What's the difference between these motherboards and which is better?

[jimbodan]

I can't tell what the difference between the following 2 gigabyte boards are:

Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-SLI

Gigabyte GA-K8NXP -SLI


Which board is better and what are the differences? There is about a 5$ price difference between the boards where I plan on buying, so price isn't an issue.

Also do both these boards have built in RAID?

I'm pretty much set on getting on of those 2 boards, but if you must suggest a different board IT MUST HAVE SLI/PCI-E, FIREWIRE, AND RAID built in, I don't want to pay extra for a raid card and a firewire card.





Here's my current configuration from monarchcomputers for anyone that cares.

Case: - Thermaltake SViking Mid Tower Cas
Power Supply: 535W - Enermax EG565P-FMA REV.2.0 ATX
Case Fan: - 80mm - Thermaltake 80mm Ball Bearing DC
Motherboard: ??????????????????????????
Processor: - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 512K (939)
Thermal Grease: - Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease
Heat Sink Fan: - AMD Certified Opteron/64/FX Heatsink Memory: DDR (400) 3200 - 1 GB (2 pcs 512) Corsair
Hard Drive: SATA - Western Digital (WD2000JD) 200 GB/
2nd Hard Drive: - SATA - Western Digital (WD2000JD) 200 GB/
RAID Setup: - RAID 0 (Zero)
RAID Controller: None
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-RW: - DVD-ROM - Lite-On SOHD-167T 16x DVD 48x C
CD-RW/DVD-RW: - DVD-RW - NEC ND-3520A/GNB 4x-DVD+R DL/16x
Floppy Drive: - Mitsumi 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
More Storage: - Card Reader - Enermax ECR-A7-S 7-n-1 Alum Sound Card: - Creative Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
Video Card: 190670- x2 eVGA 6800 GT 256MBDDR3/PCI-E/TV-Out/Dual
Modem: - QuickConnect 56K V.92 PCI Modem

[nickmad]

power supply = 500 watts should be enough

motherboard = never rely on "onboard". get an ethernet card and a sound card.

hard drives = id say go with western digital, IMO maxtor isnt reliable.

dvdrw = get the NEC, i have the same one and its amazing. no problems.

good luck.
p.s. get a mac!

[lionheart4life]

It probably would not be worth an extra $500 to upgrade the processor, the one you want should be plenty good for everything, I'd like to have it. I recommend the NEC burner, I think thats the same one I have and it works beautifully. The sound card will almost definitely be better than the onboard audio, but I don't know how much it costs or if sound really matters that much to spend the extra money. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[Strell]

Well if the motherboard has onboard LAN, you won't need a LAN card. You won't notice a difference between it and a separate card, so save your money and don't get one. The only reason you'd need it would be if the onboard one failed, and at that point, you can get any generic LAN card cheap.

The sound on the board will be passable, but nowhere near as capable as an Audigy. So I'd say to GET teh card.

As for the optical drive, I doubt there's much difference. I don't know about the brand reliability - I trust TDK for the most part. They haven't let me down yet. As it stands now, all the ones you're listing are indentical in features, so I'd just do some research at epionion.com and/or something like anandtech/tom's hardware.

The difference between those two processors I HIGHLY doubt is worth $500.

Everything else looks ok to me, but I'm not a true hardware guru on tiny details.

[jimbodan]

Cool, thanks for the responses so far!

It looks like I should definately go with the NEC burner and the Sound Blaster Audigy so far. Keep the answers comming!

[jimbodan]

Bump, for slight change of plans

[msdmoney]

power supply = 500 watts should be enough

motherboard = never rely on "onboard". get an ethernet card and a sound card.

hard drives = id say go with western digital, IMO maxtor isnt reliable.

dvdrw = get the NEC, i have the same one and its amazing. no problems.

good luck.
p.s. get a mac!

Don't worry about an external ethernet card, the onboard will be better than fine, it's probably onboard gigabit ethernet anyways. There really isn't much of a market for add-on ethernet cards anymore, the onboard is just as good.

The sound card is another story, I beleive nvidia dropped the soundstorm audio, so if you have the cash get the audigy.

500w is plenty, overkill IMO.

Are you getting two graphics cards to utilize SLI?

Don't know much about raid so I can't help you there.

I also had a maxtor die on me (after 1 year) in the past so I wouldn't buy a maxtor again, but of course that is purely anecdotal experience. I would go with seagate or WD.

[jimbodan]

power supply = 500 watts should be enough

motherboard = never rely on "onboard". get an ethernet card and a sound card.

hard drives = id say go with western digital, IMO maxtor isnt reliable.

dvdrw = get the NEC, i have the same one and its amazing. no problems.

good luck.
p.s. get a mac!

Don't worry about an external ethernet card, the onboard will be better than fine, it's probably onboard gigabit ethernet anyways. There really isn't much of a market for add-on ethernet cards anymore, the onboard is just as good.

The sound card is another story, I beleive nvidia dropped the soundstorm audio, so if you have the cash get the audigy.

500w is plenty, overkill IMO.

Are you getting two graphics cards to utilize SLI?

Don't know much about raid so I can't help you there.

I also had a maxtor die on me (after 1 year) in the past so I wouldn't buy a maxtor again, but of course that is purely anecdotal experience. I would go with seagate or WD.

Thanks, yeah I decided to go with the onboard ethernet, I believe at least one of the boards has built in Wi-Fi too, I'm not sure if both mobo's have it or just one?

I also downgraded my powersupply from 600w to 535.

Yep, I'm getting 2 6800 gt video cards

I've also decided not to go maxtor and get Western Digital instead

[msdmoney]

Wait why are you getting a modem? If you have all that speed and you are spending that much you really should be using broadband.

[yogi99]

jimbodan, how much will it cost total?

[humidore]

"Sweet jesus," thats all I have to contribute to this discussion...free bump I guess.

[Medium_Pimpin]

I would suggest to go with asus, it might not be better for OC'in but it's the most stable mobo manufacturer(that i know of) out there.

[jimbodan]

Wait why are you getting a modem? If you have all that speed and you are spending that much you really should be using broadband.

It was cheap and I figure it's good to have in case of an emergency or if I move it would take awhile to get broadband again.

jimbodan, how much will it cost total?

About 2,800$

I would suggest to go with asus, it might not be better for OC'in but it's the most stable mobo manufacturer(that i know of) out there.

What about all the bells and whistles the Gigabyte comes with though?

[BasketCase1080]

hahahha 2,800? what is the point? seriosuly.

[jimbodan]

hahahha 2,800? what is the point? seriosuly.

It's a gift, so I'm not paying :)

[BasketCase1080]

jesus, whos dick did u have to suck to get a 3k dollar gift?

[jimbodan]

jesus, whos dick did u have to suck to get a 3k dollar gift?


It's a late graduation gift, I was supposed to get it last June when I graduated but I wanted to wait for some new technology. I think I definately earned it by putting in all those damn years of school and finishing with a nice degree in History. Also my birthday is comming up, so I kinda combined the 2 gifts.

[jimbodan]

D-Day for buying this bad boy is March 7th. Pretty much I just need to know which mobo to buy, if I should get the extra sound card and if the power supply is strong enough to run my system. Keep in mine it's going to power 1 athlon 64 3800+, 2 video cards, 2 hard drives, ect...

[jam3582]

From some scavanging on the anandtech.com boards it looks like the Power supply ur getting will get the job done no problem .

[jimbodan]

bump