got it

[Sniper82]

got it

 

[gobucks]

I've heard greath things about the DFI, especially w/overclocking, so I'd lean in that direction. On the budget side, I like my VNF4/Ultra pretty well, although the shipping BIOS blows. The new BIOSes are pretty good, except for some 1T command rate issues I'm having. Anyways, performance is good, features are good, and overclocking is good, especially for a $120 board.

BTW, I think you'll find it a bit hard to stop overclocking at 2.2GHz. I said the exact same thing, and look at my CPU now! I may even try for 2.6 soon! The fact is, when you see how easy your CPU can do 2.2, and how cool it still runs, you'll get the itch to push it further. As such, make sure you get a board that can hit some high FSB speeds - boards like the ECS that only go up to 250MHz just aren't gonna cut it.

 

[Sniper82]

yours probably right but my thoughts are aimed at 2.2ghz. That way if it doesnt hit anymore than that I will still be happy .

I've seen a thread or 2 on other forums where several had to RMA their DFI NF4 Ultra because it died for no reason. Anyone here have that problem? I am betting the newer rev board fixed some major issues. Why else would DFI not answer the question? I emailed them back again with the same question to see if I can get a answer. I am just curious what the difference is in the newer rev. Besides the board hasnt been out a month has it and theres already a newer rev?

 

[haze111]

I'm also trying to decide on which NF4 board I want. Anyone know if Anandtech is planning to do a roundup now that more of the boards are available?

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

I'm wondering why AT is taking so long.

I would go with the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra. It's very cheap ($109) compared to other nF4 Ultra boards and is a tad more mature.

 

[JerryT87]

I just got the DFI Ultra-D. Setup was no problem and it is running fine. Haven't done any OC'ing yet. I'm waiting until I get a new case and 24pin PS before cranking up the voltage requirements.

 

[homercles337]

I would stay away from the chaintech VE board. I had two of them and guess how many got RMAed or RAed? I currently have the MSI, but havent played around with it much because i cant get RAID installed properly--late night last night. Also, the DFI has a totally unusable x16 slot. That was the deciding factor in me NOT going with DFI. I didnt want SLI in the first place.

 

[Sniper82]

If the Abit AN8 Ultra wasnt $50 higher than other ultra boards I would consider it. I got a long reply back from tech support. Heres what they said:

None of us in the UsA have a clue at any changes made other than the bios. I had a pre-production board that worked and I have an ultra-D that works in rev A02 and that is about the scope of all I know really know without either guessing or lying and at this stage of the game neither is correct action to take.

Picky on memory? I have never seen an enthusiast board yet that was not picky about memory but then I overclock eveything I have run since my 80386 at 25mhz.

I got to forums and I look at the "runners" and copy their memory and power supplies for sure. You want speed and all with some certainty as I have seen what many use and use well and what my friends are running. Get Ocz 4200EL memory and an Ocz power stream 520 supply for a single Pci-Ex card an a little cheaper is a Fortron Blue Storm 500 watt power supply and I have that one personally. The LeakTek UC6800 cards are having to have some of the cooling shields removed to fit two in SLI mode but other than that most PCi-Ex cards seem fit.

Now when you decide you want to choose and mix and match parts you take the responsibilities of a whole engineering department that companies like HP, Compaq and Gateway have to assure compatibilites. I have told you how I would personally do it and would never look back. How you choose to proceed is of course your personal business. I see the rumors and crap on the net myself and have about many things for many years. My DFI boards work and I get them off the pallets just like those sent to the online vendors. Hope this helps.

So it seems he recommends OCZ which I heard some ppl having problems with OCZ memory and the Powerstream/Fortron Blue Storm PSU.