Best A64 motherboard?

[bias_hjorth]

Hey guys..

What are your suggestion of the ultimate A64 motherboard..
I am thinking voltage, OC, modable etc...


thx
:banana:

[MrIcee]

From my experience(and many others) the Shuttle AN50R is very good, easily mod-able and performs great on the FSB. OPP and macci and a host of other enthusiasts have had great luck with Gigabytes 2 nForce 3 offerings, the K8N Pro and the more expensive version, the K8NNXP. NewEgg has this board in their refurb section for $100 right now. Any of these boards set up right, with good ram aboard will perform great.

Randi:D

[Trooper_GR]

MrIcee,

So you dont recommend ASUS K8V or any other with the VIA chipset ?

I am also on the lookout for an amd64 m/b , so far the shuttle seems to be very nice :)

[bias_hjorth]

Originally posted by MrIcee
From my experience(and many others) the Shuttle AN50R is very good, easily mod-able and performs great on the FSB. OPP and macci and a host of other enthusiasts have had great luck with Gigabytes 2 nForce 3 offerings, the K8N Pro and the more expensive version, the K8NNXP. NewEgg has this board in their refurb section for $100 right now. Any of these boards set up right, with good ram aboard will perform great.

Randi:D


thx randi

had the gigabyte in mind but I havent seen any volt mods yet? (me = blind ? )
Do you know if Epox and/or Abit got something interesting?

[MrIcee]

Trooper_GR:)

I have not utilized that board but do know that others have had success with it. It has neither AGP or PCI lock, even with a PCI IDE controller card the videocard takes a beating at high FSB.

I personally have the ABIT KV8-MAX3 in my arsenal. It's a great board but cannot run the high FSB that I strive for that the Shuttle nForce 3 can.

The VIA boards make great bandwidth at low FSB 1:1, much better than nForce3. But if you're running an A64 it will limit your overclock because of the 3200+'s 10x max multiplier. This is why nForce is attractive for me, with memory volt mods I can run the memory at the 200/166 divider and go into the 300Mhz FSB territory, which equalizes and surpasses the bandwidth of the VIA boards at any given speed.

The FX51 boys can up the multiplier and remain in the VIA's sweet spot of mid 220's and still get a max CPU overclock.

It all depends on your preferences and what your priorities are.:)

Randi:D

[MrIcee]

Here ya go, Gigabyte Volt mods (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20190)

Randi:D

[shortcircuit]

The only problem with the gigabyte boards is getting a high vdimm. With 3.6v on my 3.3v rail, I can only get 3.37v vdimm, and 3.25v is the highest I can go stable. Between 3.25v and 3.37v it gets unstable, and above that no boot.

Please please somebody correct me if I'm wrong, I would love to get this board stable at a higher vdimm.

[Trooper_GR]

Thanks a lot Randi, I think I will go for the shuttle board as it is available locally. I just need to order myself a AMD 64 CPU now :D

[bias_hjorth]

Sounds like the Gigabyte motherboard is the perfect thing for me.. thx a lot!

And keep em posting if you have another result!

gratz´

[Trooper_GR]

Randi,

Is there some special bios that I need to install on the shuttle board? I will be getting it tommorow from RMA.

Thanks :D

[The Runner]

whats the main difference between the K8NPRO and the K8NNXP, just that the XP has secure IDE, 6 phase etc.?

Both have IDE raid and S-ATA raid right? And what kinda OC could I get from one, running a S-ATA Raid setup? 220FSB? Would the via solution be better for me if I wanted 230max?

I hear the vdimm mod for the gigabyte is damn easy and doesn't require soldering either.

[some_young_guy]

Sorry to ask this in an extreme systems board, but what is the best A64 3200+ board for overclocking without vmods? Like how high can you go on fsb and at what voltage, etc. I was thinking of getting a Shuttle AN50R, or should I wait for the new nforce 250? What benefits does the 250 have?