DFI nForce4: SLI and Ultra for Mad Overclockers
by Wesley Fink on February 5, 2005 9:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (2.4GHz) Socket 939 |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 |
| Hard Drive(s): | Seagate 120GB 7200 RPM IDE (8MB Buffer) |
| Video AGP & IDE Bus Master Drivers: | nVidia nForce 6.31 (nForce4 SLI) SiS 1.17e VIA 4in1 Hyperion 4.51 (12-02-2003) nVidia nForce Platform Driver 4.24 (nForce3 Ultra) |
| Video Card(s): | nVidia 6800 Ultra (AGP 8X) nVidia 6800 Ultra (PCI Express) |
| Video Drivers: | nVidia nForce 61.77 (SiS, VIA, nF3U, Intel 925X) nVidia nForce 71.40 Beta (nForce4) |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP1 |
| Motherboards: | DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D Winfast 755FXK8AA (SiS 755FX) Soltek K8TPro-939 (VIA K8T800 PRO) Epox 9NDA3+ (nForce3 Ultra) nVidia nForce4 Ultra Reference Board Abit AV8 PRO (VIA K8T800 PRO) ECS KV2 Extreme (VIA K8T800 PRO) Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 (nVidia nForce3 Ultra) MSI K8N Neo2 (nVidia nForce3 Ultra) MSI K8T Neo2 (VIA K8T800 PRO) |
Tests used OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2, which uses Samsung TCCD chips. All memory ran at 2-2-2-7 timing in benchmarks on the DFI nForce4 boards.
The nVidia 6800 Ultra AGP was used for testing in all 939 chipsets other than nForce4. The PCI Express 6800 Ultra was used for all testing with the nForce4 and the Reference Intel 925X. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1024x768x32 unless noted otherwise.
Results for the DFI nForce4 boards are color-coded red in all graphs. VIA K8T800 Pro based motherboards are in green in our results, and nVidia nForce4/nForce3 are in orange. Results for the SiS 755FX based Winfast are yellow in all graphs. Intel results are included for Reference only and are blue in the graphs. The color coding should allow easy comparison of the tested DFI nF4 to other nF4/nF3 results and to other chipsets and processors.
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ShadowVlican - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
beautiful analogy #22for now i guess this is THE best AMD64 board money can buy... i wonder if Abit's AN8 will change the results...
PrinceGaz - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
Can hard-drives be installed in non-RAID mode on the Sil3144 sockets with this board?As far as I know, the additional controller on the Asus SLI Deluxe board requires SATA drives to be in a RAID configuration and does not support individual drives. Can you confirm if that is the case with the DFI board.
erios666 - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
#49 - Thanks much Wesley. I did actually see that. I still feel it doesn't answer the question of whether or not you can span all those monitors. It will work great for when I'm at work. Which I can accomplish with an AGP plus a PCI vid card. But I am hoping to get some "surround gaming" going in UT2004, HL2 and NFSU2. So *span* capabilites with a 3840x1024 res' I guess is what I'm looking for rather than a simple multi-mon.Zebo - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
This is what I call a "ten year board" ...a motherboard built to last (jap caps, mosfets, al cooled etc), with every feature imaginable... you DON"T have to be an overclocker to get this board. In fact it's probably the best mobo ever built for the price using componets found in high-end server boards costing hundreds more. You should buy this DFI reguarless if you plan to overclock or not.That said... it's overclcoking options leave me speechless..never has a board came with these kind of heavy duty options..2.1 Vcore..4Vdimm..fuggin incredible. And it shows...guys at xtreme are posting over 400HTT with this bad boy.
Just awesome..you'd have to bee a damn fool to buy any other skt 939 mobo, or any mobo for that matter over DFI...
Stiganator - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
Between the A8n-SLI and this DFI SLI board which would you choose?Wesley Fink - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
#48 - DFI has responded to your question."That's what we call "Dual Xpress Graphics" technology, supporting 2 video cards simulatneously and therefore 4 monitors. The DFI Ultra-D in normal mode will support up to 4 monitors off 2 video cards"
erios666 - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
Please please does anyone know if it will be possible to do a 3 monitor span on the Ultra-D?!I beg of you! I want to do something like a Matrox Parhelia but with more 3D power. I've already got all my lcds and now I'm just sitting and waiting to see how this all pans out.
nserra - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket754) ALL 1003Athlon 64 3000+ (Socket754) ALL ALL
Athlon 64 3400+ (Socket754) ALL ALL
Athlon 64 2800+ (Socket754) ALL 1003
Athlon 64 3700+ (Socket754) ALL 1003
Sempron 3100+ (CG version) (Socket754) ALL 1004
Sempron 3100+ (D0 version) (Socket754) ALL 1005
Any one know how sempron 3100+ D0 overclocks?
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
Instead of answering emails, we asked DFI to name some vendors who would likely have boards this week. They suggested New Egg, Frys (and their outpost.com online store), NCIX, zipzoomfly, and Monarch Computer. DFI also says Tiger Direct and Microcenter will have them by next week.That's all we know and it's straight from DFI, so PLEASE stop emailing us asking where to buy. Thanks!
HardwareD00d - Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - link
Onboard sound has pretty much always been crap, with a few exceptions (Sound Storm). I wasn't too impressed with Via Envy24 BTW. An add-in soundcard is the best way to go IMHO.* waits for Creative to get off there a$$ and make a PCI-e soundcard with Dolby Digital Encoding *