socket 939 AGP/PCI motherboard

sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
edited July 2005 in Hardware
I'm planning on upgrading to a new motherboard and a64 processor pretty soon, and I'm stumped on which motherboard to get. I definitely want no pcie,an 8x/4x agp slot, a bunch of pci, 4 dimm slots, and of course socket 939. I did a search on Newegg and found 3 possible motherboards + the DFI I was already looking at. So I need suggestions on which one to go with. Thanks

Abit AV8
Abit AV8-3rd Eye
Asus A8V Deluxe
DFI UT Ultra-D NF3 939

Comments

  • JengoJengo Pasco, WA | USA
    edited July 2005
    I'd Go with the abit Av8-3rd eye! but of course, you already new that.

    ;):thumbsup:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    that sounds fine - they all look so similar to me, that I could take any of them. I dont see much difference between the four. Just a little here and there (and the DFI chipset).

    If I get some positive comments on the 3rd-eye I'll add that to my wishlist instead of the DFI. :)
  • rykoryko new york
    edited July 2005
    well i would go with the dfi if you can find it. however, be warned as i heard that dfi is having some issues with their nf3 board which might be why newegg pulled it.

    there are some other nf3 boards though, from epox and msi that look pretty good. be careful though b/c on all nf3 boards it seems that sata ports 1 and 2 are not locked. this could lead to data corruption if you overclock too high.

    the via chipset boards are stable and decent, but don't overclock very well so i personally would shy away from them. if you don't plan on overclocking then they would be ok. i would go with the abit av8 (no 3rd eye) in that case b/c my 2 abit boards have been rock solid (although they are intel chipsets, not via).
  • JengoJengo Pasco, WA | USA
    edited July 2005
    Although NForce2 and Nforce4 are super sweet, NF3 could not beat VIA's K8T800 in many benchmarks. Therefore between NF3 and VIA's K8T800 i would have to say get a K8T800 chipset board.

    Here Is a review between the K8T800 and NF3 boards.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    ryko wrote:
    well i would go with the dfi if you can find it. however, be warned as i heard that dfi is having some issues with their nf3 board which might be why newegg pulled it.

    there are some other nf3 boards though, from epox and msi that look pretty good. be careful though b/c on all nf3 boards it seems that sata ports 1 and 2 are not locked. this could lead to data corruption if you overclock too high.

    the via chipset boards are stable and decent, but don't overclock very well so i personally would shy away from them. if you don't plan on overclocking then they would be ok. i would go with the abit av8 (no 3rd eye) in that case b/c my 2 abit boards have been rock solid (although they are intel chipsets, not via).
    ok the DFI board was on newegg, but pulled off multiple times because "it's out of stock and we don't have an ETA on it. But its not discontinued". (I called twice).

    If you hear theres issues with the NF3 boards, that decides it for me. I wont get the DFI. Jengo showed me a benchmark that showed the Via K8T800 to be better than the NF3 anyways.

    I dont overclock at all. :)
  • b0wzb0wz Tri-Cities Washington, USA
    edited July 2005
    The asus is a nice board, just built one for a buddy, liked it so much, I am going to build one for the media box, lots of raid options, alc850 audio, and not so power hungry, not sure how well its going to overclock yet, the the cool and quiet stuff works really well. If you want to overclock........then the DFI (if the bugs are ironed out) is the way to go, If your an nvidia fan, watch out for Nforce 3 and 6800gt or ultra quirks.....ati's rock on that chipset though, but the via rocks with the nvidia stuff.........My Nf3 with the ati x850xt pe (on a dfi nf250gb) wipes the bfg 6800 ultraOC big time, and thats at 2.6 ghz....with memory speeds of 250mhz on the buss.......be fun to see how the 6800uoc does against my game box......good luck.....and check the reviews, DFI streets is a goos sorce on dfi stuff......
  • JengoJengo Pasco, WA | USA
    edited July 2005
    Hey Bowz your from Tri-cities!!!! Thats sweet dude!!
  • rykoryko new york
    edited July 2005
    Jengo wrote:
    Although NForce2 and Nforce4 are super sweet, NF3 could not beat VIA's K8T800 in many benchmarks. Therefore between NF3 and VIA's K8T800 i would have to say get a K8T800 chipset board.

    Here Is a review between the K8T800 and NF3 boards.

    umm dude, this is not a relevant review. it is between the via k8t800 and the nf3 150 chipsets. not the nf3 ultra of the dfi or the via k8t800pro of the abit av8.

    nf3 150 was craptastic and was soon replaced by the nf3 250 anf nf3 250gb. all of which are s754 so therefore NOT RELEVANT!!!

    anyway ask around, people will tell you that nf3 ultra smokes any via chipset easily...

    EDIT:// come on man, that review is from oct 6th, 2003!!! :wtf:
  • b0wzb0wz Tri-Cities Washington, USA
    edited July 2005
    Just a question of what you want to use the box for, both chipsets are good, and how you set it up, will determine whats best for your use. I use multiple drives, and raid arrays........so ports being unlocked on the sata interface is a real downside for me, not a problem with the via board....but then, the Nforce 3 boards will crank out for games....if that is what your looking for, and DFI (when it comes to OverClocking) is the winner hands down Period.......:)
  • JengoJengo Pasco, WA | USA
    edited July 2005
    Yes, they were craptastic, but you are right. The argument is between NF3 Ultra and K8T800 Pro, soo.... lets just up the notches a couple of holes.

    But fine, here is a different review by anandtech. At first it seems that NF3 U is the better CHipset. But... Just look. K8T more then holds its own. I think its just going to come down to what you prefer mr. Pilowings.

    ;)

    http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=16
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    they're so so so similar and neck-and-neck it doesnt matter THAT much to me. tenths of points! :p
  • rykoryko new york
    edited July 2005
    much better comparision this time around! :) yes they are roughly neck and neck at stock, but i have heard of people are getting better overclocks out of nf3ultra. many nf3ultras will do over 300fsb while most k8t800pros have trouble reaching 300 at a 1:1 ratio. since no overclocking for you it doesn't matter much.

    i look at it this way...

    via = value chipset

    nvidia = enthusiast chipset

    it is up to you to decide what is better for yourself and your needs...
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited July 2005
    Don't overlook the EPoX EP-9NDA3+ board either in your browsing for mobos. It's a good board with decent but not overwhelming overclocking options and sets up easy. Any time I look at something Via puts out, it just makes me want to gag a little. They've turned out so many unfinished chipsets in the past, I just tend to stay away from anything they manufacture now, as far as mobo chipsets go. The KT800Pro chipsets may have very well had most of the Via bugs worked out by now, but I'd rather not have to try it out and see.

    I've also heard that the KT800Pro chipset boards don't overclock nearly as well as the NF3 Ultra boards too, so if you want to make a system that runs like a high end proc is in it for relatively cheap, the Via boards are out of the picture.

    Newegg has the 9NDA3J boards for $87.99 and the 9NDA3+ boards for $98.00 and that is a real value for the 9NDA3+. This biggest drawback I find to the 9NDA3+ is that they only have a max vdimm 2.85v but they are also very easy to do a vdimm mod to. I plan to do that to mine when I come back in from work in a couple of weeks. With that said, the stock vdimm is plenty for you to run some TCCD ram in it to insane levels.

    EDIT: Talking of Via chipsets and bugs, I ran across this article at the INQ this evening , talking about a SATA II hard drive incompatability. Here's a quote from the article:
    Inquirer wrote:
    If you connect S-ATA II drives to an old Via chipset which includes the VT8237, VT8237R, VT6420 and VT6421L, the devices won't be detected.
    And the VT8237 and VT8237R southbridges are what is used on the K8T800 Pro motherboards.
  • b0wzb0wz Tri-Cities Washington, USA
    edited July 2005
    Wow on the S-ATA II drives...but then, the asus Rev 2 board I just built, saw the new hittachi s-ata II drive just fine, will see what happens when I build the raid0 array on the next one..........2 hitachi 80's (s-ata II).
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    well with all of that said, ryko and muddocktor, I begin to wonder what on earth I should do.

    The DFI NF3 motherboard, from what you guys are saying, has bugs. I really don't see myself having problems with it because I don't use any unordinary hardware or by all means high-end (SATA, RAID, etc.). I take back a little bit of what I said - I might do some overclocking. This sure puts me in a bind..

    Muddocktor - I'm a total n00b to SATA and all, so what is SATA II? If I upgraded in the future, would I be using SATA II?

    Money really isn't an issue here. I like to stay under the $150 range and pick up a good quality motherboard that works for my needs.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    I've really fallen in love with the Abit 3-rd Eye, but maybe I should start considering one of those MSI's.

    Here's all the choices on Newegg:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=709%3A7495&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=723%3A7533&PropertyCodeValue=724%3A7534&PropertyCodeValue=727%3A7546&PropertyCodeValue=734%3A7577&PropertyCodeValue=736%3A16892&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=2473%3A15469&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=22&Submit=Property
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited July 2005
    Heres a quick pros/cons list for the asus a8v deluxe and the msi k8n neo 2 platinum if you decide to consider that one.


    Asus a8v deluxe.
    pros
    -Rock solid relieable and stable
    -No anoying northbridge fan
    -Reports the exact same voltages as my multimeter
    -Temps sound about right
    -Great with linux right out of the box no problems
    -Working pci lock
    cons
    -Required a bios update to get my old ram to work in dual channel (old ram was corsair xms with winbond ch-5 ic's)


    Msi k8n neo 2 platinum
    pros
    -Great overclocker
    -Working pci lock
    -Benchmarks higher then my asus a8v deluxe exact same hardware for everything but the cs source stress test.
    cons
    -Board had problems doing a cold boot for me
    -Wrong voltages
    -Wrong temps reported
    -Only board ive seen crash in the bios ever ! (Even with the latest bios's from msi It still some times crashes*Hint to owners never press enter when htt is selected*)
    -North Bridge fan gets loud
    - My rev 2 I got back recently is making that sound that my gigabyte made before all the 1000uf capasitors blew up :/

    I would avoid the msi k8n neo 2 platinum its the worst board ive ever owned. (rma'ed it 3 times to make sure it wasn't just a bad board)
  • rykoryko new york
    edited July 2005
    i have never owned an msi board, and i don't think i will. i have heard many problems with the msi nf3ultra board, but it just looks so tempting. msi boards always seem to have strange quirks that need to be sorted out. also the whole thing about their nf4/nf4ultra/nf4sli boards not supporting x2's---even with a BIOS update. you need to send your board in and they actually have to add a few components to it! not sure if the nf3ulltra board is the same, but i imagine it is...

    i have mostly used abit and loved them. also used asus which i really like and a few crappy brands like ecs, soyo, etc...

    why 3rd eye if you go for the abit? I think it is just a gimmick. I mean are you actually going to use it to overclock? I wouldn't. Just stick to the BIOS for overclocking instead of their windows/external based uguru. I have uguru on my ai7 and it's nice , but i don't use it to overclock in windows....more for monitoring and such.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    exactly - I just want it to monitor temperatures, not really use it to overclock.

    I really really like that abit 3rd eye like I've said :)
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited July 2005
    Asus has a nice little app called pc probe uses about 2mb of ram and works great.


    Your chaintech board probably even has an app on the cd.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    GrayFox wrote:
    Asus has a nice little app called pc probe uses about 2mb of ram and works great.


    Your chaintech board probably even has an app on the cd.
    doubt it because the board has no sensors whatsoever ;D

    I just read over 2 or 3 really great reviews of the 3rd Eye, and I'm really leaning toward it now. I also found that the uGuru Clock has the capability for E-Mail and IM notifications!! Thats pretty cool. I think I'm going to buy it along with a A64 3200+ as soon as the money comes :)

    edit: I just added those two items to the shopping cart, and the total will be $302.50. I have about $240.00 to spend on it right now, so it wont be long :cool:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    Well I've made a deal for a DFI UT Ultra-D NF3 and a 3200+ Winchester. I'm planning on buying it tomorrow (Monday)! :)
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited July 2005
    pilotwings119 wrote:
    Well I've made a deal for a DFI UT Ultra-D NF3 and a 3200+ Winchester. I'm planning on buying it tomorrow (Monday)! :)
    Good deal! ;)

    You will need to learn about what works and what to do to make it work with that board. It is a great board but will certainly need some tuning and adjustments to run well (even not overclocked). The DFI you plan on buying and the MSI board both are great boards hardware wise. But they both suffer from poor bios's with MSI being very slow to release anything. DFI On the other hand has been trying and has released some improve bios's and recalled a couple. So you will really need to do your homework to do it right.

    Here are some links for you to do some reading:

    http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php?

    http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    thanks very much for the info

    Well I'm hoping the deal still stands... I just got a PM saying to hold off on it :( :bawling:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited July 2005
    well with those two links, i searched through both forums and found a couple threads. the only thing I could find was this site.
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