AboutKarl Zick Expertise Can answer questions on most aspects of PC hardware and software. I build them, program them, fix them, upgrade them, etc. LAN and internet literate. Visit my free web site at www.kzconsulting.net.
Experience Previous USAF Colonel and Aerospace engineer. Professional PC consultant for the past 8 years. Client database of over 70 businesses and individuals.
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Expert: Karl Zick Date: 7/4/2008 Subject: MSI or EVGA Motherboard
Question Kindly help me out to choose which motherboard is better to buy,I know this depends on many factors but I want your judgement,
MSI P7N2 Diamond or EVGA 132-CK-NF79 nforce 790i Ultra SLI
THANKS!!!
Answer Hi Salman,
If I were you, I would go with the MSI board. On the surface they are both exceptional motherboards with equal Intel CPU and RAM support but there are a couple of suttle differences.
The biggest difference with the MSI board is a separately bundled Creative X-Fi Extreme sound card, and if sound is a consideration to you, they win hands down. The only other positive difference is the price - and the MSI board is $50 cheaper (if you order it from Egoodz.com for $270). The only 'con' I can see with the MSI board is that it only has one standard PCI slot and the EVGA has two. This can be a limitation with your plug-in options if you have favorite PCI toys you want to use. I have a PCI>USB card in one of mine and a TV tuner in the other - so I am full. I could, however, free up the USB extender with a hub, and more and more PCI express cards are popping up. It is just something to think about.
Finally, MSI has been around quite a bit longer that EVGA, and PC World gives MSI a lot higher rating (4.2 for EVGA vs 6.0 for MSI out of 6.0 max). I'm not sure what they based that on, but they are usually pretty good at judging hardware.
