Recommend me a suitable replacement board please!

t_aitch · 31 Aug 2006 at 22:28

Ive got a standard Asus A8N board running an X2 4400+ in my sig below.

The Asus A8N is going to be going in a HTPC now, and im looking into getting a better motherboard for overclocking.

Im not willing to go down the AM2 route just yet so im going to be looking to getting a skt939 board, but i have two choices.

I was either thinking about getting a standard Dfi Ultra-D, as i wont be needing the SLi, and ive heard that this is quite good for overclocking.

Or i was thinking about going down the ATI route and getting a crossfire ready board, the DFi was attractive but on furthur inspection, the reviews didnt rate it highly. Can anyone comment on this? The DFI board i was thinking about for this was the DFI LanParty UT RDX200CF-DR Crossfire, or would the DFI LanParty UT CFX3200-DR RD580 Crossfire be a much safer bet for the money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated on this, thanks

t_aitch · 31 Aug 2006 at 22:37

Also would anyone rate the Asus A8r-MVP at all for overclocking?

OpenToSuggestions · 31 Aug 2006 at 23:49

t_aitch said:
I was either thinking about getting a standard Dfi Ultra-D, as i wont be needing the SLi, and ive heard that this is quite good for overclocking.

DFI Ultra-D is THE overclocking board for 939. It is cheap at the moment and I cannot find much wrong with it, apart from it doesn't have SLI/crossfire, which imo is rubbish as you spend 700quid on a nice setup then a 250quid card comes out thats faster than the setup you currently have. im sure some people will disagree but unfortunately my bank account doesn't permit

The Ultra-D is well laid out, such as having ram slots that are horizontal above the cpu, in line with the exhaust fan to keep then cooler.
Some say the nforce4 fan is badly placed but its by far the quietest chipset fan ive ever heard.
i would grab one before they are all gone, as they have stopped production. Well worth the 76quid they currently are. i can't recommend them enough. hope this helps

t_aitch · 1 Sep 2006 at 07:35

Thanks for that mate.

With regards to the chipset fan, is it possible to replace this with a zalman chipset heatsink, or will it overheat?

t_aitch · 1 Sep 2006 at 15:15

Anyone else got any opinions on this?

OpenToSuggestions · 1 Sep 2006 at 23:08

the chispet fan is low profile due to it being directly underneath the graphics card, with literally 2 a few mm between the top of the fan and the graphics card. It is a special magentic levitated sort of fan so is fairly quiet anyway. no passive heatsink will fit i dont think, no matter which slot you put the graphics card in. ihave however read on the interent that there is another aftermarket fan that would fit that is bigger, cools better and is quieter but does definately fit. you yould have to search engine it though as dont think i can post links to other forums on here

but back to your post, i dont think it would overheat with a zalman a passive heatsink fitted, but it simply wont fit in the first place

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