Top notch mobo for X2 / DC Opteron?

[esaias]

Hi!

I have been looking for a while a motherboard for my system, first I was going for intel but changed my mind and decided to go for AMD. I have very little knowledge about AMD (and chipset) architechture.

I have been looking for different alternatives for a while and it has been quite a challenge to decide what's a good mobo without any real knowledge what means what when looking at the specs.
I know everybody hates this kind of "I-can't-decide"-posts but please help, honestly, I tried before coming to you guys...
(I don't even know what are those little PCI slots for...)

I'm looking for a good motherboard which has the following features:

939-socket
Rather good OC possibilities
Optical SPDIF out
integrated FireWire 1394b
as many PCI-slots as possible
No SLI needed.
(and if there's some silly gadget options to satisfy my geeky needs, that would be nice )

The machine is going to be for music and video producing.

Thank you,
-Tomi H

 

[MADMAX23]

There is no AMD motherboard with integrated FireWire 1394b support i think.
IMO, you should get the ASUS A8N SLI PREMIUM, it has everything you'll need.

 

[Mem]

Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra has all of those except it has Firewire 1394A,good OC board too.


So would be a very good choice.

Link.

 

[Wentelteefje]

EPoX EP-9NPA+ Ultra... Is pretty cheap and has all the options you wanted, except for the IEEE 1394b (it's a)... For your geeky needs, it offers an "Onboard Post-Port LED display" (in case you overclocked too far and screwed it up ) that'll show you the error, and Power and Reset buttons on the mobo itself...

It's a very stable mobo and a great overclocker... The only thing not to possibly like is its colour (I agree, it doesn't look as good )...

 

[Mem]

The only thing not to possibly like is its colour (I agree, it doesn't look as good

Those cool 3 blue LEDs make it up for it if you got a windowed case like I have.
I can live with the colour of the Epox board,love mine .

 

[MADMAX23]

I don't know guys but it says "Top Notch" mobo, I wouldn't consider the Epox a "top notch mobo".

 

[Mem]

I don't know guys but it says "Top Notch" mobo, I wouldn't consider the Epox a "top notch mobo".

I put Epox up there with the best of them anytime,I have owned several brands including Abit,DFI,MSI etc.... and Epox is good as Asus or any brand you can think of.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: MADMAX23
I don't know guys but it says "Top Notch" mobo, I wouldn't consider the Epox a "top notch mobo".

Well, it's not ASUS A8N32-SLI, but it's a nice board nonetheless.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Originally posted by: MADMAX23
I don't know guys but it says "Top Notch" mobo, I wouldn't consider the Epox a "top notch mobo".

The Topic Title says "top notch", but in his post, he talks about a "good" motherboard with some features he'd like to have... IMHO, the EPoX fits the bill perfectly...

 

[Jorakal]

The Nvidia Nforce 4 chipset does not include firewire, so the Motherboard manufacturer has to decide whether to include it or not. Most boards have a basic, deluxe, premium, etc option that has more and more extras included for more money.

 

[esaias]

So I guess one of the best choices are ASUS A8N32 and Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9? Gigabyte has 1349b, although I'd really like to have optical audio out because my apartment has horrible electricity/gourdings (very old house) and it's one big ground loop etc. if I connect my computer to the other equipment.

-Tomi