Which NForce3 Ultra board? EPoX or MSI?

[tornadobox]

So the time has come to buy my NForce3 Ultra motherboard, which brand would you recommend? The EPoX or the MSI? Anyone have any problems with either of those? The Gigabyte board is out simply because it's too expensive.

Thanks!

 

[EglsFly]

I have been wondering the same question....
Looking forward to some replies.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The Gigabyte GA-K8NS ULTRA-939 is coming out soon in that same price range.

By soon I mean: it's already available in Japan and is listed in malabs.com, so it should hit retail stores in the US any day now.

 

[mdahc]

I don't think there's really an easy answer. The EPoX board's positioning of its SATA ports seems to be a little more practical than the MSI K8N Neo2, which has 2 of its 4 native SATA ports right above the AGP slot (although the EPoX EP-9NDA3+'s SATA ports are right below the AGP slot and right next to the chipset). However, the EPoX board uses a Marvell PCI SATA controller for two of its four SATA ports, meaning EPoX didn't implement the full potential of the nForce3 Ultra MCP. I chose the K8N Neo2 because of the fact that it implements all 4 of its SATA ports using the native nForce3 Ultra SATA controller (thus, your system is not doing so much I/O off the PCI bus if you're using more than two SATA devices). I also chose the MSI board because there were no reviews of the EPoX EP-9NDA3+ at the time.

A couple of other things, if EPoX sticks to their tradition of providing highly overclockable boards, then you might be able to get higher memory voltages on the EPoX board than on the MSI board (the MSI board tops off at 2.85V, which really should be more than adequate). Also, some forum members (including me) had a little trouble using the SATA ports on the bottom of the MSI board when overclocking. So again, no easy answer.

Therefore, if you plan on doing some hardcore overclocking and you don't care about the PCI SATA controller, then you might want to go for the EPoX board. If you plan on eventually being able to use more than two SATA devices and doing some mild overclocking, you might want to go with the MSI board. If you haven't bought any of your components yet, you might also consider waiting for the nForce4 Ultra, which gives you PCI Express and SATA 3Gbps. There should be some of these boards up for sale within the next couple of months.

One last thing, I don't know if I'd even consider the Gigabyte board previously mentioned. The only thing that really separates it from the MSI and EPoX boards is its Firewire 800 controller, which is also a PCI controller. Since its running off the PCI bus, you won't get anywhere near 800 Mbps (probably more like regular Firewire 400). In addition, the Gigabyte board has a combination of the MSI and EPoX drawbacks. It features the same awkward SATA placement of the MSI K8N Neo2 and the PCI SATA controller of the EPoX board, not to mention it has the DPS fan in addition to the chipset fan (extra noise).

 

[Subhuman25]

I went with MSI due bad experiences with EPOX boards in the past.Won't ever touch them again.
I find it odd that SATA port locations on the motherboard disturb people.Personally I could care less where the hell those ports are as long as they function and don't hinder any other functions of my system.And guess what .... they don't!
This MSI board overclocks just fine is you're into that.I'm not but just for shits & giggles did and it's fine for that.
I have to agree on not considering the Gigabyte board.It offers no adavantages over the MSI.
My recommendations go to MSI.

 

[EazyVG]

My recommendation goes to MSI.

Though Epox should be good, too. In the past I have used mainly Epox boards for my setups.
The only reason I went with the MSI was the fact of early availability, plus great reviews on this board.
By the way, this is first time I am using MSI board and I am fully satisfied with the performance, features and the o/c potential of the board.

 

[mdahc]

I have a Radeon 9700 Pro, which runs rather hot. I've also overclocked my CPU, so I had to use one of the SATA ports above the AGP slot (crash after crash with the other ones). So the fact that I have a SATA cable running right over it sort of worries and annoys me. I just ordered a Lian-Li PC-V1000 case, so now my motherboard will be turned upside down. I won't have to worry about touching the AGP card, but now the cable will be near my CPU heatsink. So I don't know if I'd just dismiss placement of the SATA ports automatically. Yes, technically it doesn't hinder any functionality, but you do have to be careful about feeding SATA cable throughout the case. I guess it's a personal thing.

My experience has overall been a good one with the MSI board, but I've read the EPoX board is rather solid, too. I just hate the SATA PCI controller.

If you haven't already made a commitment to your new system (i.e. if you haven't already bought an AGP card), I think your best bet would be to wait for nForce4 Ultra (or SLI if you really want to blow some money). AGP would kind of be a waste at this point, with Athlon64 PCI Express motherboards right around the corner.