Shuttle AN51R thoughts?

[batmanuel]

I'm building a system for someone that won't be overclocked and probably won't be used for gaming. The person also wants a quiet yet fast computer at a reasonable price, so I'm going for a s754 Athlon 64 (probably a 2800+) cooled with a Zalman CPNS7700CU with a Sonata for the case.

Right now I'm looking for the right motherboard. I want to use a nForce 3 250 chipset, there is no need to pay a premium for a NF4/S939 solution for the basic computing (plus a little home video editing) this person is doing. I also need onboard firewire that is compatible with the Sonata's front connector and passive northbridge cooling so that the only fans in the system are the Zalman, the Sonata's exhaust and PSU fans. The system has to be super stable, so spending a bit more on a quality motherboard wouldn't be a problem.

I initially was looking at the Asus K8N-E Deluxe for $127 shipped at Newegg, but on more searching I found that the Shuttle An51R looks like it has the same set of essential features that I need but at a much lower cost ($79 shipped). I've just not heard a lot of feedback on this board here in the forums. The last Shuttle board I used in a system, the nForce 2-based AN35, was a really well behaved board so I'm tempted to go the cheaper route (especially since the system will be run at stock speeds). Anyone have any experience with the AN51R?

 

[Shimmishim]

have you looked into the epox 8kda3j? or 8kda3+... they are both pretty cheap boards and are "well behaved"

i've used the 8kda3j and was very satisfied

 

[batmanuel]

Neither of these boards have the onboard 1394 that I'm looking for. I need something that will fit the Sonata's front panel 1394 connector, so I can't just go for an add-in card since the ones I've seen lack a set of pins for the case front panels.

 

[imported_Soldier]

Shuttle boards have always been reliable in my systems, my son is using a 7 year old motherboard from shuttle in his computer and it still runs fine. The OC options are mid-level and wont match high end performance boards but you can still achieve decent OC's, not that you need that anyway, just thought Id throw it in. Im running the AN50R in my current rig and it is rock solid reliable. SATA, 1394, USB2, Raid controllers...everything works, no exceptions.