Ordered an A8R-MVP, second thoughts

[Yegg]

I ordered an A8R-MVP, for the overclockability(?). But I'm thinking about cancelling the order, and ordering an SLI motherboard instead, since I have a GF7800GT and I want to upgrade with another one of those at a later date.

I don't have that many choices, as it has to be in the same price-range as the A8R-MVP.

Which one of these should I order?
Abit KN8 SLI
ASUS A8N-SLI
Gigabyte GA-K8N SLI
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro SLI
MSI K8N SLI Platinum

I might be able to stretch my budget to these:
Abit AN8
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
DFI Infinity SLI

Or something else? DFI motherboards are too expensive for me, sorry.

Another choice is that I keep the order for an A8R-MVP and order a new motherboard when I decide to upgrade with another graphics card.

The CPU is an Opteron 165 (or an X2 3800, if I can't get hold of the Opteron) and the memory is 2x1024mb G.Skill ZX.

Thanks in advance!

[Kelldor]

The DFI Ultra D is only $125 at TankGuys, and $128 at Newegg. You can mod it to SLI as well. If you're not comfortable w/ modding and potentially voiding your warranty, maybe consider the JetWay 939GT4-SLI-G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153030) for $129 at Newegg. Anandtech gave it a good review.

[wesleys_dad]

sir,
if u have the 7800 it would be a better idea to stay with sli.the asus
a8n sli or the abit kn8 sli would be a fine choice.both are stable boards and are affordable.isnt as much out on the abit board but i know 2 people that run it and they love the board.the asus board is also a winner for stability and mild o/clocking.
why spend more money than you have to,just stick with what you have.in all honesty ther isnt much difference between what you have and what you want.if your looking for insane o/clocks then the dfi but if your looking for sane o/clocks the abit or asus would be your best choise.i recently sold my a8n sli asus and now run an asus a8n-e ultra and both boards in my book were perfect for me.the abit board is fine also and it liiks cool in a windowed case.you cant really go wrong with either choise.just my opinion good luck with what ever you decide to do.keep us posted...................

[da-key]

Imho, go with the dfi lanparty ut sli-d. :eek:

[Yegg]

The DFI Ultra D is only $125 at TankGuys, and $128 at Newegg. You can mod it to SLI as well. If you're not comfortable w/ modding and potentially voiding your warranty, maybe consider the JetWay 939GT4-SLI-G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153030) for $129 at Newegg. Anandtech gave it a good review.
Stability is more important to me than a few extra MHz, and I'm also not a very "good" overclocker.

The Ultra-D is like $187 here, still cheaper than the A8N-SLI Premium, which I'm leaning towards at the moment. How hard would it be to mod it to an SLI-D?

So, I'm currently thinking about getting either an A8N-SLI Premium or an K8N Platinum. Are these easier to overclock for a semi-beginner? More stable than an Ultra-D modded to SLI-D?

Thanks in advance :)

[da-key]

When you get your DFI in the mail and take it out of the box it will say to you "OverClock me Dude !" he he. But , if not its still the best choice for looks and performance imo Ultra-d or SLI-d. In your case, get the sli-d, mess around with modding on a spare board is my advice. DFI has a new version called expert if it is the same price as the sli-d then perhaps consider it.

[Yegg]

When you get your DFI in the mail and take it out of the box it will say to you "OverClock me Dude !" he he. But , if not its still the best choice for looks and performance imo Ultra-d or SLI-d. In your case, get the sli-d, mess around with modding on a spare board is my advice. DFI has a new version called expert if it is the same price as the sli-d then perhaps consider it.
The thing is, I'm around $680 over my budget for my new PC :P (including an A8R-MVP motherboard), so I can't really afford to spend more money on the motherboard.

The other components are these:
AMD Opteron 165 or X2 3800+ (depending on wether or not I can find the 165)
2x1024mb G.Skill ZX
PoV 7800GT (got ~$62 off on it)
TT Big Typhoon
Antec Sonata II

Here are the choices and the prices of the various motherboards considered in this thread:
DFI SLI-D 218 USD
DFI SLI-DR 262 USD
DFI SLI-DR Expert 287 USD
DFI Ultra-D 187 USD Affordable
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 208 USD
ASUS A8R-MVP 149 USD Affordable
MSI K8N SLI Platinum 167 USD Affordable

I'm now leaning towards the K8N SLI Platinum.

As I said before, I'm looking for 24/7 stability, SLI support, overclocking for the "semi-beginner" and silence (the A8N-SLI Premium is all passive).

Thanks!

[wesleys_dad]

If dfi isnt your bag,the asus premium is a great board,read user reviews and professional reviews and youll see the asus is a great mobo.its hard to beat and no doubt the dfi are great boards but for some one with out a fair amount of experience it can br very nerve racking if it dosent just boot up for you.dont get me wrong im in no way knocking dfi,id like to try one myself and will soon but in your situation the asus will be a perfect board out of the box and then when your ready you can start tweeking and learning about o/clocking.the dfi can be overwhelming for some people.there is no way you can go wrong with the asus premium and its the next choise for people who arent ready for the a8n 32sli due to price or availability or just dont need 32 lanes at this time.
every time i look at the dfi boards im wanting to order one but i have alot of experience and i read constantly on the issues with them and i still want to give 1 a shot.but as a second system to start with in case i have problems i have the time to figure them out.i run a computer company,my own business and i need this system up and running.but honestly the asus premium is a great choise for you and the dfi is a great choise if you have all the preffered hardware and know the issues with the board and have the time to investigate problems if you have some.and most important read,read ,read about them.dfi street is a treasure chest of info on the boards.
your a8n sli premium is a out of the box sure fire boot up and go from there,the systems ive built using the asus have been perfect and out of 7 systems no one has said anything but praises about the mobo choise.you with your experience level and needs for stability dont want to start off with a dfi.i could possibly destroy your confidence in wanting to build your own system.dfi would be as stable as the asus but would require much tweeking and fine tuning which requires time and patience and knowledge of the board.good luck sir on your choise and keep us posted as to what you choose.we all here will help with problems with whatever board you choose..........................

[dogsx2]

If dfi isnt your bag,the asus premium is a great board,read user reviews and professional reviews and youll see the asus is a great mobo.its hard to beat and no doubt the dfi are great boards but for some one with out a fair amount of experience it can br very nerve racking if it dosent just boot up for you.dont get me wrong im in no way knocking dfi,id like to try one myself and will soon but in your situation the asus will be a perfect board out of the box and then when your ready you can start tweeking and learning about o/clocking.the dfi can be overwhelming for some people.there is no way you can go wrong with the asus premium and its the next choise for people who arent ready for the a8n 32sli due to price or availability or just dont need 32 lanes at this time.
every time i look at the dfi boards im wanting to order one but i have alot of experience and i read constantly on the issues with them and i still want to give 1 a shot.but as a second system to start with in case i have problems i have the time to figure them out.i run a computer company,my own business and i need this system up and running.but honestly the asus premium is a great choise for you and the dfi is a great choise if you have all the preffered hardware and know the issues with the board and have the time to investigate problems if you have some.and most important read,read ,read about them.dfi street is a treasure chest of info on the boards.
your a8n sli premium is a out of the box sure fire boot up and go from there,the systems ive built using the asus have been perfect and out of 7 systems no one has said anything but praises about the mobo choise.you with your experience level and needs for stability dont want to start off with a dfi.i could possibly destroy your confidence in wanting to build your own system.dfi would be as stable as the asus but would require much tweeking and fine tuning which requires time and patience and knowledge of the board.good luck sir on your choise and keep us posted as to what you choose.we all here will help with problems with whatever board you choose..........................

I don't think there are that many issues with the dfi mb. I am a semi-novice and have had a few of them. You do have to tweak a little on the memory but there is lots of help in this and other forums. There is no other mb for the $$ as good as the dfi ultra-d.

[wesleys_dad]

you mite get lucky and get the dfi to pop rite up and have no problems with all the correct parts installed.but if you look at yeggs post he says nothing about any other hardware,and chances of him having all compatible stuff is gonna be slim.the guy is building on a budget and god forbid he trys to use a p/supply,ram,bios,voltage selection,that isnt compatable he is in a bind.he cant afford to now go buy a 200.00 p/supply or some 200.00 ram that that picky board
needs to use.some guys luck out and all works well.if you investigate the board and have all the compatible stuff well thats your best chance.if you dont its a crap shoot as to weather its gonna boot and be stable.anybody that reccomends this board to an inexperienced person with no knowledge of the type of hardware there gonna run is crazy.your leading this guy to something that is gonna get him in a situation where he dosent have the money to buy himself out of the problem or he is in a situation that he cant figure out.if he has not read about this board and prepared his hardware selection for the board and most of all wants stability how can you reccomend this board.it is by a large margin the most picky hard to set up board available today.just check all the posts on all forums.its covered up with problems.most are people with hardware incompatable or bad boards or just plain in experience.this isnt a board you reccomend to a noob not having any idea as to his hardware choises for the board.dfi also says the board is not for the inexperienced,ever wonder why that is? because its reccomended to people who have no idea how this board can frustrate you to no end and its not for the inexperienced.you dont have to be an engineer to set it up but my god tou should have a working knowledge of o/clocking and an undestanding of how a motherboard works and what all these bios adjustments basically do.
yegg is inexperienced by his own admission and we dont know what hardware he is gonna run so what do you think his chances of this firining up would be compared to an asus board.the asus is alot more foregiving with hardware and settings.there is too many guys out there that have gone dfi because they were recommened the board by some one who lucked out, and now after giving up on the dfi and ordered an asus for example have a bad opinion of dfi thinking the board is a piece of junk because they were thrown into something over there head.the dfi is a great board when you do your homework and plan for it but to put general parts together and expect it to be trouble free,your kidding yourself.dfi builds great boards for a certain level of user not noobs who need to try this as there first adventure into o/clocking,that want a stable board without spending countless hours tweeking and reading.this dfi board can ruin your you good time building your system if you dont know enough about these board and what the require.
common scence tells me you dont reccomend the most tricky board on todays market to someone not looking for an adventure into the unknown.

[pcdoc1]

wesleys_dad - How are the drugs in Florida?

[da-key]

The thing is, I'm around $680 over my budget for my new PC :P (including an A8R-MVP motherboard), so I can't really afford to spend more money on the motherboard.

The other components are these:
AMD Opteron 165 or X2 3800+ (depending on wether or not I can find the 165)
2x1024mb G.Skill ZX
PoV 7800GT (got ~$62 off on it)
TT Big Typhoon
Antec Sonata II

Here are the choices and the prices of the various motherboards considered in this thread:
DFI SLI-D 218 USD
DFI SLI-DR 262 USD
DFI SLI-DR Expert 287 USD
DFI Ultra-D 187 USD Affordable
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 208 USD
ASUS A8R-MVP 149 USD Affordable
MSI K8N SLI Platinum 167 USD Affordable

I'm now leaning towards the K8N SLI Platinum.

As I said before, I'm looking for 24/7 stability, SLI support, overclocking for the "semi-beginner" and silence (the A8N-SLI Premium is all passive).

Thanks!


Go with the sli-d it destroys the asus board for 10$ more. BTW no difference in all 3 DFI boards(except expert) other than feature set, packaging and SLI. This is what makes the Ultra-D so good if not planning sli.

common scence tells me you dont reccomend the most tricky board on todays market to someone not looking for an adventure into the unknown.

Dude .....maybe he should get a Dell!:with:

[Yegg]

I've decided to go with an Ultra-D and maybe mod it to an SLI-D if I need SLI support. I just hope I can handle the beast.

Thanks everyone! :)

[pcdoc1]

Go with the sli-d it destroys the asus board for 10$ more. How did you determine this?

[STEvil]

it had dfi in the name, that makes it better than an untested contestant automatically.

[da-key]

How did you determine this?
I personally build water cooled mildy overclocked rigs for friends. I had an opportunity to subject an Asus premium to the ringer for a week or two( link in my sig). It doesn't hold up to what the DFI can do, but I have been an ASUS diehard for years and it is a very respectable product.:fact:

[muzz]

Go with the sli-d it destroys the asus board for 10$ more. BTW no difference in all 3 DFI boards(except expert) other than feature set, packaging and SLI. This is what makes the Ultra-D so good if not planning sli.



Dude .....maybe he should get a Dell!:with:

I am ONLY going by the Anandtech A8R-MVP review, but IF the review is correct, then your above statement is obviously flawed.

My DFi Ultra-D STILL has boot problems ( coldboot), no matter what bios I try.
That is pretty annoying, and they will tell you that you need a million watt PSU as an excuse at DFi-Street.

DFi is pretty pathetic if you ask me, unless of course you leave your computer on 24/7.
JMHO, others will vary.