."

 

[sheltem]

Originally posted by: MrC4

Originally posted by: Twofootputt

Originally posted by: sheltem
Hm, this might be a nice bridge for a budget system that I built back in Janurary. I have a Epox Nforce 3 board (60 bucks) and an Athlon 2800+. I was thinking about upgrading to PCI-E mobo, so that I could use this combo for at least another year. This is a nice solution as I don't also need a new CPU.

I think you do need a new CPU; this is a Socket 754 mobo.

I think he meant an Athlon 64 2800+, otherwise it would not work with his Nforce 3 board.

Yea I meant Athlon64 2800+, sorry about that. I'm curious as to how this board overclocks as well. I might buy this board very soon.

 

[daveybrat]

I wish i could find a review on this board, i wish i had a reason to build another pc!

 

[KristopherKubicki]

You can actually get it for a *little* bit cheaper at ZZF:

http://labs.anandtech.com/search.php?q=k8n+neo3-f

Kristopher