Contrast & Compare: nForce3 250Gb chipset

[Gothmael]

I'm pretty much dead set on my next system, I'm just hung on motherboard. I know I want an A64 3200+ with an nforce3 250Gb chipset board, just don't know which.. here are some of my prospects:
K8N-E Deluxe - asus
GA-K8NSNXP - gigabyte
KV8 Pro - abit
K8N Neo Platinum - msi

unforutnately i couldn't find a benchmark review of any of these boards.. is there any advice or suggestions on which way to swing it? maybe someone knows where a review is?

Thnx in advance

 

[SBGTF]

K8N-E Deluxe - asus - no reviews yet - none in the retail channel
K8N Neo Platinum - msi - Anandtech and tBreak have done reviews - Not in the retail channel yets

GA-K8NSNXP - gigabyte - not a 250GB board, just a 250 - Legion Hardware and tBreak have done reviews, none in the retail channel
KV8 Pro - abit - Based on the VIA K8T800 chipset

The other 250gb board you did not mention was the Epox 8KDA3+. It has been reviewed by Legion, Hexus and OCWorkbench. You have to run the main power cable over cpu cooler which to me is a serious design flaw.

 

[Obtuse]

When I was deciding on a chipset, I decided on the NForce3 250 because I've heard too many buggy VIA stories. The K8N Neo Platinum is the best use of the chipset I've seen so far. I hate it when Mobo manufacturers use a bunch of 3rd party chips for each seperate aspect of the board. The SATA and IDE Raid and the seperate ethernet on this board are all through the single-chip NForce. Also, MSI customer support answered my questions quickly and precisely. The board can support all 3 RAM channels filled, which many other boards have an issue with. The bios is great, and the board overclocks spectacularly. The only bad thing I've read is that they used a passive heatsink on the NForce3 chipset. But if you don't overclock, shoudn't be a prob, and if you do, just add a fan to it.