DFI Expert OR ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe?

[DarkSephiroth]

I'm looking for a new 939 board. But i've read a bunch of review for both and now i can't decide on which because both are really stable boards. So, it just come down to either Brand?

Please provide reasoning too

[Celcius]

I would go with the dfi. It's cheaper and has better spacing of the pci/pci-e slots. Also, the asus board has that northbridge heatpipe that goes all the way across the board and may limit the choice of compatible cpu heatsinks. The dfi also has two more usb slots than the asus.

[thunderstruck!]

DFI made the best 939 boards out there, period. They have the most in-depth overclocking BIOS options and are stable as hell.

[Ic3man]

Both boards will serve you well. Imo if you want an easy life with good overclocking options then the Asus will serve you better as it is much easier to setup than a dfi board.

However if you want every concievable overclocking option, want to get the very best out of your cpu and don't mind putting in the time to set things up correctly then I would suggest the expert is for you.

A few notes :

The heat pipe on the a8n32 WILL NOT affect HS choice but will affect case choice - lian li's have a topsy turvey setup which affect the heatpipes use.

If you want more than 1.55vcore then you better choose the expert, I couldn't get my old a8n32 to give more than 1.55 whereas my dfi ultra will provide enough vcore to power a third world country:)

The DFI is more picky with ram than the asus- G.skill or OCZ ftw!

The Asus is a true 2x16 pci-e board the dfi (iirc) is not although the benefits of this are negligble at best.

The expert is a better board for SLI due to wider spaced slots.

The Asus is a quieter board (no chipset fan).

The expert is UV reactive but persoanlly I think the asus looks 'classier'.

Hope this helps.

[stone_cold_Jimi]

The expert is a better board for SLI due to wider spaced slots.


Both boards have 60mm between PCI-E slots. This was the Asus standard and was adopted for the first time by DFI in the Expert. The Asus slots are further "down" the board than the Expert, so the Asus 2nd PCI-E slot is quite close to the case floor in comparison.

[tommrussell]

i have the 32 board and really like it have not expieranced the probs that a lot of peeps have had , but if i had it to do over again i probably would have gone with the dfi because the bios has more options afording you more control of the board

[The Nemesis]

I went with the DFI myself recently. But I didn't read up on how hard it is to setup with TCCD ram so I'm running 2T right now until I get something else. Also It ran my 170 CCBBE with tccd just fine but nothing special just 2.8ghz @ 1.4vcore but wouldn't run a 165 CCBBE at any of the previous overclocks acheived on the SLI-D stable without 2T. So memory issues could just be how the memory controller of the cpu reacts with the board.
In my case the first pci-ex slot took the first opening on the case so I had to route my water tubes between the graphics cards. Also depending on your case you may have trouble removiing or installing ram modules due to their proximity to the psu. There close to the graphics card too. Its a great board if your a tweaker and overclocker, but if you just want to fire up the system do a quick overclock or already know what you cpu is capable of, the asus my be easier to set up. I wanted a new board, not new board and ram etc. So I may go with myslef.

[davidk21770]

I went through the same 2 choices when I bought my MB (and my son's as a Birthday present).

I decided on DFI primarily because I wanted all of the solid OC flexibility. It's there and it works well -- assuming you're willing to put in the time (as an earlier poster mentioned). However, DFI Street is a great resource including paid tech support people who know their stuff. If you go this route, visit DFI-Street and check the lists of compatible HW (PSUs and memory) and the build and OC guides.

Another consideration for me was that 2 of my last 4 ASUS MBs had problems with multiple sticks of memory (worked fine with 1). This was disapointing because I'd been pretty happy with Asus up to then. But, I didn't want to go through that again.

[billdavis]

had a asus a8n sli premium it was on and easy but i got the dfi expert because it is Xtreme
________
VAPIR NO2 VAPORIZER (http://vaporizer.org/)

[Mr. Popo]

Expert + TCCD = BIG nono
Venus + TCCD = SEXY
Expert = Lame version
Venus = Sexy version

Venus > Expert > A8N32 SLI DLX

[hixie]

You can use the Expert with TCCD, but you will have a hard time setting it up. I spent something like a 2 almost non-stop tweaking the setting just so that i don't get errors in memtest's test number 5 at DDR600.
Use slots 2 & 4, and get the setting correct, then move it over to slots 1 & 3 and see if they still produce errors.

The Venus board was designed to use TCCD RAM, but very few were made and cost quite a bit too. Something like 2200 Hong Kong dollars.

[Mr. Popo]

You can use the Expert with TCCD, but you will have a hard time setting it up. I spent something like a 2 almost non-stop tweaking the setting just so that i don't get errors in memtest's test number 5 at DDR600.
Use slots 2 & 4, and get the setting correct, then move it over to slots 1 & 3 and see if they still produce errors.

The Venus board was designed to use TCCD RAM, but very few were made and cost quite a bit too. Something like 2200 Hong Kong dollars.
I'm buying a new "leftover" retail venus for $250 us! :p:

[sofarfrome]

DFI gets my vote...tweak until ur heart's content

[Timmay]

DFI made the best 939 boards out there, period. They have the most in-depth overclocking BIOS options and are stable as hell.

QFT, You will be very very happy with an Expert.

[Lestat]

if you plan on overclocking dont even go near the asus.

if you plan on overclocking and doing everything else get the DFI
but there is no reason in the world to spend the extra money on the expert board. just get the SLI-DR

[Kain XS]

I think DFI would be better and also a little bit cheaper.

ASUS is not a bad board though...

[hlonipha]

Expert temp sensor with Opty is wacked. Other than that I love my board, when I first got it it was overwelming due to all the settings but with time and lots of reading and tweaking you will be happy.

Good luck

[davidk21770]

Expert temp sensor with Opty is wacked. Other than that I love my board, when I first got it it was overwelming due to all the settings but with time and lots of reading and tweaking you will be happy.

Good luckLater rev boards seem to be much better at getting the correct temperature. My AA0 was off by at least 10C, but my AC1 seems to only be 2 or 3C low.