Hard time choosing!

RWBRWB Icrontian
edited October 2005 in Hardware
I got the RMA request going through for my ASRock SATAII MB(BTW folks DON'T BUY THIS BOARD! Maybe you'll have better luck than I, but with as many complaints as I am seeing, probably not).

So anyways I need a replacement, something not quite $200 if possible. The $160 price range seems good, maybe a bit more, but less would be nice. The reason I am having a hard time choosing what I want is becuase I am seeing so many boards that seem identical but yet are different prices and just slightly different names.

IE: This page at newegg showings o many ASUS and DFI boards that seems identical in specs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=709%3A7495&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=736%3A7588&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=22&Submit=Property

So yeah, what I want is an SLI capable board since i have an SLI capable Geforce6600GT card right now I may upgrade sometime in the next couple months if the card gets around $100.

SLI
x4 DIMMs so I can utilize my 2GB of PC3200 DDR
Socket 939 for my X2 3800+ CPU

Any ideas? I really don't want to spend much money, unless it's totally worth it. Like I said $160 seems about right, but $200 is STEEP. I need some money left over to replace my engine mounts and transmission mounts!
:p

Thanks guys for your help. Some explaination of why these boards seem so similar like:
DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
vs.
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

But yet cost so different would be nice too :thumbsup:

I also want to add that I don't plan on upgrading again for quite some time, exept adding another 6600GT for SLI later on.

Comments

  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited October 2005
    Is that Asrock board the one that had both AGP and PCI Express?
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    Yes it is... I really wish it were as nice as I had hoped. But I had a whole load of graphical issues with it. Artifacting in both AGP and PCI-E with two different cards. One wouldn't work at all in anything 3D(Geforce6200), the other an ATI 9800XT/Pro which would artifact on certain things. Such as the light test in the forest with that orb that fly's around in 3D mark 05 I would see polygonal distortion, and the boat ship test would have texture artifacts on the boat itself. Eventually it just died out on me totally.

    Bad board possibly, but if you look around you'll see many people with many issues. :shakehead
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    After looking around, I am leaning for the ABIT Fatality A8N-SLI Motherboard, but it seems to be out of stock at the moment at newegg and I want it now. Guess I will actually be buying from another vendor for once in a very long time. :eek:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    I have both the LP UT NF4 Ultra-D and the LP UT NF4 SLI=DR. Both are identical except for 2 things. The obvious is that the SLi board is SLI capable (the Ultra-D can be modded very easily and then you would need to get a bridge). The second is that the boards with "DR" at the end have a second SATA/ RAID controller (SATA 150) and all drives can be combined between both SATA controllers and the IDE controller. Both boards are very sweet and your needs would deterimine which you would choose. All the DFI LP series are identical except for the features mentioned and the UV colored parts on the UT series. ASUS seems to be making a comeback in the K8 arena with their NF4 boards and don't forget MSI and Epox. All get high scores here but I wouldn't trade my 3 DFI boards at this point. ;)
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited October 2005
    Well, it was an asrock, which I was kinda unsure about anyway. It would be nice to see a more reputable company realase a board with that chipset.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    RWB bought the Fatality from somewhere else so no point recommending other boards now, heh.
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