Upgrading to PCI-Express

[emmi]

Hello, due to very annoying problems with my Shuttle SN95G5 I've decided to dump it and get a tower PC. I wanted to ask you guys for your oppinion on what motherboard to get, I'll probably upgrade my video card to PCI-Express. I wont be doing any OC, I prefer stability and features over OC. I was looking at Gigabyte's website for mobo's since I have very good experience with them.

GA-K8NXP-9 and GA-K8N Ultra-9.

I can't see any difference between them except for DPS and 802.11g. GA-K8N Ultra-9 has one advantage over the GA-K8NXP-9 and thats the northbridge cooling, I can see on the other one the fan is directly under the PCI-X slot which can create problems and leave little room to replace it down the road.

Which one would you take or do you maybe have other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[furballi]

The NF4 is probably a little more buggy than the VIA890. Plus it puts out more HEAT. If you want stability and can live without SATAII, then check out the Soltek 890Pro or the Abit AX8. I have the 890Pro and currently building the AX8. Both are around $110.

 

[xsilver]

Originally posted by: furballi
The NF4 is probably a little more buggy than the VIA890. Plus it puts out more HEAT. If you want stability and can live without SATAII, then check out the Soltek 890Pro or the Abit AX8. I have the 890Pro and currently building the AX8. Both are around $110.

not quite true
the buggyness maninly comes from running SLI mode only
so setting a regular nf4 board should be ok

The nf4 has more features ..... stability and speed should be the same at stock speeds
the nf4 has better OC capabilities

if you aren't gaming, there is NO real reason to get PCI-express though....
I wouldnt recommend the gigabyte though... memory stability issues apprently (may have been corrected but not sure??)
anandtech recommends the MSI

 

[imported_Kensai]

MSI K8N Neo SLI.

 

[user1234]

Best budget options are Chaintech VNF4-Ultra or MSI K8N Neo4-F. I would recommend the NF4 chipset over Via, mostly due to overclocking options. Performance is very close with slight edge to NF4. Also NF4 has better features but you may not care that much about these. Still, not overclocking is a huge waste so I'd say stick with NF4. If you wanna have SLI upgrade option for the future get the DFI NF4 SLI-D.

 

[user1234]

Originally posted by: xsilver

Originally posted by: furballi
The NF4 is probably a little more buggy than the VIA890. Plus it puts out more HEAT. If you want stability and can live without SATAII, then check out the Soltek 890Pro or the Abit AX8. I have the 890Pro and currently building the AX8. Both are around $110.

not quite true
the buggyness maninly comes from running SLI mode only
so setting a regular nf4 board should be ok

The nf4 has more features ..... stability and speed should be the same at stock speeds
the nf4 has better OC capabilities

if you aren't gaming, there is NO real reason to get PCI-express though....
I wouldnt recommend the gigabyte though... memory stability issues apprently (may have been corrected but not sure??)
anandtech recommends the MSI

don't listen to this person !!!! AGP has much more limited options and will cost you a lot more in the end. Unless you already have an expensive AGP video card that you want to keep, then the only option to consider is PCI-EXPRESS as all the new video cards which are cheaper and better are only available on pci-e. AGP will cost you more and give you less - it is a total waste

 

[xsilver]

Originally posted by: user1234

Originally posted by: xsilver

Originally posted by: furballi
The NF4 is probably a little more buggy than the VIA890. Plus it puts out more HEAT. If you want stability and can live without SATAII, then check out the Soltek 890Pro or the Abit AX8. I have the 890Pro and currently building the AX8. Both are around $110.

not quite true
the buggyness maninly comes from running SLI mode only
so setting a regular nf4 board should be ok

The nf4 has more features ..... stability and speed should be the same at stock speeds
the nf4 has better OC capabilities

if you aren't gaming, there is NO real reason to get PCI-express though....
I wouldnt recommend the gigabyte though... memory stability issues apprently (may have been corrected but not sure??)
anandtech recommends the MSI

don't listen to this person !!!! AGP has much more limited options and will cost you a lot more in the end. Unless you already have an expensive AGP video card that you want to keep, then the only option to consider is PCI-EXPRESS as all the new video cards which are cheaper and better are only available on pci-e. AGP will cost you more and give you less - it is a total waste

I said if you AREN'T gaming ....
if you keep your old video card, you will be SAVING money

 

[hchu]

i have the ultra 9 and its ok, but not stellar. but maybe its cos i have a slow hard disk.