Decisions of A64 mobo

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Brando457

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
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I'm getting a A64 3200+ from a forum member who had it at 2.6ghz in his MSI mobo.

Im debating if to get the:

MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum"
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-468&depa=0

or

EPoX "EP-9NDA3+"
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-222&depa=0

From what I can tell both motherboards seem to be strong competitors. I'm just unsure as to which one to get. So if other members would be kind enough to give me their opinion on the matter I'd appreciate it.


The rest of the system will be:
A64 3200+ Winchester
ATI 9800 AIW
2 x 256 pc3500 kingston hyper-x
WD 36gig Raptor HD
200 gig Maxtor IDE 8mb cache
XP90 to cool the beastly cpu

I'm still deciding on the case and psu. (I'm thinking the Antec Sonata with the 380watt psu temporarily then upgrading to a large one.)
 
I would go with the MSI, just because MSI has good customer service. But I've heard good things about both boards. But I can't comment on their performance I ordered an Asus A8V, so I wouldn't know.

Just remember the XP-90 is a larger than most HS, make sure the case will house that beast.
 
I don't like VIA chipsets :p. Yeah I'm thinking the MSI, but from reading reviews the OCing aspect of it isn't quite there. I'll wait for more replies to this thread before deciding
 
Brando457 said:
I don't like VIA chipsets :p. Yeah I'm thinking the MSI, but from reading reviews the OCing aspect of it isn't quite there. I'll wait for more replies to this thread before deciding
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From what I've read the OCing aspect is there, it just requires much more effort and tweaking to achieve the desired results. The MSI board is also very picky with RAM, so... something to consider
 
I own the 9NDA3+, and am very happy with it. Overclocking was less than expected, but I believe my RAM is at fault with that. Some other guys on here with the Corsair XMS C2 RAM didn't get very high Winchester overclocks either.

The board comes in a very neat package, you get ram sinks, a nice fold out map of the ports and pins and such, an epox magnetic screwdriver, etc. They make it very obvious this is their flagship board. I have no regrets choosing this board.
 
I have the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and its working great so far. I haven't tried any OCing yet, but everything worked fine out of the box, which is more than I can say for half of the mobos I've owned (from Aopen, ASUS and Gigabyte). Plenty of nice features and extras.
 
Brando457 said:
I don't like VIA chipsets :p. Yeah I'm thinking the MSI, but from reading reviews the OCing aspect of it isn't quite there. I'll wait for more replies to this thread before deciding
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agreed on first part, but definitly not the second part. the neo2 is quite a nice oc'er.
 
DFI Lanparty UT nf3 250GB

better OCer than both with many more options for only $5-6 more on newegg (dont buy from them tho. its cheaper at ZZF AND you can return it. newegg wont let ou return mobos anymore)

or the MSI if you have your mind set on these 2
 
4b5eN+EE said:
DFI Lanparty UT nf3 250GB

better OCer than both with many more options for only $5-6 more on newegg (dont buy from them tho. its cheaper at ZZF AND you can return it. newegg wont let ou return mobos anymore)

or the MSI if you have your mind set on these 2
Click to expand...


My CPU is a 939 socket, not 754. To my knowledge the DFI Lanparty is ONLY a 754 board, I may be wrong though.
 
Brando457 said:
My CPU is a 939 socket, not 754. To my knowledge the DFI Lanparty is ONLY a 754 board, I may be wrong though.
Click to expand...
It is at this moment, but in the near future we should be seeing a nf3 939 soon enough
also, the gigabyte 939 (K8NSNXP-939) has proven to be an EXCELLENT overclocker of my cpus, and seems to have broken the 260FSB wall my neo2 had
 
i own the epox 9NDA3+ and i couldnt be happier with it, i paired a winchester 3000+ (1.8ghz) with 512 xms xtra low cas latency and it really flies.......i am currently at 2.4ghz (ram at 2-3-2-5, 267fsb) and im gonna push it more :D hope u go with this board and get the same luck as me, but g'luck with deciding ;)
 
I'm running a 9NDA3+ with a Winny 3000+ and it's proven to be a pretty good overclocker so far, within the constraints offered by it's present bios on vcore. I've had it up to 319 fsb (8 multi set) running my OCZ 3200 Platinum rev 2 asych and at 280 fsb at 1:1. If I had more than 1.6v vcore settable in bios I could get even higher than I have, but it looks like my 3000 tops out around 2550 with 1.6v vcore. I need to get some Pomona grabbers so I can mod vcore and maybe vdimm and see what she'll really do. I also have some BH5 ram I'd like to try if I do the vdimm mod too. :)

The main thing I don't like about the MSI board is that Newegg has jacked the price on it up a bit lately, whereas the Epox's price is staying pretty steady.
 
I had the MSI and had many problems. I then got the Epox and I have been very happy since. You can also save a few dollars if you get the epox J model of that board. It is lacking firewire and sata raid.
 
My MSI has been awesome, not a hitch so far. Even got it running 225 w/crappy ram
 
[evo] said:
My MSI has been awesome, not a hitch so far. Even got it running 225 w/crappy ram
Click to expand...

I'll vouch for the MSI personally, only reason I'm not using it now is that I upgraded to the A8N-SLI.

I can also vouch that the XP-90 will fit on the MSI-K8N Neo 2 Platinum. I don't know if it's kosher for a forum member to post his own eBay auction, even completed ones, but I do sometimes sell systems on eBay, and anyway on one I sold a bit over a month ago I used a XP-90 heatsink on the board, no problems. There was plenty of clearance between the edge of the motherboard and the heatsink, so you shouldn't be doing something like butting up against the top of the power supply, if that's a concern.



I have no experience with the Epox, other then to say I generally see positive posts about it as well.


Hope this helps.
 
thanks all for your replise. I'm pretty sure I'm going with the epox, all the people I've spoke to about it swear by it. The MSI is nice also, but the EPOX seems to be the winnar :p
 
Brando457 said:
thanks all for your replise. I'm pretty sure I'm going with the epox, all the people I've spoke to about it swear by it. The MSI is nice also, but the EPOX seems to be the winnar :p
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wise choice, hope u hav the same luck as i hav :p
 
oh yeea i forgot to add that my cpu is running on stock voltage (1.47V) and a multiplier of 9 and she has never seen 40*C :p
114617CPUz367.jpg
 
Brando457 said:
thanks all for your replise. I'm pretty sure I'm going with the epox, all the people I've spoke to about it swear by it. The MSI is nice also, but the EPOX seems to be the winnar :p
Click to expand...


Hey, enjoy the build. :) If you want to, post how it goes and what you think of it after you're done.
 
thanks all. Wow that OC is nice at stock voltage. If my CPU does 2.4-2.6 for me I'd be more then content
 
Brando457 said:
thanks all. Wow that OC is nice at stock voltage. If my CPU does 2.4-2.6 for me I'd be more then content
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yep props to the epox board and xms ram and of course my cpu cooler:

290880computerpic123.jpg

(that radeon 8500 is soon to be a leadtek 6600gt :p )
 
Hehe.. I'm a bit late now, but I went with the Abit AV8 and it does pretty well. All I did to OC it was install everything then turn the lock on, and and bump my 2200mhz 3400+ up to 2530mhz (230mhz FSB) without changing any other settings. (No voltage changes needed at all). I think my at load CPU temp only went up about 2 degrees. I haven't even tried to push it further yet since I really don't plan on running at higher than 2400 anyway since that's all I need with an X800XT-PE to run every game I play at 1600x1200.

I also got similar results with my Abit KV8 Pro. I locked it, lowered my RAM (since it wasn't particularly good RAM) to 333 and my HTT to 800 then bumped up my 2000mhz 3000+ to 2400mhz (240hz FSB) and ran it that way for about 5 months. Didn't have to adjust a single voltage setting at all to do it either! I actually got it to run Folding at home for a full day without problems at 2500 as well, but I didn't need that level of speed anyway so I lowered it back down.

I didn't have any problems with the KV8 until I damaged the CPU while swapping in a bigger heatsink... First time I destroyed a CPU in my life. :( Actually I am still thinking of getting another CPU to put back in this system for my wife since it OC's like a champ and she is only using a 2.4ghz P4 on a crappy MOBO at the moment.... Could definitely use a better CPU to help power her 6800ultra in EQ2.
 
Brando457 said:
My CPU is a 939 socket, not 754. To my knowledge the DFI Lanparty is ONLY a 754 board, I may be wrong though.
Click to expand...
ah yea now i feel like an idiot. i saw the neo and thought it just said neo platinum. not neo2

so i thought it was s754
 
I decided to go with the EPOX mobo. Now I just need to figure out which 6600 card to get
 
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