Please forgive another which mobo thread

[Rhythmdvl]

First off, please accept my apologies for starting another one of those "which X should I buy" threads. (Egad... to make matters worse, I also dropped a similar thread in the Video forum. Even copied this apology!) I've read countless threads, googled for buyer's guides, reviews, comparisons, etc., and poured through Anandtech, THG, and other forums reading as much as I can. One thing I've noticed is that in many "which one" threads, people are quick to note when a poster didn't supply budget, use, etc. In all that reading, I haven't found my identical twin's post, so here I am. Again, I can understand the frustration of a forum filled with advanced users having to wade through the occasional bit of newbie detritus, but would ask you to forgive me this transgression.

Some background:
This is my first upgrade in about five years. I put together my current system, a PIII 500 sitting in an Asus P3B-F board. Very stable and the only problem I've had was a blown power supply. I don't intend to overclock, since this system will be used during the day in our home business (graphic design, heavy text editing (i.e. books), and modest database design/creation) and I can't risk frying anything I can't be without. At night, however, it will be used to kill zombies, aliens, and assorted riff-raff. Because I upgrade the hardware so infrequently, I'd like to build as advanced a machine as possible, yet stay within a grand or so for a budget. My strong leanings are towards an AMD 939 processor.

In short, un-overclocked stability/reliability is my primary concern. Second is a PCI Express graphics slot. Third is a SATA controller, though primarily for a single drive (I don't think a RAID array is in my near future). I don't think SLI is warranted, unless two graphics cards will be more powerful, yet cheaper, than a single card. On board sound, lan, etc., are plusses, but I'll add them in on a card if necessary.

I'm putting this together through mwave.com. Seems newegg is quite popular here, but their prices are +/- a few dollars, their page is frustratingly slow on this machine, and I've had several good experiences with mwave. However, feel free to let me know if mwave is actually a front for SPECTRE or something.

With other items in mind, I've narrowed it down to a CPU/MoBo bundle with an AMD Athlon 3700+ (San Diego), 1GB of Kingston DDR400 (512X2), and perhaps most importantly, a copy of Half-Life2 Bronze. But... But.... but what motherboard?

Abit, Asus, Biostar, Biostar, Chaintech, DFI, ECS, Epox, Gigabyte, and MSI are possible choices. I can narrow the field by rejecting SLI and AGP boards, but I'm still left wondering which brand is best for my situation.

DFI seems to be a favored brand here, but I get the impression that it is a great option for overclockers. Does that mean it will have features unused by me (and therefore I'll pay for things I won't use) or that it is extraordinarily stable, so therefore a better choice?

I thought Asus was great for stability and thought I couldn't go wrong, but as mechBgon kindly pointed out, the A8V-E Delux has had some major problems. I've read several related threads and am steering away. And then there's the Asus A8N-E thread. Yikes.

I put together a 486 system years ago with a Biostar board and had lots of problems with it (various beep codes with various problems over time). This, obviously, was a looong time ago, but have they improved since then?

In short, I don't mind paying a little more for stability and speed, but am left wondering if I'm over thinking this. Any suggestions will be kindly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rhythm

 

[The Pentium Guy]

A8N-E's a nice board, as long as you don't mind the lack of firewire.
Seriously though, the DFI is one of the most (if not THE most) stable boards that are out there, even if you're not overclocking.
I'd prefer the A8N-E for it's longevity.

Abit, Asus, Biostar, Biostar, Chaintech, DFI, ECS, Epox, Gigabyte, and MSI are possible choices.

You said biostar twice.
I'd avoid Biostar, and ECS. ABit seems to be having corporate problems now (read up n it) --> but ECS makes boards for ABit.

-TPG

 

[cornholio2]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
A8N-E's a nice board, as long as you don't mind the lack of firewire.
Seriously though, the DFI is one of the most (if not THE most) stable boards that are out there, even if you're not overclocking.
I'd prefer the A8N-E for it's longevity.

Abit, Asus, Biostar, Biostar, Chaintech, DFI, ECS, Epox, Gigabyte, and MSI are possible choices.

You said biostar twice.
I'd avoid Biostar, and ECS. ABit seems to be having corporate problems now (read up n it) --> but ECS makes boards for ABit.

-TPG

:thumbsup: A8N-E
The only problem I encountered is the restarting from time to time. Just keep in mind that every mobo even if they're of the same company has its own unique problem. Its got hundreds or if not thousands of transistors in it. Maybe I'm just lucky for only having this problem(happens two to three times a day), but I'm still working on it(which one is the culprit on making my computer restart again and again(a couple of hours in between).

 

[The Pentium Guy]

^--- do MemTest and see what's up.

 

[RobbyG]

My Epox 9NPA+ Ultra has been rock solid since I got it a few weeks ago. You can google for some reviews on the board, it scores very well among the nf4 ultra boards out there.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Consider this another vote for the 9NPA+ Ultra. I have built two machines around this board, one with a Venice 3000+ OC'd to 2Ghz (customer system--needed to do a MILD overclock), and my own system which has a San Diego 3700+ OC'd to 2.64Ghz.

In both cases I am use OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 Dual Channel DDR400 RAM.

I use either higher end ATX 2.0 12V Enermax Noisetaker dual rail PSU's or OCZ PowerStreams. I will not consider a low-end or even mid-level PSU. Spend at least $80 on this item, as generally speaking with a brand name PSU, the more you spend the better the PSU is. I won't hesitate to drop $135 on a PSU, and did.

EPoX will be releasing their dual-core supporting BIOS in the next few days. It is currently in BETA.

Overall, the 9NPA+ Ultra is a VERY stable and reliable board. I would not hesitate to standardize on it.

I have also owned, and had trouble with the following nForce4 Ultra boards:

Foxconn nForce4 Ultra full size ATX board
ASUS A8N-E

The Foxconn undervolted everything and would not remain stable even at total stock and under VERY heavy load (Prime95 torture blend test in background while running 3DMark2005 in foreground). The ASUS board has what I consider to be a very buggy BIOS implementation. Some things just don't work properly, or you get weird issues from time to time. Random reboots, odd voltages with the latest 1005 BIOS even, and UNKNOWN DEVICE in Device Manager that you simply cannot identify and I have no idea what the hell it is. Bizarre board. I recommend avoiding it for the much more predictable EPoX board.

Edited to add:

Further, the EPoX board comes with the following things you DON'T get with ASUS board:

On-board Firewire
Rounded IDE cables (2)
Mosfet heatsinks!

...and the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra costs about $25 less at NewEgg.

No brainer here!