M2N-SLi Deluxe vs. non-deluxe

[SixChurchStreet]

Finally upgrading to PT7 and I'm going to be upgrading to an AM2 board (currently using A8N-SLi with Athlon 64 3700+ cpu).

The M2N-SLi Deluxe has been mentioned on the DUC a lot as being a stable motherboard to build on, and good on a budget. I was wondering if there is a performance difference between the Deluxe and non-Deluxe version of the M2N-SLi.

To me , the major differences seem to be there are 2 IDE controllers on the non-deluxe vs. 1 on the deluxe, while the deluxe was more SATA ports. Also, the nVidia chipset is the 560 non-deluxe and 570 deluxe or something like that.

I really WANT the 2 IDE controllers, as all of my drives are IDE (I also use a Promise controller) and are all on their own controller. The non-deluxe is also quite a bit cheaper (only 89 on newegg).

I'd probably be pairing this motherboard up with an Athlon X2 4600+ or similar.

Anyone know if there's a performance drop with the non-deluxe, or is it just a matter of ports and things onboard being different?

[albee1952]

Hard to say if there will be a difference due to the chipset. I worried about the single IDE port but after dropping my old DVD drive for a $30 SATA, I was able to re-use both my C: and D: drives. I am buying only SATA drives from now on and have 2 internal(for 4 total in the box) and I added a SATA drive cage for hot-swapping and an eSATA case(just because I got it for $20 and the mobo has an eSATA port). You can always pop those extra IDE drives into approved firewire cases. I also recommend that you go with the 6000+ cpu as the price difference is not that much and if you time the purchase right, you may get a discount on a combo if you are looking at newegg. The difference between my new setup and my older AMD x2 4400 is quite dramatic.

[SixChurchStreet]

Thanks albee. That post was a real help.

I'm torn. Currently running the A8N-SLi with a 3700+ cpu, 2GB ram. I always toy with the idea of just picking up a 3800+ x2 939, but then I'm like, If I'm going to drop almost a hundred bucks on a processor to stick in my old 939 board, I might as well bite the bullet and get a new board, cpu, and faster ram. Just don't know if it's all in the budget right now. lol.
I'll definitely keep an eye on that 6000+ cpu. How do you think Pro Tools 7 will deal with my current setup?

[albee1952]

Your current setup certainly will work but once you step into dual core territory, things get a lot better. Whenever I do that kind of upgrade, I recycle the old parts into a better every day machine. Maybe its time to build a home server? In any case, socket 939 is kind of dead for the future so why invest in old technology(like IDE drives or sdRAM)? If your budget is tight, I would keep working what you have till things get better. There are lots of folks still running version 5 on 001 interfaces and MAC G4's. If it works, you don't have to fix it.

[SixChurchStreet]

I managed to get an OEM 939 X2 3600+ and a new Arctic Cooler fan/heatsink for about $50. And I can sell my 3700+ on ebay for about $25. I figure if I can get a little dual core performance boost in Pro Tools (and Sony Vegas) and it buys me 6months to a year, it's definitely worth it. Only a $25 investment. If the black market for 939 stuff is still anywhere near what it is now I'll be able to at least make my money back on the cpu.

Then when it comes times for the REAL upgrade I can go all out, no holding back!
Thanks again Albee for your replies.

kip

[chazzo03]

So besides the extra ide ports there isn't really a difference between the regular version and deluxe version? I was thinking there's no point in spending the extra 30 or 40 dollars for the deluxe version if i don't need to.

[rossi56]

Have both delux and non deluxe some how I get less errors on the non deluxe machine with 7.4
go figure

Ross

[albee1952]

Hmmmmm, I will let you know what happens on my deluxe version when I get 7.4 running in a few days.

[SixChurchStreet]

Have both delux and non deluxe some how I get less errors on the non deluxe machine with 7.4
go figure

Ross

good information. thanks. let us know how you make out with your 7.4 upgrade albee.

[chazzo03]

rossi are u running vista or xp. what u think about this motherboard for vista.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131163

I was thinking about that motherboard or the m2n-sli deluxe.