Some opinion please between A7N8X DL and 8RDA+

I'm building my first system. I don't know much about oc'ing at this point. Between the 2 mobo's, some suggestions for a novice?

I want to grow into my board purchase, and eventually do want to "pump it up".

well i might be a tad biased about this issue since my a7n8x-dlx is dead and i went and bought an 8rda+

my view is the a7n8x has trouble reaching 200fsb/400ddr, with most people getting around 195fsb max even with ram that can handle it

and a good number of 8rda+ get 200fsb right out of the box, i just tested mine today with my friends corsair pc3200, and it ran through 3dmark at 200fsb

i'm aware that both boards have a number of problems, particularly with the bios, but for overclocking, epox is the way to go, especially with it's 2.2v (great for watercooled systems) compared to 1.85v from asus

both boards have bioses that go up to 250fsb btw, good luck

and than their are those of us that reach 226 fsbs with "cheap" ram running perfectly day in and day out with the A7N8X.......I tested today with my "SaMsUnG" ram and completed 10 benchs run in 3D mark all with FSBs from 210-230 with my "SaMsUnG" ram scoreing from 17,667 pts low to 19,000 pts. Wonder what I could do with expensive ram that had CoRsAiR, or CrUcIaL on it. Something other than SaMsUnG ram on it. Anyone got an extra sticker. Maybe that sticker will get me to clock alot higher. Bios setup and pc setup from either board doesnt set itself. Interesting though, today I swapped from 1,3 to 1,2 slots for my memory. I was able to run benches from 214 with 1,3 slots to 230 with 1,2 slots. From soundcard being in pci slot 4 to moveing it to pci slot 3 I was able to achieve stability with no crackling that i was experienceing in slot 4 with a high fsb. I could of left everything the way it was though and blamed my SaMsUnG ram, and said I couldnt clock as high because I have ****ty ram. I think both boards are great, either one will only be limited by the user and their experience. Each board as before mentioned has their strengths and flaws. Its sticking to one board manufacturer that gives great support in the way of bios revisions to stay on top, coupled with experienced users that are familiar with the problems of their boards. You cant do that if your switching from manufacturer to manufacturer. Stick with one, I am happy with asus. If you want to know what suck *** <----can i say that here? support is try going to MSI and buying a board that wont even let you run a cpu at its stock multiplier because of bios revisions. Months pass and your still waiting for them....until you go over into that section in overclockers.com and see the cob webs growing in the MSI forums. I am sure most of the good guys in either forums could hit the same clock with 3-4 hours of mods and fiddleing with either board. Let the manufacturer and local support be your decideing factor. Just my two cents.

did you volt mod your board, JoJoMoJo? there in your sig...i'm talking about unmodded boards, modding is dangerous, if it could be avoided it should be

but i'm not sure if the mod you have in your sig affects fsb, whats the purpose of that mod?

both boards will have no problems going well over 200fsb with mods...nice ram by the way, i don't think a lot of pc3200 ram can do that, you hit the jackpot

5volt mod is something everyboard shares, the same problem. I knew someone would say that regarding the jackpot, no disrespect intended. I purchased each ram stick at different times from different vendors. My 333 board was the same way with 333 samsung ram, even going back to my 133 board with cough cough very cheap ram I was still at the top of the database. Im lost on how I always get the cream of the crop regarding ram sticks from local pc shops. Within the next week however I will do the vmem and vcore mod to this board. After running it for a few weeks getting a burn in I will hook up my 226 watt pelt finnaly. However things might get put on a hold due to the fact when I purchased my CPU I got one of the mislabeled 2600 processors. It is actually a 266 chip that came in a 333 fsb box. AMD finnaly called me regarding the mistake and gave me instructions to send it back to them so they can send me the right chip!

thats hardcore, but i still don't see what the problem is that requires the 5volt mod

it's odd, i always get the good steppings for cpus, well for the last 2 i've bought anyway, which is when i started building systems

its only a fix for a drop in 5 voltage thru the resistance that can occur thru your atx plug. If your 5 volt line is low like mine was with Asus, Abit, MSI, I was experienceing OS errors and corruption at high overclocks. Doing the mod deleted those problems I was haveing due to a low 5 volt rail. This isnt a mod to increase your overclock its a mod to fix a resistance problem that can occur with any motherboard that uses an ATX plug to connect to the board.

how low would the 5v have to be to cause problems? mine is at 4.945-4.969

JoJoMoJo said:

and than their are those of us that reach 226 fsbs with "cheap" ram running perfectly day in and day out with the A7N8X.......I tested today with my "SaMsUnG" ram and completed 10 benchs run in 3D mark all with FSBs from 210-230 with my "SaMsUnG" ram scoreing from 17,667 pts low to 19,000 pts. Wonder what I could do with expensive ram that had CoRsAiR, or CrUcIaL on it. Something other than SaMsUnG ram on it. Anyone got an extra sticker. Maybe that sticker will get me to clock alot higher. Bios setup and pc setup from either board doesnt set itself. Interesting though, today I swapped from 1,3 to 1,2 slots for my memory. I was able to run benches from 214 with 1,3 slots to 230 with 1,2 slots. From soundcard being in pci slot 4 to moveing it to pci slot 3 I was able to achieve stability with no crackling that i was experienceing in slot 4 with a high fsb. I could of left everything the way it was though and blamed my SaMsUnG ram, and said I couldnt clock as high because I have ****ty ram. I think both boards are great, either one will only be limited by the user and their experience. Each board as before mentioned has their strengths and flaws. Its sticking to one board manufacturer that gives great support in the way of bios revisions to stay on top, coupled with experienced users that are familiar with the problems of their boards. You cant do that if your switching from manufacturer to manufacturer. Stick with one, I am happy with asus. If you want to know what suck *** <----can i say that here? support is try going to MSI and buying a board that wont even let you run a cpu at its stock multiplier because of bios revisions. Months pass and your still waiting for them....until you go over into that section in overclockers.com and see the cob webs growing in the MSI forums. I am sure most of the good guys in either forums could hit the same clock with 3-4 hours of mods and fiddleing with either board. Let the manufacturer and local support be your decideing factor. Just my two cents.

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I would like to see the 3dmark compare links for those scores you are claiming Also are you on our 3d mark team yet.??