Single card mobo choice?

[Skott]

I been thinking about this for a while now. Dual card or not system or not? Dual card setups are nice and all but considering I'll probably not play with resoultions over 1600x1200 due to my eyesight. In fact I just ordered a new ViewSonic VX2025 so 1600x1080 is going to be my limit for a while now. And this got me to thinking that I dont think I'll need a dual card system for my next purchase (which will use this LCD btw). ATI and nVidia finally has some decent cards out now that'll play today's games at decent settings and performance.

I like the idea of being able to use nVidia or ATI cards as the need to upgrade arises. Basically buying the best at the time. ATI and nVidia like to leap frog each other in card performance. I like both companies and I like both products. I have used both in the past. So I'm wondering which mobos are good choices for a single card setup nowadays? I really like the new heatpipe technology so that kinda leaves DFI mobos out. ASUS, ABIT, and MSI have the only mobos that I know of currently that have this new chipset cooler. I know they are SLI/Crossfire mobos but if I want that heatpipe type mobo I cant do much about it.

But still from sticking to a single card use I'm wondering which mobo will allow better performance for both flavors of cards now and for future upgrade. Or are they all pretty much the same? I have heard that a ATI mobo will do better performance of ATI or nVidia than a nVidia will. Anyone got better info on this?

 

[mb103051]

video cards ati or nvidia perform the same on either chipset.ati on nvidia performs as good as ati on ati and vice versa.makes no difference.the best boards out imo are the asus.if you want a heatpipe setup the asus a8n sli premium is a great board.also the asus a8n-e ultra board is the best all around ultra board out on todays market.i build computers for a living and i use the a8n-e board.its what im on now.it does everything well and has a perfect layout.with heatpipes just remember they run hotter so you need good case cooling to compensate.which in a way cancels out them being quieter.if case cooling is not that good your chipset temps get pretty hot....but its quieter....so its a tradeoff like everything else in life.there is no free meal...know what im saying.the fans on these asus boards are quiet as hell unless your some kind of a sound nut.powered up with no other fans running i cant hear them at all,bur some people cant stand any noise at all coming from the case.at least if i can hear some case fans running i know the parts inside are getting some cool air across them.computers dont like heat.shortens the life span of them alot.if you can hear some case fan noise you would never hear the chipset fan unless its going bad or something is wrong with it.check out the asus boards.all of the a8n series boards are good proven boards and are the best nf4 boards out.no way you can go wrong buying one of them.msi also puts out a good board also.look at newegg.com and see which one fits your needs and wallett and get it coming.also asus boards seem to like corsair ram.stay away from value ram get the xms series of corsair ram.msi likes corsair also.go for it dude.....the asus boards set up very easy too.

 

[Skott]

Thanks for the reply, MB.

Personally, I dont mind a little noise as well. Although the A8N-E you mentioned is quite good and well proven it also has a known history of bad chipset fans. In the beginning many would go bad after a few months. ASUS did fix this problem in a newer revision of the mobo but I do still read about the fan problems now and again. This is what worries me about the A8N-E. The two common fixes for the customer is either get a new fan from ASUS or buy a good 3rd party aftermarket unit to replace it. Personally, I like the newer versions like the Premium. It is SLI though.

Which MSI mobo was you referring to? I'd like to check it out and compare against the ASUS.