Thoughts and speculations

[LifeStealer]

It seems to me after sorting through all of the media ad campaigns spread throughout the web that no one really has any idea what?s going on. I'm looking to build a system, I'm testing the alpha release of vista (With a key mind you, though windows update doesn't even work so that?s no use), and I'm looking for a reason to go with one company as opposed to the other as far as hardware is concerned. The new vista release looks nice, pretty mac'ish but meh, IE 7 is out! Ya! But Vista is at least a year away (Although RC1 basically counts as being out so.. 6-8 months?) and hardware doesn't seem to be able to sell enough bogus logic. Hey guys, we can't get enough throughput to warrant using APG 8x, much less PCIe, so heres an idea, lets sell PCIe 16x ^2. Fantastic.

Crossfire seems like a wash to me, I'm a fan of Nvidia chipsets, not necessarily the company itself, but it just doesn't seem to have the support out there. NF4 seems like the way to go to me. DFI? Epox? I don't know. It all blends together after a while, I find myself pondering over whether or not I should toss a coin or pick out the one with the brightest lights. Or better yet, DUAL BIOS. Who doesn't need dual bios? That should be a standard; I can't remember the number of times I was dumb enough to forget to plug into my APC.

The thing that gets to me is AMD really. I wonder who actually heads up their marketing department. I think Big Bird side lines there. Who knows? Funniest thing I've seen so far is Bill Gates and one of the ole' guys back when a bug was actually a bug. He coded the keyboard commands back then and decided to use CTRL+ALT+DELETE to make debugging go faster. "I may have invented CTRL+ALT+DELETE, but Mr Gates you made it famous." He didn't mean it that way, but that didn't detract from the fact that ole' Bill was red in the face.

So, what 939 board? Should I wait? Does crossfire have something I'm missing?

 

[LifeStealer]

No suggestions? o_o

 

[doc2345]

What's the point? Once you muddle through your oblivious post, you arrive at the same question we all have! What?s next??? Time and patience will tell the story, otherwise we waste our time on speculation!

 

[LifeStealer]

But I have to build a new rig

 

[First]

Build a new rig now, you won't regret it. DFI, Epox, or ASUS nF4-based board. SLI if you can afford it. ASROCK's ULi board ain't bad either, great value. Go with a 2GHz or higher Venice, or if you can spare the change go for a 3800+ X2. Wide screen 20" display is a good investment, especially if you plan on gaming or doing animation. Dell 2005FPW, Apple Cinema, etc. are some of the better 20" wide screens out there. L90+ 19" is good if you're looking bang for your buck.

Really, it depends on how much you have to spend.

 

[LifeStealer]

Yeah I've always been a fan of Epox and DFI both Both look to be good boards, epox seems to be an easier setup out of the box though. Been waiting for Crossfire to see how it does since the paper release but it still seems the 7800 beats x850 up so @_@

 

[Fresh Daemon]

Just build it now. Nothing amazingly better is coming out anytime soon. Crossfire and ATi's new cards look like they'll at best be on a level with current nVidia products, not an improvement. ATi right now is stuck in 3Dfx's position a few years back: promising products, can't bring them to market, meanwhile the competition is cleaning up, and by the time the products hit retail, they'll be obsolete. Processors aren't going to get much faster, they'll just get more parallel. BTX is coming out but nobody really cares.

I think the choice is pretty simple: if you want the fastest possible board and don't mind tweaking and getting in the nether regions of the BIOS, DFI. If you would compromise a little speed for ease-of-use, memory compatibility, PSU compatibility etc., choose Epox.

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Although I have not overclocked with it yet, I have to say the most stable nF4 board I have used besides the EPoX 9NPA+Ultra is the AOpen nCK804U-LFS. ROCK STABLE.