which board is better?

[Grechie]

just wondering what board is better, features, speed, oc'ing etc,?


Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce4SLI S939)
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI (nForce4SLI S939)

[jAkUp]

Get the ASUS :)

On the Anantech review the Gigabyte was last when it came to overclocking.

[HighTest]

Although the ASUS scored just above that.

In order of overclocking it goes like this:

1. DFI Lanparty
2. MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI
3. ASUS
4. Gigabyte

[Rytr]

I had the DFI Ultra D for about 3 weeks. It's basically the same board as the DFI SLi board it just has the Ultra chip. I modded the Ultra chip successfully to SLi but then DFI said there would be no bridge chips for this board available. I must say that it is an overclockers delight and no doubt one of the fastest, if not the fastest 939 board available and I would think the same could be said of the SLi D board. Since I wanted to have SLi capability I sold it and got the Gigabyte SLi board.

Unfortunately I have been too busy to thoroughly check this board out. I can say however that this Gigabyte board does have the features. Only problem is the reluctance of this particular board to recognise SATA drives so currently I am running IDE. The problem I have narrowed down to the bios settings, one of which I have apparently set wrong. Just have not had time the past week to get back to it.
So far, I have only tested one set of ram (Patriot PC3200) on the Gigabyte and it appears that Anandtech may have gotten a different board(?) Anyway, initial results are promising and stability is solid.

[PaiN]

Only problem is the reluctance of this particular board to recognise SATA drives so currently I am running IDE. The problem I have narrowed down to the bios settings

:thumbdwn: Hmm.....seems like a damn serious issue too me. What could you "set" in the bios to make it not recognize SATA drives? Off the top of my head (outside of disabling the SATA controller) I can't think of any.

[Rytr]

:D Maybe, but I doubt it. Like I said I have not had time to really get familiar with this board. I have had Abit, MSI, DFI, Iwill, and yes, ASUS. All have their 'quirks' or paculiarities when they first hit the market or have you noticed? I have yet to find anyone else with this board having this problem but I will solve it. Probably something simple that I am overlooking.
After all such things are part of the fun! Although it will at times cause loss of hair, fits of rage, etc., just finding what you are obviously overlooking. :D

[ragejg]

By SLI connector you mean the connector which bridges 2 vidcards, right?

[jAkUp]

Yessirs :) I think you can find them on ebay. Although, I read nvidia will be disabling SLI for boards that are not using an SLI chipset via drivers.

[Slyder]

just wondering what board is better, features, speed, oc'ing etc,?


Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce4SLI S939)
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI (nForce4SLI S939)

Gigabyte anyday baby :cool:

[jAkUp]

Check out firingsquad's roundup:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_nforce4_sli_roundup/page24.asp

[Rytr]

I think they have got it pretty straight. I would have opted for the DFI over the Gigabyte SLi but it just was not available at the time and as it turns out I am not disappointed with this Gigabyte board. Many of the features are already coming in handy. The wireless lan card is a nice addition although I have everything hard-wired. Clay has already called dibs on it. :D

[ragejg]

Yessirs :) I think you can find them on ebay. Although, I read nvidia will be disabling SLI for boards that are not using an SLI chipset via drivers.

Well, if I can get the connector off ebay (or make one, hee hee :p) and use the SLI board BIOS, then I might just be able to pull it off... :D

[jAkUp]

You can flash the DFI Ultra to an SLI? Hmmm... That would be pretty cool.

[Rytr]

I modded the Ultra to SLi successfully but I was under the impression that you could not flash to SLi...that would be neat if you could! Past history for me though since I have moved on to a SLi board. :(

One thing is sure, it is an overclocker's board. :)

[RealLifePixelShader]

Gigabyte anyday baby :cool:

I SECOND THAT ANY GIGABYTE ANY DAY !!!!

[ragejg]

I can't FULLY recommend gigabyte because of the spottiness of performance on their nforce3 motherboards, the fact that they've JUST STARTED to cater to the enthusiast crowd, and the fact that enthusiasts themselves must depend on custom modded bioses to get all the options they need...

For stock speeds, gigabyte's always top notch in stability... but as far as OC'ing, it seems to be a bit hit or miss....

[technews]

I would go for the Asus

[technews]

personally I use the MSI K8N Neo2 and it works like a charm!

I wouldn't go the nf4 yet ... nf3 is rock stable (finally) and it will take some time until nf4 is sorted ..