but i wonder and i am not clear on my assumption.
is it good and better to go with most of the things built in mother board
or
buy a basic one and buy all other cards
I will be mostly using with linux
which chip sets are most supported with linux
I don't think so. You know, I've been an Abit diehard fan since the BH6 days but not even Abit can top DFI this time. Besides, it's been downhill for them since the NF7-S rev2
Did you read the press release? check out the voltage options on the LP SLI-DR?
0
Geeky1University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
edited January 2005
Face it Thrax: Abit hasn't been doing very well lately. Their P4 boards have/had temperature reading issues which Abit refuses to acknowledge, the DFI i875 infinity/lanparty boards OC better than the Abit P4 boards do. I've heard nothing particularly spectacular about their A64 boards, they haven't got any dual cpu boards that I'm aware of, or if they do, they're not commonly sold and they're not enthusiast level boards in the way the BP6 was. They don't have any Pentium M boards. Every AXP board they've made after the NF7-S v2 has been an unmitigated piece of ****. And they haven't done anything particularly noteworthy on the graphics card front.
ABIT isn't as good as it used to be. Not even close.
1. Don't care about their P4 boards.
2. Don't care about temperature issues; if I can make it accurate in my head, big whoop.
3. I don't care about SMP boards.
4. It's not like there have been any exceedingly wonderful Athlon 64 chipsets, either. Abit also didn't <i>make</i> a socket 939 board on the one good chipset - the nForce3 ULTRA.
5. I don't give one rat's <i>ass</i> if they don't make a Pentium M board - that doesn't make a motherboard maker good or bad.
6. Most of the ones after the NF7-S 2 haven't been designed for enthusiasts, just carry a similar name.
7. ooh, graphics cards.. Yay. Not Abit's primary focus whatsoever.
Equito:
Yes, I read the press release.
However, do not mistake me: I will buy whatever ends up being the best.. Hell, if a bloody Gigabyte board started fielding stellar reviews, I would begrudginly buy it. I just want to see what ABIT has to offer before I blindly gravitate to the DFI offering.. That's it.
Hey I am totally new to assembling personal desktop.
dont take my words serious!
Since i am assembling my desktop
My main pupose is video editing, Photo editing, running Planetarium software, installing oracle on linux, and purely playing with new softwares.
I live in singapore, i can spend $$$ between medium to good configuration.
sugesst me the good components.
I had decided on below confiuration, but dont know with which vendor to with.
##AMD64 bit 939 socket(processor has to support 32 bit, 64bit and 32/64 bit) --> planning to go with 3500+
##MOBO --> no idea which one to buy( should support 3500+ and above)
##RAM DDR between 1GB to 1.5GB --> no idea on vendor
##SATA HDD --> no idea on vendor
##wireless lan 802.11g( I use wireless at home)--> no idea on vendor
##256MB graphics card(medium cost) --> no idea on vendor
##OS--> Win XP 64-bit and Linux 64-bit (mostly i use linux, windows is last resort for browse net)
Guys and experts out there suggest me the components.
give me your views about the vendor you like.
We have had a few of these configuration threads recently.
I'll through my comments in, but you should also go to www.anandtech.com and check out the guides. They give a very complete walk through of selecting componants.
Anandtech has also posted a few articles recently about Linux and some compatability issues.
I would prefer to buy a mobo with good integrated features and forget additional cards.
The recent DFI Lanparty mobos have been very strong. Both stable and good overclocking. They look great also.
I wouldn't worry about which CPU, as long as it is a 90nm you should be fine.
Memory is another issue. There is some memory that will overclock on NF4 and some won't. You need to find reviews like this one http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2312
The performance available by selecting lower multipliers and higher FSB is very nice.
I am not going to touch the graphics card issue. OK, I am going to. The new pci-e cards are out there. If you want to stay mid-price you should look at either the ATI X700XT or the GeForce 6600. These are both 256MB with 128bit data path. If you step up to the next cards, the X800 and the 6800, you will get 256bit data and a lot more power.
Right now you could buy a SLI mobo and a single 6600 SLI video card. If you wanted to you could add the second video card later.
You probably should stick with NVidia. They linix drivers are better and they have an edge on NF mobos.
Hey yesterday i went to market to check on processor
they are selling Two kind of processors.
one is Tray processor
there are so many processors kept in a plastic tray with out any individual protection
and other is Box processor
This processor is sealed in good box with all the details and manuals,
BOX processor comes with 3 years wranty while tray processor comes with 1 year wranty
what is this confusion, which one to go with.
Sales guy told AMD64(939 scoket) 3500+ only supports 64bit.
to my knowldge AMD64(939 socket) 3500+ suports pure 32bit, pure 64bit, mixed 32/64bit
is my understanding correct.
Which cpu to buy, oem or retail, depends on the price difference.
If a good heatsink and fan is going to cost you $35, and the oem cpu is only $25 less, then go with the retail one that comes with a heat sink.
If you really want to overclock, buy the oem, because tehn you will need to buy a good heatsink anyway.
Purchased the Gigabyte K8 NF-9 Mobo and I am running it with a 6600GT GPU, 1 Gig Ram and 3500 Amd cPU. I am pleased with this board even though initial support from Gigabyte is poor, although it is a new board. This was one of the first NF4 Mobos available in the UK.
Not Being a headline board it appears very stable and performance to the eye seems very good although I have yet to run any benchmark tests out of curiosity.
However if you want to go for the dual GPU Sli setup now or in the future The Gigabyte Sli offering and the Asus one both got excellent reviews on Anandtech, I seem to remember reading. The NF4 has also allowed me into the PCIe range. The Gigabyte 6600GT Pcie card ran for the first time last night and was outstanding, again to the eye. The only problem I had with the whole experience was setting up a SATA drive on a fresh XP install...not that was a betch!!!!!!!
Good luck and enjoy....the difference between men and boys is as always the price of their toys!!!!!!
I don't think so. You know, I've been an Abit diehard fan since the BH6 days but not even Abit can top DFI this time. Besides, it's been downhill for them since the NF7-S rev2
Did you read the press release? check out the voltage options on the LP SLI-DR?
yep.. the guy who designed the NF7-2 is now designing the Lanparty boards for DFI. The recent lanparty series board has been pretty damn good. I seen some pics of the nforce 4 board and I gotta admit its sexy...
MSI has come out with an exiting offer for Socet 939 owners
It boasts of a CREATIVE Sound Blaster 24 bit Audio onboard
Dual PCI Express is the obvious component (for dual 16x GPU)
So if you want to play Doom 3 (The way it is meant to be) try this one
MSI is also bringing the ATI Chipset for socket 939.I don't know much 'bout these but if anybody has tried it, his comments are welcome.
However, do not mistake me: I will buy whatever ends up being the best.. Hell, if a bloody Gigabyte board started fielding stellar reviews, I would begrudginly buy it. I just want to see what ABIT has to offer before I blindly gravitate to the DFI offering.. That's it.
I understand, I'm waiting too but I'm running out of patience. Abit doesn't even have a picture of their SLI board yet while the DFI's are out and kicking a$$ and the Ultra-D ($165) can be easily moded to full SLI.
I was expecting to have the money for my upgrade last week but it didn't happen, as soon as I get it I'm jumping ship...
How long have any of you guys been using DFI boards? I have had nothing but horrible luck in the past with these things. No I have not tried one in the last 8 to 12 months as I learned my lesson the hard way. They used to be a very low tier motherboard closer to a ECS then a MSI or ASUS.
I realize the great OC'ing specs and why OPPainter would go gaw-gaw over one but how many of you guys have used a few of these boards in the last 3 years? For any length of time. I really rated them as very poorly built and supported before.
Now that may of changed greatly in the last year but I would have my doubts. May be the best OverClocking board in the world. I just don't do that much OC'ing anymore and have had great luck with MSI and Asus lately as far as quality control and stability.
I mean a 3200+ to 3500+ 64bit amd is so dad gum fast for any normal computer use and the parts so expensive the gain from OCing isnt as great. It's a fun hobby for some but the general computer user doesnt need it anymore.
Howdy Tex! what's up dude? I didn't know you were around. I owe you a phone call, shoot me an email with the best time ok?
About DFI: as mentioned above, the main player at Abit (Oskar Wu) went to work for DFI and they made a complete turn around since.
They're catering to OC'ers now using first grade components and allowing absolute control in bios. Is not just OPP, but thousands of users around the world who are very happy with the boards.
Yeah when they first introduced the LanParty, all was just a board with some fancy UV PCI slots and other connectors. Now they seem to be making some nice boards since they hired the guy from Abit.
I want to upgrade to a A64-NF4 board sometime in the future and it will be one from one of these manufactures:
Abit
Asus
DFI
MSI
Not sure if it will just be an Ultra or full SLI board depending on if I want to mod it or not. Cant wait for a full blown NF4 review from the likes of Anandtech or someone.
Hey EQ! I'm always around dude. Call anytime. PM me for the new phone and address.
And I didnt mean just OPP. But rather if the boards were really stable long term for the non OC community. I am sure they are the cats meow for OC'ing. I just had too many failures. Both out of the box and over the first 12 months and got frustrated. When your in this to make money and it keeps costing ya time over and over again to make it work the profit is all gone and you lose your azz. I can only afford to do it so many times. I also hated the Soyo dragon line as I had several that took way way to much work to get setup right and running properly and I swore never more for them or not with any kind of set price like I usually did.
It's very possible though for a company like this to make a major turn around as far as quailty in a very short amount of time. It just takes a commitment to change from the top of the organization all the way through the labs and customer support philosophy and I am not argueing that DFI has not done that.
Just reporting my reservations after a number of dismal experiances with their fancy high end boards in the last few years. I think quality control was a major problem.
I have worked with friends on a few 939 mobo recently.
1. The DFI LanParty are very fast, but none of them have much time running yet.
2. The memory that you will need to really OC the FSB is very $$$$
3. The MSI mobo have been very stable and have had few compatability issues.
If it was for my primary machine I would go MSI.
If it were a play/folding box, then the DFI looks good.
0
Mt_GoatHead Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin)Icrontian
edited February 2005
If anyone has doubts I think this Anandtech review posted by lemonlime here should clear things up.
The thing that stood out to me was that it did so well in everything from high end workstation to gaming at stock settings then went on to be the best OC'ing board on top of it all is just amazing! And with this board there is no need to get the SLI version if you don't want all the extras as the pencil mod will only take you 5 minutes and save you some serious cash! Sigh, too bad I really want all the extra crap as it is costing me the extra wit time.
Hey EQ! I'm always around dude. Call anytime. PM me for the new phone and address.
And I didnt mean just OPP. But rather if the boards were really stable long term for the non OC community. I am sure they are the cats meow for OC'ing. I just had too many failures. Both out of the box and over the first 12 months and got frustrated. When your in this to make money and it keeps costing ya time over and over again to make it work the profit is all gone and you lose your azz. I can only afford to do it so many times. I also hated the Soyo dragon line as I had several that took way way to much work to get setup right and running properly and I swore never more for them or not with any kind of set price like I usually did.
It's very possible though for a company like this to make a major turn around as far as quailty in a very short amount of time. It just takes a commitment to change from the top of the organization all the way through the labs and customer support philosophy and I am not argueing that DFI has not done that.
Just reporting my reservations after a number of dismal experiances with their fancy high end boards in the last few years. I think quality control was a major problem.
Hopefully they got their sheet together.
PM me bud for contact info.
Tex
I know what you mean. I've been using a DFI Lan Party Ultra B for the last 15 months.
The build quality wasn't great (re dodgy ziff sockets) and it could be biatch to get it going in the first place. But once it was & you found the sweet spot for your board & cpu they were great boards. I only retired mine to folding duties only last week, previous to that it was my main desktop board for most of the 15 months. It was uber stable as long as you didn't reboot frequently or turn the power off for long periods of time.
I think as long as people realise that these are enthusiasts boards that may require a bit of TLC then folks wont be dissappointed
Comments
My laptop is finally spoiled.
This time i want to go for Desktop
Decided to go with AMD64 processor with 939 socket.
I am now on a quest for , with which mother board i should go with.
I had seen three MOBO's with NFORCE4 chipsets.
the three are
MSI Please check the below link
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=638
GIGABYTE Please check the below link
http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-K8NXP-SLI.htm
Abit please check this link
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=215
when i check all the three specs, i am leaning towards MSI K8N Dimond, will be releae during this week end here in singapore.
Please participate in my disucssion for quest on MOBO decision.
http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-d/overview.htm
looks good
but i wonder and i am not clear on my assumption.
is it good and better to go with most of the things built in mother board
or
buy a basic one and buy all other cards
I will be mostly using with linux
which chip sets are most supported with linux
is msi a stable board and nf4 a stable chip set.
enough said...
Did you read the press release? check out the voltage options on the LP SLI-DR?
ABIT isn't as good as it used to be. Not even close.
2. Don't care about temperature issues; if I can make it accurate in my head, big whoop.
3. I don't care about SMP boards.
4. It's not like there have been any exceedingly wonderful Athlon 64 chipsets, either. Abit also didn't <i>make</i> a socket 939 board on the one good chipset - the nForce3 ULTRA.
5. I don't give one rat's <i>ass</i> if they don't make a Pentium M board - that doesn't make a motherboard maker good or bad.
6. Most of the ones after the NF7-S 2 haven't been designed for enthusiasts, just carry a similar name.
7. ooh, graphics cards.. Yay. Not Abit's primary focus whatsoever.
Equito:
Yes, I read the press release.
However, do not mistake me: I will buy whatever ends up being the best.. Hell, if a bloody Gigabyte board started fielding stellar reviews, I would begrudginly buy it. I just want to see what ABIT has to offer before I blindly gravitate to the DFI offering.. That's it.
Hey I am totally new to assembling personal desktop.
dont take my words serious!
Since i am assembling my desktop
My main pupose is video editing, Photo editing, running Planetarium software, installing oracle on linux, and purely playing with new softwares.
I live in singapore, i can spend $$$ between medium to good configuration.
sugesst me the good components.
I had decided on below confiuration, but dont know with which vendor to with.
##AMD64 bit 939 socket(processor has to support 32 bit, 64bit and 32/64 bit) --> planning to go with 3500+
##MOBO --> no idea which one to buy( should support 3500+ and above)
##RAM DDR between 1GB to 1.5GB --> no idea on vendor
##SATA HDD --> no idea on vendor
##wireless lan 802.11g( I use wireless at home)--> no idea on vendor
##256MB graphics card(medium cost) --> no idea on vendor
##OS--> Win XP 64-bit and Linux 64-bit (mostly i use linux, windows is last resort for browse net)
Guys and experts out there suggest me the components.
give me your views about the vendor you like.
I'll through my comments in, but you should also go to www.anandtech.com and check out the guides. They give a very complete walk through of selecting componants.
Anandtech has also posted a few articles recently about Linux and some compatability issues.
I would prefer to buy a mobo with good integrated features and forget additional cards.
The recent DFI Lanparty mobos have been very strong. Both stable and good overclocking. They look great also.
I wouldn't worry about which CPU, as long as it is a 90nm you should be fine.
Memory is another issue. There is some memory that will overclock on NF4 and some won't. You need to find reviews like this one http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2312
The performance available by selecting lower multipliers and higher FSB is very nice.
I am not going to touch the graphics card issue. OK, I am going to. The new pci-e cards are out there. If you want to stay mid-price you should look at either the ATI X700XT or the GeForce 6600. These are both 256MB with 128bit data path. If you step up to the next cards, the X800 and the 6800, you will get 256bit data and a lot more power.
Right now you could buy a SLI mobo and a single 6600 SLI video card. If you wanted to you could add the second video card later.
You probably should stick with NVidia. They linix drivers are better and they have an edge on NF mobos.
they are selling Two kind of processors.
one is Tray processor
there are so many processors kept in a plastic tray with out any individual protection
and other is Box processor
This processor is sealed in good box with all the details and manuals,
BOX processor comes with 3 years wranty while tray processor comes with 1 year wranty
Sales guy told AMD64(939 scoket) 3500+ only supports 64bit.
to my knowldge AMD64(939 socket) 3500+ suports pure 32bit, pure 64bit, mixed 32/64bit
is my understanding correct.
If a good heatsink and fan is going to cost you $35, and the oem cpu is only $25 less, then go with the retail one that comes with a heat sink.
If you really want to overclock, buy the oem, because tehn you will need to buy a good heatsink anyway.
Not Being a headline board it appears very stable and performance to the eye seems very good although I have yet to run any benchmark tests out of curiosity.
However if you want to go for the dual GPU Sli setup now or in the future The Gigabyte Sli offering and the Asus one both got excellent reviews on Anandtech, I seem to remember reading. The NF4 has also allowed me into the PCIe range. The Gigabyte 6600GT Pcie card ran for the first time last night and was outstanding, again to the eye. The only problem I had with the whole experience was setting up a SATA drive on a fresh XP install...not that was a betch!!!!!!!
Good luck and enjoy....the difference between men and boys is as always the price of their toys!!!!!!
yep.. the guy who designed the NF7-2 is now designing the Lanparty boards for DFI. The recent lanparty series board has been pretty damn good. I seen some pics of the nforce 4 board and I gotta admit its sexy...
It boasts of a CREATIVE Sound Blaster 24 bit Audio onboard
Dual PCI Express is the obvious component (for dual 16x GPU)
So if you want to play Doom 3 (The way it is meant to be) try this one
MSI is also bringing the ATI Chipset for socket 939.I don't know much 'bout these but if anybody has tried it, his comments are welcome.
I was expecting to have the money for my upgrade last week but it didn't happen, as soon as I get it I'm jumping ship...
I realize the great OC'ing specs and why OPPainter would go gaw-gaw over one but how many of you guys have used a few of these boards in the last 3 years? For any length of time. I really rated them as very poorly built and supported before.
Now that may of changed greatly in the last year but I would have my doubts. May be the best OverClocking board in the world. I just don't do that much OC'ing anymore and have had great luck with MSI and Asus lately as far as quality control and stability.
I mean a 3200+ to 3500+ 64bit amd is so dad gum fast for any normal computer use and the parts so expensive the gain from OCing isnt as great. It's a fun hobby for some but the general computer user doesnt need it anymore.
Tex
About DFI: as mentioned above, the main player at Abit (Oskar Wu) went to work for DFI and they made a complete turn around since.
They're catering to OC'ers now using first grade components and allowing absolute control in bios. Is not just OPP, but thousands of users around the world who are very happy with the boards.
I want to upgrade to a A64-NF4 board sometime in the future and it will be one from one of these manufactures:
Abit
Asus
DFI
MSI
Not sure if it will just be an Ultra or full SLI board depending on if I want to mod it or not. Cant wait for a full blown NF4 review from the likes of Anandtech or someone.
And I didnt mean just OPP. But rather if the boards were really stable long term for the non OC community. I am sure they are the cats meow for OC'ing. I just had too many failures. Both out of the box and over the first 12 months and got frustrated. When your in this to make money and it keeps costing ya time over and over again to make it work the profit is all gone and you lose your azz. I can only afford to do it so many times. I also hated the Soyo dragon line as I had several that took way way to much work to get setup right and running properly and I swore never more for them or not with any kind of set price like I usually did.
It's very possible though for a company like this to make a major turn around as far as quailty in a very short amount of time. It just takes a commitment to change from the top of the organization all the way through the labs and customer support philosophy and I am not argueing that DFI has not done that.
Just reporting my reservations after a number of dismal experiances with their fancy high end boards in the last few years. I think quality control was a major problem.
Hopefully they got their sheet together.
PM me bud for contact info.
Tex
1. The DFI LanParty are very fast, but none of them have much time running yet.
2. The memory that you will need to really OC the FSB is very $$$$
3. The MSI mobo have been very stable and have had few compatability issues.
If it was for my primary machine I would go MSI.
If it were a play/folding box, then the DFI looks good.
The thing that stood out to me was that it did so well in everything from high end workstation to gaming at stock settings then went on to be the best OC'ing board on top of it all is just amazing! And with this board there is no need to get the SLI version if you don't want all the extras as the pencil mod will only take you 5 minutes and save you some serious cash!
I know what you mean. I've been using a DFI Lan Party Ultra B for the last 15 months.
The build quality wasn't great (re dodgy ziff sockets) and it could be biatch to get it going in the first place. But once it was & you found the sweet spot for your board & cpu they were great boards. I only retired mine to folding duties only last week, previous to that it was my main desktop board for most of the 15 months. It was uber stable as long as you didn't reboot frequently or turn the power off for long periods of time.
I think as long as people realise that these are enthusiasts boards that may require a bit of TLC then folks wont be dissappointed