Quick 939 mobo question

[sheemone00]

I belive that my s754 Soltek's AGP slot is broken and is causing some problems with my computer and I've decided to maybe do an upgrade to a s939 3200 A64 CPU with an nf3 mobo.

I really don't want to spend a lot of money on this upgrade since I want to upgrade to an Intel Core2Duo setup eventually when the prices drop down.

As for the mobos I have narrowed down my choices to these 2:
MSI K8N NEO2-F NF3 and the GIGABYTE GA-K8NS-939.

I would be using it mainly for gaming and just entertainment.

Which one would you folks recommend and any problems I should be looking out for?

EDIT: I was also interested in the ASrock ULI mobo until I heard the numerous problems it had with the SATA connector. How serious is this problem?

 

[Seekermeister]

I can't make any direct recommendation, but I have the MSE K8T Neo 2 F, which is a VIA chip, and I also tried the Gigabyte K8NSC which is also a VIA chip. I ended up returning the Gigabyte several times because they were defective, and I had to RMA the MSI 3 times because of problems that developed after being installed for a while. This may not be typical of either company's boards, but I would still choose something else.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Biostar TForce 6100-939 (work) and Asus A8N-E (gaming) are the two 939 boards I've used, both are working well after months of use.

Edit: both are PCI-E but that ATI 9700 isn't really going to give you enough gaming power to be worth keeping it in a new build. Sell it and buy a $100 7600GT PCI-E or better, you'll be able to move it to your core 2.

-or- if you must, buy a used socket 754 AGP mobo for $30-40 in FS/FT forum.

 

[Captante]

Assuming theres nothing wrong with your CPU & RAM, why not spend $47 shipped on just this Epox NF3 skt 754 motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123265


Otherwise, if you have your heart set on moving to socket 939 I'd go with this board instead @ $68 shipped:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123263


I've built a couple systems using the 754 version & about a dozen with the 939 ... despite some mixed reviews on Newegg all have been rock-solid stable (just be sure to update the BIOS before installing XP) also I suggest going with the A64 3400+ OEM CPU on Newegg for $59 ... its 2.2ghz & runs on a 1600mhz HT bus by default, but the 4 I've used so far with the Epox MB linked above have all oc'ed nicely & run with the HT at 2000mhz totally stable after a little tweaking, just don't forget to snag a HS/fan because OEM chips don't include one.

Edit Be sure to test your AGP video card in another system before spending a dime on another AGP-based setup ... frankly if you don't do a lot of gaming you might be better off going with an Nvidia 6100 based PCIe motherboard & using the onboard graphics until you can afford to upgrade the video card..
the Biostar TForce DaveSimmons mentioned above is decent & the MSI model is even better.


MSI 6100: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130067

 

[Madwand1]

I have a similar MSI and a similar Gigabyte board. I prefer the MSI because it has really good gigabit networking, unlike the Gigabyte which wasted it and patched on a GbE NIC on PCI. The Gigabyte would also default to 2T timing unless you pressed the semi-secret key sequence to get into the advanced setup options.

That said, I'd suggest looking for a hybrid AGP/PCIe board to give you more upgrade options down the road -- e.g. ASRock 939Dual-VSTA.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

I agree with Captante. Don't waste your money on a s939 board + A64. Either do a major upgrade to C2D or just replace your s754 board. The Epox EP-8KDA7I should rock the house for $47 shipped.

Also note I have the older EP-8KDA3J and it rocks my world! My Sempron 64 2800+ 1.6 GHz runs at 2.4 GHz with the stock cooler and my trusty Epox board.

 

[sheemone00]

Originally posted by: Captante
Assuming theres nothing wrong with your CPU & RAM, why not spend $47 shipped on just this Epox NF3 skt 754 motherboard?

I was thinking of this at first, but having 2x512 Memory sticks I sort of wanted to try out the dual channel option that the s939 brings.

Does dual channel memory access make a significant performance difference?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Not really, unless you're using the onboard graphics for 3D gaming.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: sheemone00
I belive that my s754 Soltek's AGP slot is broken and is causing some problems with my computer and I've decided to maybe do an upgrade to a s939 3200 A64 CPU with an nf3 mobo.

I really don't want to spend a lot of money on this upgrade since I want to upgrade to an Intel Core2Duo setup eventually when the prices drop down.

As for the mobos I have narrowed down my choices to these 2:
MSI K8N NEO2-F NF3 and the GIGABYTE GA-K8NS-939.

I would be using it mainly for gaming and just entertainment.

Which one would you folks recommend and any problems I should be looking out for?

EDIT: I was also interested in the ASrock ULI mobo until I heard the numerous problems it had with the SATA connector. How serious is this problem?

i ran the GIGABYTE GA-K8NSC-939 which uses the nf3Gb chipset and it worked very well with my opteron 144 - ran it at stock V @ 2.5GHz with no issues at all. had it matched with a x800xtpe - good rig, sad i got rid of it.