Would you recommend an A8N-E?

[hashv2f16]

I'm going to be buying my new PC in the next two weeks and the Asus A8n-e board seems to be quite popular, it also looks like a good board for the price.
I was wondering if anyone would recommend it for overclocking? Just looking for a stable platform to overclock a 3000+ Venice. BTW does anyone know if the northbridge FAN is noisy?

I should probably also mention that I'm going to be cooling it with a Zalman CNPS7700-cu, just in case anyone could fill me in as to if it fits on the A8N-E or not?...

 

[michaelahess]

I would recommend it, I've got my HTPC running on one and I've built around 10 machines with it. Not a single problem. I think it's probably the best if you aren't going SLI, the MSI Neo 4 something or other is pretty nice too, I've only used two of those though.

 

[ge0stuff]

Hello everyone...

A8N - E is a very very very good MoBo...

I have one, with a 3,2 Venice installed and it works fine...

The cooler is quite and there is a lot of space around the socket but just to be sure u will have to check and see whether the Zalman CNPS7700-cu fits or not...

I am using Thermaltakes Sonic Tower and it fits perfectly... Have u considered this cooler? It is very good and pretty if u have a side window...

 

[hashv2f16]

the board is sounding very appetizing.. tried overclocking on it?

i have briefly looked at the sonic tower but have no idea of what it can do compared to something like a 9500. I think i'll probably just pay the bit extra and get the cnps9500 to be sure because i cant be certain whether or not that the monster 7700 will fit!

 

[Fox_granit]

i just bought one, its great, i've had a small usb problem, but i'm currently fixing that. Runs fast, keeps nice and cool, and the overclocking potenital is great. I would recommend it. Personally i think my usb problem is user error lol.

 

[Xbitpog]

WTF is Epox....ASUS are the world's leading mobo manufacturer, and I have the A8N-E....it seems fine 7 months down the road.

 

[Xbitpog]

ASUS are the world's leading mobo manufacturer

Bullshit they are.
They are the underdog in manufacturing boards for AMD.

EPoX can pwn ASUS anytime any day.

And YOU, just got ripped off.

How did I get ripped off?
Who is the uberdog for AMD mobo's?

 

[michaelahess]

Actually ASUS is the world leader in quantity of boards manufactured, mostly due to their OEM stuff for HP, Compaq, IBM, Dell sometimes, and numerous others.

I've never liked Epox, but I haven't used them in a few years so who knows, they might be better. But since I've never had an issue with high end Asus I have no reason to not recommend them.

I'm trying the MSI since their stuff used to suck and I have friends saying they're great, we'll see how that goes (kinda like biostar and DFI used to suck, course biostar still does.) Then I might try an Epox when I build a new machine for my wife in a few months.

And wusy, I have to disagree with the underdog comment, look at the SLI boards, it's the most popular SLI platform right now. Must be a reason.....

The MSI I ordered was $10 more than the EP-9NPA and it has 2 nics and 8 sata ports compared to 4, and a 4x pci-e slot, since they both run the same chipset, performance will be basically the same, it was a better value, assuming it holds up of course

I will get the EP-9NPA for my wife though, so in a few months I'll compare the asus a8n-e, msi Neo4 Platinum and Epox EP-9NPA and see which performs better. All will have Athlon 64 3700's and I'll use the same vid card and ram to keep things equal. I bet they will all work just the same. Then it will just be a longevity test.

But for now my opinion on value vs. performance would have to be msi, asus, epox.

 

[juggernaught]

Yes I would recommend the ASUS A8N-E MB. I have one myself and I dont overclock on it sorry. It is a very stable board but the only issue I have have had with it was a driver hardware crash. Something that Miicrosoft XP keeps telling (blue screen of death) but this has only happened when I did a BIOS update. So there you go. For the question about the North bridge fan? I have had the computer for 7 months and the fan seems to be making no noise at all.
Hope this helps you. :lol:

 

[Xbitpog]

Must be a reason.....

Misinformed buyer by people like you guys.

EPoX hasn't made a single bad mobo since they day they made 8KHA+
Faults due to VIA's driver/chipset are not counted as they happened on all other mobo.
They overclock well, priced well and they perform unlike ASUS who tries to rush on everything.

A8N-SLI Deluxe and A7N8X Dleuxe v1.0 are the most famous examples of their rushed products.

Regardless of any truth in this last post....many people own A8N-E and are happy that they do....that's all I'm saying, which is fairly reasonable considering that was the topic question.

 

[Silverking]

ugh::: post overkill

 

[Silverking]

i will be getting this mb in the near future to rebuild my comp for the upcoming year. I went to a couple of places around the net (overclock.net, extremeoverclocking.com, and tweaktown.com) to read oc'ed rigs and ask them their opinions. I would say 90% of the rigs i checked out either had this board or ppl told me this was the best board. I have no intention on using SLi and asus has some of the easisest overclocking bios options available. another mb you might want to check out is the DFI lanparty ultra. its a good $30 more most of the time but its supposed to be the next best.

 

[michaelahess]

I've got an A7N8X been running nonstop for 3 years. No probs. I've sold literally hundreds of asus boards (over 300) and had 1 DOA and 1 failure due to a cap bursting. I've sold more Asus than all other brands combined and had less problems. I'm just going off my numbers, maybe I've just had real good luck. But I guess I'll put Epox to the test soon. My wifes machine is also on 24/7 encoding crap continuously so it should be a good test.

 

[Xbitpog]

Hi Michael.

I'm 38, and I've been around PC's for yonks and from my experience and based on my reading of forums, there are two area's of the PC that it's nutsoid to skimp on...and that's the heart{mobo} and it's fuel source{PSU}....and I've always had smooth PC's as I've always made sure that I bought good quality mobo/PSU, and atm I have a AN8-E and 400W Antec PSU.....so smooth sailing once again....not a hiccup in sight.

I say this for the benefit of random viewers....ASUS is usually one of the best mobo, and yes DFI are well regarded lately, in fact I think they poached heaps of former ABIT staff.

So for any newbie....DO NOT buy a cheapie mobo or PSU, it's the easiest way to waste money on a PC...try ASUS, DFI, MSI, and also OCZ, antec and Enermax for PSU...all award winning brands.

Not sure what Wusy's problem is.....he might have a PC shop and an exclusive deal with Epox.

 

[neocristi]

Yes, I would recommend ASUS A8N-E.

I have mine since september last year,
I preffered the Zalman NB47J for the nForce4 Ultra chip cause looks awsome and cools better (must have a good airflow inside the case for it).
The board works perfect, not even a single crash !!!
As for the Overclocking: I only did 220 x 10 CPU x4HT @440DDR. 1.4v core.

I didn't want to go further (my DDR is also limiting me and I don't want to change the 1:1 CPU RAM ratio), but i read about @2600 CPU on it with venice (don't know the voltage, i'm guessing 1.5v)

The most important thing i think is that the board is high quality and extremely cheap ~$100,
I mean is a 939 MB with 10USB 2.0, PCI-Ex16, SATA, 7.1 audio(good quality) and gigabit LAN and good drivers and support.

Have fun with it.

 

[Adk_Eric]

Yes, as most here point out. It's a great board.

As someone else mentions: according to many folks in the forums it's one of the best O/Cers out there, the only other manufacturer that it's often compared is DFI.

The A8N-E lacks SLI and firewire. It has everything else. If you don't want SLI I highly recommend it. And who the hell needs firewire?

I've not O/Ced yet but I intend to pretty soon, after getting more ram. It's been a great board though so far. And it's quiet.

I do wonder though what I'm going to put in my PCIexpressx4 slot. I'll worry about that though if I fill up the other 2 PCIexpressx1 slots first.

Get the A8N-E. You'll be happy you did.

 

[michaelahess]

I need firewire, just got a new camcorder, that's why I'm getting the msi this go round (my audigy has it but it's slower from what I've heard). I put a highpoint rocketraid 2320 in the x4 slot for 4 320GB WD's in RAID 5, works awsome.

I think wusy just feels strongly about Epox, nothing wrong with that, it's like comparing dodge and chevy I just happen to use most everything under the sun at some point so I'm not particularly centered on a brand, Asus just happens to be doing better lately. I used to use abit, msi, and tyan a lot back in the day. Manufacturers just have quality issues occasionaly necessitating changes.

 

[bluntside]

To be honest with y'all that A8N-E is a pretty small mobo, little room for expantion, and its just small. Yes it had a score of 121 on World Bench 5
but I'n not so sure about oc freatures and stability.
I've got a Dfi mobo, thats a piece of hardware you can trust w/ stability, performance, OC'ing and room for expansion :twisted:

 

[hashv2f16]

To be honest with y'all that A8N-E is a pretty small mobo, little room for expantion, and its just small. Yes it had a score of 121 on World Bench 5
but I'n not so sure about oc freatures and stability.
I've got a Dfi mobo, thats a piece of hardware you can trust w/ stability, performance, OC'ing and room for expansion :twisted:

what model DFI mobo do you have?

 

[Adk_Eric]

To be honest with y'all that A8N-E is a pretty small mobo, little room for expantion, and its just small. Yes it had a score of 121 on World Bench 5
but I'n not so sure about oc freatures and stability.
I've got a Dfi mobo, thats a piece of hardware you can trust w/ stability, performance, OC'ing and room for expansion :twisted:

*left eyebrow raised high here*

Um... The A8N-E is an ATX form factor motherboard. It about the same size as all other ATX motherboards, down to within a cm.

No DFI board is going to be bigger.

The A8N-E is just as big as any DFI ATX MB.

Compare:
The A8N-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530

DFI's Flagship model:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136009

Not to be confrontational, but: Do you know what you're talking about?

Please enlighten me if you do.

 

[juggernaught]

Mate, I'm with you on this one. ATX form factor is the same as any other ATX form factor. It just changes when you start with mATX and BTX etc
Different ballgame. So all the guys reading this, learn it well. :lol: