Another new build advice thread

but that's the thing, those reviews will only study what a product is like from the outset, not what it's like to live with. My A8N board seemed the best thing since sliced bread when I first had it, a few months later, that illusion dissolved.

 

Sam
I noticed the P5NE is considered by some to be a midrange board. Also the E was replaced by the P5ND which has the revised chipset for use with the 45 nm architecture. From a review done by Tomshardware last May I wouldn't use one of those boards except for a budget build. I know what I'm going to do and the board doesn't have the quality features I want.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/24/seven_650i_sli_motherboards_compared/page4.html
Now that's what I call a reliable link. They give you the info to help make up your mind besides giving their impression.

(Bad typing)

 

Sam
I'm glad you pointed out another of the "pinches" with the Egg reviews; first impressions.

The nVidia chipsets used in the A8N line have a reputation for good service. I regret you had problems with your board. I would have suggested a slightly more upscale board for an enthusiast using their system a lot (sometimes 24/7). Even the A8N32 is considered a midrange board (in comparison to highend gamers). You often get what you pay for, as in the case of that cheap PSU that burned down your PC. That's why I won't hedge on core components.

 

I too know that a lot of the reviewers on newegg are somewhat lacking in the tech common sense department, but while I trust Tom's Hardware more than most, they're too high profile to ignore the prospect of them being sent engineering samples rather thah normal genuine versions of the product. Their review of the P5N-E SLI for instance is flattering as it's one of the early versions before Asus made whatever change it was that turned them into oversized paperweights.
The nForce 4 Ultra has been a success story for everyone I know that's owned one. The nForce 4 SLI less so, and indeed when both my Asus boards failed I was in fact pointing the blame more at nvidia than Asus, but after noticing the quirks with my Xpress 200 chipset Asus board and hearing some mutter about issues with other boards, and I went out to have a look. In the top-end sector, Asus have a better QC for their higher boards than Gigabyte, this much is clear. If I was going all out to get a top-end board Asus is who I'd recommend over Gigabyte, drop down below £80 though, and the situation is reversed.

I've been criticised heavily in the past for taking my point of view to extremes and recognise that I have still improvements to make in that department, but to be honest, there's nothing even being argued about here any more.

 

LOCO
Glad you pointed out the Egg review idiot factor. I'd be called condescending if I did it. LOL

You're right about the situation. Play in dirt and you get dirty.

I like reviews from PC World, Tomshardware, and Anandtech (and a few others I read less frequently). The Gigabyte DS3 and ASUS P5 (were considered comparable)
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2860
The older A8N was for AMD 939 and has nothing to do with C2D; well before its time. PC World ran tests on 10 boards for a review back when the 939 AMD was king. The A8N was a top board.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119984-page,1/article.html
Doing a Google, I noticed the DS3 is getting a large number of complaints about different problems. Just punch in DS3 problems for an interesting read.
http://www.google.com/search?q=DS3+...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

LOL You stole my line.

I'll usually go with the majority of professional reviews on board and other hardware selection; and if a friend has had good luck with it that adds to the good rep. If my friend says bad, I usually ask why? I try not to take any one opinion, though I weight some over others.

You're right on nothing being argued about. Just a difference of personal opinions. I'll still tend to ask for supporting info anytime anyone starts stating products are bad. Plus I can often readily supply a basis for my opinions over a personal take.

 

They are known to have problems with certain types of memory, and had a storage controller bug if I recall. I also, however, recall the P5N-E having an issue where getting the system to even POST with all four memory slots in use was nearly impossible, let alone actually running the PC stable. No board is free from problems, there have even been some with the Maximus Formula. Look up any board with the word problems after and you get the same result, unsurprisingly. Also, note that most of those issues from that google are for the older 965P-DS3, not the P35s I recommend.

 

Glad you pointed out most boards have their foibles. Better companies address those with improvements. As far as further discussion, I doubt it will do any good since most see this as a hostile environment. LOCO has been getting PMs. ASUS and Gigabyte, both good and interested in improving and supporting the product. Nuff said.

 

the configurator is for checking mem capatiblity.. im not worried about my mem it is fine.. wish ti showed other parts as well

 

My bad. It was under the PSU. I should have looked closer. They do claim long cables. Good luck with the buy.

 

Another build thread, ok I figure to give it a shot.

 

Good luck. What do you want to build; a simple machine, something for working with audio and video, or a gamer? That goes from low budget to high end according to what you're willing to invest. Any way it goes, you'll want a CPU with the C2D architecture, dual or quad core.

 

Nice LOCO!! You find all the "neato" progies don't ya??

...gm

 

lag?? what do you mean?? Like your video is lagging or your HDD seems to be working slowly?? I hope it's something simple and NOT another mobo issue.... sorry being negative... I'll NOT do that again.

....gm

 

OH!! That's NOT good. Yep a FRESH install might help things.

...gm

 

I wasn't timing it, but that appears to be a good turnaround on the board. Glad to see you got it going okay. With a fresh OS install, lets hope the "lag" goes away. If not, check the memory to make sure everything is going okay along those lines. I guess you already know you're not supposed to up any clock settings until the system is running at or close to peak.

I use OCCT as well. Good program.