Do you have this hardware combo?

[[1966]Zombiefly]

hi,
I'm going to be purchasing a 64bit system this week, and have my eye on a 3800x2 processor and either an Asus A8N SLI Deluxe or Abit Fatal1ty AN8-SLI motherboard.

While scanning the net for reviews etc, the Asus board seems to be excellent. However, i've also stumbled upon quite a few horror stories relating to failing chipset fans and general instability. The Abit Fatal1ty AN8-SLI gets good reviews also, but has less features and is more suited to overclocking.

Generally i want this pc to work well out of the box, i'll be sticking in 2gb of memory and a Geforce 6800 Ultra Pci-e. I'm not sure i want to be overclocking, i've never done it before and i dont really feel the need. As for gaming, all i need to do really is play BF2, so its a must that it plays that properly!

Does anyone have any advice on which board to go for? Had problems with either board? I've read some stuff about BF2 not working right with asus boards, mainly while flying vehicles? any info appreciated []

[imported_Wreck]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

Asus tends to have less issues than Abit. Abit boards look better, and generally overclock better. For out of the box ease I'd suggest Asus.

[Blak_Phoenix]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

Yep, i would go for the Asus too.

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

Asus, the best right out of the box.

[[1966]Zombiefly]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

thanks for the replies. I'm thinking its going to be an ASUS board now, probably the premium version with the heatpipe chipset cooling rather than the failure prone deluxe version with its faulty chipset fan... However, while researching i've also discovered this board:

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-D, nForce4.

Anyone have any experience of it? from what i've read it's a tweakers dream, but what is it like for non tweakers?

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

All bad, if you're not gonna oc, avoid it like the plague.

[[1966]Zombiefly]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

All bad, if you're not gonna oc, avoid it like the plague.

i was drawing this conclusion myself. I was told it was fantastic because there were "special settings" for different vendors of memory.... to me this sounds more like a nightmare than a fantasy!! i.e. it wont work properly until i've spent months tweaking settings to try and get the thing stable!:cry:

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

Well, there's that, plus you gotta buy the best psu, ram, etc. just to get it to boot.
Oc--> DFI is the best
no oc-->asus

[N2K]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

i have the same one, newer asus boards comes with a better working fan, i just oreded a new fan because i took it off to put a heatsink, which was a bad idea, becuase it would heat up my vga

wait for the second gen deluxe, its going to have a fan less system, with one heat pipe connecting 3-4 heatsinks

[Papi4baby]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

Several of my friends have had bad luck with asus a couple of times. So dont believe everything you here.

[gsxr310]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

hi,
However, i've also stumbled upon quite a few horror stories relating to failing chipset fans and general instability.

Instead of the Asus Deluxe(which has the faulty fan..) get the Asus Premium cuz it has the heatpipe rather than a chipset fan. Or if you can wait till the price on Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe (which is the latest and greatest Asus mobo) goes down http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131568 i'd rather get this one. it's the first board that utilizes true 16x PCIe in SLI.

[[1966]Zombiefly]

Re: Do you have this hardware combo?

thanks for all the input. After much reading i think i'm going for the asus premium board.