Hardware Choices???

[karama]

Okay, two questions. First, Looking at ASUS motherboards to go with my X2 4400+. If I am not planning on using SLI,(I am buying one ATI Video Card) should i buy the ASUS A8N-E which uses the Nforce4 Ultra Chipset, or should I spend the extra money and get the A8N-SLI Premium Motherboard. Do you think I will get extra performance out of the more expensive motherboard?

Second, Should I stick with DDR 3200(400MHz) or maybe buy a couple of Gigs of the DDR 4000(500MHz). Will I see more performance with my setup?

 

[mdd1963]

It's hard to jsutify spending more on an SLI board if not planning on SLI, although many do just that as the premium SLI boards frequently have the best performing, highest OCing chipsets in them...

However, I'd get an Asus non-sli nf4 board as well...

(If you can get mem higher than PC3200 mem, it might help in achieving in sync mem clock of 250 Mhz vs 200, it'll be worth a few frames per sec here and there, but running 200 mhz with decent timings will hardly be slow...; go with what you can afford and still be able to buy a 1900XT! )

 

[karama]

Well, to save money I was going to get an ATI 1800 XT, do you think I should get the cheaper motherboard and get the 1900XT instead. I just always worry that the motherboard manufacturers don't pay enough attention to there cheaper motherboards. Whereas the Highend boards get a lot of TLC. A few years ago, I bought the P4C800-E Deluxe, which was the top of the line ASUS P4 board. I have loved it and it is going to be my second box for media encoding, radio work, ect.... What do you think? Right now, the box i want to build is looking like this

ASUS A8N-E or higher
Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Western Digital Raptor 150 GB
Antec NeoHE 500 power supply
Thermaltake Shark ATX Case (can't decide silver or black)
BenQ DVD Burner DW1655
ASUS DVD ROM Drive
ATI Video Card 1800 XT or higher
2 GB of Supertalent memory (CL2)

 

[a1ien]

What are you going to use the new rig for? Gaming? Multitasking? Also, the Asus A8N - E isn't a bad board, but one reason people go for SLI is because generally they are some of the top of the line boards by Asus (in my opinion). The SLI-Premium is only about 60 dollars more on Newegg, plus it has a complete passive (no fan) cooling system, if you care about silence. Also, I have never heard of Supertalent memory, you might want to glance into Corsair, Mushkin, or OCZ. Everything else looks just fine.

 

[karama]

Well, this box will be for gaming, multitasking,(aren't we all multitasking these days!!). I do a lot of video work and audio work. The memory is from my companys supplier. (MaLabs) It is pretty good, am using it in my computer at home. I can get a little bit better prices through this company than at NewEgg and that is saying something since NewEgg has some fantastic prices on product. So A8N-E, good choice?

 

[karama]

Well, I just read two reviews of the new ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe. HardOCP and Anandtech both gave this brand new ATI Motherboard a big ol Thumbs Up. Since I am getting an ATI Video Card, I think this is the way to go. Any comments?

 

[Maxiius]

That's going from a ~$100 MB to a ~$220 MB...
Prices from new @ 3-2-06 3:20pm cst.

 

[karama]

That can't be correct. Anandtech said it would be between $150 to $200. It will be less than the A8N32-SLI Premium.

 

[Maxiius]

There's a link for ya bud
ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe

 

[a1ien]

It's correct, since it's brand new retailers are selling it for a premium price.

 

[karama]

Got it, well I think since I am getting an ATI Video Card, I will spring the extra bucks. Was afraid to going with ATI on an NVidia SLI board. Most likey, i will get a better price from our distrubitor, because New Egg has the A8N32-SLI Premium for about the same amount of money. In any case, I like what I read and for anybody looking for a high end motherboard, ATI based ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe looks good. Anybody else think so?

 

[a1ien]

From what I've seen and read, the Asus A8R32-MVP does look like a good quality motherboard. There shouldn't be compatability issues when running an ATI on a Nvidia board or vice versa, it's just that you will only be able to run SLI on nvidia based boards and Crossfire on ATI base boards that support them. However, from what I've seen, there is a very slight performance gain by using an ATI card on an ATI board or a Nvidia card on a Nvidia board instead of having them mismatched. But from what I've seen, even if it matters at all, the gain is so minute that it shouldn't affect anything.

Anyone feel free to correct/collaberate anything I have stated.

 

[parlee]

id look at benchmarks and see how much faster the x1900xt is than the x1800xt... if its a decent difference then id get the cheaper mobo and the x1900xt as it will be faster than a better board but slower video card. the difference between the motherboards is very small... its kinda like comparing an amd3200 to an amd3500 in css... the difference is tiny, if any at all.

im going to suggest you get the non-sli motherboard and the x1900xt, especailly if u dont plan on doing major overclocking (you seem like you might want to though), but if u plan on doing a lot of overclocking DFI boards are the way to go, and you could get one with an xfire chipset incase u plan to add another 1900/1800 later on...

and if u havnt chosen your memory yet (i know some1 suggested a better brand memory) i recommend corsair xms memory, you can get a gig for under 100 bux of the 2-3-3-6 timings, the 2-2-2-5 is a bit more, but also a bit better.. another very good ocing memory is OZC, people would argue its the best, ive never used it but have heard many good things, even the value OZC overclocks well..

 

[karama]

Okay, First thanks for all the feedback. Now, I am leaning more torwards the ATI 1900XT, my supplier has a good deal on a Sapphire OEM. Any thoughts on that. I looked on the website and didn't see information about a warranty other than talk to ATI.

On the Motherboard issues, My original concern was spending more money on an SLI board when I was never going to utilize SLI. But I was wondering if the board would give you more performance than the NForce 4 Ultra A8N-E, + I always feel like the Mobo Manufacturers give more TLC to there High End boards, which translates into less problems, better stability under heavy loads, ect... I am going to stick with ASUS because I have used there various motherboards for years and have been very happy.

On the Memory, I have used OCZ and was happy. Bought it for a computer I built for a friend. But the supertalent is pretty good and I will get a good deal on it. But I am also wondering about buying the higher rated DDR. Somebody mentioned the timing on that with my Proc. Can somebody elaborate on that. I am referring to the 500 MHz DDR.

 

[Maxiius]

For me with MBs, I usually try to the chipset my vid card would be, being it a 1900XT I would pick a MB with the crossfire chipset, simply due to the fact if ever want the option to make your 1900XT crossfire'd you can.

Same thing vise versa with nvidia, but like I said that's just my 2cent.

As for the OEM thing, only thing i've ever bought OEM has been HDDs and floppy drives heh.

 

[parlee]

i agree, if u get an x1900xt get an ati chipset, as for the sli boards are built better... people could argue this, i wouldnt know... but im sure that there both equally stable, the sli board may overclock a tiny bit more but u wont really utilize the max ocing, i dont think at least... id say save the money and get just a 1 pci express slot mobo, if u do that then instead of the ati chipset id say get an nforce4 for the added stablility.

 

[karama]

Thanks for the advice. Anybody with info on Saphire cards, especially and OEM one. Bad Idea?

 

[parlee]

sapphire is a pretty good name, there probably midpack to higher end cards, good quality and overclock pretty well... but it depends on how comfortable you are with buying OEM, if im correct, oem means u get just the hardware, and if it breaks ur SOL, if they replace a DOA card then id say sure save a few bucks and get OEM, its what i did with my processor... saved about 40 bux, then a week later amd cut the prices of socket 939 and now its cheaper than my 754... oh well.

 

[karama]

Well, I do want some sort of warranty, not worried about the software bundle. I never use anything that these hardware devices come with because usually its crap or I use something better.

 

[parlee]

yea id say for that reason id probably buy a video card retail, cpus are rarly DOA and dont just randomly die if ur good to them... but video cards tend to die overtime and sometimes very quickly... or thats how it is in my experience