Gigabyte Socket AM2 SLI-Ready ATX Motherboard for AMD for $160 shipped.

Anyone have any comments (good or bad) about this mobo?

I have a new AMD Athlon 64 X2 AM2 3800 and need firewire......your thoughts would be appreciated.

This is my first build.....I'd prefer to keep the cost a bit lower than this Gigabyte if I could.....what say you? What mobo should I use? I also don't need SLI.

firewire cards are cheap

check out this MB, its got firewire version A and the new B spec. Its $110 after rebate. It should also be a good overclocker, too bad there are no reviews on it yet though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813154012
Get that instead, its cheap and has quite good hardware on it for the money.
I dont think its "very" overclock-friendly though and ATis/AMDs chipsets are much better than nVidias...
Decent LAN and sound chip for being an AM2 motherboard too.
//Danne

Thanks guys.....all of your input is appreciated. I learn from each and everyone of you.

What do you have to say about the MSI K9N Platium mobo?

I'm leaning towards that one now.....appreciate hearing from some of you about this one too.

Personally burnselk, I would rather get this mobo Asus M2R32-MVP over the MSI just because it doesn't use nForce chipset. I tend to dislike nForce chipsets a lot after going through 7 different mobos with nForce chipsets. My Gigabyte board corrupted my hard drive because nForce controls the IDE interface, I later found out about this because someone had the same exact problem as I did. Data CRC corruption was caused by the nForce chipset. My AN8 Fatal1ty board had a problem with onboard ethernet (also handled by nForce) and would keep flashing that my ethernet was connected, not connected repeating itself over and over again. I also later found out at the Abit forums that several individuals had the same exact problem and some of the people's onboard ethernet died. As for the other 5 motheboards equipped with nForce, they're dead sitting in my closet. One guy who bought the new nVidia 680 SLI board burned 2 or 3 of his expensive ram sets to only find out it was a problem with the nForce equipped board. Many people had problems with 680 SLI boards in the beginning but some of the problems have been solved by revisions and firmware updates. Now you know why I recommend against getting nForce chipsets . But if you still want the MSI board get the K9A board instead of the K9N.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131174
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/asus/M2A-VM-HDMI/g1.htm
I would although recommend this motherboard if you want to hook it up with a TV/Home Cinema or just a plain reciever.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813154013
You can of course use a PCIe video card if builtin isnt sufficient.
//Danne

How about this MSI mobo? Keep in mind, I need firewire and I'd prefer not to get it using a PCI card.

MSI K9N SLI Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

Appreciate your thoughts.

I would avoid nVidia chipsets. Both boards I listed have firewire, and also the ones Diizzy listed (excluding the Sapphire board, didn't see it list firewire).

The only real difference between MSI K9N and MSI K9A is the K9N is nVidia chipset and K9A is ATI chipset. The K9A has one less PCI slot than the K9N. The K9N board uses a bracket for firewire and the K9A has firewire directly on the board and requires no bracket to be installed.

The Sapphire board has firewire and seems to be a lot nicer than the Asus board IMO.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/S...PI-AM2RS690MHD
http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/produ...gpid=178&grp=6
//Danne

Well I never had a bad experience with nforce boards on AMD. And chosing between firewire B and A it is not actually a real issue since there are no devices that are really built for a faster firewire

I always had a good experience with gigabyte products coz they offer the best update .
When it comes to selecting the best mobo start with the price and personal needs. Also don't buy unknown manufacturer's product.