Recommend me... socket 939, AGP...

ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
edited May 2005 in Hardware
all singing, all dancing motherboard :)

Im selling one of my 754 setups tomorrow (my desktop) and so Il be buying a 939 setup :)

Now before everyone shouts "but.. nForce4.. sli". Nice but I have a very nice GeForce 6800 GT that I have no buyer for, so for the moment.. this will be a two stage upgrade. Socket 939 first, then PCI-E in a couple of months :)

So what's the most feature packed board you can recommend...?

Im not worried about overclocking ability as I truly don't have the time. I just want to get shot of one of my 754 setups before they become obsolete :)

Comments

  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    I think this is the best of the lot by far with what you secified. It is not rated as an extreme overclocker but we all know MSI is one of the kings of stability and well made boards in general. I couldn't find a more equiped socket 939 board w/ AGP.

    PS:
    I almost got one of these for my wife's new rig till she informed me she wanted a new vid card too. She also said it had to have TV on it also, so I got her an Allinwonder X600.:rolleyes:


    MSI K8N NEO2 PLATINUM

    Here is a little more local link to keep it in price perspective.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Thats the one thats been recommended twice in phone calls tonight ;D

    Thanks for that Larry, I think thats the one Im gonna pop for unless someone can suggest something better :D
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Shorty, i have tried all of the S939 AGP boards out there and by far, the Epox is the best. Teh NEO2 have so many quirks it isn't even funny. It works good most of the time, but have lots of hickups along the way.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited May 2005
    MackanzOCZ wrote:
    Shorty, i have tried all of the S939 AGP boards out there and by far, the Epox is the best. Teh NEO2 have so many quirks it isn't even funny. It works good most of the time, but have lots of hickups along the way.


    Im along the same lines as teh shorty. Except my 939agp will have to last a year or more. Is the epox board super stable. Im not concerned with OCin it, what I need is 100% stability while gaming... My Abit NF7s has been the bestest board Ive ever owned but she is old and wants to do something less stressfull like become a pvr. Can I rely on this board>?
  • rykoryko new york
    edited May 2005
    i really want to like epox as i have heard positive reviews, but they really screwed up a few things on their s939/agp nf3 ultra boards.

    1. the sata location is awful. if you have a double-slot cooler, forget about using your sata ports. funny thing is they left a space in-between the agp and 1st pci slot for a double-slot cooler, but then they placed the sata ports in said space.

    2. they don't include a firewire port on the back of the mobo where all of the other I/O ports are--they never have and probably never will. if you want to use firewire you have to give up a pci slot or route it to the front of your case.

    also i have heard their RMA/customer service is below par. IMO, minor annoyances like these keep people away from epox.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited May 2005
    Dan, I maybe persuaded to sell my MSI K8N Neo 2 if you decide to go down that route. Still in perfect nick with box & cables etc. I think it still has around 6 months warranty left on it. Call me if you want to discuss. :)
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited May 2005
    If I were you Shorty, and I coldn't get anyone to buy my 6800GT off of me, I'd wait untill both the system, and the video card are long in the tooth, buy a great mobo and CPU (and RAM if you'll need it), along with a "slow" PCIe video card (but by this point it'll be something faster than the 6800GT you already have), and do the full flipping upgrade then.

    Otherwise, once the 6800GT is out, you'll have to buy YET ANOTHER motherboard along with a video card to be able to coninue along your upgrade path.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited May 2005
    MackanzOCZ wrote:
    Shorty, i have tried all of the S939 AGP boards out there and by far, the Epox is the best. Teh NEO2 have so many quirks it isn't even funny. It works good most of the time, but have lots of hickups along the way.
    THANK YOU

    Everyone with one was freaking out every time I said anything bad about my k8n neo 2 platinum.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Gobbles wrote:
    Im along the same lines as teh shorty. Except my 939agp will have to last a year or more. Is the epox board super stable. Im not concerned with OCin it, what I need is 100% stability while gaming... My Abit NF7s has been the bestest board Ive ever owned but she is old and wants to do something less stressfull like become a pvr. Can I rely on this board>?

    What i do when i test a new mainboard is to really push it at stock speeds for a couple of weeks. After that, i put on all the vdimm mods etc and overclock it. Now, i probably have more ram at my disposal than most here for obvious reasons, but the Epox passed every ramtest i ran which the MSI didn't.

    Get a cheap 3200 winchester, 1 or 2 GB of ram and this board won't disappoint you. Knowing Shorty, he will probably use 2 GB of ram. Just make sure you use 2X1GB sticks as the A64 hates 4Xdimms and command rate 1T.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    You got it Mack ;)
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Do you already have 2X1 GB of ram Shorty? I just got a kit here and i will test it tonight with some hefty UT2K4 gaming.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    I've got 2 x512mb in the desktop and 2 x 1gb in the server. Im upgrading to 2 x 1gb with the new rig. Developing stuff and Vmware just kill the 2 x 512mb stone dead!

    Let me know how you get on mate :D
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    I threw them right up to 220 and 2.5,3,3,6 timings. I'm sure they'll do 2,2,3,5 with some force, but they aren't meant for that.
    I haven't been running Prime yet, but UT2004 is in many times, a much harder application than anything else. That game just hates overclocks. No problem here with a 5 hour session yesterday. This is on the MSI NEO4 though, but i'm sure it works great on the Epox as well. Have you decided on a board yet?
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Well as it happens, I am working on a buyer for my 6800GT, so I may have to change my requirement for a SKT939 nForce4 :D

    I notice you mention the MSI NF4. How is that board working out for you..? :)

    I've gotta go 2GB for development purposes (VMware is a total memory hog and I've already maxed out my server with 2GB). Not damn bad results for 2GB of memory. As you say very rightly, 2GB is designed for other purposes :)
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    This board have been my 24/7 rig for a couple of months now actually. All office, gaming, video etc is being done on this one. Not a single reboot so far and things are overclocked as well.

    MSI Neo4 Diamond
    3500 Winchester
    2X6600 GT in sli
    520W Ocz Modstream
    4 harddrives, 2 of them are sata II in raid 0
    Various memory

    Perfect workstation in my opinion.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    MackanzOCZ,
    what has been your experience with the ASUS NF4 boards?
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Preacher,

    Personally, i haven't tried them, but i know for a fact that they don't overclock worth a dang. At stock speeds i'd say its a good board.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Thanks, Mac. I heard same, but I don't plan on overclocking.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    MackanzOCZ wrote:
    Preacher,

    Personally, i haven't tried them, but i know for a fact that they don't overclock worth a dang. At stock speeds i'd say its a good board.
    Yeah, Asus really lagged behind on this one. DFI and MSI are heads and shoulders ahead of all the others. Most reviews I have seen put the MSI in front not overclocked and a little behind the DFI for overclockability. All reviews point to the MSI being a rock solid champ as long as it isn't pushed too far.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    The MSI i have here overclocks VERY close to the DFI. However, it needs less clocks to perform the same as the DFI though. 245 on the msi is equal as 252 on the dfi or thereabouts. I have both of the boards right here and if i would buying one of them, it would be the msi. Especially the Diamond.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Well Im slowly forming quite a plan :)

    Provided one of my buyers for my GPU comes through, Il be grabbing the NF4 MSI Diamond board. 2GB of RAM and some maxline II 16mb drives (I still have a raptor lying around that needs using!).

    Now.. SLI.. Mack.. I trust you buddy.. is it worth 6600GT x2 or 6800GT x 1

    Oh and memory, 2GB for desktop and another 1GB to fill out the server to 3GB ;D
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited May 2005
    When I eventually go sli I'll get one 6800gt & then buy another later when I can afford it.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Shorty,

    If i would choose today and buy a videocard....hmm...tough one. I like ATI a lot better and a X800XL will do more than enough damage in benchmarks. The XL can also be used in a future "Ati sli" as the slave card. Noise and heat is something to consider as well you know....the XL wins here as well. The pro's with sli that i know you would like, is that you can use 4 screens....pro's and con's.

    I got 2X6600 mainly for the purpose of 2 cards for 2 testrigs but i have a couple of Ati cards on its way though.

    MSI Neo4 Diamond
    Amd winchester (or a san diego if you can afford it)
    Ati X800XL
    OCZ Platinum 3200 2X1GB kit
    OCZ Modstream 520 Powersupply (must be the most silent psu out there)
    Thermalright XP90
    2X Maxtor Sata II drives

    The problem with 2X cards in sli is cooling and noise. With such a short distance between the slots, it's hard to find a good and at the same time quiet solution for both cards. They do sound a lot with the stock cooling.

    That would be my rig of dreams for the money. I don't think anybody cares if they get 200 or 150 frames per second in Doom 3 or Half-Life 2. At this stage, its all about money, heat and noise.

    What would i change if i had the money?

    The new Amd X2 cpu would eb the first one to consider. 2X6800 GT's would be the next, but noise, heat and perhaps PSU issues would come in here. If not overclocked, the Modstream would handle 2X6800 without problems.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Cheers for all of this guys.. this is just awesome advice and comments :D

    As it stands, I appear to have sold my 6800GT AGP, so Im gonna check out the XL card. I've always been a big ATi fan, so Il check out prices.

    Processor wise.. well I _may_ have just secured an FX-55 for a very low amount of money, if that falls through.. Il go win 3500+ until X2 processors hit the right money :)

    Board.. that MSI coupled with 2GB of ram :cool:
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited May 2005
    I'm planning on a new system soon, great information guys. :)

    On the porcessor though... I thought Venice>Winchester?
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    I found the following on Anandtech's recent "Buyer's Guide: Mid-Range to High-End, May 2005" article:

    "The MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum SLI offers some great features, including the Sound Blaster 24-bit Live onboard audio. Unfortunately, we have recently discovered some performance issues when using the board with 90nm processors, so until MSI can release a BIOS update that addresses the issue, we would avoid the board."

    http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2426&p=2

    More fuel for the fire...
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    Ok... I shopped...

    3200+ Venice
    MSI NEO4 SLI
    X800XL graphics (don't need SLI and it's performance is enough for what little gaming I have time to do)
    2 x Maxline 16MB SATA II drives
    Antec case with LED fans (bling! ;D)

    Gonna let it bed in for a few weeks at stock, then Il turn to Mack for the overclocking time :cool:
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    You'll have a great rig there Dan. No doubt about it. You can easily max every settings out on any game and still have 50+ frames per second. Its all about tuning most of all, but a little overclock won't hurt. Since you will put 2 gigs of ram on that thing, you won't be able to take the memory that far, but you can still clock the cpu to 2.7 with a XP90. All you have to do is using the divider. I also have a special bios for you :D
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    You are my hero as always mate :respect:

    Thanks for all the help guys, it's really appreciated. It's a snorting rig I tell ya :D

    Gonna give it a few weeks to bed in, then Im gonna get this baby O/C :cool:
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