nforce2/3 mobo recommendations

[Acedude]

anyhoo i was waiting for nf-4 motherboards to come out since 2 months ago, since they said they might release it in mid november. now it's mid december and i'm losing patience, plus the fact that my athlon 1800+ died a couple of weeks ago, so i need a computer now.

most likely i'll be using an athlon barton mobile, plus some pqi turbo rams. gonna either put an xp-90 or xp-120 on it, depend on what motherboard i get, so cooling won't be a problem. i've heard that there's an Abit motherboard that is a very good OCer, but clueless about other motherboards that's on the market.

any suggestions? thanks in advance.

 

[Sonic587]

Abit NF7-S*

Shuttle AN35N-Ultra

* There are 2 very similarly named MBs made by Abit at Newegg. The NF7-S2 & NF7-S2G. Beware, as these are apparently neutered versions of the NF7-S.

 

[meltdown75]

I have to add the ASUS A7N8X series, because I bought one and it has been stable and very user-friendly. Not as good of an overclocking choice as the other two perhaps, but good all the same. Good chance it would be a little cheaper too - there are several different configurations to fit your needs.

 

[Mem]

Another very good option is the DFI NF2 Infinity Ultra,awesome board(I do own one) and has all the features you need like SoundStorm, SATA,LAN etc...also the board was designed for overclocking.

Stability wise I`ve yet to have any problems.

 

[manno]

I'm not trying to be rude here, and I know it's more expensive, but if you're going to use this rig to play any newer games I highly suggest you go with a 939 Athlon 64, and a decent K8T800 PRO(cheaper) or nForce3Ultra

I just purchased this VIA K8T800 Pro board for my brother, and a 3000+ A64 and pushed it from 1.8Ghz to 2.4Ghz with stock cooling. My other brother has a 2400 Athlon XP pushed to 2.4Ghz, and believe me even at stock the A64 trounces all over the XP, when playing CS Source. The brother with the XP@2.4Ghz (same video card and everything) is now insisting I get him a new system for xmas. The difference is that big.

You're looking at like
$250 in the hole for an A64 939 + mobo, and
$175 for a Mobile XP 2500+, and Abit NF7-S
$ 75 Cost difference, and a significant performance difference

Both platforms use the same memory, so that stays the same ect, ect, ect. If you can afford to spring for an extra $75 definitely go with the A64