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15. willcomp 18,737

1. Callandor 2,582,543
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15. mysticaldan 300,190

03.27.2006 at 09:39AM PST, ID: 21790544

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5.8

What is the "best" (I know there's no such thing) motherboard for a STABLE AMD-based system?

Zones: Miscellaneous Hardware, Computer Motherboards, Hardware Components

Tags: best, motherboard

Okay, since I'm spending so much less time here than I used to, I have some free time on my hands :-)
As anyone who's followed my posts knows, I'm an "Intel" guy -- BUT I've read enough about the AMD "Cool 'n Quiet" that I've decided I should give that a try, especially since AMD's dual-core CPUs are so well rated. SO ... I'm going to build an AMD-based system ==> I can always toss the motherboard & CPU and switch back to Intel if I don't like it :-)

I can select my own "stuff" quit nicely -- but am interested in the opinions of a few folks as to the most "rock solid" AMD motherboards. MUST support Cool 'n Quiet. I don't need suggestions for any other components -- I've already decided on the case, power supply, CPU, memory, Video, hard drives, optical drives, floppy drive, and UPS.

Requirements for motherboard:

(1) Must support ECC memory (I never build a system without it)

(2) Must support Cool 'n Quiet technology (that's the reason I'm building an AMD system)

(3) Does not need SLI (I'm not a gamer) but it's okay if it has it

(4) Native SATA support would be nice (like Intel boards have) -- but that's apparently not available in the AMD boards. The F6 driver load is no problem for XP ==> but how are SATA drives treated with DOS-based programs? (i.e. if you boot a Windows 98SE boot disk will it "see" a SATA drive -- presuming there's a FAT32 partition on it?)

(5) Overclocking features are of no use to me -- I do NOT (& will not) overclock. If I want a faster CPU, I'll just buy it. I want my systems to run QUIET and STABLE.

(6) Must support an Athlon 64x2

My initial inclination is to just buy an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe or Premium. But I'm in no hurry (may not do this for a month or so) -- and am interested in feedback from some of the key AMD folks here.

Please don't waste your time & mine by posting to this question if you (a) don't actually have an AMD-based system using Cool 'n Quiet; (b) are basing your post on 'Googling' results and not actual experience (I can read/research quite well); or (c) are suggesting a different CPU or some other component (I've made up my mind). I'm interested ONLY in feedback on the most stable AMD motherboards -- and any features/lack-of-features that make specific boards stand out; or "gotchas" that you've encountered with particular boards (e.g. does the board have room for a Zalman CNPS9500).

I do like STABLE ==> my current system has not been turned off or rebooted (other than those needed for updates) in 18 months. This system probably won't replace my current one -- it's just an "extra" PC to "mess with" (although if it performs nicely, I may migrate to it).

Points are low to start - but will be adjusted to reflect the value of the responses :-)

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Question Stats

Zone: Computer Hardware

Question Asked By: garycase

Solution Provided By: willcomp

Participating Experts: 4

Solution Grade: A

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03.27.2006 at 10:02AM PST, ID: 16302540

Rank: Genius

Callandor:

Gary, are you turning to the "dark side"? ;-)

I've tried three boards that support AMD Athlon64 X2's in the process of switching to AMD (I was an Intel P4 adherent before this; my last Intel cpu is a P4 2.8 HT). I've had an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, an Abit KN8-Ultra, and an Asus A8R-MVP.

The Abit was of surprisingly bad quality; the first one would spontaneously reboot after it warmed up, the second one was DOA and would not boot up at all, and the third is what finally worked. Being an overclocker, I tried pushing it, but it would not work with the cpu at anything more than stock settings. I tried with an Athlon64 3000+ and an Athlon64 X2 3800+, and now it is my spare.

My first board was the MSI, recommended by Dynamic1. It lived up to its name as one of the most overclockable boards ever, and it was stable at 30%. In my book, overclockability and stability together indicate a quality product.

I also have an Asus, because I was intrigued by dual video and RAID-5 capability. It was not very overclockable, though.

Assisted Solution

03.27.2006 at 10:35AM PST, ID: 16302807

garycase:

"... the 'dark side'? " ==> Well ... I'm at least thinking about it :-) My video server needs more space (only has 3.5TB now), so I'm going to build another system for a couple extra terabytes -- and figure I may as well try out a dual-core CPU in the process. Yes, a nice dual-core CPU (probably an X2 4400) is overkill for that, but it won't be the first time I've bought more than I need :-) ... and I may even switch to that as my main system if the performance warrants it. (disk drives are easy enough to move around) I "need" another system like a hole in the head -- there are 2 of us & I have about 11 systems laying around :-) (but only 4 or 5 are "current") I could (obviously) just add a few drives to one of my "junk room" spares -- but for just a few $$ I can give a nice AMD dual-core a try, so I thought I might do that.

Which board is your "main" system on?

03.27.2006 at 10:35AM PST, ID: 16302809

Rank: Sage

willcomp:

Gary, recommend nVidia nForce 4 motherboards. Later nVidia nForce boards support SATA natively on nVidia SATA connectors (no F6 drivers required for single drive like Intel ICH5 and up). RAID array requires drivers as do Intel boards.

I primarily use Gigabyte boards and recommend the GA-K8NF-9. It's not SLI but has 4 SATA channels, 2 IDE channels (4 drives), and Firewire. Reasonably priced and stable. Only problem is that it does not support ECC RAM.

Its big brother is the GA-K8N-Ultra-9 which I have not used as yet. Has more SATA connectors and some other added features. Still no ECC support though.

You'll probably get a lot of recommended ASUS boards. Many of them do support ECC. Although Asus boards are very good, I do not use them. Asus failed to honor warranty on one of their boards about 5 years ago and I haven't bought any since unless absolutely necessary. So no first hand knowledge of their Socket 939 boards.

I haven't used any MSI or Abit boards lately, but they were usually good, reliable mobos.

Intel makes the best mobos, but so far haven't seen any AMD CPU support from them, wonder why?

As to Zalman cooler. Most full ATX socket 939 boards from major manufacturers should have adequate space. Although it is an additional, unnecessary expense in my opinion. The stock cooler is quiet and you don't need any additional cooling since the X2 chips run cool.

Check out this case for future reference. Will need to swap out PSU (300 watt), but it's attractive, well designed, easy to work with, and fairly compact.

http://www.directron.com/c583ti3bbfu2ad.html

Dalton

Accepted Solution

03.27.2006 at 10:47AM PST, ID: 16302922

Rank: Genius

Callandor:

> Which board is your "main" system on?

It's the Asus A8R-MVP, but only because I invested so much time migrating the system from an Asus P4B533 that it was on before. It also has WinXP on it, the X2 3800, a Radeon X850XT and a Zalman 7000 cooler, so I am trying to see how it performs. I would use the MSI, but it's got Win2K on it and it's my backup system in case I really mess up something.

03.27.2006 at 10:51AM PST, ID: 16302954

garycase:

"... in case I really mess up something. ..." ==> do you not keep a current image of your system?

03.27.2006 at 11:03AM PST, ID: 16303100

Rank: Genius

Callandor:

I do - but if some critical hardware goes, I may have to wait for a replacement part. Remember the Seasonic I had? Unlikely, but every now and then, something unlikely happens, so I use it as my contingency. It also has my Aquagate watercooling, which I want to keep separate from my main system.

03.27.2006 at 11:47AM PST, ID: 16303511

dandano64:

I recommend Asus. I have the A8N-SLI Deluxe, and except for the chipset fan (replaced under warranty), it's been a great board. I think the A8N-SLI Premium would be the way to go. It uses a heatpipe instead of that fan and has the option for ECC RAM.

By the way, I have had no problems with Asus service. I have had to RMA a board from work to Asus, and they got it back to me within 2 weeks. When I've had to RMA through Gigabyte, it has taken a month to get the board back.

Also, the Asus boards come with a lot of gui tools for OC and SLI switching, if you like that sort of thing. I never use the gui tools myself.

One other thing about the GA-K8NF-9, it is limited by a 4x hypertransport mode. True nForce4 Ultra and nForce4 SLI boards are hypertransport x5 capable, an effective 2000 MHz fsb.

Assisted Solution

03.27.2006 at 12:12PM PST, ID: 16303765

garycase:

Dalton - thanks for the note r.e. nForce 4 and native SATA support; if I'd read that before I'd forgotten it :-) The GA-K8NF-9 is an amazing little board for the price (only $76 !!). I'll keep it in mind - although I'm pretty set in my ECC-memory ways !! (when those little old alpha particles hit my memory chips I don't want any errors !!)

I agree with your comment r.e. the Zalman -- and with the Cool 'n Quiet setup it's probably even less necessary. Doesn't mean I won't buy it :-)

Nice case by the way -- and a steal for the price!

On the GA-K8NF-9 do the SATA channels work as "standard" SATA channels if you're not using any RAID settings?

03.27.2006 at 01:17PM PST, ID: 16304872

dandano64:

The SATA channels work normally, no drivers needed, when RAID is disabled in BIOS.

03.27.2006 at 01:23PM PST, ID: 16304956

Rank: Sage

jhance:

I'm not sure I would agree that there is no such thing as a "stable" AMD based system. Either that or I have a system that is an anomoly. I have an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ based system with a DFI nF4 Ultra-D motherboard. I've been running both XP Pro and XP Pro x64 on it and it's been 100% under all circumstances.

While the X2 CPUs certainly take more cooling than the 3000+ I'm just using a generic AMD-compatible fan. Even under extreme load I've never seen the CPU temp reach 40C.

03.27.2006 at 01:26PM PST, ID: 16305032

Rank: Sage

willcomp:

Re SATA channels. Yes and all 4 are off nVidia controller. Ones I've used required setting RAID in BIOS and default was non-RAID. Although all 3 had mirrored RAID arrays installed. CPUs were Athlon 64 X2 3800 and either 1GB or 2GB of dual channel DDR400 memory. HDDs were Seagate SATA. XFX GeForce 6600 PCI-E video. None were gaming systems, but 2 will be used for video editing and DVD burning.

Comment about Asus warranty was that they refused to honor warranty, period. Claimed board was damaged when mounting CPU although it had been running for 3 months prior to failure. I'm not exactly a novice builder and it was a faulty board. Distributor even went to bat for me and Asus still refused. Needless to say, I was more than a little perturbed with Asus and still refuse to buy their products.

Assisted Solution

03.27.2006 at 02:26PM PST, ID: 16305852

garycase:

jhance -- note that the parenthetical comment is after the word BEST ==> meaning there's no such thing as a "Best" motherboard. Clearly there are stable AMD-based systems => if I didn't think so, I wouldn't build one !!!

Dalton -- thanks for the additional info. I understand why you avoid Asus -- a bad experience can do that. I had a bad experience with Montgomery Wards in 1976 and never set foot in another one of their stores again -- I doubt the lack of my business caused their ultimate bankruptcy; but I wasn't unhappy at the ultimate outcome :-)

03.27.2006 at 02:36PM PST, ID: 16305945

Rank: Sage

jhance:

Oh sorry. I thought the "no such thing" applied to stable as well as best...

03.27.2006 at 04:02PM PST, ID: 16306517

Rank: Sage

willcomp:

To give the Devil his due, Asus makes excellent mobos. Doubt that I will break them, but failure to replace that one board has cost them much more than replacement cost. The only good thing was that it was a board in one of my systems and not a customer's. Bad mobo was replaced with a Gigabyte 7DX which is still running. Used it continuously for about 4 years. CPU is 1.2GHz Athlon T-Bird that predates P4. It was a screamer in its day and time. Even has DDR RAM.

Someone mentioned chipset fans. They are prone to failure. Gigabyte nForce mobos I've used have a heatsink only which is preferable. Chipset fans can be replaced fairly easily in most cases, but extra noise and moving part that can be bypassed.

I've had 2 Gigabyte mobos fail. Both were 875P chipset boards (yes, they were P4s) and both had what appeared to be memory controller problems. Gigabyte replaced them and replacement boards have had no problems.

03.27.2006 at 04:19PM PST, ID: 16306594

garycase:

... as I noted in my question, I AM leaning towards Asus ==> they have all of the features I want and do, for the most part, have a good reputation. I'm always skeptical when someone I trust (you) has had a bad experience, however :-)

A follow-up thought for all: I'm leaning towards using the Athlon 64x2 4400+, since it's the lowest priced Toledo core (2 x 1MB L2 cache). But there are less expensive Opteron dual cores that also have 2 x 1MB L2 cache. Are there any "gotchas" that a non-AMD person might overlook in the differences between these two CPUs??