need motherboard advice ASAP, please

CptStern

CptStern

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recently purchased a EVGA S939 NFORCE4 SLI mobo that came bundled with a video card. I just got an email from the retailer saying they dont have the eVGA mobo in stock (and dont know when they'll get more ..great) but they're willing to replace it with an ASRock mobo but truth be told I wouldnt know the differences if they bit me in the ass.


here's the eVGA motherboard:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15797

dont go by the price as it's been hyper-inflated due to being in a bundle ..it usually retails for about $130



here's the Asrock motherboard:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16165&vpn=939DUAL-SATA2&manufacture=ASRock



what is ULI? it has an agp port but I dont need one ..the eVGA motherboard has SLI, this doesnt. Should I accept the trade?


please and thank you :)
 
Not a guru but I would say they are trying to fob you off with one of their cheapest boards.
Tell them you want an equivalent mb (sli in this case I guess) , you may have to offer them some extra cash to make up the difference though. Actually, I tell a lie, they have it there for 191, unbundled, and they want to replace it with a board that is 100 cheaper? Thats bloody cheeky.
Personally , I would hold out for a better offer from them, I guess it depends on how badly you want this particular deal. Bear in mind that the value of the products have gone down by a hundred dollars.
Advice; haggle.
 
SAJ said:
Not a guru but I would say they are trying to fob you off with one of their cheapest boards.
Tell them you want an equivalent mb (sli in this case I guess) , you may have to offer them some extra cash to make up the difference though. Actually, I tell a lie, they have it there for 191, unbundled, and they want to replace it with a board that is 100 cheaper? Thats bloody cheeky.
Personally , I would hold out for a better offer from them, I guess it depends on how badly you want this particular deal. Bear in mind that the value of the products have gone down by a hundred dollars.
Advice; haggle.
Click to expand...


yes that's what I thought as well ...they're trying to make a monkey outta me :) I will complain that I ordered a SLI mobo and the one they have isnt SLI

thanks :)
 
any recommedations from this list?

http://ncix.com/search/index.php?qu...rice=Max.+Price&imagefield.x=0&imagefield.y=0

I've been reading reviews all morning and I'm no further than when I started ...leaning towards the the Asus AE8-SLI but then read in anandtech that the no premium/deluxe asus boards have problems and they didnt recommend them ...in fact it said they'd only recommend the the premium version cuz it was the only one that didnt have heating problems but was $150 more than the Asrock the retailer offered me

then I started looking into the DFI NF4 SLI-INFINITY (the low end of the DFI sli mobos) ..it got good reviews but I was a little skeptical cuz in a number of reviews they said DFI isnt exactly newbie friendly (I'm a newb, if you havent guessed that already)


so what the **** do I do? which mobo!!arghhh!!!
 
I have a ASUS Premium. No problems whatsoever. Lots of connections everywhere...
 
I got it for $160 on Newegg, but you're forgein.

D:
 
Qonfused said:
I got it for $160 on Newegg, but you're forgein.

D:
Click to expand...


yes, I'm foreign ...so are you. The mobo I initially bought was free but not in stock, they're offering me a board worth about $100 ..so if I wanted the asus premium I'd probably have to shell out an extra $150 ..which I dont want to do ..the prmium is definately an excellent board but it's more than I need. I just want a solid reliable good mobo that wont need tweaking to get it to work, comes with SLI and is about $150-$180
 
Don't take the one they're offering you... It sucks compared to the one you wanted.

How about the Asus A8N-SLi? I dunno what the prices are like for you over there. But its a good stable mobo.
 
While this is a little over your price range it should be a good reliable board:

http://ncix.com/search/index.php?qu...ce=Max.+Price&imagefield.x=23&imagefield.y=19

Are you gonna plan to use a SATA2 HD in the future? Otherwise, this board will be fine.

This board seems a better deal and you get SATA2 too:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16419&vpn=GA-K8N-PRO-SLI&manufacture=Gigabyte

I've only ever used ASUS but that's not to say all the other manufacturers are bad.

I did have a ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe before that had a craptacular SATA controller. I ended buying a new motherboard because of it.
 
ya I looked at the A8N-SLI .but a few sites said they would recommend it because it had a lot of problems ..in fact they said only the A8N-SLI premium was without problems as the deluxe version had some of the same problems as the A8N-SLI but it was a little confusing as there have been some board revisions since that review was published. That said I just sent them a message saying that I'm not accepting the crappy mobo they offered and should be entitled to something similiar to what I ordered ...I asked for the Asus A8N-Sli Deluxe board
 
Sanada said:
While this is a little over your price range it should be a good reliable board:

http://ncix.com/search/index.php?qu...ce=Max.+Price&imagefield.x=23&imagefield.y=19

Are you gonna plan to use a SATA2 HD in the future? Otherwise, this board will be fine.

This board seems a better deal and you get SATA2 too:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16419&vpn=GA-K8N-PRO-SLI&manufacture=Gigabyte

I've only ever used ASUS but that's not to say all the other manufacturers are bad.

I did have a ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe before that had a craptacular SATA controller. I had to buy a new motherboard in order to use it.
Click to expand...

ya I just sent them a message asking for the AN8 deluxe (I too like asus as it's the only boards I've ever owned) ..that gigabyte was my third choice after the DFI infinity ..but the gigabyte is a close second cuz it's far more user friendly than DFI



edit: damn, my wife just called me to tell me my cpu just arrived ...too bad I cant use it till I get a mobo ;(
 
I've had no troubles with my A8N-SLi. Some people complain that the chipset fan is too loud or dies. But i can't hear my fan, and it keeps my chipset below 35C.
 
ya you're one of the lucky ones ..I heard some pretty horrible stories of people hearing grinding sounds or the fan melting to the the motherboard or it not working at all


I'm just a little worried but I do like Asus as I've never had a problem with anything I've bought from them
 
Just say you want the A8N SLI one and you'll pay the extra $20 to make up the difference from the $190 one they should of been giving you.
 
Alig said:
Just say you want the A8N SLI one and you'll pay the extra $20 to make up the difference from the $190 one they should of been giving you.
Click to expand...


that's exactly what I did, waiting for their response ..see the thing is that they lose money ..cuz if they accept it they pay $200 as the eVGA was free ...not that I care I just want my stuff
 
I guess I am. My friend has the deluxe version. He moans about the "noisy" fan all the time. It spins at like 9,000 RPM. But he's an Audiophile.
The fan is easy to remove and replace with another fan or a small heat spreader. But i'd only recommend replacing it with a heat spreader if your case has a good airflow.
 
well it doesnt have the best flow despite having room for 5 fans (not including psu) ...noisy fan I can deal with ...melted fan I cant ..but asus is still my first choice
 
I would have thought that asus would have dealt with the fan issue by now ? i.e. would have sorted the problem, so only earlier boards would have the problem, and the latest batches would not ? Just a thought. Secondly, if the fan does play up, just get a zalman northbridge heatsink. Unless you are doing some serious overclocking, then tbh the northbridge should do just fine without active cooling. The combination of a heatsink and airflow from the case cooling should be enough anyway, and would be silent. Just my opinions.
 
SAJ said:
If they dont want to play ball just go with another vga-mb combo.
They are selling the bfg 7800 there for $465, should leave you with enough to choose your own motherboard. link: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16772&vpn=BFGR78256GTCOD2I&manufacture=BFG Technologies (good card by the way, Im using one right now)
Good luck m8.
Click to expand...


I paid $479 for the evga 7800gt and the mobo. Price was the deciding factor as I was unsure which card I should get between the two. The BFG is on sale this week at the same retailer for $443 ...really good deal. Incidentily have you tried HL2 Lost coast with your video card? can you max it out on everything? must look fanatastic.



update: I complained that the ASrock that they offered me was inferior to the evga that was in the bundle ..I asked if they could exchange it with the Asus sli deluxe board. They agreed and all I had to pay was an extra $20. Should ship out today. It couldnt have turned out better for me as that was originally the board I wanted but couldnt afford

so my final specs are

evga 7800gt
asus a8n-sli deluxe
amd 3700
2 x 512 ocz el ram
enermax 350 psu


all I really need is a better psu and another g of ram and it should rock

thanks guys for all your advice and help, it's very much appreciated :)
 
CptStern said:
evga 7800gt
asus a8n-sli deluxe
amd 3700
2 x 512 ocz el ram
enermax 350 psu


all I really need is a better psu and another g of ram and it should rock

thanks guys for all your advice and help, it's very much appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Nice setup there :)
Hope you enjoy it!
 
CptStern said:
I paid $479 for the evga 7800gt and the mobo. Price was the deciding factor as I was unsure which card I should get between the two. The BFG is on sale this week at the same retailer for $443 ...really good deal. Incidentily have you tried HL2 Lost coast with your video card? can you max it out on everything? must look fanatastic.



update: I complained that the ASrock that they offered me was inferior to the evga that was in the bundle ..I asked if they could exchange it with the Asus sli deluxe board. They agreed and all I had to pay was an extra $20. Should ship out today. It couldnt have turned out better for me as that was originally the board I wanted but couldnt afford

so my final specs are


evga 7800gt
asus a8n-sli deluxe
amd 3700
2 x 512 ocz el ram
enermax 350 psu


all I really need is a better psu and another g of ram and it should rock

thanks guys for all your advice and help, it's very much appreciated :)
Click to expand...

id say hold out on the ram for a bit, and maybe even the psu. Who knows that enermax may serve you fine, my antec 380w is more then enough for my pc so you should be fine
 
I paid $479 for the evga 7800gt and the mobo
Click to expand...
Oops, my bad, I thought the bundle was in the $600 range, just goes to show how much I know about canadian money.

update: I complained that the ASrock that they offered me was inferior to the evga that was in the bundle ..I asked if they could exchange it with the Asus sli deluxe board. They agreed and all I had to pay was an extra $20.
Click to expand...
Yeah , thats a much better deal, Im glad you held out.
And yes, lost coast runs pretty well on a 7800(all five minutes of it), as does pretty much everything so far.

ps : pretty sure your psu will be fine (26a on the 12v rail right?) , all you need is the adapter for your mb. Posted link to it earlier on.
EDIT : here it is http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13173&vpn=LP-2420&manufacture=Others
 
well they're dicking me around ...saying I cant have the 7800gt with the asus board because the vid card is apart of a bundle ...goddam it they're pissing me off
 
CptStern said:
well they're dicking me around ...saying I cant have the 7800gt with the asus board because the vid card is apart of a bundle ...goddam it they're pissing me off
Click to expand...

uh uh.
tell them the problem is on their end...by them having a bundle for sale which isn't even available.

not sure if its too late but if i were u, i'd pm Asus (yes he is a member here) about which mobo to go with...he knows everything about hardware.

hope it works out Stern.
 
still havent heard from them despite sending them 2 priority messages
 
SAJ said:
Youre not limited to ncix you know , tigerdirect have the same deal going(may have same stock problem ) http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1644233&sku=E145-7810
Dont forget to let ncix know have have options also.
Good luck, * cough *100kdeadbullshit* cough*
Click to expand...


screw it, I'm canceling my order. I can get the same video card and motherboard somewhere else ..sold seperately it comes out to be $10 more expensive than ncix. So I'm canceling my order and buying from them ...so far they still have it in stock so I should get it some time next week (month)I dont trust Tigerdirect ..on another board I belong to many people who bought the TD bundle had defective motherboards. TD just reboxed them and sent them out again.
 
CptStern said:
screw it, I'm canceling my order. I can get the same video card and motherboard somewhere else ..sold seperately it comes out to be $10 more expensive than ncix. So I'm canceling my order and buying from them ...so far they still have it in stock so I should get it some time next week (month)I dont trust Tigerdirect ..on another board I belong to many people who bought the TD bundle had defective motherboards. TD just reboxed them and sent them out again.
Click to expand...

again, i would advise u to consult Asus (the forum member/hardware guru) before u decide to place another order somewhere :)
 
Since you're back in the market for a mobo again:
I have an Asus A8N SLI. It's a good mobo. I esp. like the on-board sound. That is so good that I still haven't bought a audiocard. One thing tho: the mobo-fan Asus initially used wasn't very good at launch. It had the tendency to break down. Mine did. Asus will send you a knew fan free of charge but it's quite a hassle to replace it. If you have a recently manufactured mobo it should give you anu hassles.
 
Shakermaker said:
Since you're back in the market for a mobo again:
I have an Asus A8N SLI. It's a good mobo. I esp. like the on-board sound. That is so good that I still haven't bought a audiocard. One thing tho: the mobo-fan Asus initially used wasn't very good at launch. It had the tendency to break down. Mine did. Asus will send you a knew fan free of charge but it's quite a hassle to replace it. If you have a recently manufactured mobo it should give you anu hassles.
Click to expand...


I was looking into the asus sli (the non deluxe or premium) ...do you know if they just stopped making it and only fixed the deluxe and premium versions? I can get it for about $70 cheaper than the deluxe version
 
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