Please reccommend a good mobo

NukaCola

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Jul 20, 2005
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Thermaltake XASER, Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail


Update eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Desktop PC - Retail

OCZ ModStream OCZ52012U ATX, BTX, SATA, P4 and EPS12V 520W Power Supply - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3800BWBOX - Retail

OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K - Retail

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3160021A 160GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM


ViewSonic VA712B-1 Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail


Update Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM

Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail

Please don't tell me to get other parts, just keep it to motherboards. Thank you! I've never built a computer before but my friend will help me, so an easy to set up mobo would be great.

 

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
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I like my Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra best and I also have 1 Chaintech NF4 Ultra...both were inexpensive and performance is top notch...
 

potato28

Diamond Member
Jun 27, 2005
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Ya the Gigabyte is a good value board. Not alot of BIOS options, but rock solid.
 

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
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Originally posted by: potato28
Ya the Gigabyte is a good value board. Not alot of BIOS options, but rock solid.
Huh...just press Ctrl+F1 in the BIOS to access most anything and it also has Firewire 1394b built in...

 

cr0ssfire

Senior member
Sep 10, 2005
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The ABIT Ultra board is what I'd go with. It's got a nice northbridge heatpipe to keep everything nice and quiet, a port 80 diagnostic for help troubleshooting, some very nice uGuru software, and the layout is such that you won't have any components bumping into anything on the board itself. I can't speak from personal experience, but I've talked to a few people who've owned it and they say that it's good for a pretty good overclock.
 

jlbenedict

Banned
Jul 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: NukaCola
ok, thanks crossfire. The only thing about the review where I noticed anything bad was that there's a bad placement of the floppy connector (and I'll be using a floppy drive...)

Here's the review I read: http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?head=58&page=3869


That is definately true. I speak from experience with the AN8-SLI that I own and my previous AN8.
If you dont run a floppy drive, this should be no problem. I use an 18", round floppy cable. It works perfect.. plus its small, so I can route it out of the way without even noticing it..
Other than the floppy connector, the boards layout is great!


 

ITPaladin

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2003
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funny how Newegg (I assume it's some automated filter) blocks out the Asus name in a review.

You are always going to find people having problems with everything made by human beings.

For tech support, I assume BFG / evga have english speaking people.

I remember a looong time ago with an early component or something calling a LOS ANGELES phone number and the lady could barely understand me or me her.



 

the cobbler

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
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Originally posted by: lifeguard1999
DFI nF4 SLI Infinity


noooooooooooooooo!
stay away from the Infinity and DAGF DFI boards

This is the best mobo available for ~<$130
it also just so happens that the following board has an unhealthy lust for your particular RAM sticks

DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D, $125@Newegg

also, drop the Modstream (modular PSUs are crap)
and get this instead:
OCZ Powerstream 520ADJ, $119.99 after rebate @Newegg

basically for an extra ten bucks, you get a more reliable source of power with an extra 7 amps on the 12v rail, which is pretty significant for such a small amount of money.

yes I realize you didn't want advice on other parts but seriously, rethink the PSU
 

NukaCola

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Jul 20, 2005
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my friend reccommended the PSU that I wanted since he said he has one and it kicks ass. I really don't want this to go over $2100. And I'm sitll unsure about the right motherboard for me. :(
 

NukaCola

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Jul 20, 2005
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YOu said "it also just so happens that the following board has an unhealthy lust for your particular RAM sticks "

..is that a good thing?
 

CP5670

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2004
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Newegg actually has a misprint on that 520W Modstream PSU; they list the specs for the 450W version and are pricing it quite high for some reason. See the sticker in the picture instead. I got mine for less than that from Monarch about ten months ago and it's been working well, with very stable voltages.
 

the cobbler

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
643
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Originally posted by: NukaCola
YOu said "it also just so happens that the following board has an unhealthy lust for your particular RAM sticks "

..is that a good thing?

haha, yes it is

just fwiw, while your friend my think his 520w modular with 28a on the 12v rail kicks ass,
technically my 420w Powerstream with 30a on the 12v kicks ITS ass, and for $20 less! There are a whole slew of PSUs better than the Modstream and for less money.

seriously, 10 bucks, totally worth it. PSU is probably the single most important part of the machine you are about to build.

you could shave a few bucks off dropping the Audigy 2ZS for an Audigy 2 Value, you won't hear the difference
 

NukaCola

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Jul 20, 2005
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Thanks..I think I'll get the powerstream and the DFI Lanparty you reccommended. I read reviews on the DFI and it looks good!
 

the cobbler

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
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you definitely won't be disappointed by the DFI.

I am on my third NF4 board now. in order:
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra
MSI K8N Neo4-F
DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Sli-D

I'm never going back:)

On the first two, I couldn't get this chip stable over 2.70ghz. Now I run 24/7 at 2.763ghz and am hoping to hit 2.8ghz 24/7 :beer:

also previously, best SuperPi 1M was at 2835mhz. Just finished one two days ago on the DFI at 2898mhz. Then topped it off with a 32M at 2850mhz, higher than my previous 1M!

also gave me another 5mhz at tighter timings on Corsair value ram, neither of which (corsair, value ram) are supposed to even be supported by the DFI NF4.

so if you hear that DFI boards clock better --- it's true!

be aware that the DFI give Vdimm voltage options up to 4.0v where most boards stop at ~2.9v. so TCCD (like your OCZ EL Rev.2) runs great on any board, but the DFI also has the ability to overclock the hell out of Winbond UTT-based RAM, which can overclock furthur than TCCD with tight timings with 3.2v+. OCZ modules with UTT BH-5 end in GX or VX.