Passively cooled S939 solution?

[ddrueding]

1. Passively cooled Mobo
2. Socket 939
3. At least one PCI-E 16x slot

Preferably not SLI, as that reduces the number of PCI slots.

 

[Will Rickards]

Gigabyte K8N Ultra 9
This is the original motherboard I was going to put in my computer. I opted for the SLI version and I think that was a mistake as all my PCI slots were full from the initial build.

 

[ddrueding]

Yes! That's the one I used to use, but newegg doesn't carry it anymore. They only carry the SLI boards and an actively cooled one. I loved the 8 SATA ports and dual GigE on this board.

Do you have a recomended vendor where it is available?

 

[P5-133XL]

Just as a note, the MB I choose for my 939 solution is passively cooled: The GA-K8n51PVM9-RH. But it may not suit your needs if what you want are lots of PCI slots -- It only has two with one additional PCI-E. It appears that all the k8n51 series are all passively cooled with only two slots but they are still readily avail. in the marketplace.

It is a micro ATX board. It doesn't have a serial port; nor dual GB-E (only one); only 4 SATA ports; and if you want HD sound, you have to purchase an optional bracket.

 

[ddrueding]

Actually Mark, that looks like a nice board for my needs. The reason I was asking for more PCI slots is because my video card has an oversised heatsink that draws from the bottom. I only have one PCI card (X-Plosion sound card), but it effectively blocks off my video card's intake. Having the extra PCI-E 1x slot there gives me the space I need. I also like the position of the NB better, it will better accomodate aftermarket cooling devices (this one).

I wonder if there is a performance hit using their "budget" 6100/430 chipset as opposed to the nForce4?

 

[Will Rickards]

Yes! That's the one I used to use, but newegg doesn't carry it anymore. They only carry the SLI boards and an actively cooled one. I loved the 8 SATA ports and dual GigE on this board.

Do you have a recomended vendor where it is available?

Unfortunately no.
Looking at what is available in non SLI from gigabyte and at vendors I don't see much. There is the GA-K8NF-9 at newegg and zipzoomfly but gigabyte supposedly has a GA-K8NF-9-RH. Not sure what the RH stands for or what the difference is. It looks passively cooled but it has something on top of the heatsink like a grill or something.

 

[ddrueding]

That would be the grill over the fan...I bought one of those and was dissapointed.

 

[P5-133XL]

I wonder if there is a performance hit using their "budget" 6100/430 chipset as opposed to the nForce4?

From the reviews I read, there is no performance hit except their Gigabit Ethernet solution uses a bit more CPU than the high end boards. Along with many 939 solutions, you need to populate the RAM with only two sticks to get optimum RAM BW. If you go for more then RAM speed drops from DDR400 to DDR333.

 

[ddrueding]

Thanks Mark.

 

[P5-133XL]

Things I don't like about the MB is that there is only one fan header other than the CPU fan and it is at the edge farthest away from the PS (For PS's with software controlled fan speeds).

 

[Clocker]

Along with many 939 solutions, you need to populate the RAM with only two sticks to get optimum RAM BW. If you go for more then RAM speed drops from DDR400 to DDR333.

If I'm not mistaken this issue has more to do with a limitation of the on-die memory controller in the CPU rather than the motherboard itself. I think.