Can't wait any longer as I've promised my old Abit NF7-S v2.0 board and overclocked 2100+ Tbred to someone at work for a reasonable price.

I'll probably change system again within a year (which this should last me) when BTX, DDR2 and PCI-e have matured.

Anyway the initial benchies I've seen with the 939 in single channel mode are quite on par with the larger cache 754 benchies.

Therefore I think I'm gonna get one of the following: (unless someone can suggest the best 754 board to get at the moment)

Abit KV8-Max 3
Asus K8VSE Deluxe
Epox 8HDA3+
Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP
MSI K8T Neo FIS2R

Recommendations please

That is quite odd as there is no Socket-939 Athlon64 with a SingleChannel memory controller scheduled ( & I've looked at the latest roadmaps ).

All Socket-939 chips will have a DualChannel memory controller & the only difference will be the L2 cache ( 512 for Athlon64 & 1MB for Athlon64-FX ) & so far the Athlon64-FX chips do not have a locked multiplier unlike the Athlon64.

If you're not too busy, have a read :

Generation Change: Eight Motherboards For The Athlon 64 @ Tomshardware

Socket754 Platform: 13 Mainboards Roundup @ Xbitlabs

If I should choose fro the boards you listed I would go for the Asus board ( but that's just me ). It's just a shame it doesn't have Gigabit ethernet which could certainly become very usefull in about a year.

Just read the Xbit labs roundup before checking here

Thanks for the info.
Of course the 939 A64s don't have a single channel memory controller. They would have just tested it with one stick of ram in

I think I'll go for the Asus, or the Soltek which is nice and cheap but with more limited features. I really want a powered firewire port on it to charge my iPod.

Do you allready know which chip you're gonna buy for it ? The Athlon64 2800+ just came out & is almost as cheap as cotton candy.

Oops.
Ordered already.
Didn't notice the 2800+ online.
Plus with locked multis I wanted a slightly faster default chip and then up the fsb a bit.

I ordered:
-AMD Athlon 64 3200 (Socket 754) - OEM
-ThermalRight SLK-948U (Socket 754/940 & Socket 478) Cooler
-Asus K8VSE Deluxe (Socket 754) Motherboard

& would that be a 2.4ghz/512K 3200+ or a 2.2ghz/1024K 3200+ ? :giddy:

2.0Ghz/1024k 3200+ (which I plan to try and run around 2.2Ghz)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/amd_64_bit.html

You'll like your board. I use the Asus K8V-Deluxe with the 3200+ 64-Bit and a Gig of ram.....love it. What are you using for vid card?

Voodoo 3 3000.





Only kidding :rolleyes:
I've got a ATI 9800 with Samsung 2.8ns ram overclocked to close to Pro speeds.

To be honest I wasn't really finding any games slow on my 2100+ overclocked to 2.0Ghz but, call me a masochist, I fancy trying the XP 64bit beta and just felt the need for a change

New spec (with new CPU and motherboard):

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
ThermalRight SLK-948U with ThermalTake SmartFan II @ 2000rpm
Asus K8VSE Deluxe
1Gb OCZ EL-DDR PC3500
ATI 9800 128mb (355/350 Samsung 2.8ns))
Creative Audigy 2
1 x WD SE 8mb Cache 80gb
2 x Seagate Barracuda IV 40Gb 7200rpm
Sony 4x DVD+/-RW
17" Hyundai Q17 TFT, 19" Samsung 957DF Monitor
Logitech DiNovo Desktop with MX900 Mouse

What's the diff with the SE version of the mobo?

Luckily I just answered this on another forum

Ok managed to get two different links by going to K8V Deluxe from the Wi-fi @ home link.
K8V SE Deluxe
K8V Deluxe

All I could see that was different was:
K8V
Scaleable hypertransport
K8V SE
800Mhz hypertransport

Same thing basically with 754 based chips as they run 800Mhz.


K8V
The AI Series supports Gigabit LAN by integrating the 3COM 3C940 controller, equipped with a unique net-diagnosing utility-- VCT (Virtual Cable Tester). The controller intelligently detects net connection status up to 100 meters from a remote location and reports the distance of bad cable.

K8V SE
The AI Series supports Gigabit LAN by integrating Marvell 88E8001 GbLAN controller, equipped with a unique net-diagnosing utility-- VCT (Virtual Cable Tester). The controller intelligently detects net connection status up to 100 meters from a remote location and reports the distance of bad cable.

Looks like they switched from a 3COM chip to the Marvell one.

Doing a quick google shows Linux problems with 3com NICs. Maybe Asus were just trying to provide a more Linux friendly board for those wanting to run a 64bit Linux system. Although doing a search on the Marvell controller shows nothing but links to the K8V SE.

So unless your bothered about the possibility of getting a slightly newer revision board which might get less bios updates (unless the same updates will be used for both models), if the K8V Deluxe is significantly cheaper then I'd go for that. I only saw the K8V SE Deluxe at my favorite online retailers when I was ordering mine.

Interesting read. Thanks for the info......and enjoy your new setup.....I know I do. :grinthumb

Not to put cold water in your blood or anything, but you might have some problems using that 9800 in the 64-bit edition of windows...

ATI doesn't release any BETA drivers, and with the exception of the drivers being shipped with the 64-bit windows, all 64-bit drivers are classified as BETA...

Normally, when using an OS that is on the market for everyone to use and driver development is releasing new drivers often, this is a good thing, but since this is a beta test of the windows, I do feel that ATI should've chosen not to follow their guidlines, and released special 64-bit BETA drivers to those enrolled in the MS Beta program...

Dunno if this was interesting for anyone, but I just felt like typing it

Oh, and congratulations on your new setup!

But you do realize this means I might have to kill you for having too much money? (Allthough if you're in Italy you're safe, since I have no idea on how to make myself understood down there)

I think he's staying with the current version....I don't think I read anything above about him using the 64-bit version of XP. Outside of that I know that the 9800XT rocks with that setup so he should be fine.

Also, by the time the 64-bit version is released, the drivers should be as well.

Hmm.. I thought I saw a message by Arris asking about 64-bit XP, but I could be mistaken.

I posted the info/rant here, since it was here I saw that he was using an ATI card (though it didn't really surprise me )

Actually, I think he did....but in a diff thread. But we're always happy to take your rants, Mr. G.

It's Arris's 5th post down.

I'm running the MSI board with a 3000+. So far it's been excellent, but I really do need to upgrade my Geforce 2 GTS. I fully recommend this board for anyone concidering the AMD64 solution.

Thanks for your concerns MrG.
I might wanna try XP 64bit even if I can't play games on it

I need to get on the beta CATALYST driver test team

speak to CatalystMaker on the Rage3D forums

Apparently he left the Rage3d forums after being hassled too much (read this on another forum that I stumbled across while looking for info on 64 bit ATI drivers) :S