nForce 3 or nForce 4?

[alphacooler]

Ostensibly this question answers itself, but my situation necessitates a little help.

I just purchased a new AGP vid. card so I don't want to fork out another $150 for a PCI express card. nForce4 doesn't have an AGP slot, thus I am left looking at nForce3 boards.

Keep in mind I use my system for Dreamweaver, Photoshop, etc...NO GAMES...I repeat...NO GAMING

Question 1: What is the performance difference between nForce 3 and nForce 4? Am I really going to see a difference in what I do?

Question 2: Which nForce 3 board is the most solid? Does it really matter as long as I stay with the major players (MSI, ABIT, ASUS)?

Thanks.

 

[mgoldb2]

nforce4 ultra boards slightly better overclockers other then that the only difference is nforce3 is agp and nforce4 is PCI-E.

In my opioun the best nforce 3 board out there is the

MSI K8N NEO2 PLATINUM Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130468

 

[gaara]

nForce4 will yield the better overclocks as mentioned since nvidia optimized them better. If you aren't overclocking anything, you will not notice the difference at all whatsoever

I agree with just about everything the guy above me had to say pretty much

 

[alphacooler]

Thankyou guys. Great response. I think I'll order that board now.

K

 

[alphacooler]

What is the difference between the Platinum and the MSI K8N Neo2-F?

 

[Elbatrop1]

I might as well put some input into this one. I was in the same boat as you. I had a decent AGP card, and didnt want to go NF4. So, I went NF3. I'm not big on overclocking, so I didnt really look at DFI (the better overclocking boards) which were pretty expensive locally.

I decided on the GIGABYTE GA-K8NS Ultra-939. I have been very impressed with this motherboard. Everything was very easy to set up. It has been very stable for me. Also, the instructions were actually descriptive and informative

But, from what I hear the MSI is also a good board for non-overclockers...

 

[Apokalipse]

you're missing a [/url] there Elbatrop, hehe

the MSI K8N Neo 4 is a really good board for overclocking, and is also very good for non-overclockers. they're not particularly expensive.

the DFI boards are the best for overclocking (all the top Athlon 64 records are on DFI boards), however if you don't overclock, you're paying more than you need if you get a DFI board.

Nforce2 = Athlon XP
Nforce3 = AGP
Nforce 4 = PCI-E
Nforce 4 Ultra = more optimised Nforce4
Nforce4 SLI = Nforce4 optimised for SLI

the other Nforce4's also do SLI, the SLI version is just more optimised for it.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

When you talk about the Nforce 4, the different versions just have different stuff enabled, their really the same.

You can turn an Ultra into an SLI with a pencil, ect.

Nforce3 based board's are still a good solution. If i dont mind, where did you buy and how much did you pay for your board Elabatrop.

Also the DFI board may be more expensive, and possibly a bit unnescary, but in a high end computer, regardless of overclocking or not, that's what is going in the PC.

 

[Elbatrop1]

Nforce3 based board's are still a good solution. If i dont mind, where did you buy and how much did you pay for your board Elabatrop.

I got it locally from a store called Memory Express www.memoryexpress.com for $149.95 (CAD, of course)

 

[PP Mguire]

I personally think the DIF boards are the best for both OCers and non OCers.