Looking for the most stable board on the planet

iljonaso · Post by **iljonaso** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:05 am

Hey all!

I'm a new user but still not totally inexperienced in this whole forum or computer area.

Enough about me, let's get down to some discussion.

I've had my computer for a good 3 years now and I'm now thinking about an upgrade. This upgrade would happen somewhere between 2-4 months from now, as I don't have the most stable cash flow, being a student.

I know 4 months is a long time in computer development time, but I don't think it will affect the recommendations you'll consider helping me with.

The thing is, I need a very stable computer to be able to complete its task as a workstation, but maybe also a server. Now, I'm talking web services here, so don't go into the thoughts that I need the biggest badest mother on earth. I simply want a stable enough motherboard, that can keep my apps rolling for years to come. I'm talking about wanting ridicilously high uptimes even when working on it.
I'm not that much of a gamer. If I play games, they're mostly about 3-10 years old anyways (anything from Fallout to Subspace/Continuum for those interested). That meaning I don't care about the motherboard being a gamers or an overclockers dream.

The keyword is stable, here.
I saw the review on on this site stating that the Chaintech VNF 4 Ultra would be a stable board.
But I'd also like your opinions. Any help is appreciated. I just want the most stable board that I can get without breaking my already low economy into bits.

Thanks in advance!

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:02 pm

If you need that type of stablity and upgradablity then i think (gasp) Intel is the way to go. We already know that the LGA 775 is going to be around for a while and that future chips will fit that socket. Also because Intel has such a large market share the number of workstation apps that are optimzed to that arch is vastly larger than for AMD. So though its out of character for me i am going to recomend that you take a look at some of the Intel offerings.

Post by **Illuminati** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:56 pm

I pretty much agree with infinite on this one... I can't vouch for A64 yet, but my 865PE and 915P motherboards are rock solid at default settings. My wife's Athlon XP system has been giving her fits.... a lot. She's soon going to upgrade to my 2.6C system (on a 865PE chipset motherboard) while I dicide to go with either another 865PE motherboard with a 3.0 P4, or a 915P motherboard (with DDR2 and PCI-Express) and a 3.4 P4.... stability is also a big issue for me... mostly cuz I'm used to it. However, when dual-core, 64-bit processors hit the streets... I'm probably going to be come an impulse buyer and may have to deal with some instability at first. So if you're talking 4 months from now... let me know before you upgrade... I may already have parts for you to buy. ;)

If money is a problem... I'd lean towards the 865PE-based system (or even 875) to not deal with DDR2 prices... but I don't know if the price difference between DDR and DDR2 will be noticable in 4 months from now... Things change so quickly... my recomendation will probably even be totally different when that time comes.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:20 pm

Seeing how he is posting in the AMD motherboard section I don't think he is looking for an Intel based mobo. As far as the most stable 939 board you have a number of chipsets to pick from. nVidia, VIA, ATI, and so on... I'm not sure which one would be the most error free though. Let me ponder this one.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:24 pm

When it comes to stability. i actually like ASUS. They don't O/C as well as most others, but are good safe boards. DFI's new NF$ boards are great both in stability and overclockability. Abit, while a good O/Cer, is not a super stable board, and after past issues with MSI I have a hard time recommending them. In my opinion, the NF4 has so much potential but it is brand new, the Via chipset is very nice, and a good choice.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:21 pm

I noticed that this is in the amd mobo section but i still think for what he is describing Intel is the way to go. Im not saying you cant find a stable solution on the AMD platform but if you want a guarantee of stabiltiy then Intel wins hands down.

iljonaso · Post by **iljonaso** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:17 pm

Hey again, all!

Sorry that I haven't been a bit quicker in my response, but I've been a tad busy.

First of all thanks alot for your insights! They're really helpful, so don't give up on me now!

To the comments and questions:

infinitevalence wrote:If you need that type of stablity and upgradablity then i think (gasp) Intel is the way to go.

You're not the first one to have said that. Back at motherboard.org they're pointing me in the directions of either a Tyan or an Intel board. They did mention AMD but only in the sense that I wanted their opinion on the VNF board that was reviewed here a little while ago.

Illuminati wrote:If money is a problem...

Well, yes and no, of course. Everything depends on how long time I should wait before I buy it. Right now I don't have a job on the side of my studies, so I'm stuck with basic saving and it takes a while. It seems to me I'll be leaving the DDR2, at least for now. I might reconsider it later if stressed that I should.

Apoptosis wrote:Seeing how he is posting in the AMD motherboard section I don't think he is looking for an Intel based mobo.

Actually, had I done a biiiiit more research (well, you can *always do a biiiit more research, can't you?

), I would probably have done the post in the Intel board, but since the review of the VNF board said it to be "extremely stable" I thought perhaps that AMD based boards had something really extravagant to offer.

capper5016 wrote:When it comes to stability. i actually like ASUS. They don't O/C as well as most others, but are good safe boards. DFI's new NF$ boards are great both in stability and overclockability. Abit, while a good O/Cer, is not a super stable board, and after past issues with MSI I have a hard time recommending them. In my opinion, the NF4 has so much potential but it is brand new, the Via chipset is very nice, and a good choice.

Ok, I can see that there are quite a bit of a selection to choose from, here. Now, I don't know how those stand up to Intel-based board equivalents. Better, in your opinion, or worse?
Perhaps my thread fits better in the Intel-board....?

infinitevalence wrote:I noticed that this is in the amd mobo section but i still think for what he is describing Intel is the way to go.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and hand over two Intel-based boards that I've looked a bit closer at, with help of the opinions I got from motherboard.org. I know it's alot to ask, you having to go through specs and all, but I'd be really greatful. Are the AMD equivalents to these boards generally less or more stable than the ones I point out here?

[Tyan]

[Intel]

Again, thanks for your time. It's really nice to see people still wanting to help out.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:36 pm

They tyan is a good board but i would stick with a Intel brand mobo, i would also not reccoemend the on you linked to as it does not support prescott CPU's and unless you have a NW now your most likly going to end up buying a prescott. This is the Intel board i would recomend for its price/performance

http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/rl/index.htm

iljonaso · Post by **iljonaso** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:08 pm

Ok, thanks for the heads up.

Now, I find it fascinating that it's so hard finding "Prescott" and mother board in the same specs. Is there a more generic term for it? The only thing I get out of newegg.com are the words "Don't support Prescott" and that's a bit of the opposite I'm looking for, now isn't it? ;)
Intel.com isn't much of help either. Hard to pin down that Prescott term in specs.
Sure, there is another one in that series that doesn't have the above mentioned phraze, but how can I check up if it actually DOES support Prescott? Any hints appreciated.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:18 pm

well if its an LGA 775 it does support prescott, other than that you have to look at the details of the mobo and see if prescott is supproted, so no easy way sorry.

iljonaso · Post by **iljonaso** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:36 pm

Ok, but that at least tells me a little more what to look out for. Since the word Prescott isn't too widely used I'll try and combine the two to see what I can find. Thanks again. Now, I don't know if the mods will move this or not, but I'll find a board or two and link to them, so you, if you still want to, can help me out with the finals.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:27 am

If you want a stable board go Intel w/ the Prescott. I'm running a 570J at 4GHz on the Intel reference 925X reference board. I'm happy with the audio and gig-e thus far and I've yet to see a blue screen and my system folds 24-7 and I even play some CS Source online with it running in the background.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:34 am

I even play some CS Source online

Some!!??? Nate...you are almost as bad as me now.
As much as I respect everyones knowledge, and understand 10 different people may have 10 different opinions. I have come to swear by AMD products. I think if you look at a AMD vs Intel comparison at stock speeds lets say a 3500 Winnie vs a 3.2 Prescott, you'll see as good if not better performance out of the Winchester, at much lower temperatures....there are a lot of variables (an AMD won't O/C as high as an Intel, but I recently read an article where an AMD FX-55 at stock 2.6 was able to beat an Intel chip until it was O/Ced to 5.2GHz.) you can also overclock a AMD enough that it is blazing fast.
So that basicall takes it down to the motherboards. i really see a lot of potential in the NF4 boards, as well as VIAs new chipset. I do understand that NF3 and VIA 880 chipsets had AGP/PCI lock issues which made them poor overclockers, but then again that goes back to what you need, what you want, and what you expect.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:44 pm

Capper i dont think we dissaggree with you, i find AMD platforms very stable, but not in quite the same way as Intel based systems. If you buy an intel mobo, intel cpu and decent quality value ram like kingston then your system will boot first time barring dead componants. With an amd system thats not always the case. Take my DFI, it was tempermental with my memory until i updated the bios and was tempermental with my CDROM until i switched drives. Thats all im saying, Intel is tried and true, AMD can be just as stable but some times takes more effort to get it there.