nforce motherboards - Which One?

[pip11]

I have Newegg open here, and I don't know the difference between the NVIDIA nforce4 plain, Ultra, or SLI. I plan on getting a new AMD processor, and I hear nforce are good motherboards.

I also hear that ASUS is a good manufacturer for motherboards, however Newegg only has ASUS motherboards for the nforce4 SLI.

To get an idea of what kind of processor I will be getting, here are a few I've been looking at: (the first two are socket 939's, while the last is a 754)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-465&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-498&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-464&depa=1

Can anyone explain the differences between the nforce4 models and possibly give a recommendation? It would be appreciated.

 

[pip11]

Oh, and I won't be overclocking it or my CPU.

 

[Nubius]

Well SLI would mean you're getting a SLI board...meaning two PCI-E graphics cards, so that's kind of easy to filter out.

As for nforce4 vs nforce4 Ultra...well hmm...I'm not entirely sure of the differences between the two.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20041020/nforce4-03.html

from what I see there, nforce4 is referring to socket 754 models, and nforce4 ultra is referring to socket 939/940 models, so I assume it's just mainly referring to the socket type inwhich I'd suggest you stick to socket 939.

Also ASUS IMO, has gone downhill in quality and tech support absolutely sucks. ABit, DFI, and MSI have really good boards. ABit and DFI are top overclockers boards ( I know you said you dont plan on it, but hey a year from now, who knows you might want to venture into it, so might as well get a board that has more options than you need right? )

MSI is just an overall stable board in my opinion, but some people love ASUS and will never switch so it's up to you, I personally think there's better brands, mainly the ones I listed.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Get the SLI, there are rumors about the Ultra chipsit ones that you can bridge a small resistor pad and turn it into the SLI, because the chips are the exact same, just a small differnce in the resistor pad......
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2322&p=2

 

[Catbert]

If your going to be a heavy gamer and are not bothered about upgrading, get the SLI version and whack in two 6600GTs [ 6800Ultras would be better if you have the money ]. Or if your not going to upgrade alot or are not into heavey gaming, go for the Ultra version and get a single 6800 Ultra.

From the CPU's you have specified I would go with the 64 3500+. One because there isn't a great increase in power, two, because the 3500+ is a Winchester Core and they are great for O/Cing [ I know you said you aren't going to O/C but just incase ]. Finaly in a recent test, the 3500+ came out tops for performace to cost ratio of all current CPU's including Intel.

Just my personal opinion, not going to force you to take my advice.

 

[pip11]

Wow, fast reply.

Well SLI would mean you're getting a SLI board...meaning two PCI-E graphics cards, so that's kind of easy to filter out.

PCIe is better than AGP, right? (heh, sorry)

With the SLI board, that would mean I am required to have two 6800's? (the card I plan on getting) That could get very expensive... *gulp*

As for nforce4 vs nforce4 Ultra...well hmm...I'm not entirely sure of the differences between the two.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20041020/nforce4-03.html

from what I see there, nforce4 is referring to socket 754 models, and nforce4 ultra is referring to socket 939/940 models, so I assume it's just mainly referring to the socket type inwhich I'd suggest you stick to socket 939.

Thanks for the link. It looks like the Ultra is only slightly higher in what comes with it. The price difference isn't really all that much from a quick glace over at Newegg.

You suggest sticking to the 939? The only thing that strikes me as odd is the 3500 Athlon I'm looking at has a 939 socket, while the 3700 has a 754... but the 3800 has a 939.

Also ASUS IMO, has gone downhill in quality and tech support absolutely sucks. ABit, DFI, and MSI have really good boards. ABit and DFI are top overclockers boards ( I know you said you dont plan on it, but hey a year from now, who knows you might want to venture into it, so might as well get a board that has more options than you need right? )

MSI is just an overall stable board in my opinion, but some people love ASUS and will never switch so it's up to you, I personally think there's better brands, mainly the ones I listed.

Thanks. I'll look into ABit, DFI, and MSI. I've heard them mentioned around here before.

 

[pip11]

Get the SLI, there are rumors about the Ultra chipsit ones that you can bridge a small resistor pad and turn it into the SLI, because the chips are the exact same, just a small differnce in the resistor pad......
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2322&p=2

Would the SLI be combatable with 2 6600GTs like Catbert suggested? Also, there is slightly significant price difference between the SLIs and the Ultras. If the difference is really that great, I'm willing to pay for quality. Is it?

If your going to be a heavy gamer and are not bothered about upgrading, get the SLI version and whack in two 6600GTs [ 6800Ultras would be better if you have the money ]. Or if your not going to upgrade alot or are not into heavey gaming, go for the Ultra version and get a single 6800 Ultra.

From the CPU's you have specified I would go with the 64 3500+. One because there isn't a great increase in power, two, because the 3500+ is a Winchester Core and they are great for O/Cing [ I know you said you aren't going to O/C but just incase ]. Finaly in a recent test, the 3500+ came out tops for performace to cost ratio of all current CPU's including Intel.

Just my personal opinion, not going to force you to take my advice.

Define "heavy". I won't be running Doom3 or HL2. However, I do plan on running ES4: Oblivion when it's released later this year (I'm guessing the specs will be around the same range, but I'm not picky on power). I'm more of an RTS gamer, and I know they require a good amount of processor power (especially turn-based). I do have a few higher end games I'd like to play, but I don't need to run them at 1600 x 1200. I'll be using Visual C++, 3DSmax6, and Photoshop7 often.

I was leaning more towards the socket 939 processors too, especially after reading up and Nubius's comments. The 3700 was a significant price difference for a slight gain (IMHO). Thanks for the suggestion!

Are two GPU's and the SLI necessary? Is it such a significant increase? Would it be beneficial for me?

 

[Catbert]

SLI is compatible with any card as long as they are both the same.

By heavey I ment, nothing but games.

Doom3 & half-life 2 will happily run on a single 6800 Ultra on a more than reasonable FPS.

SLI is supposed to make a decent difference but its not to everyones taste. You wouldn't have to use 2 GPU's if you had an ASUS SLI, but the option is there. Where as the Ultra mobo should cost you less with similar performance.

The 3700+ was 754 rather than 939.


Edit:

Thing with SLI on a PCI-E mobo is, it doesn't leave a lot of room for upgrade as your other PCI slots are blocked by the mamoth GPU's in SLI.

 

[pip11]

I was just wondering if by heavy you meant running HL2 and Doom3 (the popular kids on the block). I'll be playing mostly RTS games though and using those programs I mentioned.

If you don't mind, what do you think about the 6600s and the 6600GTs? How would games, say like HL2, compare when played on a single 6600 or 6600GT?

Edit:

I'm also wondering about the 6800s and the 6800GTs in comparison with the Ultra. Again, if you don't mind.

 

[Catbert]

The 6800 & 6800GT are both nice cards and shouldn't be snuffed at. The FPS between the GT & Ultra is not a hugh jump either.

As long as you have 512Mb RAM [ preferably more ] a 6600Gt will cope nicely with RTS games and HL2/Doom3 if you decided to play them.

Both the 6600 & 6800 series will see you good for a few years to come.