LGA775 nForce4-SLI mobos - which one?

[levelbitbit]

I have a P4 HT, which I want to use to build myself a new system (as already mentioned here: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index...wtopic=100761). This means that the mobo will have to be Soket LGA775. After some research I decided to go for the nForce4-SLI chipset, in order to have the SLI option available when/if I decide to splash out on two Nvidia graphics cards.

According to a price comparison site (http://uk.shopping.com/xPP-motherboa...ce4_sli_&ST=or) there are over 10 Soket LGA775 mobos with an nForce4 chipset. The chipest one is the ASUS P5ND2-SLI. The next one up is Gigabite's GA-8N SLI Pro. The there's Abit's NI8-SLi GR. All these three appear to cost (well) under £100.

I was just about to go for the ASUS, when I came accross various reviews (including this one: http://www.techfear.com/articles/200...e_30day.shtml), which say that although the board is generally good, it is quite unstable (it overheats, etc.).

So I started looking for reviews about Gigabite's GA-8N SLI Pro, and was not able to find many such reviews. There are a few on the Royal and Quad Royal versions of the GA-8N, but these two latter ones cost over £100, which if I could avoid it, I would not like to spend on a mobo.

Therefore, I was left with no choice but trying to find out more about Abit's NI8-SLi GR. Guess what? Almost no reviews, apart from one or two very negative ones (eg: http://www.custompc.co.uk/custompc/l...i8sli-gr.html).

Sorry about the long intro, but it was necessary in order ask the followig questions:

1. What (other) good/stable Socket LGA775 nForce4-SLI mobos under or around £100 can you recommend?

2. Is it worth risking and going for ASUS P5ND2-SLI?

3. Is Gigabite's GA-8N SLI Pro a better choice than ASUS?

4. Should I really spend another £50-£75 and buy something a LGA775 SLI mobo for around £125-£150, and if so, which one has the better reputation?

Your help/suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

LVL

 

[timberwolf1]

About that Gigabite's GA-8N SLI Pro ...

Pros: The Bios in this is awsome you can set your frequency on your memory all the way to 1000+mhz and the hidden back-up is awsome! I lost my data reformated the hard drive and still was able to back-up exactly where I saved it. Dual Bios, Dual PCI Express 16, Pentium D compatible. What more can you ask for? Not to mention fiber optic out! Which I have running to my Bose surround sound system SOUNDS GREAT! Recommend ATI Radeon XT Crossfire Video Card/Cards

Cons: If your running IDE and Sata II make sure you disable your raid or it won't startup windows. (Took a little time to configure) but in the end well worth the price!

Other Thoughts: This thing lets you configure the bios like a pro. From voltage on your processor, DDR2, and video cards, also allows adjustments to MHZ freqs and has M.I.A booster and C.I.A booster (automatic) Firwire B! Fiber Optics, Pentium D compatible, Dual PCI Express, and up to 8 GB of DDR2 Ram of up too 1000+ Mhz. Great Great board. Just be patient when setting up

 

[levelbitbit]

Thanks a lot timberwolf1 - your reply is really helpful. Should I therefore take it that in your opinion Gigabite's GA-8N SLI Pro is worth considering? Also, would you go as far as saying that it is better than ASUS's P5, and/or Abit's one? Do you kow other Soket LGA775 mobos that support SLI and cost the same as these ones? Thanks again.