Best motherboard for new OCer?

Tristana · 01-07-06, 11:48 AM

I am planning to get a 144 opteron and overclock to about 2.6 ghz. I'm new at OCing so which motherboard would be best? I won't mind going with PCI-e either.

darksparkz · 01-07-06, 11:51 AM

The DFI LP Ultra-D would be the best OCing board. But if your a complete beginning, it might cause a bit of trouble.

The argubly second best OCing board would be the EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra, it has been seen to almost perform as well as the DFI, except it's more stable and easier to use.

If your going with the Opteron 144, that means it'll be skt939. With skt939 you'd want to go with the nForce4 boards, which means it'll be PCI-E no matter what. Unless you go with this ASRock board that supposrt AGP and PCI-E for a skt939 CPU.

Tristana · 01-07-06, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darksparkz

The DFI LP Ultra-D would be the best OCing board. But if your a complete beginning, it might cause a bit of trouble.

The argubly second best OCing board would be the EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra, it has been seen to almost perform as well as the DFI, except it's more stable and easier to use.

If your going with the Opteron 144, that means it'll be skt939. With skt939 you'd want to go with the nForce4 boards, which means it'll be PCI-E no matter what. Unless you go with this ASRock board that supposrt AGP and PCI-E for a skt939 CPU.

Which ram would be best? I heard good things about G-skill ram? What kind of G-skill ram would allow me to overclock a Opteron 144 to 2.6-2.8 ghz on air?

cuda70383 · 01-07-06, 10:05 PM

i would go w/the Epox.......if you want to save some $ (like i did), i'd go w/the Asrock - which i've had pretty good luck with.

if you go w/the Asrock, remember that the board can only go up to 2.7 volts for the ram, so you need ram that performs well w/low volts.

darksparkz · 01-07-06, 10:43 PM

Well there's a vdimm mod for the ASRock board that allows you to put ram voltages up to 3.3v by connecting it to the 3.3v line.

The Epox board does tend to run well with ram at under 3.0v. I'd say the G.Skills should definitely be able to do at least 2.6-2.8ghz.

IWasHungry · 01-07-06, 11:01 PM

Another vote for the EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra.

Should be a n00b-friendly board. The DFI LANPARTY NF4 boards are definetly not n00b-friendly lol.

anvil82 · 01-19-06, 05:51 PM

Is that epox board good for the opteron 165 as well?

InfiniteThought · 01-20-06, 12:43 AM

I was a overclocking noob a couple of months ago when I picked up my DFI Lanparty Ultra-D. I've had zero issues thus far with this board. The instalation seemed as straight forward as any other ASUS I've setup.

However, on my first boot attempt I didn't plug all the power into the board and it wasn't working properly. But that was due my haste in not following the installation instructions.

What is supposedly so tough to deal with on these DFI boards?

IWasHungry · 01-20-06, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InfiniteThought

I was a overclocking noob a couple of months ago when I picked up my DFI Lanparty Ultra-D. I've had zero issues thus far with this board. The instalation seemed as straight forward as any other ASUS I've setup.

However, on my first boot attempt I didn't plug all the power into the board and it wasn't working properly. But that was due my haste in not following the installation instructions.

What is supposedly so tough to deal with on these DFI boards?

I'm in the same situation you were, being that the DFI NF4 was used on my first computer build.
What's so difficult about the board is that there are so many options, and so little description. The board gives you all these values and assumes you know what they are. If you set a single setting way too high or too low without knowing what IS too high or too low, you could damage/kill a component.
Oh, and I've killed a board because I set the RAM voltage jumper. The manual doesn't say using less than 3.3V with the jumper set will kill the board.

InfiniteThought · 01-20-06, 01:10 AM

In response to above:

As long as one follows these two rules--there shouldn't be an issue with the DFI board.

1. Don't change something on the board (hardware or software) without knowing what it is/does, and what negitives consequences changes might carry.

2. Always research what you do before you do it! If you don't understand what the settings change in the BIOS, there is a wealth of information availible on the internet to help guide, including this message board!

01-07-06, 11:48 AM	Thread Starter #1
Tristana Registered Join Date: Jan 2006	Best motherboard for new OCer? I am planning to get a 144 opteron and overclock to about 2.6 ghz. I'm new at OCing so which motherboard would be best? I won't mind going with PCI-e either.
	QUOTE Thanks

01-07-06, 11:51 AM	#2
darksparkz Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chicago, IL	The DFI LP Ultra-D would be the best OCing board. But if your a complete beginning, it might cause a bit of trouble. The argubly second best OCing board would be the EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra, it has been seen to almost perform as well as the DFI, except it's more stable and easier to use. If your going with the Opteron 144, that means it'll be skt939. With skt939 you'd want to go with the nForce4 boards, which means it'll be PCI-E no matter what. Unless you go with this ASRock board that supposrt AGP and PCI-E for a skt939 CPU. __________________ Antec P182 w/ 3 Yate Loon D1SL-12 Intel DG965WH Motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G.Skill 4x2GB DDR2 PC6400 4-4-4-12 WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB OCZ Vertex2 60GB SSD eVGA 8800GTS 512MB Asus DRW-24B1ST Corsair HX520 Scythe Ninja w/Panaflo 120mmx38mm FBA12G12M [Heatware] <---Or rather lack of heatware
	QUOTE Thanks

01-07-06, 10:05 PM	#4
cuda70383 Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bay Area	i would go w/the Epox.......if you want to save some $ (like i did), i'd go w/the Asrock - which i've had pretty good luck with. if you go w/the Asrock, remember that the board can only go up to 2.7 volts for the ram, so you need ram that performs well w/low volts.
	QUOTE Thanks

01-07-06, 10:43 PM	#5
darksparkz Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chicago, IL	Well there's a vdimm mod for the ASRock board that allows you to put ram voltages up to 3.3v by connecting it to the 3.3v line. The Epox board does tend to run well with ram at under 3.0v. I'd say the G.Skills should definitely be able to do at least 2.6-2.8ghz. __________________ Antec P182 w/ 3 Yate Loon D1SL-12 Intel DG965WH Motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G.Skill 4x2GB DDR2 PC6400 4-4-4-12 WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB OCZ Vertex2 60GB SSD eVGA 8800GTS 512MB Asus DRW-24B1ST Corsair HX520 Scythe Ninja w/Panaflo 120mmx38mm FBA12G12M [Heatware] <---Or rather lack of heatware
	QUOTE Thanks

01-07-06, 11:01 PM	#6
IWasHungry Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seattle, WA	Another vote for the EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra. Should be a n00b-friendly board. The DFI LANPARTY NF4 boards are definetly not n00b-friendly lol.
	QUOTE Thanks

Best motherboard for new OCer?

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01-19-06, 05:51 PM	#7
anvil82 Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey	Is that epox board good for the opteron 165 as well? __________________ Heat
	QUOTE Thanks

01-20-06, 12:43 AM	#8
InfiniteThought Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Davis, CA	I was a overclocking noob a couple of months ago when I picked up my DFI Lanparty Ultra-D. I've had zero issues thus far with this board. The instalation seemed as straight forward as any other ASUS I've setup. However, on my first boot attempt I didn't plug all the power into the board and it wasn't working properly. But that was due my haste in not following the installation instructions. What is supposedly so tough to deal with on these DFI boards?
	QUOTE Thanks

01-20-06, 01:10 AM	#10
InfiniteThought Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Davis, CA	In response to above: As long as one follows these two rules--there shouldn't be an issue with the DFI board. 1. Don't change something on the board (hardware or software) without knowing what it is/does, and what negitives consequences changes might carry. 2. Always research what you do before you do it! If you don't understand what the settings change in the BIOS, there is a wealth of information availible on the internet to help guide, including this message board!
	QUOTE Thanks

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