asus a8n32-sli or MSI K8N Diamond Plus?

Gotta ask - why aren't you also considering the 3rd of the C51D chipset mobos, the Abit AN8 32X?
It's fast, stable, overclocks etc. etc
 
yallknowho said:
What do you guys think for a new mobo?
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Do some research, read all the reviews of PROS and CONS of each mobo and decide for yourself. It's very hard for any one person to offer an absolute recommendation of one board over the other. It just depends on that person's experience with whichever board he/she is using. Tough call...
 
id check out the abit as it seems to be the best deal dollar wise.newegg puts a rebate on it and it sells for around 150.00.a bargain for the money.surprised me all the good reviews its getting.looks like they have a decent board here.with the new bios o/clocks well over 300htt.honestly i havent read anything bad about the board.i kinda an asus fan but for the money id go abit on this one.
 
I've got the A8N32-SLI and it is the best motherboard I've had out of the dozen Asus, MSI, and Abit boards I've bought over the last fie years or so.

The thing is just rock solid, I overclock a little, got my 4800+ @ 2.62 with my FSB @ 218MHz, and everything just works, and this machine is not only my game machine, but my work and TV as well, and I just haven't had any problems, and that's what matters to me most, super reliablity.

The only issue with the motherboard is SLI and using PCI slots. With dual slot cards, you've barely got on PCI slot left, and putting something in that one is gonna be tight. I'm thinking about putting a Physx card in there, as I'm not a big audiophile and use on board sound, so if this is an issue, this may not be the board for you. But its be so trouble free that I can't complain that much.
 
get an msi k8n diamond plus you wont be dissapointed!! it has audigy onboard if you arent planning on installing a sound card. the layout is great plus the bios has a pleathora of features to adjust. through the bios i have overclocked my x23800 from 2.0ghz to 2.5ghz and my ram is running at 2-2-2-5 on a 5/6 divider, its smooth like BUTTA! i had an asus a8n sli deluxe it was ok but the bios was VERY limited. i strongly suggest you read some of the reviews on the msi k8n diamond plus, check the one on hardocp. its located on the front pageeeeeeeee, i love my board. also if you mess up and overclock too high you dont have to remove any jumpers you just press a button!!!! i dunno if the asus has that but i know for a fact the a8n sli deluxe didnt and it was a real pain in the ass. anyway good luck on your decision defintely take a look at this great board. oh and if you do decide to purchase this board update to the latest bios it fixes a few things and you can adjust more settings.
 
Just buy the cheapest one. They both are top choices as long as you aren't saddled with a DOA motherboard. With AM2, right around the corner why break the bank on a 939 board.
 
i still can't decide. i've heard asus has problems with creative sound cards? whats that about.
 
The Abit board does not even belong in the same discussion as the Msi or Asus...Terrible layout on the board. Anybody that would put the Molex pwr all the way down on the bottom of the board is a Moron...Personally Ive used both the Asus and currently the Msi...Msi is a much better board. Although neither compare to a DFI as far as Ocing goes. Ive got my Msi board running my 3800+ @ 10x269 4xht. 1.44v. Memory @ 5/6 divider...You dont see to many of these board being used by members in other forums because they think that its the same old MSI but believe me this board is awesome and faster stock then just about any other NF4 board around...
 
i like the asus and the msi almost wish i had gone with the msi board but i got the a8n32 instead..the msi would be great but im not sure about aftermarket cooling on the msi cause the position of the chipfan i could be wrong though..
 
gmod said:
The Abit board does not even belong in the same discussion as the Msi or Asus...
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True, because it's the best of the 3 :p

Terrible layout on the board. Anybody that would put the Molex pwr all the way down on the bottom of the board is a Moron...
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It's not a problem if you are half-decent at cabling & I would assume that there is an advantage to having it close to the sockets that it's powering.
 
I don't know Buff but I,m not having any problem with my AN8-32x board. All I know is that I had 3 Asus Boards in past and I gave all 3 away. I have had DFI, Soyo, Asus, Msi, Epox, and Abit. I have build more than 50 computers and about 35 with abit boards and last time I check those 35 computers are still running with no problems. I think somebody said that Abit doesn't belong in the same discussion. I think the guy was right becuase abit boards are a little above rest. Oh the sound card. I have had sound cards in the past from creative audigy, I & II and I have taken all the sound card out and setting on a shelf. You don't need sounds cards any more the onboard sound is just as good as any sound card. AW8-MAX 3rd eye II & AN8-32x come with great sound.
 
Hahahaha Abit above the rest..Ok I will let you stay in that little unpopulated world you live in...Abit has gone down hill ever since they lost Oscar..And as far as the cableing work..yeah I can make it look very neat. But being that Abit is the only morons that put it there makes no sense. Oh dont even get me started on the Uguru crap...
 
a while back when i started thinking about upgrading, i thought i'd get the a8n32 and a xfi, now the msi comes out with audigy sound which i should just get cuz i dont feel like spending a fortune, but i had my mind on the xfi already...
 
This past week I bought the Abit AN8 SLI and was soooo disappointed! I love Abit mobos but this one really choked. After I got all the hardware installed and tweaked the bios (which are amazing), it was time to TRY and load Windows XP Pro. No matter what I did it wouldn't load, it would begin to copy the needed files from my non-hacked version and would then suddenly shut down (not even reboot). When I would then power up, it wouldn't go into bios and I was forced to clear the cmos before I could get back in. I tried it 5 or 6 times and had no luck. RMA Newegg and sadness. Funny thing was, many reviewers at Newegg said they experienced same thing.

I then found a local dealer who had an Asus A8N32-SLI for CHEAPER then Newgg (score!). I brought it home, installed and it was a dream, smooth as silk. My Opty 170 is hummin' even if it is running a tad hotter then I thought it would.

One note - in the Abit bios it claimed the Opty was running at 35C. The Asus runs idle at 45C. I'm sure I just got a lemon, but it seems that this model has more then its share of lemons.
 
The Abit boards (specifically AN8-SLI) are very picky about what bios you use. If you use the right one they are great, but if you use the wrong ones they are terrible. I had the AN8-SLI and it was fine once I had the right bios.

Out of your options, I'd probably get the MSI board. It looked like it had the most features, and the onboard sound is appealing to me.
 
Of course anyone with either board is going to pick the one they had, so long as they had a good experience with it.
 
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