A7N8X-E or A7N8X-X?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Russell Alexander
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R

Russell Alexander

Hi,

Well, it's that time again - my system is too slow to use certain
programs (no, I won't say what it is. It's a workhorse, but the USB
is version 1.0, so that should date it.)

So, which mobo would you gurus recommend? I have an add-on Firewire
card, so I'm not too worried about having it onboard. I use an
external USB AD-DA converter plus MIDI modules, so the onboard sound
doesn't matter much. It would be nice if it's defeatable.

Wi-Fi slot? I'd rather have the choice a PCI offers.

Video card? I don't trust onboard cards, but if it will play Doom 3
(or if it's defeatable so I can use another card) that sounds good.
I'd like to be able to do video editing to/from a VCR or camera.

The BIOS - Death issue on the 8X-X doesn't sound like fun. Yet lots
of people say it's the best board they've ever owned.

Any opinions would be greatly welcomed. I've decided on buying one of
these two boards, now it's a question of which one!

- Russ
 
Russell said:
Hi,

Well, it's that time again - my system is too slow to use certain
programs (no, I won't say what it is. It's a workhorse, but the USB
is version 1.0, so that should date it.)

So, which mobo would you gurus recommend? I have an add-on Firewire
card, so I'm not too worried about having it onboard. I use an
external USB AD-DA converter plus MIDI modules, so the onboard sound
doesn't matter much. It would be nice if it's defeatable.
Click to expand...

The -E has the Soundstorm chip onboard, which is one of the most
sophisticated integrated sound device. The -X has just an AC97 chip. But
in both cases I prefer disabling the onboard sound and adding a SB Audigy.
Wi-Fi slot? I'd rather have the choice a PCI offers.
Click to expand...

When I bought my A7N8X-E, I couldn't find any vendor that offered the
802.11g version of the Asus WiFi module. So I went with a Linksys PCI
card. No problems whatoever.
Video card? I don't trust onboard cards, but if it will play Doom 3
(or if it's defeatable so I can use another card) that sounds good.
I'd like to be able to do video editing to/from a VCR or camera.
Click to expand...

Neither the -E or the -X boards have integrated video. Only the -VM has
it, and it's a micro-ATX board (mini-ATX?).
The BIOS - Death issue on the 8X-X doesn't sound like fun. Yet lots
of people say it's the best board they've ever owned.
Click to expand...

Well, my -E came brain dead, asking to be flashed with a fresh BIOS, but
failing to do so every time. Got it changed, and works fine ever since.
I'd say it's the second best board I ever had, second to my old Asus P3V4X.
Any opinions would be greatly welcomed. I've decided on buying one of
these two boards, now it's a question of which one!
Click to expand...

I agree on the fact that most of the extras on the -E over the -X can be
handled by third-party cards, but the -E has support for dual channel
memory access. But again there's little gain over it.

The -E version can save you the hassle of managing numerous add-on
cards, but if you intend to replace most of the extra features with
hardware you already own, and you don't mind the dual channel feature,
get the -X.
 
I have both as such..but my Deluxe is the revision 2 not E.
Unless you are going to run SATA drives or have the need for 6 IDE type
devices go and run the 8X-X.Since all the added features of the Deluxe you
run as 3rd party cards, might as well save a few bucks.
 
Russell said:
Hi,

Well, it's that time again - my system is too slow to use certain
programs (no, I won't say what it is. It's a workhorse, but the USB
is version 1.0, so that should date it.)
Click to expand...

USB 1 was used from 1997 through 2001 or so, so that's rather vague.
So, which mobo would you gurus recommend?
Click to expand...

Rather the -E than the -X, since the latter does not support dual
channel operation. BTW, nForce2 boards apparently can be quite nasty
when it comes to APIC usage. A VIA KT600 based board may be the better
overall solution, even if being marginally slower. They've got working
PCI by now, imagine that. (The KT880 still seemed to be a bit rough
round the edges last time I checked, a BIOS update may really be
necessary with such a board.)

BTW, Asus boards are usually nothing overly special these days.

Stephan
 
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