Help with socket 939 Mobo choice

Check out the ASRock 939Dual-VSTA. If you are happy with your current graphics card, you can continue to use it, yet you'll also have the option to upgrade to a newer PCIe card when you feel it is appropriat. I have this board's predecessor the 939Dual-SATA2 and I have been extremely happy with it. I have read many reviews for it, and most sites would agree, it is virtually identical performance to the nForce4 Ultra chipset. Plus, it has native support for AGP x8 AND PCIe x16. I have a Radeon 9700Pro in the AGP slot, and my new 8800 GTX should arrive tomorrow for the PCIe slot. The newer VSTA version has a newer audio codec, and is fully "Vista compatible" according to ASRock.

If you have the money for the video card now, check newegg. They have both Abit and ASUS 939 mobo for about $75 without firewire and an Abit with firewire for $90 if you have a camcorder. The Abit firewire has only 2 PCI slots if that makes a difference. If you want firewire with 3 PCI slots, there is a BIOSTAR for about $103 and an ASUS for $132.00 I want 3 PCI slots and firewire so I'm looking at the latter 2, which of course are more expesive  

Thanks you for replies. I know that there are many choices at NewEgg, but I always knew that Abit and Asus are good Motherboards and I never heard about mobos like Biostar, ASRock and all others that are available.

G-Paw please PM me and send me some links to the mobos that You mentioned.
Tanks again for opinions

I am pimping the Asrock 939Dual-VSTA... its a good board for sure, I am able to over clock my 3700+ to 2.75Ghz. The problem with the board is the lower than lovable VDIMM voltage... I believe at its highest it only puts out 2.8? which is fine for everyone but OCZ owners... which I am.

Although I get a better CPU OC... my memory OC is horrid... on my A7V-MX i was at 2.6Ghz and my memory ran at about 230Mhz while now it runs at 197Mhz (with tight timings)

If you have OCZ then you may not be happy with your memory OC... if not... grab this board.

 

This DFI board will bring new life to that 3000. :wink:

DFI makes very good boards with superior overclocking capabilities over that of the Asus and Abit boards.

I've read conflicting stories that these bridged type MoBos don't support AGP x8 speed, as they use some kind of PCIe to AGP emulation logic that cripples the speed somewhat. Is this true?

Rick

True of EVERY OTHER motherboard like this on the market. But these two the 939Dual-SATA2 and 939Dual-VSTA boards have native support for both AGP x8 and PCIe x16 8)

And they may be the only two, to ever support this since nVidia bought out ULi, the chipset maker for these boards.

Hey guys.

Thanks all for info but botom line - which s939 mobo would you recommend. Recently I start thinking of buying ASUS SLI A8N-E SLI mobo and just use it with one video card as i have heard and based on popularity that this mobo is very good.


Thanks

If you're referring to this board and willing to spend that much. Then either of these 3 boards would be a better buy.

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939

DFI LanParty UT nF4-D

DFI makes the best overclocking motherboards for S939. If you don't want to overclock and want to save some money by sticking with your AGP card, then the Asrock boards that have been suggested are the best option. If you don't want to overclock and do want to upgrade your video card, then any S939 board that has the features you want will do.