hardware > motherboard

	Created	Last Modified	Short Description
No audio on A8N5X	13.Apr.2007	09.Mar.2008	No audio on A8N5X motherboard with USB case-connector
A8N5X Motherboard	29.Apr.2007	16.Dec.2007	AMD Socket 939, chipset NForce4, SATA 1.5G

DDR vs DDR2 misunderstanding
Since the introduction of DDR2 memory, a huge misunderstanding has taken place in computer history. To manufacturer, DDR2 is cheaper to built and has higher clock speeds. But in reality overal system performances are degraded. To have DDR2 outperform DDR (which runs at 400MHz), it needs to run at an estimated speed of 700 MHz, thus almost twice as fast. Since 2007, DDR2-800 is available. Before that, DDR2 was still immature and a non desirable choice. You would end up paying more to get the latest motherboard with the latest processor that supports DDR2, when you could have for less money a more performant system.
Since 3 years, the socket 939 has been my favorite platform to build systems. Unlike many others, I don't believe in DDR2. Benchmarks are clear that DDR-400 outperforms DDR2-633. An AM2 system wiht DDR2 will need DDR2-800 in order to beat DDR-400. So I will jump directly to DDR3.

I have tracked the best designed socket 939 motherboards. To choose a motherboard, you first select the chipset you want, then you look at benchmarks to see who's getting out the most performance using this chipset, then you cut your choice based on the features available. For the same chipset, Asus will often be among the most peformant. DFI is also on top and often beats Asus.

Recommended Socket 939 Motherboards

DFI LanParty UT Ultra-D	This board beats slightly the A8N32-SLI in benchmarks PCI-E x16 (one video card), PCI-E x8 in SLI (two video cards) Has a little noisy northbridge fan chipset: nForce 4 Ultra SATA 3.0G, SLI
A8R32-MVP	chipset: ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 This model replaces the A8R-MVP. This board actually beats the A8N32-SLI in benchmarks. SATA 3.0G, CrossFire, (silent)
A8N32-SLI	chipset: nForce 4 SLI X16 This model replaces the A8N-SLI PCI-E x16 (one video card), PCI-E x16 in SLI (two video cards) SATA 3.0G, SLI, Heat Pipe on northbridge (silent)
A8N-E	This model replaces the A8N5X. chipset: nForce 4 Ultra SATA 3.0G
A8N5X	(deprecated) This model replaces the A8N-VM CSM. chipset: nForce 4 SATA 1.5G
A8N-VM CSM	(deprecated) chipset: nForce 430 SATA 1.5G

Note: Deprecated means you shouldn't buy this board because a newer model is readily available that does the same job a bit better.

Conclusion: If you don't need SLI (dual video card), the LanParty UT Ultra-D is the best motherboard. If you want CrossFire (ATI's counterpart of SLI) or a damn good silent motherboard go with A8R32-MVP. If you want SLI (dual video card) go with A8N32-SLI.
If you want to build a cheap silent PC, go with the A8N-VM CSM, it has a decent integrated graphic card (although not good for gaming) and has no fan at all.

Questionment: Is the LanParty UT better than the A8R32-MVP ?