ASUS motherboards

[ccarroll321]

let me first begin by stating that i have never overclocked a thing in my life and ill be absolutely honest, i lack the heart to build a whole system from scratch by hand. that being said:

i was oringinally planning to customize a pc on www.cyberpowersystem.com. after a little research i decided to buy the sound (x-fi music) and graphics (x1800xt 512) seperately. i will also be buying the memory seperately as well though i havent decided which to get. now assuming this is a good move see as though no one has yet advised me against it i will continue.

for motherboards, i am choosing between:
MSI K8N NEO4-F
Asus A8N5X
Foxconn/WinFast NF4UK8AA-8EKRS
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9
Asus A8N-E
ASUS A8N-SLI
ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
GigaByte GA-K8N-SLI
GigaByte GA-K8N PRO-SLI
Asus A8R-MVP

all this with a CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 RC-730 --or-- CoolerMaster TAC-T01 Wave Master case and a COOLERMASTER AQUAGATE MINI R80 LIQUID COOLING FAN on the x2 3800+. all i wish to do is snap the cpu up to 2.4 and if i can blast the memory and the graphics card a little too. is this stuff good enough to do that?

any input at all will be greatly appreciated.

[Capper]

Of the boards you listed, the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe and the A8N are the best choices. You might also want to look at the DFI NF4 Ultra, or since you are going for an ATI video card, the ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe, which has the new ATI 3200 chuipset on it.

[killswitch83]

Originally Posted by ccarroll321

for motherboards, i am choosing between:
MSI K8N NEO4-F
Asus A8N5X
Foxconn/WinFast NF4UK8AA-8EKRS
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9
Asus A8N-E
ASUS A8N-SLI
ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
GigaByte GA-K8N-SLI
GigaByte GA-K8N PRO-SLI
Asus A8R-MVP

all this with a CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 RC-730 --or-- CoolerMaster TAC-T01 Wave Master case and a COOLERMASTER AQUAGATE MINI R80 LIQUID COOLING FAN on the x2 3800+. all i wish to do is snap the cpu up to 2.4 and if i can blast the memory and the graphics card a little too. is this stuff good enough to do that?

any input at all will be greatly appreciated.

Ok, well here comes my questions, lol. Do you plan on going to a SLI setup in the (near?) future, or do you just plan on staying with one video card? Also, let me note that the A8R-MVP has a fairly new chipset in the ATI Xpress 200, and this is just a personal opinion, but if you're wanting to try Crossfire I would wait until they get some BIOS revisions out for the Crossfire-enabled mobos just to make sure you have stability. the NForce 4 chipset found on most all of the AMD boards is a mature chipset and has plenty of BIOS revisions for each board, so I would be inclined to go with a mobo with that chipset. Also, building your own system isn't nearly as bad as you think it to be, and we're more than happy to help you through it should you decide you want to do so. In concerns with the video card choice, for the price and all right now, the x1800 line is a bit high-priced in my opinion (around 500 on newegg vs. 285 for the 7800GT). If you go with a SLI motherboard, I would go with something more like a 7800 GT or GTX (the 256 MB version), as they prices on those are coming down pretty nicely, and they yield nice clocks. Now if money isn't an issue, then go ahead and get top of the line, but if you want performance and affordability, these choices I've recommended hit that sweet spot. For example, here is what my rig is going to look like:

Athlon 64 3200+ Venice (will be upgraded to a X2 chip)
1 GB Corsair 3200XL RAM
XFX 7800 GT
DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity mobo
Antec Sonata II case
Maxtor 300 GB 7200 RPM 16 MB cache HDD
Thermalright XP-90C heatsink w/Panaflo H1A fan

I also plan on running at least 2, if not 3 120mm case fans to keep a good ambient case temperature. Anyways, it all depends on if you really, REALLY, want Crossfire or SLI, and whether or not you're looking to save money and get performance. I hope this helps some (in other words, not meaning to confuse you, lol).

[Tyreal]

Out of all the motherboards you listed, I would go with one of those Asus ones.

As killswitch said, the mobo choice really depends on what path your going to go down. Are you going to use SLI or Crossfire? If your not going to use either, get the A8N-E.

[gvblake22]

Ok, personally, I think we need to evaluate your display situation before there is any talk of a dual graphics setup. What kind of monitor(s) are you running? If you plan to game at 1600x1400 resolution or larger, then you might start seeing a benefit from SLI or CrossFire. If you are on a single 19" screen or smaller, then SLI or CrossFire will probably be a waste of money. You will be better of (like killswitch said) getting a single 7800GT or something like that as that card is in a very good price:performance niche.
From there, it will help you eliminate the SLI or non-SLI motherboards from your list. But of course, you still have to evaluate the chance of possibly going with a dual graphics solution in the future...

[One4yu2c]

I'll cast my vote towards the A8N32-SLI. I've traditionally been a longtime Asus fan, but up until the above mentioned mobo, I wasn't particularly excited with any of their nForce3/4 options. I was pleased as punch to see them finally release a competitive enthusiast level option, and I ended up picking one up for myself.

[ccarroll321]

i do not plan to go SLI, i got the x1800xt512 very cheap (after a little shopping and some luck i got it for $350 after $50 rebate). since im not planning on building my own from scratch, the motherboards i listed are the only ones that i can choose from on cyberpower. i am looking for ease of overclocking features and cool temp in the motherboard.

19inch CRT is good enough for me. i dont want to spend 600-800 on a big LCD though i did ponder it at one point or another. every time i thought about spending 600 on a monitor i got this funny feeling in my stomach which commanded i reconsider.

i just wanna bump a x2 3800 up 200mhz to 2.4, and rip the ram (thinking about getting the mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB DDR 500) and graphics card up a little as well (im not sure how much). i am hoping a
COOLERMASTER AQUAGATE MINI R80 LIQUID COOLING FAN is good enough to keep the processor cool (anyone know if it is?).

anybody know which case is better: CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 RC-730 --or-- CoolerMaster TAC-T01 Wave Master ?

[Tyreal]

I personally prefer the Praetorian. It looks more like a Lian Li style.

That liquid cooling should be able to cool to just fine since your only aiming for a low o/c.

[gvblake22]

I think I remember seeing the Aquagate mini giving good results for such a low profile cooler, it should do you as well as most any decent air cooling setup would, and probably with less noise.

As for motherboard, I would now recommend the Asus A8N-E. Since you are on a budget and have a single 19" display, you really don't have any particular need for a dual graphics setup. But if you want that ability for the future, then you are stuck with an ATI CrossFire solution since you already have an ATI video card. This means that you have to get an ATI based motherboard (like the A8R-MVP). So depending on whether or not you want the possibility of dual graphics CrossFire in the future or not will determine if you get the A8N-E or the A8R-MVP.

As for cases, both the Praetorian 730 and the Wave Master are great cases. But if I had to choose one of those, I would probably go with the CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 mostly just because it has better cooling. I think the WaveMaster looks better, but cooling wise, you will be better off with the Praetorian 730...

[Capper]

Well, given what you have told us
1. Small overclock
2. ATI based card with no plans to go dual GPU

I'd think an NF4 Ultra board would be fine....as well as cheaper. However you might also want to consider the Crossfire boards (the A8R-MVP), as you never know if you might get the urge for a dual graphics solution.