Asus or Abit A8N32-SLI Who's better?

[MaXThReAT]

Hey, long time reader and tweeker. since 1989 this is just my first post here, very nice forum. More technical than any other I've come across. I've gone though an Abit IC7 and an IC7-G in the past 3 years. Both died unexpectedly on me. I do like Abit and really had no issues with them at all until they died.

I'm looking at the A8N32-SLI socket 939 boards for the 2 x16 PCI-e slots, (I'm a resolution junky) I'm not even considering DFI due to the lack there of. Both Abit and Asus seem to perform about the same. I'm not sure which one is better. I like the layout of the Asus alot better, 3 PCI slots, but really I could only use 2 once I insert a 7900GTX, so I would be back to the same as the ABIT. I do plan on going SLI soon after but not right away. The abit seems to have more reported stability, but I do not like the floppy connector down there. They also have Uguru clock and the Post code readout thing.

Looking at Newegg lots of bad reviews for the Asus, Lots of DOA or soon after using it died. Some 3 or 4 times in a row.

For the Abit not to many reviews 30 and not a one really bad. However after a dead IC7 in about a year and the IC7-G less than a year, (I had a mild 24/7 OC of 220fsb 1:1), I would have thought 2 years min operation at those speeds. So Abit has left me with mixed feelings. I also know they are just getting back on their feet from all the $$$ problems.
I've never used Asus. I know their 478 boards were great OCers. Looks like you get more space between each PCI-e slot.


So what do you think?
Abit

or Asus

[ClintE]

Used an Abit IC7-MAX3 for a long time. First set it up in raid10, 4 drives. Lost a drive, tried from every angle to get the replacement drive back into the array to make the whole thing redundant again. Finally had Abit tech support (after numerous calls) admit that the SiI code was defective, no way to recover the array to full raid10 status. Ran 2 drives in raid0 (bios thinking it was raid10 all the time) for a long time before ghosting the whole thing and recovering it on to a new raid1 on the intel ich controller.

Shortly after all the attempts at getting a solution from Abit, they obsoleted the board.

I will never willingly purchase another Abit product. They could have gotten new code from Silicon Image and updated the bios; instead they dropped the whole board.

Oh, and the little fan inside the plastic shroud that covers the power section on the motherboard failed; no help from Abit on that one, either.

evil abit...

[wespwnzu]

i just bought an abit an8 sli and have had nothing but trouble, i wish i had gotten the a8n32-sli every minute

[MaXThReAT]

Looking at the numbers on reviews the Abit board is almost exactly the same as Asus. What do you think about the heat pipe design on the abit board? Seems to try to defy the laws of gravity, it takes that downward bend before going back up. I don't know maybe it's low enough but I would think heat would get trapped down there. I found some real nice high res pics of each board and the Asus just seems to be more refined. I didn't even notice it actually has two heat pipes, not to mention their copper. I think for the extra thirty bucks the Asus it worth it.

[NinjaWreck]

I would have to agree that the heatpipe solution and layout is better with the Asus. Alot of the market seems to be going for DFI or Asus and Abit has been left on the backburner.

[shawn1998]

I can speak from experience on this one. Two weeks ago I replaced my DFI SLI-DR with the new Abit AN8 32X. I run the board in an upside down configuration, due to it being installed in a Lian-Li 2000 case. I removed the heatpipe assembly, as well as the passive heatsink in the second chipset that is just above the pci-e 1x slot. I put Jetart copper chipset coolers on the two chipset chips (perfect fit on both!) and the passive hs from the center chipset on the pwm's near the I/O panel. The pins on it lined up perfectly with the holes where the upper hs from the heatpipe assembly was installed.
The AN8 32X does not like the G-Skill 2x1gig pair (ZX), it would only run stable with it set to 2T in the bios. I replaced it with the 2x1gig HX set and was back to normal settings (1T).
This board is by far the most rock-stable board I've ever used. I know it's only been two weeks now, but I have truly put it through the ringer with games, benchmarks and stability tests and con say that with a clear conscience. So far, the only responses to this thread are from people who do not have this board. I do. I highly recommend it.
The last thing is the uGuru panel I bought to go with it (from newegg). Coolest thing ever. It works as advertised. Real, no kindding temps, voltages and rpm's on a front panel, with no software running in the background.
If anyone here is seriously thinking about getting this board and has any questions, please feel free to ask. Also, if you want to run it upside down and need more info on how to mod it up, let me know. I can get more details for you.

Shawn

[Crankster]

I've tried most of the NF4 SLI boards in various configs and i gotta give my vote to the DFI Expert. Some claim DFI venus is the best one, I haven't tried one myself though.

Pros with the DFI:
Amazing bios settings.
Amazing voltage, both in range and stability.
Basicly no mods needed.
Really good documentation here on the forums, someone's bound to have had your exact combination of stuff.


If you don't wan't to go DFI I suggest ASUS. Abit stopped being a top contender when Oscar Wu moved to DFI. Arguably the worlds best mobo engineer.

[Tony]

I just recieved boards to test from Abit, today i recieved a new beta bios that improves overclocking on the board also. i will ask if i can release the bios but for now take it i can't.

So i got to playing, 300X9 with an X2 183 mode (yes I modded the bios to unhide it) and run LDT at X5....so 1500LDT. Check the pic.


Running 3d just fine here also

[shawn1998]

Man, I can't wait until you can release that bios! That looks awesome! It would just give me one more reason to love this board.

[Sam666]

what board is that bios for?

[MaXThReAT]

Well geez, now I'm not sure what to think. I thought I had made up my mind and was going with the Asus. I know I don't want DFI due to the lack of duel 16x PCI-e. I want to keep this board for a min of a year, up to maybe 3. I would think the upcoming G80s in SLI will fully enjoy the 32 lanes, so DFI is out. Looks like a gang of Abit'ers so far. What did you guys think of the heat pipe design? I mean I would prefer not to have to remove it due to pure inefficiency. The copper Asus blocks look pretty solid but the aluminum Abit sinks don't look to great. I’m not buying until the 5th. Lets see how the new bios pans out for Tony.

[ClintE]

I love the chipset cooler on the A8N32. Just need plenty of airflow on it. I have a ThermalRight SI-120 with Antec Pro fan (medium airflow & noise I assume). The hs is turned so that the pipes are over the ram (no problem with removal / insertion clearance), and the copper radiator on the power section by the cpu gets better airflow because the fan's shifted toward the back of the case a bit. Everything's oc'd and over-volted, and it all is cool to the touch. This is with the side of the case off for oc testing purposes, but it shouldn't get too much warmer with the case put back together, assuming good airflow.

2.85GHz on 4800+ (9.5x300), 2.8 vdimm on ocz (rated at that), 1.225 on cpu (plus over voltage setting - 0.200), 2.5-2-2-5 timings (might loosen that up trying to go for 3GHz).

I think at least part of the reason for the cool temps is the 8-phase power, have read reviews stating that should help heat on this mb.

[MaXThReAT]

I think at least part of the reason for the cool temps is the 8-phase power, have read reviews stating that should help heat on this mb.

Yes and I believe Abit is lacking 8-phase power. I also can't find the Guru clock anywhere. I'm still kinda leaning towards Asus.

"The ASUS 8-Phase Power Design provides highly efficient operation to generate less heat (at least 15°C (36°F)) than other conventional power solutions. It reduces input ripple current and output ripple voltage, which keeps CPU and power module from suffering the risk of high power stress. It has the advantages of quick transient response and stability, especially beneficial when CPU requires more current immediately under heavy loading or overclocking mode."

[Heidfirst]

i just bought an abit an8 sli and have had nothing but trouble, i wish i had gotten the a8n32-sli every minute

to be fair if you are the guy with the ASUS EN7800 GT DUAL 512m special edition card you have a very unusual setup & going by your last post at the Abit forum it's looking like a vga/psu problem rather than the board.

A no. of A8N32 users have switched to the AN8 32X & reckon the Abit is the better ..

[Nephilim]

Tony, sorry if this is OT (I think OP should go for the abit hands down) but how did you get to the level of technical knowledge you have now? are you self-taught? Or are you an expert electrical engineer?

You seem to always be coming out with modded bioses and volt mods and such I'm aware that other people do too, but you're of a higher profile generally so I'm curious < /a$$kissing >

[Feanor]

I had an ASUS A8N-SLI for some time, but replaced it with a DFI Ultra-D. The DFI is clearly much better - no problems at all (unlike the ASUS), much more tweaking in the BIOS, some safety options, which I really liked (CMOS banks, shutdown temp, etc.). Is there a particular option in the boards above that you need and DFI LanParty does not offer?

[wespwnzu]

to be fair if you are the guy with the ASUS EN7800 GT DUAL 512m special edition card you have a very unusual setup & going by your last post at the Abit forum it's looking like a vga/psu problem rather than the board.

A no. of A8N32 users have switched to the AN8 32X & reckon the Abit is the better ..

thats what i figured at first, but i dont even have the card in now, im using a pci video card, and im getting problems all across the board. i had to reformat my hard drives because it wouldnt recognize my old windows installations, and now whenever i reinstall, it gives me error messages no matter which windows install cd i use. I have to clear the cmos every 5 minutes just to get it to boot, and its just doing strange things all over. It cant be a psu issue because 28a on the 12v on a 480w psu is more than enough to run just the motherboard, cpu, 2 sticks of memory and a pci video card. Im about to RMA the thing and resell it, it just isnt worth my time. maybe the new abit boards are better or i just got a dud, but i completely regret buying this thing

[Heidfirst]

i had to reformat my hard drives because it wouldnt recognize my old windows installations

Unless you brought it over from an identical board you probably should have expected to have to do a fresh install.

Im about to RMA the thing and resell it, it just isnt worth my time. maybe the new abit boards are better or i just got a dud, but i completely regret buying this thing

If you make enough of anything a few don't make the grade so it's possible that you have a dud board.
Shame as it seems atypical but I hope that you are happy with whatever you end up with.

[Amey]

Hey guys,this is what i achieved ....





Good enough ?

[Blacklash]

I've tried most of the NF4 SLI boards in various configs and i gotta give my vote to the DFI Expert. Some claim DFI venus is the best one, I haven't tried one myself though.

Pros with the DFI:
Amazing bios settings.
Amazing voltage, both in range and stability.
Basicly no mods needed.
Really good documentation here on the forums, someone's bound to have had your exact combination of stuff.


If you don't wan't to go DFI I suggest ASUS. Abit stopped being a top contender when Oskar Wu moved to DFI. Arguably the worlds best mobo engineer.

fixed.

[eva2000]

I just recieved boards to test from Abit, today i recieved a new beta bios that improves overclocking on the board also. i will ask if i can release the bios but for now take it i can't.

So i got to playing, 300X9 with an X2 183 mode (yes I modded the bios to unhide it) and run LDT at X5....so 1500LDT. Check the pic.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1143736089

Running 3d just fine here also

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1143736089

sweet stuff

hopefully a Tony modded bios for AN8-32x is available for release

[gus6464]

Well I bought the components in my system around the dfi expert and it has given me nothing but problems. I am on my second board as I rma'd the first one and it has yet to boot. It has only booted once. Even with the most recommended psu which is the OCZ powerstream 520w the thing still has major bugs, one of them being the cold boot bug. I have gone to dfi-street and all they can say is that i have done something wrong or that my settings are wrong but how can that be when the damn thing cant even boot for the first time. Now I am stuck with a pos $199 board which i cant get a cant return for a refund. I have owned many abit and worked with some asus boards and they have never given me any compatibility problems with other components. Hell i still have an abit bx6 2.0 with a ocd p3 700E that still works like a charm. What really pisses me off the most is that the problem i have has been a very common problem since it came out and DFI has yet to try to issue anything about it actually being a problem.

[MaXThReAT]

Hey guys,this is what i achieved ....
Good enough ?

Nice, that's looking pretty good to me. I'm guessing this was achieved on the Thermalright XP90 W/92mm? What kind of temps are you holding at those speeds? Any issues with the board at all, BIOS? I would miss the Award Bios and Abit has some of the best tweaking and monitoring tools around, their layout just suxs.

[Amey]

Nice, that's looking pretty good to me. I'm guessing this was achieved on the Thermalright XP90 W/92mm? What kind of temps are you holding at those speeds? Any issues with the board at all, BIOS? I would miss the Award Bios and Abit has some of the best tweaking and monitoring tools around, their layout just suxs.

Well yes its with XP90 and 92mm crap fan.Temps reach max 48C cos i have kept AC on.Without AC it reaches 57C,i know its pretty hot but then climate here is warm and summers are just starting.
With summer in full form,overall temps here soar to 45-48C,imagine what would happen then.

Anyways i will be replacing the XP90 with a TT-BT tonight.

Till now i havent figured out any problem with this board.Faced minor BIOS related issues but they were solved with BIOS update.

The most irritating part about this board is the placement of the CMOS jumper,it couldnt have been worse than this.
Asus shud be for this.

Overall the layout is so nice,why screw up such a small thing ?

Also i personally feel the Asus board is slightly better than the Abit board,i know looks dont matter much but then i cant help it

[Harshal]

Here he goes... Darky Congrats... and I think I should have kept you away from this thread :P
ABIT Hater