Mobo choices

[rogue-monkey]

I still havn't decided between these 3 mobos, any advice would be great!
Vid Card - 6800GT
CPU - AMD 64 3400+ slot 754
RAM - 1 gig (one stick) 3200 DDR
PSU - 500 watts
Case - Antec Super Lanboy
Hard drive - 160 gig 7200 rpm IDE
DVD/CD burner

The mobos I am deciding between are:
Asus K8N-E Deluxe
Asus K8N
DFI LANPARTY
All of these mobos use the Nforce 3 chipset
Right now I am leaning towards the K8N, it seems like basically the same as the K8N-E Deluxe, just without a few extra features which I wouldn't even use. How does the LANPARTY stack up against these 2 mobos? Thanks for the help.

[szukalski]

I have a LanParty and I'm extremely happy with it.
Stock, it's slightly slower than a K8N-E, though this is negligible (try and see the difference in real life) and is made up by better SATA support and more features.
And if you're into overclocking... it's a one horse race, DFI all the way.

[rcrevolution]

I bought a DFI LAN party hasn't come in yet

[rogue-monkey]

I have a LanParty and I'm extremely happy with it.
Stock, it's slightly slower than a K8N-E, though this is negligible (try and see the difference in real life) and is made up by better SATA support and more features.
And if you're into overclocking... it's a one horse race, DFI all the way.

Thanks for the information, but K8N and the K8N-E Deluxe run at the same speed, right? I thought Asus had pretty good overclocking, what is good about the DFI system? Thanks for the help.

[szukalski]

The DFI board is a far better overclocking beastie. Firstly, the SATA doesn't play up when overclocked (if you're not SATA, it's not an issue) and you have extreme (almost silly) control over the board in the BIOS. Secondly, the board WAS designed with overclocking in mind and it excels in that department, horses for courses as they say, but if you're not planning on "racing"...
(Do a quick google for reviews/testimonials. Here's a starter http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2206 ).
The K8N and K8N-E are the same in speed I believe, the difference being the nForce version (250 vs 250Gb) and some extra SATA ports.

[rcrevolution]

Umm I would say the Nforce3 250GB chipset which is an insane gaming chipset.

the asus one probaly u can have up to 8 devices instead of 4
if U want performance and a good gaming mobo go with DFi Lan party one.

[rcrevolution]

well also whats the price, If u can get the DFI lan party for $109 which is how much I paid then thats a good price, I dont know the price of the Asus one.

[rogue-monkey]

Ah, what is the difference between the 250 and the 250gb chipsets? Also, I would only be overclocking about 200mhz, what would the difference be between the two models in a relatively small overclock like that? Thanks for all the input.

[rcrevolution]

250Gb is the newer model and probaly is a bit faster, and any bugs that were in the 250 are probaly fixed in the 250gb

the 250Gb is a great gaming chipset tho.

[szukalski]

The 250Gb has gigabit LAN, whereas the 250 only has 10/100 megabit.
If you are doing any overclocking, choose the DFI. From what I've heard, the Asus has limited RAM voltage options, so overclocking your RAM to keep up with the system bus may be problematic.
As for the 250 and 250Gb, they are the same chipset, so there shouldn't be much difference between the two. I haven't heard of bugs in the nForce 3 250/250Gb, just of bugs in motherboard manufacturer's implementation of said chipset.

[rogue-monkey]

Does anyone know for sure if they 250gb is faster? Or know any known bugs with it? Thanks for the help, I am still undecided though... (lousy high quality mobos)

[szukalski]

There is no speed difference, it's the same chipset, hence the 250 naming.
The 250Gb just has gigabit LAN. Like I was saying, there are no known bugs with the chipset, just with the implementation of it, ie. with the SATA drives not working at higher system bus speeds. The DFI doesn't have this fault.

[rcrevolution]

if it is faster you won't notice it, I said probaly faster, and when i said bugs i was talking about updating the chipset.

[szukalski]

if it is faster you won't notice it, I said probaly faster, and when i said bugs i was talking about updating the chipset.

Note: The 250Gb is NOT an update of the 250. It is the SAME chipset, developed at the same time. The only difference is the specs. Any bugs are in the implementation.

[rogue-monkey]

Note: The 250Gb is NOT an update of the 250. It is the SAME chipset, developed at the same time. The only difference is the specs. Any bugs are in the implementation.

*nod* I assumed that the Gb stood for gigabit lan. I will probably go for the Asus K8N, as I have no real need for gigabit lan, and the overclocking I am planning to do will be only in the 200mhz range. Thanks for the help everyone!