How should I decide whether to get the K8N-E Deluxe or K8N4-E Deluxe motherboard?

[CStevenson]

How should I decide whether to get the K8N-E Deluxe or K8N4-E Deluxe
motherboard?

Net: I don't care about the graphics card -- so AGP vs. PCI-E is not a
issue on that front.
However, I care a lot about stability, reliability, RAID implementation, and
IO bandwidth.

So I'm not sure whether I'm better sticking with the nForce3-250 for this
754 socket or going with the nForce4. Some reviews seem to indicate that
the nForce4 had some restrictions implemented when they put it into the K8N4
mobo (e.g., firewall is disabled) and that lead me to think I might be
better off sticking with the nForce3.

This machine will be used primarily as a home file server (several disks
running RAID to help avoid data loss due to HD failure) , audio media server
(will move all my CD collection onto this machine and plug it into my
stereo). This will *NOT* be gaming machine. This machine will *NOT* be
overclocked. Maybe will run photo or video editing software to work on the
stored files.

Here is my plan -- goal is the best value for the buck system....

WinXP or Linux (undecided)
K8N-E Deluxe or K8N4-E Deluxe
Sempron 3100 (BX)
qty 2 of 512Mb Kingston Value RAM
<based graphics card with S-Video -- TBD>*
qty 2 Hitachi 160 GB HD SATA (more added as needed)
qty 2 Maxtor 160 GB HD PATA
Antec Sonata II case

Thanks,
Craig

* Oh, I also care about making this quite since I may put the machine in the
living room if the disk drives don't make too much noise. Any suggestion
for a video card that will support S-Video out but which does not require a
cooling fan on it? (obviously, this varies based on which board you
recommend -- but please keep the recommendation low cost).

 

[Paul]

How should I decide whether to get the K8N-E Deluxe or K8N4-E Deluxe
motherboard?

Net: I don't care about the graphics card -- so AGP vs. PCI-E is not a
issue on that front.
However, I care a lot about stability, reliability, RAID implementation, and
IO bandwidth.

So I'm not sure whether I'm better sticking with the nForce3-250 for this
754 socket or going with the nForce4. Some reviews seem to indicate that
the nForce4 had some restrictions implemented when they put it into the K8N4
mobo (e.g., firewall is disabled) and that lead me to think I might be
better off sticking with the nForce3.

This machine will be used primarily as a home file server (several disks
running RAID to help avoid data loss due to HD failure) , audio media server
(will move all my CD collection onto this machine and plug it into my
stereo). This will *NOT* be gaming machine. This machine will *NOT* be
overclocked. Maybe will run photo or video editing software to work on the
stored files.

Here is my plan -- goal is the best value for the buck system....

WinXP or Linux (undecided)
K8N-E Deluxe or K8N4-E Deluxe
Sempron 3100 (BX)
qty 2 of 512Mb Kingston Value RAM
<based graphics card with S-Video -- TBD>*
qty 2 Hitachi 160 GB HD SATA (more added as needed)
qty 2 Maxtor 160 GB HD PATA
Antec Sonata II case

Thanks,
Craig

* Oh, I also care about making this quite since I may put the machine in the
living room if the disk drives don't make too much noise. Any suggestion
for a video card that will support S-Video out but which does not require a
cooling fan on it? (obviously, this varies based on which board you
recommend -- but please keep the recommendation low cost).

I won't pretend to know too much about the firewall. I think
it has a hardware component (maybe something like a packet
filter). But there is also a software component. It could be
the firewall can be run in an all-software mode, if the
packet filter hardware is not there or is not working ? The
threads I've read on Active Armor, seem to indicate that it
corrupts downloads, behaves badly if you update the driver
for it, etc. I guess it sorta works for some people, and
other people hate it. If it was my purchase, I would dismiss
it as "not ready for prime time".

(I'm still looking for better details than this...)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/epox-9npa_3.html

The K8N4-E has four SATA ports on the Nvidia chipset, versus
two on the K8N-E. You may find those easier to work with
than the SIL3114.

Since you don't mention "gaming" in the list above, then this
PCI Express card is about as low end as they get. Low performance
equals low heat, and 6200TC Turbocache cards are passively
cooled. Turbocache uses main memory, via the 4GB/sec PCI Express
x16 interface. There is also an onboard memory chip, so they
didn't complete neuter the card. Check for an onboard memory
chip with a high memory clock speed, as Anandtech claims that
helps card performance. Here is an example for $52:

eVGA 016-TC-1N01-SX Geforce 6200TC 16MB $52
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130224

If you decided to go AGP, the same sort of rule applies. Find a
low performing video card, and it will throw off low heat. I
have a couple of FX5200's here, which are passively cooled, and
they are the cards with 64 bit memory interfaces. There are
also cards with 128 bit memory interfaces, and some of those
have fans.

It is also possible you could use a slightly more powerful
card, then use a heatpipe cooler in place of the heatsink/fan
that the video card comes with. I would class this as an
expensive way to get the job done.

I guess I'd probably go with the PCI Express card, as it might
have better compliance with the latest shader model and
DirectX features. I understand the FX5200 is not complete
with respect to DirectX 9, but you may find some competing
ATI cards are in no better shape. For full buzz-word
compliance, you may need to go further up the food chain,
which in turn, brings back the cooling fan. Given that
trend, I'd do further research on the 6200TC and see whether
it has all the hardware support in place.

That above example card has an S-video cable, which may connect
to your TV or may not. I picked up a S-video DIN connector to
RCA adapter in town from an appliance/TV store and paid a
small fortune for it - if you need that kind of adaptation,
it is best to pick a video card which includes the adapters
or cables you need. Other sources of adapters like that can
gouge on pricing.

HTH,
Paul