Ok this time I think i found it

boardy

New member
Guys, what do you recon to this system? I decided to take the plunge and go for it finally next month, 12 months of paying nothing, OH BLISS!!!

Asus A8N SLI Premium 939

3700+ A64 SD 939

X850XTPE

Hiper 525W PSU

1Gb OCZ Value RAM

DVD-RW

DVD-ROM

160Gb Cudda IDE HDD

120Gb Cudda IDE HDD

This is all air cooled for now. Build an exact same spec system yesterday for a mate with a 7800GTX in it, and the proc was runnin at 3.5Ghz lol. Strange

Lemme know wat u recon plz, wanna join the ranks in 3Dmark again without spending STUPID amounts.

Cheers

Boardy
 
Hey Mav. Any particular reason why not the Asus board?

I'm looking to do OC'in on the rig aswell, was thinkin of the Fatality PCI-x board aswell but not too sure bout that, dont really know much about it.

The PSU is a Hiper one cos I need to keep the cost down loads, if I can find a OCZ powerstream cheapish or another better one.

Also contemplating bumping up to the 4000+ but then the cost is getting too close to £1k for comfort, and I really can't afford it all in 1 go which is why Im trying to get it on a 12 month thing.

Cheers Boardy
 
One word:

1.5v max vcore = limited overclock

I do love the extra space for SLI on the ASUS, but if you watercool or just use one - there's no need for it anyways, plus 7800 is single slot cooling.

I put some comments pasted from another site about which board to go for in TECH TALK SECTION - ASUS or FATILITY were not front runners.
 
Change ur hdd to sata's and buy one 300gb maxtor 16mb cache version! (cheaper and faster), mobo is fine i think but its up to you maybe get a dfi board? or the fatality board that seams good atm. Change psu to ocz or targan (same psu all but teh leds and adjustable lines on the ocz), buy and artic cooler for the graphics card
 
I would get seagate SATA - faster than maxtor and use less power according to custompc reviews anyhow.

Tagan PSU is a good call also.

Cheers

Mav
 
Get 2x seagate 200GB units, is the other comment I would like to make here.

Although I have a maxtor SATA drive to seel if it helps keep the costs within budget.

Mav
 
There is a NF4 round-up review of all those currently available - pasted from their site is this extract:

So, out of seven boards in this roundup, two clearly rise to the top. The Epox 9NPA+ at $110 is an amazing performer with virtually everything that an Athlon 64 enthusiast could want - except official support and voltages for OCZ VX and Mushkin Redline memory. It will, however, handle every other memory with abandon. If you want all that the Epox offers, a little better bus overclocking and official support and voltages for OCZ VX and Mushkin Redline at a little higher price, then the DFI LANParty nF4 Ultra-D is your choice.

You should also consider the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum a winner here as well. The SLI version of the MSI was a Gold Editor's Choice in our SLI roundup, and the Ultra version should perform at the same excellent levels we saw with the MSI SLI. The MSI has had issues in the recent past with overclocking the latest Venice and San Diego processors, but MSI has recently released a BIOS that is reported to bring Venice/San Diego performance in line with the excellent performnace we saw with a 4000+ clawhammer on the MSI SLI.

Based on stock performance, overclocking abilities, features, and the performance of features present on the boards, we are pleased to award our Editors Choice Gold Award for best nForce4 Ultra motherboard jointly to the Epox 9NPA+ and the DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. Both boards are clearly standouts in a group of very uneven performance.

gold_award_small.png
The Epox 9NPA+ is the fastest board in the roundup at stock speeds. It was also the highest overclocker at stock speeds, and the second highest overclocker when the bus was overclocked. The Epox is an incredible value whether you are looking for a board that will run fast with stability at stock speeds or a board that will satisfy almost any Athlon 64 enthusiast. The range of overclocking options and the overclocked performance are among the best that we have seen, falling short only in the memory voltage area, which tops out at 3.1V. The feature set is more or less average for Ultra boards, but the overall performance is clearly standout. Based on the standout performance and solid overclocking that we achieved with the Athlon 64, we are pleased to award the AnandTech Gold Editors Choice to the Epox 9NPA+ motherboard.

If you looking to save even more money, the 9NPA, based on the nForce4 x4 chipset, has a street price of around $90. You give up the SATA 2 support and 1000 bus, but most of the performance features are still available in the same basic motherboard.

The Gold Editors Choice is jointly awarded to the DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D.

gold_award_small.png
The DFI nForce4 boards were designed first and foremost for the Athlon 64 Enthusiast. The DFI nF4 Ultra is the exact same board, same BIOS, and same performance as the DFI SLI motherboard. The only difference is the Ultra and SLI versions of the same chipset. The DFI exhibits above average performance at stock speeds, but it is the best overclocker of bus speeds that we have ever tested - reaching 318x9 with a 4000+ CPU. It was also just behind the Epox in overclocking at stock speeds. The DFI nF4 boards remain to be the only motherboards to fully support high voltage high-speed 2-2-2 memory with memory voltages to 4.0V for OCZ VX and Mushkin Redline memory. The DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D is the ultimate enthusiast board at a value price with overclocking performance that will never require an apology. DFI's nForce4 boards have quickly become a legend among enthusiasts.

We extend our congratulations to both DFI and Epox who deserve recognition for the hard choices that they made in bringing these two products to market. Both companies clearly understand what it takes to capture the imagination of AMD buyers. It isn't just saying a board is aimed at the enthusiast that sells an Athlon 64 board, it is in delivering the options and performance that are part and parcel of the AMD Enthusiast label.
 
Looks nice, maybe invest in better ram? maybe a 520Watt OCZ PSU would be better, and maybe another board? Abit?
 
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