Want to switch from dfi ultra d to a8n-e, opinions please..

plion

Senior member
Aug 7, 2005
326
0
71
Hey guys, basically I'm not an extreme overlocker and I'm just having problems setting up this board as the amount of settings are overwhelming. Anyways I was thinking exchanging my board for a Asus a8n-e, more newbie-friendly it seems. Basically I'll be happy if I can get my cpu to 2400.

Anyways I want to hear what you guys think, the 2nd reason Why I want the asus board is because its easier to do cable management, less connections needed compared to the dfi. (my dream is to get the cables looking somewhere close to dynamix rig since we have the same case/heatsink, http://www.dynamiks.net/pics/improved_p180/p180%20007.jpg

-Anyways from what I've been reading the negatives are no firewire and crappy chipset cooling, how bad is the cooling?
 

Kung Lau

Golden Member
Oct 13, 1999
1,001
6
81
Funny, I just made this move. I have both the DFI LP UT NF4 ultra-D and the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe. I got the DFI first, thinking after reading all the pros and cons, that I would be able to get it going. I got a Seasonic S-12 500w and 7800GT and SD 3700 to compliment the upgrade. It seems my main issue is with the memory though. My Mushkin 2-2-2's don't seem to like the DFI board too much. I can get them to run, in single channel mode, but not dual channel. I cranked up the voltage as recommended on DFI-street.com but got minimal results with raising the mem freq. Overall, I was not getting what I thought I would and that's partially my fault, using older memory which was more geared toward low latency than higher bandwidth and the fact that I'm not comfortable about jacking the vdimm up to 3.5v or higher like some people on that site before seeing more sizeable results. :p

So, I opted for the Asus A8N SLI deluxe. But evidently I didn't pay enough attention! I should have gotten the Premium version due to the heatsink/fan fiasco that I lost a couple hours of my life reading about in another thread here. My A8N did come with the newer fan, but I'm still going to upgrade NB fan/heatsink--probably with the MCX159. (Again, the price of Premium version would have been cheaper without the headache!)
Although now, the Asus seems to like my Mushkin more. I can at least run it in dual channel at default voltage but still may get some of the newer, higher bandwidth memory to try out. I was able to get 2400mhz without changing anything and using the AI o/c mode. Changing the FSB brought about more havoc, which I kinda expected.

Don't get me wrong, the DFI board is definitely nice, just have to have the right accompaniment to make it show it's true colors.



 

plion

Senior member
Aug 7, 2005
326
0
71
thank you just what I wanted to hear, by the way I don't plan on sli and it looks like the A8N-E has the heatsink/fan, do you think it's worth upgrading to a mcx159? got any threads to check on the heatsink/fan fiasco? That's the only thing thats worrying me...
 

The Pentium Guy

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2005
4,327
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Well AFAIK the heatsink/fan on A8N-E is kind of loud. However before you switch out your DFI you might want to ... well, try to solve the problem with the DFI first.

The dynamiks website you liked to -> that's an A8N-SLI Premium. Probably much better than the A8N-E if you can stand the $40 premium price for the passive heatsink, firewall, and many resolved bugs.

Amazing website, dynamiks. Windowed P180, EXTREMELY excellent cable management. God I envy this guy. And what heatsink is that? That's one mighty tall motherfvcker - and for his quiet rig its awesome.

-The Pentium Guy
 

wanderer27

Platinum Member
Aug 6, 2005
2,173
15
81
Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
Well AFAIK the heatsink/fan on A8N-E is kind of loud. However before you switch out your DFI you might want to ... well, try to solve the problem with the DFI first.

The dynamiks website you liked to -> that's an A8N-SLI Premium. Probably much better than the A8N-E if you can stand the $40 premium price for the passive heatsink, firewall, and many resolved bugs.

Amazing website, dynamiks. Windowed P180, EXTREMELY excellent cable management. God I envy this guy. And what heatsink is that? That's one mighty tall motherfvcker - and for his quiet rig its awesome.

-The Pentium Guy


Yeah, that's an amazing job of cable management. I never noticed that Heatsink :Q when I saw this a couple weeks back, I was just awed by the cabling :)

BTW, I've decided to go ahead and get the Premium board myself (you rec'd in another thread). I'm just waiting to see if there are going to be any good Labor Day sale deals next week before ordering the rest of my parts ;)

Thanks
 

Davegod

Platinum Member
Nov 26, 2001
2,874
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you must have been really awed not to notice that thing!

how bad is the hsf & bug shens with the A8N-SLI Deluxe? I had been thinking of getting the plain NF4sli, but got warded off that and onto the more expensive deluxe, but now I'm thinking maybe better to get the even more expensive one - about £40 ($70!) more than my original choice /o\
And I dont even think i'll have any use for SLI, the not-really-hardware firewall, onboard sound etc etc. I put a zalman heatsink on this NF7-S nforceII but i think it'd get in the way on th nf4 boards and anyway apparently the nf4's run the nb pretty hot?

seems i'm looking at either the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe or Premium, Epox 9NPA+ Ultra or SLI...