Which motherboard to get?

[chimpy]

Computer I will be getting:

Case/PSU - Antec Sonata II Ultra Quiet Midi Tower Piano Black inc 450W PSU (Front access USB & F/Wire, 9 Drive Bays) +UK power lead

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Core 64 bit 512k L2 Cache Retail inc.fan Skt 939 (3 yr.warr.)

Graphics Card - Gigabyte GF 6600GT Turbo 128MB DDR3, PCI-E, DVI, TV Out Retail with Silent Heat Pipe

HDD - 160 GB Seagate Barracuda 8MB Cache 7200rpm ATA100 (Manufacturer's 5yr Warranty)

RAM - Crucial 1GB DDR PC3200 CAS3.0 Dual Channel Kit (2x512MB) (C2KIT6464Z40B)

DVD-RW - Philips DVDR1640 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)

OS - Microsoft Windows XP Home (OEM)


The motherboard: EITHER the DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D, or the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra. Here are the links:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/MSI_Socket_939.html
Second one down

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html
Third one down


So, which one? I will NOT be overclocking, and I am a first time builder, so would like it to be as easy to work with as possible, and hopefully come with a nice manual.

 

[xeodragon]

the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum. obvious choice for your situation.

 

[chimpy]

OK thanks I will go with that one. But why is it the obvious choice? I'm not doubting you or anything, I would just like to know

 

[xeodragon]

oh because 1. you wont be overclocking (DFI is enthusiast designed for OC'ing), and 2. it's your first build (DFI needs a bunch of tweaking and stuff). check the official msi k8n platinum thread, it appears to have some problems, but i'll probably be getting the same mobob as you.