Can't decide which board to go with

[kenkickr]

My birthday is next month and I am going to get rid of this ECS board. My final two are the Asus M3A-32 MVP Deluxe/Wifi and the DFI LP UT 790FX-M2R. I love the layout of the DFI board over the Asus mainly due to the soundcard and Wireless N card I have in my system but I really haven't found many REAL owners of the DFI board except for the reviews on newegg and need I say more My biggest gripe with the Asus board though is I would have to get another HD3870 or HD3850 1Gb and crossfire so I can use the only two PCI slots on the Asus board.

Any experience or word of mouth would be much appreaciated!!!

[WarEagleAU]

That DFI board is an overclockers dream board. So many options for memory alone its mind blowing. Its also not for the faint of heart, and Ive heard some folks have had bad experiences with them, but thats pretty much with anyboard these days.

Ive heard alot of good reviews with that Asus M3A-32 MVP Deluxe w/ WIFI board. Alot of overclocking options, pretty decent layout and all that.

Im going with the Gigabyte GAM790FX -DS5 myself (or whatever it is, have to check with Fit3). I was going to go with the MSI K9A 790FX Platinum because you can quad crossfire, but this Gigabyte board was a deal too good to pass up. All 4 are terrific boards.

[kenkickr]

Now that I found on a couple reviews of the 780G boards I think I'll just wait til DFI or Asus release a 790FX with the SB700 due to more SATA ports and better USB speeds. I also thought about just picking up another ECS board with the 780G chipset! LOL!!

[btarunr]

The AMD SB700 southbridge has a clock-generator bug. source. We discussed that in this thread. You could wait for the AMD SB710 or higher.

[kenkickr]

Wasn't aware of the issue so Thanks for the info. Well I guess I'll wait some more or I might just go intel but my 6000+ is working fine so I'll just wait.

[btarunr]

Unless you're planning on a RAID setup of more than 4 drives, you really needn't wait. The ASUS M2A32-MVP, Gigabyte GA-790FX-DS5 / DQ6, etc do come with additional SATA II RAID controllers that handle the e-SATA ports and have internal ports as well. You can build your RAID around the SB600 and have the SATA based optical drives connected to those additional controllers. The controllers' devices are listed as 'SATA 5' and 'SATA 6' in the main page of the system BIOS....implies they are bootable on par with the southbridge routed SATA devices.

[DaMulta]

I can't get the wirless card on the ASUS to work right. It sees it, but when I connect it drops it and can't see it anymore.

Very odd/

[Fitseries3]

i've got a gigabyte GA-790fx-DS5 for sale if that helps you any. link is in my sig...

[SirKeldon]

Originally Posted by DaMulta

I can't get the wirless card on the ASUS to work right. It sees it, but when I connect it drops it and can't see it anymore.

Very odd/

Yes, that's true, me neither and in the Asus Official Forums many people is having the same issue, WiFi Adaptor doesn't works as it was suposed (neither on its mission of AP), we're still waiting yet to the "Magic BIOS" that will solve the problem. That's the only issue i can find on my M3A32-MVP Deluxe, rest is great (specially the mem coolpipes included) ... maybe the other thing is that owns tons of settings and voltages which are not documented and can lost you a bit ... but if you're an enthusiast you'll enjoy touching everything, and with this board you can.

Also i read good good reviews about the MA-790FX-DS5, it's performing that well ... and sincerely i just have good words about the chipset 790FX, works quick and flawlessly and can handle really high FSB's talking of AMD (i got a 325x11 rough stable on my 6400+, didn't push it further) as well as high speeds on memory (i've been able to push my memory till 1180 and do hard stuff with it when it's 800).

Talking about graphics, M3A32-MVP Deluxe (Wifi/AP version) owns 4 PCI-E 2.0 slots. If one or two cards are installed, the slots work at x16. If a third video card is installed, the first slot will remain working at x16, but the other two slots will work at x8. And if you install four video cards all slots will work at x8.

Anyway, the three are great boards: supporting HT3.0, holding 790FX and SB600 ... so you'll enjoy clocking in any of them ... as i can read DFI one also supports TriFire (don't know if it can handle the 3 cards working at x16) and Gigabyte one just normal CrossFire since it has two PCI-E slots.

Hope to be helpful

ps: about the ASUS integrated Audio i'll say to you i was amazed, i also own a sound card, the Audigy 4 Pro with rack (i use it for the ASIO and to record some things ...) and that small integrated chip beats it on sound deepness, maybe not on quality and potence ... but in the X.1 systems and also just on earphones you'll get stuck with the potence of that sound, a true surround that is always detailed, a brilliant audio card if you're not a "power-audio" user and you don't need professional features.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by DaMulta

I can't get the wirless card on the ASUS to work right. It sees it, but when I connect it drops it and can't see it anymore.

Very odd/

It's pretty much open now, ASUS suck with their integrated Wi-Fi solutions, be it the M3A32-MVP.....similar issues noted with the M2N32-SLI Deluxe/Premium.

[Fitseries3]

it's not that hard to get it to work. i got it to work on all the boards i've had with the wifi/ap on them.

[btarunr]

The issues are not only of getting them to work, but also that they have very bad range. In fact, despite the external antenna and the metre long cable, some users have complained of its range being worse than most WiFi solutions that notebooks / PCI cards come with.

That aside, what are you asking for that Gigabyte board? just curious

[kenkickr]

Originally Posted by fitseries3

i've got a gigabyte GA-790fx-DS5 for sale if that helps you any. link is in my sig...

I'm interested in the board but I'll have to talk to the girlfriend to see if I can get an early birthday present(only less than a month away).

The price is right after the listing within his link

[Fitseries3]

Originally Posted by kenkickr

I'm interested in the board but I'll have to talk to the girlfriend to see if I can get an early birthday present(only less than a month away).

The price is right after the listing within his link

sure thing man. it's not going anywhere soon. let me know.

[cdawall]

umm DFI>asus any day of the week...

[DaMulta]

Originally Posted by btarunr

The issues are not only of getting them to work, but also that they have very bad range. In fact, despite the external antenna and the metre long cable, some users have complained of its range being worse than most WiFi solutions that notebooks / PCI cards come with.

That aside, what are you asking for that Gigabyte board? just curious

I changed the antenna on mine and it made no difference. Then I used the antenna on my PCI WifI card, and got full signal sooo don't know.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by DaMulta

I changed the antenna on mine and it made no difference. Then I used the antenna on my PCI WifI card, and got full signal sooo don't know.

Need some anti-climax? Look at this board's price and cooling:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813153097

Nyah, your JR's RC toys' antennas are better than the one ASUS bundles.

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Need some anti-climax? Look at this board's price and cooling:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813153097

Nyah, your JR's RC toys' antennas are better than the one ASUS bundles.

wtf? thats the wierdest cooler...if they used good caps this time the board might be worth it though...


to bad its only anodized aluminum and not copper

[btarunr]

Look at it's bundle! There is a lane-bypass card for the blue slot in case just two cards are used on the yellow ones.



And this looks cute (it's bundled with the board):


To me, for $159 it looks to have an awesome cooling overall:


Yes, that isn't copper.

[cdawall]

wow that is a hell of a bundle

2GB USB Hub (2GB usb memory stick + 2 usb ports)
E-SATA power cable & E-SATA cable
USB cable (for additional 2 usb ports)
SATA to E-SATA cable
4 x SATA cables
2 x SATA power cables
IDE cable
Floppy cable

oh and if you wait for the machspeed version you get better caps and a lifetime warranty

[kenkickr]

Is Jetway a good company? Never heard of them that is why I ask.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by kenkickr

Is Jetway a good company? Never heard of them that is why I ask.

They do make some very reliable budget boards....and they're said to be trouble-free.

[kenkickr]

Now do you think I would be able to overclock just as well on the Jetway board as I would the DFI or Asus board?

[Fitseries3]

Originally Posted by kenkickr

Now do you think I would be able to overclock just as well on the Jetway board as I would the DFI or Asus board?

i doubt it.

[FlipIt]

Personaly i don't have experience but the DFI LP UT 790FX-M2R is really good the chipset rocks too...