Quiet AMD mobo for non-OC beginner?

[pctwo]

Beginner builder here. So far I know I want

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939

which is supposed to be the price/perf "sweet spot", corrrect?

I want a quiet (preferably fanless) mobo that is easy to install/setup. I don't foresee myself going SLI. Nor do I want to OC. I'll just be happy the thing runs at spec

I'm looking at ABIT AN8-ULTRA. It's $112 at newegg, a bit $$$ for SLI, but I like the passive cooling. The ultimate guide isys it's a decent alternative to DFI if you want passive cooling. But maybe overkill for non-OCer?

Then there's EPOX 9NPA+Ultra. Highly rated by anand. I would get this if not for the fan, which always scares me.

Other recommendations I should look at?

thanks

PS: How come I see these PC4000 533 memory modules but every AMD board I've looked at say only DDR 400 PC3200. So what's allthe higher clocked memory for?

 

[kevinf2090]

i have the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum, even though it has a fan on it, i never hear the chipset fan

 

[Budman]

if you want a quiet board you DEFINATELY dont want the MSI neo4 board,it's got an ear splitting over 7000rpm fan that's so loud i got rid of it (had many problems besides that) & bought a chaintech NF4 ultra board and it's very quiet now.

 

[yomafire]

I must say Im satisfied with my Asus A8N Premium with passive cooling which works beter than fans, but your getting sli so if your not interested in that then....hmm I dunno

 

[PeterAlt]

Originally posted by: kevinf2090
i have the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum, even though it has a fan on it, i never hear the chipset fan

Really? Well, you're the lucky one!! I replaced my CPU fan with a heatsink and replaced my video card with a heatsink... thinking all was well, I turned on my computer and lo and behold it was still very loud! After close inspection, I found that the chipset fan (a small but NOISY little sucka) of my MSI KN8 Platinum was the culprit!

I've been on the hunt for fanless solution now for about a month and in that time period decided to go the SLI path. I just ordered an Asus AN8-SLI Premium. I had hesitations because of the many posts here of people with problems with it, but I'll see for myself and let you know when I get it!

 

[jonnythan]

The Biostar 6100-M9 board looks nice and is fanless so you might want to look in that direction.. I'm trying to determine if I'm giving up anything (besides a few useless features) vs a board with the nForce4 Ultra chipset like the Ultra you mentioned.

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: yomafire
Asus A8N Premium with passive cooling which works beter than fans, but your getting sli so if your not interested in that then....hmm I dunno

 

[amdnVuser]

I also have an A8N-SLI Premium in my machine at work, and my system was dead silent before I installed/plugged in all my case fans. Otherwise, you could consider some of the ATI Radeon Xpress (RS482/SB450) based boards like the MSI RS482M4-ILD or a Crossfire/ULI board like the new Asus A8R-MVP.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: pctwo
I want a quiet (preferably fanless) mobo that is easy to install/setup. I don't foresee myself going SLI. Nor do I want to OC. I'll just be happy the thing runs at spec

PS: How come I see these PC4000 533 memory modules but every AMD board I've looked at say only DDR 400 PC3200. So what's allthe higher clocked memory for?

Are you sure it didn't say DDR2? In any case, don't worry about those and just get some DDR PC3200 CAS 2.5 (almost same price as CAS 3, cheaper than CAS 2).

For the motherboard, being an admitted "beginner builder" you don't want to have to mess with replacing heatsinks, so my recommendation is to keep your motherboard options to only ones with passive coolers. Do not even consider ones that aren't passively cooled.

That being said, there are plenty of choices for a motherboard that doesn't do SLI, doesn't have to overclock and is passively cooled. Brands to look for (besides those already mentioned as having passive options) are ECS and Foxconn. If you let yourself be swayed by all the ECS haters, then cross that off your list, but do keep Foxconn in mind, along with Chaintech and the passive offerings from Abit and Asus.