Which motherboard should I get?

[JCDenton513]

I am new to building computers and recently learned that the asus A8N-SLI wasn't easy to work with for beginners and even people that know what they are doing. So rather walking into on coming traffic I figure I should try something easier. So my question is, what would be a good motherboard to choose? I am looking to get an AMD processor because of the performance with gaming over the P4s. The layout I had was:
Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm,
XFX 6600gt,
Corsair Value Select 2x512mb pc-3200,
Seagate 160 GB Barracuda SATA w/NCQ
Fortron Blue Storm 500W PSU

I was looking at possibly the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Motherboard and at somepoint would like to try overclocking in the future. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated and thank you ahead of time for the help.

Edit: I am also looking at getting an ASUS A8V Deluxe.

 

[DaFOBulous1]

I'm having the same issue.

I have the choice of the Gigabyte with nForce3 Ultra, and the ECS nForce4 and then for 20-30 bucks more, the KT800 from VIA.

I dunt know.

 

[dornick]

There's always the DFI LanParty which is great for overclocking. The Ultra if you're sticking with the one 6600 or SLI if you're going to run another one.

 

[JCDenton513]

Is PCIe motherboards hard to work with, which I am really concerned about, or is it not much harder than the AGP boards? Is there not much difference and I should just go with the tried and true AGP to start with, or get the PCIe because it will become the standard in the near future?

 

[shira]

Originally posted by: JCDenton513
I am new to building computers and recently learned that the asus A8N-SLI wasn't easy to work with for beginners and even people that know what they are doing. So rather walking into on coming traffic I figure I should try something easier. So my question is, what would be a good motherboard to choose? I am looking to get an AMD processor because of the performance with gaming over the P4s. The layout I had was:
Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm,
XFX 6600gt,
Corsair Value Select 2x512mb pc-3200,
Seagate 160 GB Barracuda SATA w/NCQ
Fortron Blue Storm 500W PSU

I was looking at possibly the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Motherboard and at somepoint would like to try overclocking in the future. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated and thank you ahead of time for the help.

Edit: I am also looking at getting an ASUS A8V Deluxe.

If you're thinking of using the NCQ feature of the Seagate drive (and I don't know why you'd pay the small premium if that wasn't your intent), then you're going to have to purchase an NF4 MB. I know that, at least until recently, NCQ had to be disabled on NF4 MBs because of problems with the drivers. I'm not sure if the new Nvidia drivers released earlier this month solved that issue.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: JCDenton513
Is PCIe motherboards hard to work with, which I am really concerned about, or is it not much harder than the AGP boards? Is there not much difference and I should just go with the tried and true AGP to start with, or get the PCIe because it will become the standard in the near future?

What does it matter? You already have a graphics card, is this PCIe or AGP? If you upgrade every year or so, then AGP is more bang for your buck, but if youre like me (every 3 or so years) then youre way better off with PCIe.

 

[JCDenton513]

Originally posted by: homercles337

Originally posted by: JCDenton513
Is PCIe motherboards hard to work with, which I am really concerned about, or is it not much harder than the AGP boards? Is there not much difference and I should just go with the tried and true AGP to start with, or get the PCIe because it will become the standard in the near future?

What does it matter? You already have a graphics card, is this PCIe or AGP? If you upgrade every year or so, then AGP is more bang for your buck, but if youre like me (every 3 or so years) then youre way better off with PCIe.

I don't have the graphics card yet, so I can choose either one at this point, PCIe or AGP. But is an AGP easier to set up than the PCIe motherboard.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I have had the ASUS for two months now, and it has been trouble free and rock solid. I would highly recommend it. It is definately the most mature and likely the most stable choice. The only unresolved issue with this board at this point is the inability to run ram over 250mhz(DDR500) 1T, which if your not a hardcore overclocker is not an issue. And it is well documented that with the A64 platform memory speeds only slightly increases performance. I,m running my 3200+ at 2.6ghz with ram at DDR480.

And its currently selling for less than MSRP!

The reason there are so many problem posts here for the Asus is as of now, there have been many more of the Asus boards sold than all the other NF4 boards put together. And only the people with problems post on forums like these. And the early postings from the other NF4 boards are showing the same exact issues as the early adopters of the Asus. If you get a guality power supply with plenty of amps on the 12v you will have no problems with the Asus board.

For hardcore overclockers who must squeeze every ounce of performance out of their rigs, the DFI or MSI boards will have a slight edge over Asus as long as its limited to 250 1T. Although these boards look very promising for overclockers they are just now hitting the market and performance and stability is still to be seen.

Bottom line is if you must be on the bleeding edge of overclocking get the DFI or MSI, but if you want dependability, features, support and the the best SLI layout you should get the Asus. And at around $170 its also the best priced option IMO
The Abit AN8 Fatal1ty is an interesting newcomer for overclockers also

The onboard memory controller of the A64 chips is the great equalizer making it very hard for mobo makers to distinquish themselves.

All of the NF4 boards will be fairly equal performance wize, so your choice really comes down to features and personal preference

And overclockability will be determined more by the particular chip that you get, than the motherboard IMHO. You can get the DFI board with its high voltage settings and ultimate overclocking tweaks, but if you get a chip that tops out at 2.4ghz a plain Jane NF3 board with the same chip that reaches 2.6gz will put a whoopin on you.