Darnit.. which AM2 Mobo? Please Help!

[NickS]

Sorry to be such a noob but I'm very very frustrated with this decision.

My picks at the moment are the...

-ASUS M2N-E
-MSI K9N Platinum

I was leaning towards the ASUS for a long time, as it has a lot of tweakability and looks drop dead gourgeous. After reading up on it though, it's plagued with so many issues it hurts. I've also heard it's max vDimm is 1.95v, wtf?

Now the MSI on the other hand, seems to be a solid overclocker with a max of 2.45v vDimm. Both have their quirks though. The MSI really lacks in memory tweaking too.

So anyway, can anybody reccomend a GOOD motherboard with good overclockability and that's under ~$110? And NO DFI please.

[wedfighter]

i'll gonna say the DFI Infinity but after read the warning...then M2NE will be my next possible choice

[msimax]

i recommend df eye

[nn_step]

DFI Infinity or Epox
Edit: working budget please

[en4cer]

So whats wrong with the DFI LP UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G?? Have you had a bad expierence with DFI or something?

[NickS]

Yeah a few bad experiences with DFI, but after some strong considering and a lot of hours spent reading reviews and comparing boards side by side, I've settled on the DFI Infinty Ultra II or w/e it is. It's got an A+ layout with a good BIOS and nice voltages. It's the best rated AM2 board on newegg under $100 so it must be good. Quite a few reviews I read said it is very overclockable and stable. Plus, it's SLi to boot. Can't go wrong with nForce 4 either.

I'm gonna pick up that, and the Evercool VC-RE to go along with it.

[willow]

I'm gonna pick up that, and the Evercool VC-RE to go along with it.

That cooler is a tight fit & will require you to nudge a cap or trim one of the tabs. A worthy alternative would be an HR-05 or HR-05 sli. (Source: DFI-Street.)

[NickS]

nudging a cap wouldnt be too bad, the HR-05 is so ugly. Maybe I'll get one of those TT contraptions

[afireinside]

DFI Infinity or Epox
Edit: working budget please

under ~$110? And NO DFI please.

I never knew reading was hard

[NickS]

Sean.. lol...

http://svc.com/rr-ncw-l4e1-gp.html How would that be?

[tictac]

Yeah a few bad experiences with DFI, but after some strong considering and a lot of hours spent reading reviews and comparing boards side by side, I've settled on the DFI Infinty Ultra II or w/e it is. It's got an A+ layout with a good BIOS and nice voltages. It's the best rated AM2 board on newegg under $100 so it must be good. Quite a few reviews I read said it is very overclockable and stable. Plus, it's SLi to boot. Can't go wrong with nForce 4 either.

I'm gonna pick up that, and the Evercool VC-RE to go along with it.

Others suggestion...

How about micro atx form factor?

Abit NF-M2 view... under 100USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127013

Overclocking option quite nice
VCore up to 2.150V
Vdimm up to 2.5V
HT up to 1.4V
NB up to 1.6v
SB up to 1.7V
Memory timing option wise

Overclock...

[perkam]

DFI Ultra-M2

Perkam

[afireinside]

Very nice Tictac, does the BIOS have a full set of alpha timings to tweak? I've been waiting to see results on that board and yours are very impressive What cooling? And what's your max 32? I can't get over 2.9 with water and 1.6v on a lapped 3800+ X2 EE.

[en4cer]

You know, I didn't think of this one earlier.....

How about the BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138026


The TFORCE line seems to be good clockers.

[fakhrain]

DFI has just released Infinity SLI-M2 and Infinity CFX3200

Both cost RM430 and RM580 in Malaysia... which is roughly about $115 and $156 each.

[L'enFer]

ASUS Crosshair NF590 SLI.

[tictac]

Very nice Tictac, does the BIOS have a full set of alpha timings to tweak? I've been waiting to see results on that board and yours are very impressive What cooling? And what's your max 32? I can't get over 2.9 with water and 1.6v on a lapped 3800+ X2 EE.

sorry that is not my result... i found it in taiwanese forum... cant help any further...

some memory timing info...

[FLMJIGGY]

DFI Ultra = cehap and good
Epox 6100 = Very good OC and cheapest (MATX)
Abit Nview = Same price as DFI and not DFI (MATX)

[vitaminc]

just stay away from m2n-e

it's a stable board, but you won't go far on overclocking with it (limited vdimm options, vcores flaky, etc)

[NickS]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136015 Goin with that .

[nn_step]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136015 Goin with that .

Good board man Just remember to crank it to the wall

[afireinside]

ASUS Crosshair NF590 SLI.

He said under 100 dollars...

You know, I didn't think of this one earlier.....

How about the BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138026


The TFORCE line seems to be good clockers.

He complained about 550 chipset when I said get that 24 pin placement is horrid as well. Biostar has some killer budget boards but the layouts are horrible.

Tictac> Thanks! Board looks perfect. Makes am2 an affordable, tweakable, and fast setup in small form factor. If I didn't have SLI I'd be all over that board in a microfly.

[NickS]

I don't really like BIOSTAR overall. I have one of their tForces and the BIOS is OK but it doesn't have the rock solid stability I look for and need.

I'm about to order the DFI in 5 minutes or so here. I will post my results here in a bit, I'll prolly start a new project thread.

Thanks for all your help guys