Some questions about matx build components.

[Satyrist]

I've kept getting back to looking at making a SFF/Quasi-SFF build for a while now, as real life matters get to dying down a bit.

I am looking at the MicroFly for the case, and will be looking at s939.

The two motherboards I've looked at are the Biostar TForce board, and the Foxconn GF6150 board. Aside from the lower overclocking potential--What might be different/better about the Foxconn board when it comes to gaming, if there's any appreciable difference?

I had looked at the DFI board, but there do appear to be quite a few quirks that turned me off to it. From a recent Epox board with bad caps (4PDA2+), I'm uninterested in going back to them.

I'm looking at getting a X1900XT, so it means I'll only have one pci slot available with the Biostar board. In that event, what sort of card would be better for that free slot-Sound, or Network? I have heard of one revision that had flaky onboard ethernet, I'm not sure if it's been fixed by now or not. I wasn't sure if the onboard sound would be good enough for gaming or not, either. I've got a spare Intel 10/100 card, and a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card depending on what would work better.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[Steeeeve]

sound would be better to use

both boards are nice...no real difference but the Foxconn has gigabyte ethernet

 

[Satyrist]

A bit of an update,

I finally went and decided on the Foxconn, primarily since I'm still reading of reports of a flaky/non-operative onboard NIC connector.

Now, I had thought of getting this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161014

Basically, it's a x1900xt with a ATI-Silencer style cooler on it, with a heatpipe on it.

My primary question is whether or not there would be clearance issues above the card, installing this into a MicroFly.

Also, I do have 4 512mb sticks of Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (left from previous builds) that I had thought of using altogether in this build. My guess is that the overclock ceiling will be lower by doing so, what is a good figure of results to potentially expect in this event? Would I be better served buying a good set of 2x1gb ddr instead? PC3200 or PC4000?

thx again

 

[taco1435]

First of all, good choice on the Foxconn. I've tried the Biostar, the DFI and then finally the Foxconn before i did not have problems. It is an excellent overclocker(much better than either Biostars I had) and has had no problems since day 1. Although the Bios is kind of a hassle to update. Make sure you do not update in windows or with the utility it comes with. You gotta go to the website and get instructions.The Biostar's flaky internet got fixed, however i tried a second one, and it had a dead dimm slot, so im totally turned off from Biostar now. And for the ram, I would get 2 x 1 gig sticks.

 

[Satyrist]

And for the ram, I would get 2 x 1 gig sticks.

Something like the GSkills that you have? (PC4000+?)

As for BIOS updates, I still use the barebones PCDOS floppy boot method So it ought to be less of a problem hopefully.