Which one of these mobos would be the best for me?

[BigCoolJesus]

Just to say it: i did not list any DFI mobos because ive heard to many mixed reviews, and to much 'hit and miss' reviews. Unless someone here gives me a good reason to get a DFI Ultra-D board, i most likely wont go that way................


With that said, these are the three mobos im stuck on.....

1) The Asus A8N SLI Deluxe
Ive had an Asus K8V before, and i loved how stable it was, and i love how this board offers some overclocking


2) EPoX EP-9NPA+ SLi
Newegg finally picked up the SLI Epox mobo, and ive never used Epox but all i here is great things from them


3)EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra
This is my non-SLI choice, as im still trying to decide if i need SLI or not......


Ok, just to let you know, im upgrading for the purpose of future upgradability, meaning that if in a year or two i want to get a slightly better CPU, or video card, i dont have to change my whole system to do it.

With that said, do i need SLI?
I mean, the Epox Ultra is a nice board, and its also very cheap, but its not SLI, its that a problem for me if i want an upgradable system, or will SLI eventually be phased out by faster single graphics cards (ie, 7800GTX's)???



And if i do want SLI, which board would be better to squeeze the most out of my San Diego 3700+??? (the epox or asus)???


Thanks.

 

[SPQQKY]

I would say it is not a problem as far as upgrading will go. If you really want something to hold onto for a while, I would go ahead with the SLI from Epox. It will be much easier to add a second video card and by then the prices will drop anyway. I think it would be cheaper to add a second older video card and the performance gain will be just as good or better than selling your old crad and getting the next best thing. Besides, more and more games will support SLI and ATi's crossfire.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Originally posted by: SPQQKY
I would say it is not a problem as far as upgrading will go. If you really want something to hold onto for a while, I would go ahead with the SLI from Epox. It will be much easier to add a second video card and by then the prices will drop anyway. I think it would be cheaper to add a second older video card and the performance gain will be just as good or better than selling your old crad and getting the next best thing. Besides, more and more games will support SLI and ATi's crossfire.

So i should go with SLI, as it will probably stay the leading video technology for awhile?
(someone told me SLI would die out within in a year, thats the only reason why ive had second thoughts on paying more for it)


And with that established, is the Epox the better board to go with?

Between the Epox and the Asus, which one is more OC friendly, but also stable??

 

[SPQQKY]

The Epox is the much better bet. It does not have issues with 1T command rate when you raise the HTT like the Asus does. My Ultra has gone up to 340 HTT and I understand the SLI is a better OCer. I have seen a few well over 400 HTT. It has 4 phase power regulation, which helps stability and a plethora of BIOS tweaks. I probably would have gotten one had it been available at the time, but I am truly happy with my Ultra. I owned the Asus A8N SLI-D and it was a good board, then I got the DFI SLI and it sucked then died, then the replacement for the DFI was also very unstable for me, so I replaced it with the Epox and couldn't be happier. I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Thanks, i was waiting for someones actual review of the Epox. Ive heard nothing but good, so i think ill go with that and save me $20 while im at it.



Also, what type of software comes with the Epox? Does it have temp monitoring like Asus probe, or its own type of overclocking software (newegg doesnt go into detail on the Epox)??

 

[BigCoolJesus]

How friendly is the BIOS?

If i go to overclock, it wont be to hard to do will it?
(im used to Asus bios, which are usually very user friendly)

 

[imported_Husky55]

Originally posted by: BigCoolJesus
How friendly is the BIOS?

If i go to overclock, it wont be to hard to do will it?
(im used to Asus bios, which are usually very user friendly)

I have Asus, Epox and MSI. The Epox is just as good and firendly for OC and RAM.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Thanks, thats all i needed to here.

Looks like im going with the Epox SLI board.

Im actually excited to be going with a new brand, this way i have no idea whats in store (software wise, etc)

 

[BigCoolJesus]

I ordered a Vantec Iceberg All in one Chipset cooler, because i thought i was getting the Asus board (and the fan on the asus board is unreasonably loud) but now im getting the Epox


Ive heard that the Northbridge gets very hot on the Epox, would the Vantec i have (all copper) work better then the stock cooler?

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Originally posted by: BigCoolJesus
I ordered a Vantec Iceberg All in one Chipset cooler, because i thought i was getting the Asus board (and the fan on the asus board is unreasonably loud) but now im getting the Epox


Ive heard that the Northbridge gets very hot on the Epox, would the Vantec i have (all copper) work better then the stock cooler?

just looking for a quick answer

 

[The Pentium Guy]

I haven't heard about the northbridge getting hot on the EPoX.

Btw, if you were deciding between the ASUS and the EPoX I would have looked at the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium instead of the Deluxe. It doesn't have the noise issues and the bugs listed.

In either case, the EPoX is an excelent board - the hsf isn't that small, so I don't think you'll have that much of an issue with it.

-TPG

 

[wbynum]

Got my Epox 9NPA+ SLI board running this weekend. Seemed to work fine and has all the overclocking functions. At $138 + shipping through newegg this board is a steal.

 

[Fallengod]

As pentium guy said, I would definatly pick the sli-platinum over epox. With that said, My problem is, I am not doing sli, and the Asus premium costs a damn arm and a leg. Maybe even other body parts. When I can get the Epox ultra for $105 or sli for $130 or whatever it is. Its hard to shell out almost $200 when you have the same basic things as a $105 mobo. I guess if I was actually going sli, might make things a bit different. I wish the premium was around $140 or so, that would make me change my mind. As of now though, I am deciding between Asus A8N-E and Epox.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Whoops. I phrased my post wrong.
I meant to say that I'd pick the EPoX over the ASUS. BUT if you insisted on ASUS, it would have to be the A8N-SLI Premium as opposed to the A8N-SLI Deluxe.

In short: my recommendation is EPoX.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Yea, i was looking at Asus, but then someone reccomended Epox a while back, and ive looked into them and im not looking back

there a great board (Made right here in the USA, which is why there cheaper) and they are the second best overclockers (behind DFI of course)

what else could i ask for?



So i guess ill just keep the vantec laying around just in case, but i dont think ill need to do ne thing with it