Pondering a motherboard purchase

[Tullphan]

I'm not real crazy about the layout of the Biostar TForce 550.
I was considering a "gas grill" looking cooler for a 3800 X2, but now considering an OEM 4 heatpipe cooler.
Is there better laid-out boards in a similar price range with similar specs & performance?
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[Marinski]

I just got one of these boards and it looks real sweet. Haven't put it together yet though, probably doin it next week, waitin on my video card and memory still. The cooler i went with is the Arctic Cooling 64 Freezer. Anything else for that price range will probably be a similar type setup w/nForce 4 chipset or a mATX variety. After that you'll be looking in the $100 range. That biostar board is probably the best one at that price.

 

[Tullphan]

I checked out the thread on the best budget motherboards here on Anandtechs site & all 3 of them (Biostar & 2 Asrock's) had the ATX power connector there by the cpu socket. I'd just prefer it over on the edge like some of the others.
As a matter of fact, now i'm contemplating this motherboard.

 

[cubeless]

this was a great board for me... with stt667 i am at 300fsb with a 3600...

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: cubeless
this was a great board for me... with stt667 i am at 300fsb with a 3600...

The Biostar or the Foxconn?
What heatsink were you using (if you're referring to the Biostar) & did you have any issues w/the cable to the ATX connector?

 

[Marinski]

One flaw with the Foxconn is if your using to large a heatsink then you may not be able to use the 1st and 2nd memory slots and i'm not sure if that board oc's like the biostar. Other than that i've heard it is a good board. I was considering that one too. Its got a bunch of features that the biostar doesn't have (SLI, firewire, dual LAN). I didn't end up getting it because i was never going to use SLI and i would rather have the extra PCI slots.

 

[Tullphan]

I'd be using the AMD OEM 4-heatpipe cooler.
SLI is of no interest to me.
I was just concerned with the location of the ATX power connector & whether or not there'd be issues of running a power cable to it &/or having to maneuver the cable around the heatsink.

 

[Marinski]

I'm starting to put it together right now and the placement of the power connector does suck. I will probably have to run it over the RAM and right below the heatsink to the connector. It probably wouldn't be much of an issue with a smaller heatsink but the arctic cooler is decent size. You could run it over the top and right side if you have a heat sink w/ the fan on top. If you like the Foxconn though, get that. I think that board looks good. When i got my parts the Foxconn variety cost more than it does now and the EVGA one had a $30 rebate and i didn't feel like messing with too many rebates. I might have gone with that board for $100 + free ship and no rebates.

 

[GeezerMan]

I like the AMD heatpipe coolers myself. I have both the 70MM fan version, and the 80mm fan version. The trick for me was shorting out the thermistor that sit on the fans. Easy five minute "alteration" done with a number 2 pencil or a piece of wire. This allows the fan to reach higher speeds. You can then use a fan controller to adjust. I found that no matter how hot the CPU got, the fan was at around 3800 RPM. After reading reviews saying the fan could go much higher with a shorted thermistor, I tried it. BAM. With the 70mm fan, it goes over 6000 RPM. Now that's a tad noisey, but I found that around 4800 RPM was a pretty good compromise. This also allows for better temps when stress testing. At the max speed, temps while testing were lowered about 7 degress Celsius. Of course, this might lower the lifespan of the fan. Frosty Tech had a review of the 70mm fan, and at full blast, it was about 6 degrees cooler than the Arctic Cooling 64, which I also have. It was the best HSF they had tested at that time, May 2006, at max fan speed. The thermistor only kicks in with a rise in air temp, not CPU temp. Seems to me the CPU would have to almost melt before it would kick into high speed. They must of been overly concerned about noise.

Link to Frosty

 

[Tullphan]

Thanks for the link.
It's too bad one couldn't replace that fan with a quieter, higher rpm model (if there is such a thing!).

 

[GeezerMan]

Well, we just upgraded my sister's PC to a X2 3800+, socket 939. I overclocked it to 2.6GHz. Kinda funny, she's over 50. Overclocking granny. She is very noise sensitive. I stuck the 70mm HSF on it. Shorted the thermistor. Went into the bios and set the fan to hit high when temps hit 50 degrees C. She's happy with it. It purrs along at 4680 RPM, and only goes higher when needed. Her case is the Antec P150, so that helps with noise. My PC with the Arctic Cooling 64 on it at high speed was noisier than hers with the heatpipe at 4680 RPM. Not bad.

 

[Tullphan]

Can you elaborate on the "alteration"?
Is the HSF on the stock 4-pipe AMD cooler replaceable?

 

[GeezerMan]

As far as I know, the 4 pipe takes a regular 80mm fan. The other takes a 70mm fan. The thermistor is pictured in the Frosty review. You just have to connect the terminals. A pencil rubbed between them does OK. The graphite conducts electricity.

 

[Extelleron]

Overall the tForce 550 is a good motherboard for the price, but the layout is not exactly the best. The 24-pin connector is extremely close to the socket and this makes it very difficult to connect if you have a big heatsink. It's managable and not a deal-breaker but it is annoying. The mobo feels pretty cramped but overall it's a good deal.

 

[Tullphan]

What about this "Vista Certified" stuff? Will I have a problem with this particular motherboard if I go with Vista?