Recommend a good m/b that supports Athlon 64 ?

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M

MDesigner

Platinum Member
Apr 3, 2001
2,016
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Hey folks,

I've currently got an Epox 8RDA+ with an Athlon XP 2500+ and am looking to upgrade to an Athlon 64 3000+. I'm trying to find a good motherboard to use, that's within my budget. My only requirements are that it be nForce chipset and have onboard LAN (which is pretty much standard these days). I'm not too concerned with SATA. ATA/100, ATA/133, SATA, it seems to pretty much be the same junk... I personally won't look at new ATA/IDE technologies until they can approach the low-CPU utilization that SCSI boasts. So ATA/133 is fine.

I was actually looking at the Soltek SL-K8AV2-RL. It has good reviews on NewEgg, but I'm a bit wary since I've never heard of them.

Any suggestions would be great. I'm looking to spend around $85 or so on the motherboard.
Thanks!
 
D

DevilsAdvocate

Banned
Jul 1, 2000
10,274
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THe Asrock K8S8X is an excellent board. An intriguing choice is the new Asrock K8 Combo-Z, which the S939 and S754 sockets that give you an upgrade path.
 
J

jipe

Junior Member
Aug 23, 2004
9
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0
The K8S8X is an excellent board (and cheap too), but it's based on a chipset from SiS, not the Nvidia Nforce the original poster was looking for.

Perhaps ASUS' K8N-E Deluxe could be an option - it's based on the nForce 3 chipset and most people seem to like it. Might be a bit expensive, though, at least it is here in Europe.

I'm a bit skeptical about the combo-board from Asrock, especially as it's based around a brand new chipset from Uli (formerly Ali). In any case, I don't think it has reached the stores yet.
 
M

MDesigner

Platinum Member
Apr 3, 2001
2,016
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ASUS is always a good option, but yeah it's out of my price range.

What about that Soltek I mentioned? Anyone had any experience with that board or the brand? The NewEgg reviews are good.. 51 votes, 7 reviews, 5 star average.
 
D

DevilsAdvocate

Banned
Jul 1, 2000
10,274
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Originally posted by: MDesigner
Hey folks,

I've currently got an Epox 8RDA+ with an Athlon XP 2500+ and am looking to upgrade to an Athlon 64 3000+. I'm trying to find a good motherboard to use, that's within my budget. My only requirements are that it be nForce chipset and have onboard LAN (which is pretty much standard these days). I'm not too concerned with SATA. ATA/100, ATA/133, SATA, it seems to pretty much be the same junk... I personally won't look at new ATA/IDE technologies until they can approach the low-CPU utilization that SCSI boasts. So ATA/133 is fine.

I was actually looking at the Soltek SL-K8AV2-RL. It has good reviews on NewEgg, but I'm a bit wary since I've never heard of them.

Any suggestions would be great. I'm looking to spend around $85 or so on the motherboard.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Sorry - missed the nforce3 requirement.

The Chaintech VNF3-250 may fill the bill.
 
D

danger47

Senior member
Jul 1, 2004
458
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What about the Albatron K8X800 Proll? I've been told it's an awesome board for the AMD64
 
DrMrLordX

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
22,794
12,819
136
Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
THe Asrock K8S8X is an excellent board. An intriguing choice is the new Asrock K8 Combo-Z, which the S939 and S754 sockets that give you an upgrade path.
Click to expand...

Two questions:

1). What happened to the K8S8X? I can't find anyone selling it. Newegg doesn't have it in stock, nor do they even have a listing for it. Quite sad, really.

2). Are there any reviews up for the Combo-Z board from AS Rock? It's based on some ALi chipset the likes of which I've never seen.

 
C

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Originally posted by: MDesigner
Woops... duh. That Soltek is VIA. Damn.

OK, here's the nForce one.. http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-180-061&depa=0
LOTS of positive remarks on that one..
Click to expand...

If that's the K8AN2E-GR that's the board I have.
I won't buy anything but Soltek anymore for my main box.
my last 4 motherboards have been Soltek and not one of them has ever had a hint of any problem (and all but 1 still run, but the other is probably still running somewhere else now) ;)

I'd whole heartedly recommend the Soltek, as they are always completely rock solid, and problem free.
their support is great too... which is something MANY people cannot say about their board makers.

I know their support is good not because I a had a problem, but because I had a question regarding upgrading the CPU on my SL-75DRV4 (BIOS related) and they responded within a couple hours! :Q something practically unheard of in a large manufacturer like that.

anyways, I love Soltek, and I recommend it completely.
 
O

osage

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
5,686
0
76
it is a shame about the Asrock K8S8X, I have one and it is a very good board. Lack a few of the OC items you will find on some others, but it's a very good board none the less.
Hopefully someone will stock them again, they still show on the Asrock site.......
 
G

gsaito

Junior Member
Jul 13, 2004
8
0
0
I bought the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (socket 939) for my Athlon 64 3500+, following the editor's choice from Anandtech. After one week of fine tuning with the configuration (Bios and driver updates, memory setup, etc) I finally got it working and stable (running Prime95 torture test for a full 24 hour without any errors).

I would recommed this board as a top performing, enthusiast class board, but only if you are willing to spend quite a lot of time configuring it, as this motherboard is somewhat picky about memory, video and hard disk configurations. Took me a lot of time to find a stable combination. I hasn't tried overclocking yet.
 
J

jipe

Junior Member
Aug 23, 2004
9
0
0
Originally posted by: DrMrLordX

Two questions:

1). What happened to the K8S8X? I can't find anyone selling it. Newegg doesn't have it in stock, nor do they even have a listing for it. Quite sad, really.

2). Are there any reviews up for the Combo-Z board from AS Rock? It's based on some ALi chipset the likes of which I've never seen.
Click to expand...

1. Plenty of shops have it in stock here in Denmark, so I assume it's still in production.

2. Here's a review of the combo board. I'm still inclined to think of it as a gimmick, though.
 
M

MDesigner

Platinum Member
Apr 3, 2001
2,016
0
0
Thanks for the responses.

One thing I dislike about the Soltek board is this:

Sucky placement of motherboard power socket

Doesn't seem like the best place for it! The other drawback is the existence of only TWO DIMM sockets. I already have two 512MB modules. I'm thinking of adding a third 512MB... but that plan just isn't gonna work with this motherboard. I just might get the Chaintech...

However, I may not even do this upgrade if I won't see a significant speed boost. Right now I am using an Athlon XP 2500+ Barton core. If I put an Athlon 64 3000+ in my machine, will I see a noticeable speed increase?
 
DrMrLordX

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
22,794
12,819
136
Originally posted by: jipe
1. Plenty of shops have it in stock here in Denmark, so I assume it's still in production.

2. Here's a review of the combo board. I'm still inclined to think of it as a gimmick, though.
Click to expand...

1). Hmm, well that's a good sign. AS Rock may not be marketting it aggressively in the US, or . . . somethin.

2). Thanks for the link! That review was pretty helpful. Looks like it has AGP driver issues, and honestly, if I had to pick one or the other, I'd rather have the K8S8X. I like SiS, and that Combo-Z board is ridiculously crowded. The placement of the northbridge/southbridge + heatsink next to the 2nd PCI slot could also be somewhat annoying.

 
K

killerfish

Member
Sep 16, 2003
77
0
0
What about the new Biostar NF3-250GB board? Seems to have ALL the bells & whistles of the NF3-250GB chipset , a double AGP slot (for big coolers), 3 phase power, and only $88 at NewEgg. Seems like a hell of a board. It's brand new, however, and there's no reviews yet. My experience with Biostar has always been very positive, rock solid Mobo's. The Ideq 200n, as a matter of fact, was the ony SFF to support mobile Athlon XP's out of the box.... Net, I bet the bios even has overclocking capbilities if that's your thing.....
 
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