DFI LanParty PRO875 CANTERWOOD [Archive]

Lonely Raven

05-01-03, 06:27 PM

Yet another boring update.

Ok, I talked with Tech support. Or at least I *think* I did.
The guy hardly spoke english, and he kept confusing himself
to the point where I was correcting him when he would tell
me something wrong.

His response "well, I've got the same mobo here in front of me
now, it's got a P4 2.4 and it has FSB adjustment from 133-165"

I explain that I'm on a 100Mhz FSB processor and that
confused the hell out of him. So I had to translate. I said
"OK you are running a 533FSB processor right?"

His Responce "No, I'm running a 533FSB Processor"

(sigh)

I clarified and explained that I'm running a 400Mhz FSB processor
and he just kept repeating that "he has overclocking features
from 133-165"

Then he goes on to say "Maybe you need to adjust your
Multiplier"

A few more comments like that and it boiled down to....

Then he told me the typical blow off "you need to update your
BIOS". I told him that my BIOS is 03/31/03, the same one thats
on the web board. and he said...and I'm not kidding
"Oh no, update it anyways...this one is newer, but the date
won't change".

So I figure I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I figured, maybe
the updated the BIOS TWICE that day, and a bunch of boards
got out and into the wild with the first Rev of that days BIOS
rather then the second. So I thanked him and went and updated
my BIOS.

Low and behold...same friggen thing. So now I'm livid.

I pulled out my P4 2.2 that's in a nother system...it's not an
overclockers chip, but I figured I'd give it a push and see what
it says.

Sure enough, the FSB adjustment is from 133-165.

Do you see a pattern here?

Now I wonder if I put a 400Mhz FSB chip on this board, do I
get from 200 to 205? LOL

Oh, and the VDIMM goes from 2.6 to a whopping 2.7

Screw this, if they don't have an updated BIOS in one week,
I'm returning it to NEW EGG with a note suggesting that they
update their web page to say "Limited Overclocking Features".

I LOVE the features on this board, and it looks KILLER, but DFI
apparently had NO CLUE what an enthusiast wants, and their
tech support is quite llama.

thorn

05-01-03, 06:41 PM

I just got off the phone with a tech support guy, also. I must have gotten lucky because the guy I reached was actually knowledgable about this issue and overclocking in general. He said that the R&D dept. in Taiwan are currently working on a new BIOS and it should be out on Monday. He said they may not post it on the website so he gave me his direct email address. I can PM it to you if you like.

If the BIOS is not released next week I, too, will return the board. And 2.7 on the vDIMM, uhg. Let's hope they make this right because this board definately has potential.

EDIT:

Here's the email I sent:

SUBJECT: DFI PRO875 LanParty

I just got off of the phone with you regarding the limited overclocking features of this board. Thank you for the courteous and knowledgable handling of this issue. I have a 2.53ghz P4 533fsb (133x4) CPU that does 185x4 stable. Unfortunately, this board only allows a maximum FSB of 165x4 which is unacceptable for a motherboard aimed specifically targeted at the enthusiast market. Also the VCORE and VDIMM voltage limits also need to be improved. I would suggest a maximum VCORE of 1.75 to 1.85 and a maximum VDIMM of 3.1 to 3.2.

On the phone you told me this issue is currently being addressed by the R&D department in Taiwan, and a new BIOS flash should be out on Monday. Could you please respond to my email now to insure I have the right address, and when the new BIOS is released. If you like you can attach the BIOS to your email reply. If a new BIOS is not released by the end of the week I will be returning this motherboard and buying the Abit IC7-G. If you want to be competative in the enthusiast market the above mentioned features cannot be overlooked, otherwise the DFI PRO875 will be a bad seller. I am a member of major, if not the largest, overclocking forum in the US www.oc-forums.com and I will post positive results if this issue is resolved to my satisfaction. If it is not, however, I will advise that people do not purchase this board. These options mentioned above should have been enabled on the motherboard I purchased to begin with.

Thanks again for your friendly service

Lonely Raven

05-01-03, 07:24 PM

Thanx for the PM.

This board has LOTS of potiental.

Just to give you an idea of what I'm building it with.

Clear Acrylic CASE!!
Orange UV Reactive fans with UV Cold Cathode Fan grills!!
I too need more orange IDE cables because I'm going
to run a WD SE 80Gig X 2 RAID 1.5
and I'm hand wrapping the power supply leads in yellow or
orange UV reactive sleeving. I've not decided how I'm going
to color match all this. I'm either going to go completely
Black PCB (video card and all) Black Power Supply and
Orange glowing everything.

Or go Black PCBs, RED Power Supply with Yellow Leads,
and Red CD-ROM and DVD again with all yellow leads,
and then the orange IDE and Floppy.

It's going to look beautifull if they don't make me return it!!

thorn

05-01-03, 07:33 PM

Sounds awesome I want to see it when it's finished.

My case is a Cooler Master ATC-110 w/ window. I'll be replacing the blue LEDs w/ orange and painting the fan grille orange, also. My water cooling setup will have water that is also orange UV reactive. I went orange / red 'cause everyone does blue or green it seems like. I don't think I'll be doing a PS mod, but I have considered the sleeving.

Kappafoo

05-01-03, 09:09 PM

Hi Guys,

BIOS should be coming up...

Kappafoo

05-01-03, 09:39 PM

Hi Guys,

This is Ray the guy that talked to Thad AKA "Thorn." Anyways I have sent you guys the BIOS already, pls. test it and let me know, if there is a problem, pls. do not hesitate to email or call me.

A.K.A Kappafoo
DFI Technical Support

thorn

05-01-03, 09:48 PM

Wow, Ray. That was fast. I appreciate your dedication. I'll test it out tomorrow morning as I'll be working tonight. Lonely Raven might get a chance before I do.

The Truth

05-05-03, 10:43 PM

DFI tech support post this themselves. The Tech Support in DFI doesn't know anything and could not possibly help anyone at all. I posted a reply last week to tell the truth what DFI is trying to deceive the public by posting this thread and basically telling how good their product is. I reviewed the product and tested their tech support and nothing they mentioned is truth. So, believe it will get your pocket burnt. If they pull this reply out again, then I guess Overclockers got paid too. Be fair and stop deceiving customers. Don't believe just call their tech support and ask anything and see what will they reply. First of all they can't even speak properly and they can't understand English very well either. Typical Taiwanese company just business minded and careless about quality.

theflyingrat

05-06-03, 06:55 PM

Originally posted by The Truth
DFI tech support post this themselves. The Tech Support in DFI doesn't know anything and could not possibly help anyone at all. I posted a reply last week to tell the truth what DFI is trying to deceive the public by posting this thread and basically telling how good their product is. I reviewed the product and tested their tech support and nothing they mentioned is truth. So, believe it will get your pocket burnt. If they pull this reply out again, then I guess Overclockers got paid too. Be fair and stop deceiving customers. Don't believe just call their tech support and ask anything and see what will they reply. First of all they can't even speak properly and they can't understand English very well either. Typical Taiwanese company just business minded and careless about quality.

How about some details? What, exactly were you not satisfied with? Instead of running your mouth about how bad these are, and how bad DFI sucks, how about putting up some useful details that might be of use to someone on these forums? I couldn't help but notice that you only have two posts, both of them pertaining to this product, and both of them giving no real, relevant information.

What are you talking about here? Who's getting paid by who? And who here isn't speaking proper English? Sometimes, correct sentence structure (or at least coherent structure) is appreciated from other native-English speakers, as well.

And before you ask, yes, I've used DFI products before. I've owned an AK76-SN, and it was a fantastic board. The DIP switches were quaint, but it was reliable, relatively stable, and overclocked well, too.

Lonely Raven

05-07-03, 09:55 AM

Thorn, any updates on this? I've not seen or heard anything
yet myself. It seems we lost some of the thread here when a
Mod accidently slipped and deleted stuff (LOL).

Anywho, just to update anyone who cares.

The last BIOS that Ray sent me was just an incremental update
that has some PAT optomizing (if I got that right...I'm pretty
sure it's called PAT).

Since I didn't have windows installed yet, I can't say if this had
any change for the better.

I was told that the next BIOS will have overclocking optomizations

And I still stick to the fact that if I don't see some real features
soon, this mobo is going back...restocking fee or no.

Hell, if DFI wants me to be a test bunny, I'm fine with that.
I've already paid for the board...and I've talked with a
knowledgable tech. Just send me some BETA BIOS and or
BETA boards and I'll beat the hell out of it and tell you whats
what!!

I'll update when I get some more info. I'm going to E-mail Ray
and see about the new BIOS.

thorn

05-07-03, 10:21 AM

Originally posted by The Truth
DFI tech support post this themselves. The Tech Support in DFI doesn't know anything and could not possibly help anyone at all. I posted a reply last week to tell the truth what DFI is trying to deceive the public by posting this thread and basically telling how good their product is. I reviewed the product and tested their tech support and nothing they mentioned is truth. So, believe it will get your pocket burnt. If they pull this reply out again, then I guess Overclockers got paid too. Be fair and stop deceiving customers. Don't believe just call their tech support and ask anything and see what will they reply. First of all they can't even speak properly and they can't understand English very well either. Typical Taiwanese company just business minded and careless about quality.

FOR THE LAST TIME I DO NOT WORK FOR DFI. I've even stated that I will return this motherboard by the end of this week if a satisfactory BIOS is not released. I've been registered here since April of 2002 and this is my first post on a DFI product. If you want to know THE TRUTH, I reported your post to be moderated and it was deleted by a mod because you are ruining a perfectly good thread. If DFI doesn't take care of this issue everyone here will know it because both I and/or Lonely Raven will post our results here. Let's get one thing straight YOU HAVE NO CREDIBILITY HERE. You come here and your first posts are flaming DFI. You obviously have motives here. Maybe you're a disgruntled ex-employee or something, I have no idea. And the fact of the matter is, I have received great communication from Ray / Kappafoo (the REAL DFI Support guy), but the proof is in the pudding. If they don't come through with a satisfactory BIOS update this thing will be going back to newegg.

Raven, here is the last update I have received from Ray:

Do not worry, I have you and Eric in mind, R&D dept. is working on it
hopefully we can receive it today. As promise either yesterday which is
Monday, or no later than Today, so hopefully I can get it.

Lonely Raven

05-07-03, 04:49 PM

Yeah, I got something similar when I E-mailed him this morning.

I was told the new BIOS will be released on Friday.

If I don't have something by the end of the week, I'll just have to
give up on this beautifull but "average" board.

nizenco

05-08-03, 08:41 AM

I got the DFI PRO875 today to and I must say I'm very disappointed. Installed a Celeron 2 GHz (just testing) and the only FSB-adjustment were 100-132 MHz!?! In the manual and at their homepage I later found this “CPU/DRAM overclocking in 1MHz stepping”. Which are partly true…

Hopefully the FSB-problem will be fixed in a new BIOS-version. I talked to my contact over at DFI and she couldn’t say if a new BIOS would be able to solve this problem or not. I post here as soon as I know something more.

tommyz2kool

05-08-03, 04:24 PM

the board goes up to FSB 255 if you use a 800fsb processor.

Lonely Raven

05-08-03, 10:56 PM

Tommy, do you have an 800FSB Processor?

Because that was my next question.

Thorn and I are testing a new BIOS for them, and my 533FSB
processor goes from 133-200FSB now, and we wrote them
and told them that's still not right.

Some of our posts here accidentally got deleted in this thread,
but yes, we are all aware of this Motherboards limitations so
far. It's news to us what a 800FSB Processor does as I don't
have one yet.

Lonely Raven

05-08-03, 10:59 PM

Oh, I almost forgot the reason I came here...I promised Thorn
I post a picture of my work in progress using this mobo.

http://www.opelblitz.net/~lonelyraven/DFIClearSide.jpg

I'm still working on hand wrapping all the wiring in the case
as you can see I did with the Power Supply. And I need to
get it out from under my work desk and take some decent
photos....this one has way too much glair.

Give me another week and I'll have this all tweaked out and
ready for the cover of a magazine!!

I just hope they get the BIOS right before then.

Lonely Raven

05-09-03, 12:25 AM

I just realized something.

My memory options are 233 or 333 or Auto.

WTF.

These DFI guys really need to examine some real overclockers
boards. I have a bad feeling this is going back to New Egg.

thorn

05-09-03, 02:01 AM

That's a beautiful system! Yeah, I noticed that about the mem options, and it sucks. I'm giving up on Monday if things don't work out.

nizenco

05-09-03, 12:50 PM

Got the 2,4C today so I instelled it. The FSB options are 200-255 when using a 800 MHz processor. Also recived a new BIOS, from my contact, but no differense, atleast not for the 800 MHz processors. I can select both DDR266/320 and 400 in the BIOS though.

But for overclocking this boards looks to be pritty bad. On an IC7-G I can get my 2,4C up to 261 MHz, but on this board only 241 MHz, pritty low in my oppinion.

tommyz2kool

05-09-03, 02:06 PM

Lonely Raven: yes, I have been using an 800 FSB on a DFI PRO875 processor for over a week now :D

anyways, you only get to choose DDR 400 if you use a natural 800FSB cpu. this is true of any CW board.

I would recommend you hold off on returning your board a little longer to see how the newer overclocking BIOS works out. obviously, MSI is in contact with you and trying to fix things right? I've tested 3 different CW boards: aopen, gigabyte, and DFI, and out of the 3, the DFI is the most stable, and offers the best features. the gigabyte lets you pick a memory ratio or FSB speed in bios but when I check with cpu-z, it lists something different than what I thought I picked. (eg: I pick a ratio like 2.66, it really gives me 2.00 - WTF???) plus a fan header blew out when I powered it up for the first time!!! the aopen does the exact same thing, plus it is very picky about ram and very unstable at FSB 250.

in my opinion, EVERY canterwood board has some significant problem except the ABIT IC7 series. but those come with a LOUD ass 7000rpm fan:eek: the ASUS is a good overclocker, but it has way too many problems with raid, and ASUS really isnt that great about fixing problems. on the MSI, everything is fubar according to user reviews. so that makes the DFI look good to me because it is stable and doesnt have any problems with anything except that it tops out at 255, and DFI says they will fix that.

nizenco: maybe you got a bad board? I have a 2.4c at the 255 limit and it is stable. try turning down memory timing to normal and use cas 2.5 to see if that works out?

nizenco

05-09-03, 02:50 PM

Originally posted by tommyz2kool
Lonely Raven: yes, I have been using an 800 FSB on a DFI PRO875 processor for over a week now :D

anyways, you only get to choose DDR 400 if you use a natural 800FSB cpu. this is true of any CW board.

I would recommend you hold off on returning your board a little longer to see how the newer overclocking BIOS works out. obviously, MSI is in contact with you and trying to fix things right? I've tested 3 different CW boards: aopen, gigabyte, and DFI, and out of the 3, the DFI is the most stable, and offers the best features. the gigabyte lets you pick a memory ratio or FSB speed in bios but when I check with cpu-z, it lists something different than what I thought I picked. (eg: I pick a ratio like 2.66, it really gives me 2.00 - WTF???) plus a fan header blew out when I powered it up for the first time!!! the aopen does the exact same thing, plus it is very picky about ram and very unstable at FSB 250.

in my opinion, EVERY canterwood board has some significant problem except the ABIT IC7 series. but those come with a LOUD ass 7000rpm fan:eek: the ASUS is a good overclocker, but it has way too many problems with raid, and ASUS really isnt that great about fixing problems. on the MSI, everything is fubar according to user reviews. so that makes the DFI look good to me because it is stable and doesnt have any problems with anything except that it tops out at 255, and DFI says they will fix that.

nizenco: maybe you got a bad board? I have a 2.4c at the 255 limit and it is stable. try turning down memory timing to normal and use cas 2.5 to see if that works out?

I have tuned down the memory settings, the same thing though. The funny thing is that my board are handpicked by DFI in taiwan, maybe the took a board from the wrong pile ;)
I have noticed a strange thing about the BIOS. When you set the Active to Precharge Delay (Cycle Time (Tras)) in the BIOS to 5 or 6 you actually get 7 and 8. When you select 7 and 8 you however get 7 and 8. And when you select an FSB of 255 MHz the BIOS reports (0*12 MHz) on bootup. Anyone else who can confirm this?

Anyone knows how to get Prime 95 to test both the real CPU and the logic at the same time?

tommyz2kool

05-09-03, 03:19 PM

I dont have any of those problems and cpu-z confirms it. when I pick a setting, it sticks. I think you got a jacked up bios. when I first got my board, the bios was reporting a temp of 14c for a 2.4g processor! I emailed DFI about it, and they sent me a new bios. I think it reports a little high, but they fixed the problem. maybe you should email their tech support and ask them wtf is going on w/ your board.

nizenco

05-09-03, 04:15 PM

Originally posted by tommyz2kool
I dont have any of those problems and cpu-z confirms it. when I pick a setting, it sticks. I think you got a jacked up bios. when I first got my board, the bios was reporting a temp of 14c for a 2.4g processor! I emailed DFI about it, and they sent me a new bios. I think it reports a little high, but they fixed the problem. maybe you should email their tech support and ask them wtf is going on w/ your board.

I've recived a couple of BIOS:es from DFI, but noone fixes my problem. Can you mail the BIOS you have gotten to me at nizenco@hotmail.com ?

Lonely Raven

05-09-03, 05:35 PM

I just got off the phone with Ray at DFI. He was pretty cool
about answering questions.

It looks like you guys are right about the Canterwood and
the memory settings. Coming from the AMD side of things, that
just seems odd to me to be stuck at 333 Memory speed unless
I use a certain processor, but I'm seeing the same thing with
the ASUS motherboard...so I guess it's a Canterwood thing! LOL

I would LOVE to get my hands on a P4 2.4 800FSB!! Where are
you guys getting yours? I have cash on hand right now, and I'm
going on Vacation this week, so I have all week to sit around
the house and play with it!

Any leads on getting a 2.4 would be greatly appreaciated!!

Lonely Raven

05-09-03, 05:39 PM

Hey guys, here are "todays" BIOS if you don't have it already:

BETA BIOS REMOVED...PLEASE GRAB BETTER BIOS ON PAGE3

I'll leave it up unless DFI tells me to take it down.

Please post your thoughts here on the web board so we know
how it's going.

I really need an 800Mhz P4 to try this out!

Kappafoo

05-09-03, 06:20 PM

Lonely Raven,

Nice to hear that you agreed on what I told you over the phone. As soon as you use a 800 MHz FSB CPU all the problem that you have will go away. As far as over clocking as I mention, that new BIOS will let you go up to 400 MHz, but you need an A/C to get to that LOL. Anyways Just let me know any feed back that you guys have on our BIOS, and we will try our best to help as much as we can.

Kappafoo

thorn

05-09-03, 07:33 PM

Nice to see this thread start to pick up! Now, I just need to hook the board back up to try this new BIOS. Too bad about running at DDR 333, I thought the abit allowed you to set the CPU:DRAM ratio at 4:5 so if your running a 533fsb proc at 165 the ram would be at 440.. Is this the case? Are the voltages any better with this new BIOS?

Kappafoo

05-09-03, 07:39 PM

Hi Thorn,

Memory voltage is not fix, but we will work on it, LOL one by one, R&D is going nuts about you guys. Hey you guys want to see how a DFI LAN Party really performs, check this website, this guy got the DFI Pro 875 bench mark around 23000 in 3DMark, so who is saying DFI is making a bad board. I would think DFI is making the best board, but only depends on the user, if you guys know what I'm trying to say...:cool:

Here is the link...
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=11615&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

This will amaze you guys, and this one doesn't even have the overclocking BIOS!!!:D

The Truth

05-09-03, 07:54 PM

Ok, I apologize to "Thorn" that I mistaken you as one of the DFI guys because when I first called DFI Tech Support, I heard from Joe the Tech Support, mentioned that he posted a Thread in the forum. Anyway, the Joe guy had not a clue on how to get an issue resolved and really cannot understand wtf he said. Then came in Kappafoo and he is also from DFI, so I assumed that they just chat to each other to start this thread to make DFI looks good.
Anyway, so far they cannot produce a BIOS and I believe I have waited longer than you because I tested their m/bs since April and DFI definitely get an "F" for the support.
If I work for DFI, I would fire the support team except Kappafoo since he helped you out at least.
Have fun posting and good luck if you buy a DFI products.
Oh, by the way, AK76 was recalled by DFI. But they didn't do it publicly. Only those who called and reported the problem then they would upgrade to another model. And new headache will begin with the new model.
If you still have a AK76 running and has no problem, I can imagine what kind of system you had. Anyway, make sure you don't leave your system ON 24/7 because it might burn everything you own. Especially when you increase the Memory size. That is enough. Later....

thorn

05-09-03, 08:08 PM

Originally posted by Kappafoo
Hi Thorn,

Memory voltage is not fix, but we will work on it, LOL one by one, R&D is going nuts about you guys. Hey you guys want to see how a DFI LAN Party really performs, check this website, this guy got the DFI Pro 875 bench mark around 23000 in 3DMark, so who is saying DFI is making a bad board. I would think DFI is making the best board, but only depends on the user, if you guys know what I'm trying to say...:cool:

Here is the link...
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=11615&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

This will amaze you guys, and this one doesn't even have the overclocking BIOS!!!:D

That guy had an Engineering Sample CPU with an unlocked multiplier so I'm not overly impressed, but it does look promising, and it's always good to see more experiences with this board. I see that you guys are working hard and truely relaying our suggestions so that they can be incorporated into the BIOS. You and Frank are the best.

EDIT: I went back and read the whole thread look for posts by macci starting on page 2. He is using some kind of coolant, though. I think he said R404.

Here's a quote from later in the thread:
Rite now it looks like the IC7 is better (in terms of speed and CPU Overclockability). But I have yet to test this thing w/ R404. So we'll see how it goes

And I'd say that 8k is not a problem once I slap some better cooling on it.
And yes those benches were both done using Intel stock cooler, Vcore 1.72V, Vmem 3.2V

tommyz2kool

05-09-03, 09:40 PM

dammit...I'm in class right now so I can't test out the new bios...I will let you guys know how it works out when I get home.

Lonely Raven:

I bought my 2.4c at gamepc.com, but looks like they are out. gamepc seems to ALWAYS get the latest stuff (and charge a premium for it too).

thorn:

all canterwood boards have these memory ratios: 1:1, 3:2, 5:4. I'm pretty sure the abit boards give you 3:4, but that is a useless ratio when using an 800fsb cpu because no memory can keep up with the cpu.

.

thorn

05-09-03, 11:08 PM

I thoroughly understand that it would be pointless on an 800fsb cpu, but I have a 533fsb cpu that OCs really well (170fsb on default) so to me it would be useful.

nizenco

05-10-03, 12:01 AM

I flashed my board with a new BIOS, but now its dead, it stops boting when its checking the BIOS cheksum. What to do? Can i put in a floppy with the .bin-file named to something special and the bord read the BIOS from that one?

thorn

05-10-03, 10:47 AM

What .BIN file did you flash it with?

Lonely Raven

05-10-03, 02:10 PM

I just ordered two 2.4 800Mhz from GoogleGear! Yeay!!

I hope to have them before my Vacation is over so I have time
to really work them over and see what this DFI board is capable
of!

Plus I hope to have another P4 Mobile processor with a 12X
multiplier and see what that can do. I'm looking to get one
with a more recent date then the last two I had so I can try and
break 250FSB!!

I do hope this board has a 5/4 CPU/Memory ratio like the ABIT
so I can really push the FSB!!

Plus, is there any way (software) to test and make sure I'm
getting the PCI and AGP Mhz that I'm expecting?

tommyz2kool

05-10-03, 04:48 PM

just tried out the new bios, the highest stable FSB I got was 265 at relaxed timings. I think my memory is holding me back

Lonely Raven

05-10-03, 07:52 PM

Ahh, you poor kid. LOL

I'd be happy to hit 250FSB

tommyz2kool

05-11-03, 01:10 AM

well whatever happened to nizenco happened to me too. I flashed to the may 9th bios and tried to see how far my cpu could go so I set the cpu/memory ratio to 3:2. anyways I set fsb to 270 (since I could get into windows at that speed at 5:4). but it was very unstable at that speed so I rebooted and changed the memory timings to 2.5-3-3-6. anyways now my rig will not even get to the post screen.... the other mem ratios seem good to go, but it sux I gotta rma this board now!!!

Lonely Raven

05-11-03, 02:47 AM

I assume you reset the BIOS?

Did you try the INS key to get back into the BIOS?

Lonely Raven

05-11-03, 02:50 AM

I forgot to add, what helps me when I get a no post after
some mad overclocking, is pulling the BIOS battry overnight
and try again the next morning.

If that don't reset it, NOTHING will! LOL

thorn

05-11-03, 04:41 PM

Originally posted by tommyz2kool
well whatever happened to nizenco happened to me too. I flashed to the may 9th bios and tried to see how far my cpu could go so I set the cpu/memory ratio to 3:2. anyways I set fsb to 270 (since I could get into windows at that speed at 5:4). but it was very unstable at that speed so I rebooted and changed the memory timings to 2.5-3-3-6. anyways now my rig will not even get to the post screen.... the other mem ratios seem good to go, but it sux I gotta rma this board now!!!

This happened to me, too, a couple of times. A few times I got a CMOS checksum, and a few I got some wierd looking characters. All I did was power down completely and reset the CMOS each time and all is good. Did anyone else notice on the utility CD that the autorun menu does not work?

All I have to say is I am pleased with this board now, but more voltage options are needed, as well as, manual devider settings of FSB:RAM ratios (like 3:4, 4:5, 5:4, etc.). BTW, the 5/9 BIOS reports temps correctly, if not slightly high.

One tip is to do a clean install of windows (repair install will be buggy) and the first driver you need to install when you install windows is the chipset (inf) driver, otherwise there can be some problems when you start installing other devices like blue screens and devices failing to install, etc (I found this out the hard way).

Did anyone else notice how hot the NB gets? I'm running this board on my bench, and it gets pretty darn warm.

And the mem bandwidth on this thing is insane even at DDR333 at 2-5-2-2 it whoops the crap out of the fastest thing in Sandra!!

tommyz2kool

05-11-03, 09:46 PM

I'll try to see if you suggestions work. I really do not want to have to RMA this damn thing

tommyz2kool

05-11-03, 09:55 PM

can you guys tell me exactly how you guys reset the cmos? I've tried your suggesstions and they dont seem to work

thorn

05-11-03, 10:21 PM

I powered it down and then cleared it with the jumper near the battery.

I just ordered an 800FSB CPU, too. More details to come..

DFI has now added the FSB limit issue to the FAQ (http://www.dfi.com.tw/Support/mb_faq_us.jsp?FAQ_ID=1480&SUBMITTED=No&PAGE_TYPE=US). For future BETA BIOS updates check DFI's official beta site. (http://www.dfi.com.tw/Support/Download/download_lp_us.jsp?CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&INDEX_TYPE=MB&STATUS_FLAG=B)

That is, if they are not already emailed to you.

Lonely Raven

05-12-03, 09:22 AM

I'm still waiting on my 2.4 800Mhz.

I ordered two just in case. LOL

Well, I still have my BH-7

Right now my old P4 2.2B is humming along nicely at 166FSB.

I'm very excited about this board now! Especially after all the
stuff I've read on HardOCP about the 875 vs 845 vs nForce2!!

Now I'm looking to get into the DFI NFII board that uses the
nForce2 Ultra chipset!! Yum!

tommyz2kool

05-12-03, 10:30 PM

well I emailed DFI about my problem and they say that it is a bug that they are aware of and working on. so do NOT try to overclock using a 3:2 ratio because your computer will NOT start.

Lonely Raven

05-13-03, 12:18 AM

Good to know.

thorn

05-13-03, 06:28 PM

I found a version of SetFSB for this board for anyone interested in changing the FSB from within windows. It's made for the P4C800, but it works great on the PRO875.

setfsbU15d_p4c800.zip (http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/k-hazama/setfsb/p4c800/setfsbU15d_p4c800.zip)

You'll also need GIVEIO.SYS found in this file:

directio.zip (http://www.maximumoc.com/files/setfsb/directio.zip)

Lonely Raven

05-14-03, 05:49 PM

Well I got my two P4 2.4Cs in today.

One is burning in on my BH-7 at 220, and I'll push it further
tonight when I get back from the Matrix.

For some reason though, swapping from a 2.2b to a 2.4c the
DFI won't boot, and I can't seem to reset the BIOS. I wonder
if it's that CPU/Memory Issue mentioned earlier.

So I've pulled the battry and unplugged the Power Supply.
I'll let it sit for about an hour and try again later. I'm very
excited about this!!

Lonely Raven

05-14-03, 07:08 PM

Welp, this board is Dead, dead, dead.

I can't imagine what swapping a processor could have done to
it, but it's no post hard core.

I'm going to remove it from the case next and try one last time
then I have to RMA it. (sigh). Just when I was starting to really
like this motherboard...

thorn

05-14-03, 08:12 PM

I'd try to put your old proc back in then flash back to the original BIOS release. Then if that doesn't work I'd send it back. Sorry to hear that, man. I know you were looking forward to tweaking that thing...

Lonely Raven

05-15-03, 02:35 AM

You can't flash it if it don't POST.

I've already swapped back to the old Proc and it's still dead.

In an hour and a half of attempting to reset the BIOS and
power up, on either chip, I've managed to get it to post once.
Then dead.

That's seventy times I've hit the power button, and one post.
(sigh)

I've already sent an E-mail to DFI. They are VERY prompt to
respond. I'll give them that much.

When I had similar problems with my Shuttle SFF box, I felt like
I was E-mailing an automated responce computer. Completely
lifeless, uninformitive, and not a bit understanding of my problem
or how I felt.

DFI on the other hand has done their best to make me feel like
they really want to hear from us, and that if the problem *is*
on their side, that they want to find it and make it better.

Unlike some other companies that just blow it off as user error
as if their product is infallable. hehe.

Anywho...I just got back from The Matrix Reloaded.
Still no post. I'm going to whack on it for another hour and hope
I can either figure out whats holding it down, or fix it.

The best I've gotten it to do so far is one long beep, two short,
but still no POST.

thorn

05-15-03, 02:51 AM

I know you can't flash without post, but I didn't know you'd already tried the old proc.. (should have known you had). And, I'm sure you tried the insert key, too, huh? I guess when I get my 800FSB CPU I'll try flashing to the original BIOS and clear the CMOS before I switch. And you're right about DFI support it's top notch (since we got in contact with Ray and Frank, that is).

Lonely Raven

05-15-03, 11:11 AM

I wouldn't worry about going to an older BIOS, I'd just reset it
to Defaults before you do anything.

I'm still working on the issue, and I think I might have found
a problem and a solution. I hope to have some news later on.

tommyz2kool

05-15-03, 10:30 PM

you are using the beta bios that lets you overclock past 255 right? well I board would not post with a 2.4c in it. this bios has issues and I would stay away from it. I think I'll just stay at 3.06ghz

Lonely Raven

05-17-03, 03:11 AM

Yeah, that's what DFI is thinking also. As soon as I put the 2.4C
in, it's toast.

I got it to boot once, right after I switched from a 9700 Pro to
a 4200, and I thought it was an ATI Compatability issue, but
after that it was back to being hozed again.

I'm awaiting a new board from DFI.

Either that, or I'm just going to get a refund from New Egg. I'm
tired, and I'd like to play with my 2.4C chips!!

Lonely Raven

05-17-03, 09:40 PM

Important Update!!

Ok, the "overclockers BIOS" that I've been testing, and posted
previously is completely bunk! As in, it's no good! Don't use it!

I'm going to remove it from my server, and also edit the post
that's linked to it.

After having spend MANY MANY MANY hours working on this
board, and many E-mails with the very responsive guys at
DFI, we've found that there is an issue with the "Overclockers
BIOS" and (what I think) is memory, along with the new P4 800Mhz
chips!!!

Now this is VERY important, and it's worked for me, so if your
stuck with No POST and your using the Overclockers BIOS dated
05/09/03, then here is the trick to Reset the BIOS to allow you
to reflash to an older BIOS:

Normally when you overclock too high, or for whatever reason you
need to reset your BIOS, you either use the Clear CMOS jumper
located next to the Battery, or you HOLD the Insert Key while
powering up the machine.

THESE WONT WORK with the Beta BIOS.

The trick that's worked for me at least 50% of the time (after
several hundreds of tries) is to Power Up the Machine while
holding the Instert Key (as you normally would), BUT THEN after
about 1.5 seconds, you MUST TAP THE INSERT KEY REPEATEDLY.

This helped me "wake up" the machine, set the BIOS to
defaults, then flash it to an older BIOS.

Here is the BIOS that I'm currently useing, and I'm pretty happy
with the stability of this particular BIOS:

PAT Optomized DFI LAN PARTY BETA BIOS 05/07/03 (http://www.opelblitz.net/~lonelyraven/875PAT.zip)

Please note, these are also BETA BIOS, but are running ROCK
SOLID for me at 255X12 on my P4 2.4c with a pair of Corsair XMS
3500c2 (older) memory. This BIOS TOPS OUT at 255FSB, so don't expect
more till DFI figures out whats holding up their "Overclockers"
BIOS.

Honestly guys, I was all set to return this motherboard and
say "Forget It" to the DFI NFII Lan Party that I was planning to
get on release. But DFIs killer support, and the fact that I can now
see this 875 really KICK ASS, I have a really good feeling about
what this board, and the future LAN party boards can do!!

I can finally say, this is a keeper! I just hope DFI can continue
the R&D and get the BIOS stable up to 300Mhz FSB, because
I'm sure the board and my chip can do it!

Thanx for reading all this, I hope it wasn't too wordy, but I've
put a LOT of time into this, and I didn't want my *******g and
moaning to scare people off from what looks to be a really killer
board. Especially if you can use all of the features available to it!

thorn

05-21-03, 06:06 AM

Thanks for the update.. That wasn't too wordy at all. Good job.

I did notice that there is a newer official BIOS dated 5/16/03 available on DFI's site (http://www.dfi.com.tw/Support/Download/bios_download_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=1134&STATUS_FLAG=A).

V8gent

05-22-03, 06:09 PM

sounds like this board may be worth getting after all :) can you confirm that it has a 5:4 cpu:mem devider?

Lonely Raven

05-22-03, 06:48 PM

Yeah, 5:4 and 4:3!

But they aren't listed as such.

One Simply says 333 and the other 266 (which I don't agree with)

I've already sent DFI an E-mail suggesting they label it 5:4 and
4:3.

I'm very happy with mine, I just wish I could go past 255.

Last I heard Thorn hit 270 on his.

Lonely Raven

05-22-03, 07:37 PM

Bah, I'm trying out that new BIOS on the DFI web page,
and it's reacting just like the "Overclockers BIOS" is for me
in the fact that after a hard OC, I can't seem to reset the BIOS...

I went from my previous 255FSB right up to 270FSB, and
decided just for grins to try 300FSB.

I guess my proc (or memory) can't handle that, so I went to
reset the BIOS and I'm stuck again with no post (sigh).

I wish I knew what was holding that up, I'd really like to fix it and
OC the crap out of this new processor!

Lonely Raven

05-22-03, 07:41 PM

It figures, right after I post this, the machine fires right up.

I'm running 275FSB now and I'm going to let it burn in for a bit.

I'll try and push it a little bit each night and take Screenshots as
I go along.

thorn

05-22-03, 10:47 PM

Make sure that NB is cooled down, too. When I put it on 270 (3.51ghz) it get's pretty hot. I ordered a 40mm fan for it.

Lonely Raven

05-22-03, 11:15 PM

I have 40mm fans all over the place, I'm thinking about dropping
a Zalman on it, but I'm afraid the "hooks" might pull out of the
mobo like what happened on my BH-7!

Overclocking Update!!

I was stuck at 255-260FSB, but then I dropped the Dual Channel
and just popped in a phat stick of OCZ-3200 and I'm blowing
past my 260FSB wall!!

Currently I'm at 280FSB!!

Lonely Raven

05-22-03, 11:34 PM

http://www.opelblitz.net/~lonelyraven/280Large.gif

I dropped an OEM 40mm from some 1U server (probably), and
that helped me pull a little more stability at 280FSB!!

I'm hoping to get more later, but I've trashed enough
Folding@Home work units today...I think I'll push for
300FSB this weekend!

I do wish we had more memory voltage options! Ug!!

I have a feeling I could run my XMS in Dual Channel if I could
get this board to push 2.8 or 2.9v though the DIMMs.

tommyz2kool

05-23-03, 12:39 AM

have any of you guys tried using the 3:2 memory ratio? if so how far can you OC the cpu?

thorn

05-23-03, 04:19 AM

Actually, I've tried to stay away from the 3:2 ratio because of the problems you guys had.

Lonely Raven

05-23-03, 10:01 AM

Look at my screen shot. That's with the latest official BIOS,
and 3:2 memory Ratio.

I'm having some stability issues running past 275FSB, but I'm
pretty sure it's just cooling, so I'm going to hit it a little harder
this weekend when I have more time to play with it.

tommyz2kool

05-23-03, 01:57 PM

so 3:2 does work...I'm still a little hesitant to try it since that's what killed my board the first time.

Lonely Raven

05-23-03, 05:17 PM

I'm wondering if your board was killed.

In my vast and tiring experience with this board down, what I
discovered is that it's VERY hard to get it to recover from a bad
overclock. VERY hard. And that difficulty varies with the version
of the BIOS.

Personally I feel this is partially memory related. And the only
reason I've figured it out to be a BIOS issue is that I had VERY
similar problems with my Shuttle SN41G2 that wouldn't start
after a hard overclock. I was constantly forced to remove the
CMOS battery and let it sit for a few hours because the mobo
just wouldn't recover from pushing it too hard.

Same thing here.

But this last BIOS has been rock solid. I still have some problems
getting it to post after a failed overclock, but other then that
this seems like a good one to me.

I had it up to 280FSB, and I played some games and ran
Super PI (obviously), but then when I started folding@home
it failed after a few hours...which makes me think I need to
improve my cooling some more.

Right now I'm down to 266FSB solid, folding for almost 24 hours.

This weekend I'm thinking about hitting this setup with some
watercooling and seeing where I can take it from there!

nizenco

05-24-03, 03:21 PM

have you tested prime95 @the speeds you say the processor are stable at? I can't go pass 250 MHz stable in pime95 with ah 2,4C :(

Lonely Raven

05-24-03, 09:08 PM

View the screenshot above. Super PI is the original Prime95
type program.

Admittedly I've had to drop it back down to 266FSB, but I'm
almost positive it's a heat issue since I'm trying to make this
computer as quiet as possible. It's going in my recording studio
and I really don't like the idea of recording fans...

tommyz2kool

05-25-03, 12:32 AM

well if a board does not power up, would you not consider it dead?:p

anyways, I am stable at FSB 255 running prime. I think the board and cpu can go higher, but my memory is holding me back

Lonely Raven

05-26-03, 08:46 PM

What memory are you using that you can't get it to go further
at 255FSB?

I mean, are you using 3:2 ratio now?

tommyz2kool

05-29-03, 04:27 AM

well I finally determined that it was not the memory that was holding me back, but the board. I returned it and got an asus p4c800 instead. I wanted to like the dfi, but it is just too unstable. btw, the asus has a really neat uv effect - instead of being vomit yellow, under uv light it glows this cool greenish color.

Lonely Raven

05-29-03, 07:18 PM

That's too bad. Mines been running strong at 266FSB even
when it got near 90F in my apartment the other day...

What you overclocking to now?

Lonely Raven

06-01-03, 02:52 AM

OK, after many hours of testing, and exhausting every stick of
memory I have here (about 16 sticks right now), here is what
I've come up with ROCK SOLID!!

http://www.opelblitz.net/~lonelyraven/280X12.jpg

After talking with the OCZ memory guys, and doing some
tests of my own, I've finally gotten it into my head that latency
isn't as important on the already monster bandwidth of the
Canterwood setups. I notice I'm not the only one coming from
the AMD side of things that's used to forcing my memory timings
as Low Latency as they can go with as high of FSB as possible.

In this case I did just the opposite. Instead of forcing 5-2-2 CAS 2
I lowered the Latency settings as LOW as they can possible go
(8-4-4 CAS 2.5--CAS 3.0 shows up as CAS 2.5 regardless), and
then I pushed the FSB as far as this particular processor could
go.

I went through every stick/set of memory I have, and I found
that my Corsair XMS 3200LL Twin-X spanked everything else.
Which is odd, because on my AMD systems this memory just
stank. But currently I'm running 280FSB with a 5:4 memory
ratio, giving me a 224FSB on DDR 400 Memory!?!?

The guys at DFI tell me there is another BIOS about to be
released that will improve the PAT. How that is, I'm not sure,
but I've done plenty of tests, and have the above numbers to
show for what we have with the current BIOS. When I get the
new BIOS on Monday or Tuesday I'll test and bench and post
my results.

It looks like with each BIOS revision we get further and further
into the performance/enthusiast realm, and I for one am glad
I stuck with this motherboard rather then returning it!!

I hope to have the DFI nForce2 board really soon, and I hope
I get as good of results out of that!!

Prometheus

06-09-03, 12:18 AM

I have been trying to review this board, and am having issues with the latest release BIOS of 5/30 and a late 6/03 BETA. Both these BIOS' do NOT overclock AT ALL in my system. You can set new values, but they never work. The 5/16 BIOS DOES work on Overclocking.

Any of you experiencing the same problem, or is it just my setup?

thorn

06-09-03, 02:41 AM

It's not just you. I noticed the same thing.

Skoob

06-10-03, 07:33 PM

Hi everyone. I bought this board the other day and at default settings on a 2.6C everything is rock stable and fast. I tried to up the fsb to see how much my memory and cpu can handle but no matter where i set the FSB, it always boots at 200 mhz...duh. Bascially I cant overclock it 1 mhz. I've been emailing back and forth with Joe and he has given me a new the new BIOS 875d3530. Unfortunately, i am already using this BIOS. Does anyone have any suggestions and whats your opinion about flashing to an earlier BIOS like 5/16/03. I'm getting ready to rma this board soon but its default speed is simply amazing and I am too curious to find out what it can really do so I havent given up yet. I am also having temp reading errors. The default BIOS that shipped with the board was reporting my CPU at 8C and its only watercooled..duh. The new BIOS 5/30 is showing my CPU at 18C..still way too low i think. I had this cpu running in an ABIT IT7 Max 2 Ver 2 and it was reporting 40C idle which I find more realistic. WHats the Deal? I really want to push this thing but it simply stays default no matter what changes I make. Another problem I noticed is that WINCPUID does not report the memory speed at all. Anybody else notice this or should I use cpu-z?

thorn

06-10-03, 09:40 PM

Just flash to an earlier BIOS. If you need it PM me.

Prometheus

06-11-03, 01:15 AM

The 5/16 BIOS has overclocking that works fine - just flash to the 5/16 release BIOS. I am waiting for a BIOS update that will combine the speed of the 5/30-6/03 BIOS' with WORKING Overclocking. This update should be available soon.

Skoob

06-11-03, 01:54 PM

the file he sent me was the 6/5/03 BIOS and it fixed my problems somewhat. Only thing is that the system now hits the wall at 250 mhz. Right now at 250fsb and Dram ratio of 5/4, I have the memory on the fastest timings 2,5,2,2 with fast r/w enabled no lockups all night but it will not boot at 251. I relaxed the timings to spd 2,7,3,2 (according to BIOS) and still no go at 251. I know its not the memory since I've used these sticks at 433mhz at 2,5,2,2 with 2.8v no prob. At SPD they easily go to 465. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next BIOS update so I can max this out. The BIOS and MBM5 still report my CPU temp as 17C idle and 22C load which I dont believe. My WC setup is good but not that good :D

Mikes95XLT

06-18-03, 02:32 AM

Hey guys I'm trying to decide between this board and another one.... check out my thread and please give me some opinions. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=203756

Mikes95XLT

06-23-03, 01:58 AM

Is the DFI board now good with the new BIOS releases? If I get a green light from you guys, I will be ordering the board tomorrow. Thanks!

thorn

06-23-03, 02:42 AM

If I were you I'd hold out a little while for the LanParty II PRO875. It should solve most if not all the issues we're experiencing with this board.

Mikes95XLT

06-23-03, 12:12 PM

When is the LanParty II supposed to come out?

thorn

06-23-03, 07:37 PM

I'm not sure, but you could email dfi tech support and they will tell you.

Mikes95XLT

06-27-03, 11:45 AM

Still haven't heard from DFI... :(

Originally posted by thorn
If I were you I'd hold out a little while for the LanParty II PRO875. It should solve most if not all the issues we're experiencing with this board.

What issues are you referring to? It seemed like Skoob got a pretty good BIOS version. He said that the only problem was that he hit a wall at 250mhz. I don't plan to overclock this board really, just because I don't know how (I'm still new at this) so is everything else AOK with this board otherwise? Or are there other things that need attention?

Skoob

06-27-03, 01:27 PM

Found out one of my settings was incorrect so the comment about the 250mhz barrier is inaccurate I guess no one else OC'd with the 6-5-03 BIOS to comment? I was able to take it to 262 in the end :) I think the board is great.

thorn

06-27-03, 03:54 PM

I'm not sure if I tried that 6-5 bios or not. The issues for me were instability at high FSB (anything over 260).

Skoob

06-27-03, 05:30 PM

Wierd same problem here. I was kind of leaning towards my cpu not being able to handle it though. Im assuming my 2.6 should do more than 3.38, but thats where it became unstable around 262 mhz. HMMM hopefully it is the bIOs and not the cpu..

TheGr8s1

06-29-03, 08:39 PM

My friend from work bought the DFI Lan Party board and wasn't pleased with it. It wouldn't run tight timings. He had the TwinX Corsair PC3200's. It's probably a BIOS issue but he sold it and opted for the Abit IC-7 instead. He hasn't whined since.

Blackjack

07-02-03, 04:29 PM

Originally posted by Mikes95XLT
When is the LanParty II supposed to come out?

Hi!

This is the answer from DFI Tech Support:

Hi Blackjack,

I've just checked our product roadmap.
The DFI LANParty II 875PRO will be released on late August.
Thank for your E-mail

Frank Wong
Technical Support Manager
DFI San Jose
510-274-8000x115

:o sooo long!

Mikes95XLT

07-03-03, 01:07 AM

Hmmmmmm dayum. Thanks for the info BlackMagic. I still never got an email back from them. :rolleyes:

Well I guess there will be an order going into NewEgg tomorrow for the original, cause I can't wait that long for the new board to come out.

I don't plan to overclock just yet, since a few people were saying that the only reason that they didn't like the board was because of a BIOS issue with OCing and memory timings.

So all in all, not OCing just yet and for a newb, good board for me to pick?

Talz

07-05-03, 07:11 PM

Anyone know what sort of changes the new board will have?

I've been looking at this board, but I'd really prefer extra SATA to the PATA RAID controller, and I want to be able to go up to 2.9v vdimm. That would get me to actually spend $200 for a motherboard, otherwise I'll be sticking to a more basic IC-7.

thorn

07-07-03, 11:14 AM

I know the vdimm is one thing they are revising. To what level I have no idea. As for the SATA RAID, this board has both serial and parallel.

Talz

07-07-03, 03:59 PM

Yes it has the SATA controller built into the northbridge, but similiar products such as the IC7-G have an extra SATA controller instead of the extra PATA controller.

I suspect this will just be a revision with smaller changes than that though.

Mikes95XLT

07-07-03, 07:01 PM

Well I just went ahead and ordered the board... too many positive reviews etc on it.

Should be here Friday... :D

Skoob

07-09-03, 08:36 PM

let us know how it works out.:D

Timbo

07-10-03, 06:36 PM

Hi Guys I plan To get this mobo. but I see too many positive reviews etc on it....... Ok I do i need it r not?

Skoob

07-10-03, 07:14 PM

Have you seen the new SuperSpeed 875Pee800DDR2.5XLR8 Max 4 Ver 6.0 post production beta sample? You need this for sure. It uses triple channel edo ram and radioactive parallel printer cables. :D

Talz

07-11-03, 02:33 AM

That was, helpful..

Skoob

07-11-03, 11:34 AM

So are all of the positive reviews...

Mikes95XLT

07-11-03, 03:23 PM

I see positive after positive review on this board. Mine just got here today! :D :D :D

Now I just need to find the right RAM to stick in....

Mikes95XLT

07-13-03, 04:38 PM

What memory is everyone using in this board?

Skoob

07-13-03, 05:10 PM

2 x 512 of Corsair XMS3500-c2

Mikes95XLT

07-13-03, 05:58 PM

I'm thinking either Crucial or Corsair... NewEgg has the Corsair XMS PC3500 for $92.00 shipped so I may go with a pair of 512's of that. Is 2x512 too much you think?

Also, what is the difference between 32mx8 and 64mx64 etc that I see on the site?

Skoob

07-13-03, 06:12 PM

As long as you get the XMS3500-c2 or the Twinx3200-ll, you will be able to run any timings you want. Besides, one of the drawbacks about this mainboard is that no matter what timings you set, you wont get any faster than 2-7-2-2. Both types will run fine upto around 430 mhz with fast timings. I would've bought the Twinx but since I already had a stick of 3500, I bought a second one to match.

Skoob

07-13-03, 06:45 PM

Those numbers refer to the memory module sizes and the bus width. Just a way to determine the chip arrangement and sizes which determines the total size fo the stick.

Mikes95XLT

07-13-03, 07:20 PM

Cool thanks for the info guys you have been a big help. :)

Just one more thing... why is the PC3500 c2 cheaper than the PC3200 c2 memory? 3500 = $92 but 3200 = $104

Which one would be better to get?

Talz

07-14-03, 12:57 AM

Because the $92 stick is only 256 MB, very overpriced imo. $104 for the 512MB 3200LL is a much better deal.

Mikes95XLT

07-14-03, 02:12 AM

Originally posted by Talz
Because the $92 stick is only 256 MB
DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH! I can't believe I didn't see that... :eek: Thanks for the heads up.

Skoob

07-16-03, 03:01 PM

Anyone using the 6-25-03 BIOS and if so, is there any worthwhile fixes besides the noted changing from 800fsb cpu to 533 correction?

Mikes95XLT

07-21-03, 04:07 PM

It's alive!! It's alive!!!! Got the comp together and working today... it is UNGODLY fast. Holy cow. I love it!

2.4C processor
2x512 Corsair XMS PC3200LL
2x80gb Western Digital special edition 8mb hdd's
Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW black front bezel

Now... all I need to do is flash my BIOS. Help on that one?

Skoob

07-21-03, 05:59 PM

My advice on the BIOS is that you should not use the winflash auto update utility (aka radarsync) to Flash it. Ive used it 3 times, of which 1 time it worked and the other 2 I had to flash back to the older BIOS in order to boot.

First thing I would do is go over to ABit website and download the Dr. Dos utilty to make a bootable floppy.

Then Download the newest BIOS from the DFI site, the one that does not specify for Live update, unzip it to the floppy.

Boot into the floppy and at the command prompt just type "awrdflash (name of BIN file)" and hit enter. After that your done, just reboot.

Its pretty basic. if you mess up, just flash back to the original file that I forgot to tell you to save first.

Mikes95XLT

07-21-03, 09:58 PM

Originally posted by Skoob
if you mess up, just flash back to the original file that I forgot to tell you to save first.

Which would be what, and how do I do it? (sorry... extreme newb here) ............... :)

Skoob

07-22-03, 02:15 PM

You could use the winflash utilty to back up the original BIOS, but I would avoid flashing to a new BIOS in windows. If you can afford to lose your OS and be forced to reinstall windows, you could risk it and try it, it'll proably work. It didnt work for me because my drives are on the hpt raid and it updated that BIOS as well, killing my array.

Or, after you make the bootable floppy, and unzip the files to the floppy, type "awdflash" at the command prompt and I think it gives the option to save the old BIOS to file.

There are some good help files on How to flash your BIOS on alot of the MB websites. They are all pretty much the same.

BTW what version BIOS came with yoru new board? If you already have 6-5-03 I would just leave it.

Mikes95XLT

07-23-03, 10:36 AM

How do I know what came with my board?

Could someone give me a step by step to do this? I'm nervous...

Skoob

07-23-03, 01:45 PM

When you turn your computer on and it is detecting your cpu and ide drives, look at the bottom left corner. There will be a revision date like 5/30/03 or 6/5/03 etc. Thats your BIOS release date which is what we need to know. Or install CPU-Z and goto the Mainboard tab. manufacturer will be blank, type will say canterwood, and if you look towards the middle at BIOS date tell us what it says.

Did you get Dr. DOS yet?

Mikes95XLT

07-23-03, 03:32 PM

Just checked the BIOS revision when I restarted, and it says 6/5/2003- Canterwood... so I'm assuming that's the right BIOS then. :)

So should I still make a bootable floppy with Dr. DOS now that I have the right BIOS?

Skoob

07-23-03, 05:30 PM

If you already have 6-5-03 then you are all set IMO. Besides the new one (6-25-03) was only to fix a problem that occured when one would switch to a 533fsb CPU after already using an 800fsb cpu. if you plan on downgrading your CPU then you might want to look into it. I flashed to the new one anyway and it did absolutely nothing for me. I was hoping for some OC potential or maybe temp fix, but nothing changed. Cya.

Mikes95XLT

07-24-03, 06:59 PM

Thanks for the help man. Much appreciated. :)

One other thing I'm having problems with is figuring out how to hook up the 2 front USB ports on the front of my Chieftec Dragon case...

Skoob

07-25-03, 12:34 AM

NP, glad to help if I can. As for the usb, page 12 in the manual should help.

Mikes95XLT

07-25-03, 03:52 PM

I guess the problems just keep creeping up on me.... anyone have any trouble installing their utility CD? When I tried to install the chipset stuff, it stopped at 15% and didn't do anything after that. Finally I just gave up. Now when I try to use WinXP, I open a folder, and the system just locks. So I'm doing a fresh install and reformat on my hdd to see what happens.

Anyone else have any problems? One thing I thought of was that I installed the network drivers first, not knowing that in the manual it says to install in a certain order. Could that be my problem?

Skoob

07-25-03, 05:15 PM

Always pays to do a fresh install when you use a new mainboard. Don't forget to install the audio driver fisrt.

Mikes95XLT

07-28-03, 03:24 PM

Ok I have everything working perfectly now, except my internet connection. I installed the network drivers, and it told me the network cable was unplugged. So I plugged it in, and it seemed fine. So I set up the local area connection thing in Network Connections, and then tried to access the net. No go. Page cannot be displayed. I'm at a loss. Can anyone help?

thorn

07-29-03, 09:29 AM

I have a few tips:

Try to ping your cable/dsl modem, router, etc (if you know it's IP), or other PCs on your home network.

Also, you generally don't have to set up the LAN connection in windows for it to recognize your broadband modem/router.

Another thing is some ISPs only allow 1 MAC address to connect to the modem to try to prevent just hooking up a hub or switch and sharing it. Since this new onboard LAN has a new MAC address you may need to call them. And, your ISP will most likely help you troubleshoot your connection problems for free.

Mikes95XLT

07-30-03, 01:32 AM

Really weird.....

I had a messed up IP assigned to my puter from the router. Not anything like what is assigned to the rest of our home networked computers. So I reset the router, and ba-da-bing! Success!

I can't thank you guys enough for all the help you've given me. You've made my first computer building experiance a great one!! Thanks everyone!! :)

Mikes95XLT

08-06-03, 03:09 PM

Just out of curiosity, I can't find anything in the manual that says that the digital audio outs that come with the board are truly digital outs. Does this board put out digital audio? I'm going to be buying some Logitech z-680's and would love to have a digital signal going to it.

fasteddielv

08-06-03, 09:39 PM

I was an early buyer of the DFI 875 Pro. I put it in a Heat Sink case made by atechfabrication.com for use as a Home Theater PC aka HTPC.
I too read the reviews and it seemed to be a great board. Well maybe but the BIOS S##ked! Like temp readings for one. You would have to see the case, follow links above, as I was afraid I was stuffing to much heat into that case. After 4 Heast sinks and two CPU's I discovered the BIOS update requarding temp readings, problem solved. Wooo! What a nightmare. Then the first set of RAM chips failed Giel Ultra 400. So I replaced them with the best, Corsair 3200LL 2-512 chips.
So I still got very high CPU temps when playing games, like 67c, and it was noisier than I liked, sitting 3 feet from my chair in AV rack. So I found the Koolance Exos sytem, read the reviews and ordered one up. I have the 200g CPU, Video, N Bridge and hard drives water cooled now. Slowed down my case fans to about 1400 RPM. Life is good! CPU never goes over 50c, and HDD's max at 47c. Sorry for the long story.
Anyhoo, I'm now up for some overcolcking to make this very expensive PC scream. Never OC'ed before and given the troubles I've allready had, I DON"T WANT TO KILL IT. I'm not looking for records, just a fast, but safe and stable result.
I also am concered with power supply, it rated at 325W.
I have:
P-4c/800FSB
2-512MB Sorsair 3200LL
2- 120GB SATA Seagate drives
ATI AIW 9700 Pro
Matrix Orbital VFD
soon adding Revolution sound card, onboard sounds lame at volume.
So if one of you guys could help me out I would very much appriciate it.
I need the settings for:
DEC=
CPU Voltage=
DIMM Voltage=
CAS=
Active to Precharge Delay=
Dram ras# to CAS# delay=
Dram ras# precharge=
Memory Freg for= Auto or 400?
System Bandwidth=LPS1 or ?

Any other sugestions?

I also can't seem to get digital audio out, although I don't really care, new Revo should be here soon:D

Again I don't want to stress it to the breaking point, but I'd like to get my moneys worth!

So thanks in advance
Eddie:D

Skoob

08-06-03, 11:05 PM

I will point out that if you have Corsair mem, then you will be able to run the board at its maximum mem settings which unfortuantely are only 2-7-2-2. I mean you can choose 5 but it will still boot at 7 no matter what. As far as PSU's go, never buy a PSU based on wattage numbers. Take a look at the 12 Volt AMPERAGE numbers. In order make a stable overclock, your PSU will need to do at least 23-30 amps on the 12V rail and trsut me, you will pay top $$ for a psu that does over 30A on the 12v line. Only 1 PSU does 36A on the 12v line and is rated at 550Peak watts. That would be an enermax PSU http://www.enermax.com.tw/eg651p-ve-fma.htm

36Amps on the 12V line which is enough to run all of your hardware plus a 226W TEC without worries. Just for laughs, most 550W generic brands will pull maybe 20A, which is hardly enough for your cpu and about 4 hardrives to be powered correctly.

fasteddielv

08-07-03, 01:12 AM

I'm a complete newbe to OCing. So I need it spelled out. That is why I listed the parameters as I did. Not sure and don't want to smoke anything!

Thanks

Eddie

fasteddielv

08-07-03, 03:55 AM

I decided to experiment a little.
I raised the DEC to 210= no problem
DEC to 215= Scratchy noise from sound card
DEC to 215 and CPU Voltage +50= Sound from ATI tuner but nothing from C-Media controls or mute from ATI tuner.
Dec to 220=No sound card installed, found new hardware (Non-existing modem)
I checked my power supply specs and it's a 350 watt 12 v has 14a
http://www.atechfabrication.com/products/350watt_2u_power_supply.htm
Is this PS the limiting factor?
Or could it be something else?
I will be turning off the on-board sound soon, will a PCI sound card work better getting power off the PCI slot? Installing a larger PS doesn't see to be an option given size limitations

This case was never ment to house a overclocked P2.4 and all the other stuff I got in there, but it's kinda like installing a V-8 in and Opel I guess, which I did, wild ride!
:D Thanks Eddie

Skoob

08-07-03, 01:12 PM

It appears you need to lock the pci/agp/s-ata bus's. There is a setting below where you are changing the FSB called pci bus frequency or something like that. Right now you must have it set to autodetect. Change it to force it to stay at 33/66/100 and everything should work fine. There are only 2 settings: auto and 33/66/100. Choose 33/66/100. You'll probably need to change your cpu/mem divider too otherwise your memory will probably start to hold you back.

The setting for the memory are spelled out in my previous post.

2
7
2
2

Change those timings in the advanced config menu. Those are the fastest the board will take, maybe your mem won't, but you can always change the mem divider to 5:4 or 3:2.

fasteddielv

08-07-03, 03:35 PM

Worked like a charm!!!
At DEC=220 now, running Prime to see if it's OK

Thanks

Eddie

Lonely Raven

08-07-03, 06:11 PM

Wow, I feel terribly guilty about this thread. I kept hitting it for
weeks after Thorn and I got our boards straightened out, and
nobody was posting, and nobody seemed to care about it
anymore. I thought it was a dead thread.

Anywho, I'm sorry I wasn't around to offer any help to those who
went out and got the board because of my raving about it.
Honestly, this board started out as a trainwreck and I wanted
my money back. But after having lots of indepth discussions with
DFI, and offering some suggestions that they immediatly passed
on to their R&D, the final outcome on this board is GREAT!
It could still be better, and will when they release the next
version of this (September I'm told) Lan Party.

Just a bit of info, I've also been told a Springdale Lan Party
and a Springdale (performance) board are in the works.
I'm currently testing a budget Springdale board from DFI
(PS83-BL $99 at New Egg), and it's ROCK SOLID and decently
fast and it's running solidly at 250Mhz FSB as I type this.

For the past few months my 875Pro Lan Party has been running
ROCK SOLID at 266FSBX12 with my memory at 3:2 ratio and
my sandra memory scores at just barely 6000. I think I posted
a screen cap of that ages ago. I don't recall what version/date
of BIOS I'm running, and I just happen to have taken the
system down to transfer to my watercooled cube case:

If someone needs an older BIOS that seems to overclock well
and run stable, I will back this one up and put it online for you
guys. I've not put the latest BIOS on my box since I was happy
with where I was, and busy with other projects at the time.

I've also asked Skip to create a new DFI Motherboards section
in the Overclockers Forums. I'm not sure if he will, or if he even
can (bandwidth feels slim lately), but hopefully that will come to
pass!

Thanx for reading!

Eddie, check your PMs

Angry_Games

08-08-03, 07:14 PM

Hi all. Sorry I just got around to these forums. Let me explain a little about who I am:

My name is Travis, or Angry_Games, and I have been hired by DFI to do remote support for users/customers on this forum, Anandtech forum, and mainly AMDMB.com forums.

OC does not pay to have me here, nor do I pay them to be here. I am paid by DFI. DFI is trying to get the word out on their level of service, and I am step on in that support chain.

I have all three of the LANPARTY boards made by DFI. Honestly my experience with Intel is minimal since the days of the P3/I815. I do have a tremendous amount of AMD experience.

But just to show you that I am not a total moron with Intel, I do have a 2.0Ghz Northwood inside the I875Pro DFI board, and its running at near stock everything at 2.577Ghz, and thats with crappy DDR.

My job is to pay attention to these forums, and assist ANYONE that has a question about a DFI product, give technical support to ANY end user with a DFI board, and to facilitate a good relationship between end-users and DFI. And of course, assist end-users that are looking to buy DFI products by answering questions before they make the purchase to make sure they are getting what they want/need.

I will not try to sell anyone anything, nor try to influence your decision to go with DFI. That is not my job, and as a sub-contractor for DFI, I am still allowed independent opinions. If an ASUS board is more what you are needing, then I will honestly tell you you should get the ASUS.

Potential DFI customers inquiring about the DFI product lines will not be pressured into buying one, or flamed if they choose to go with someone else. I am only here to help you guys, the users, and to help youresolve any issues you might encounter.

Anyone that owns a DFI product and has any questions or comments may direct them to me at the email in my profile, or PM me. I will also give you my MSN address and phone number in private if you wish. Or you can directly contact DFI here: tech@dfiweb.com

Any question/issue I cannot resolve, I forward to DFI either here in USA or to the bigshots in Taiwan. Response time is usually as little as two hours during normal working hours, and can sometimes be as high as 24 hours.

DFI is committed to making your experience the best it can be. We will go so far as to reproduce your system in the labs in Taiwan to resolve a problem if that is what it takes.

Other companies have great service. DFI aims to provide an even better level of support to the end users. I am here to try and give you guys a 'personalized' support, instead of the cookie-cutter support a lot of other vendors have. We will replace defective boards with no hassle, and if its easier to send it in than drive 80 miles to return it, then we will take care of it. Whatever is easiest to you.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me =)

Travis H.
Angry_Games
Official DFI Support Tech

Skoob

08-08-03, 07:30 PM

Hi Travis. thanks for coming over to this thread.

I love this board but there are 2 things really bugging me right now and I want to ask if these 2 things are possible to correct with only a BIOS update.

1)memory voltage- is it possible via a BIOS update to give us some more mem voltage? I think if we had the option to go to at least 2.9v that would be great, 3.1 even better since most high end memory is suitable to 3.2V anyway.

2)memory timings- It appears the best we can do is 2-7-2-2. Any chance they/you can make it so that if we select 5, it will stay at 5. Right now one could select 5 but the system will still boot at 7.

Anyway, these are my questions. thanks for your time. There was one other small thing but I cant remember right now.

Thanks, Skoob.

Angry_Games

08-08-03, 07:39 PM

Hola Skoob,

I don't know the answer to that right off hand. If it was any of the AMD boards I would say NO, as that question has already been posed.

Instead of giving you a bad answer, I have just forwarded your post to DFI, and they will answer as soon as possible.

I will say that most likely the answer is to be no to doing it through a BIOS upgrade, if it is anything like the AMD boards. But as I am finding out, no longer are the Intel/AMD products much alike anymore =). So could be a yes.

If no, your best bet would be to mod the board to get the voltage you want, as many AMD Epox 8RDA+ owners have done. But of course, DFI won't honor a warranty if you hardmod any of their boards =(.

I will post here as soon as I get an answer back. Not sure if those super nerds in Taiwan work on weekends or not hehe.

Travis

Angry_Games

08-08-03, 08:15 PM

This is an issue on overclocking our LANParty PRO875.
There are only two (2.6 and 2.7 V) VDIMM settings under the BIOS. There is no way to widen the range without on board hardware changed. We told some of the overclocking experts that we took this advice as a lesson on our future products.

DFI is relatively new to the performance market. OEM builders will recognize the name, as I used to build business machines with DFI boards in Orlando, as they were very reliable and very stable.

they just never added teh options like ASUS, Abit, Epox, etc, to give you all the tweaking you wanted. They also never built their boards for super performance.

That has changed with the LanParty line. But remember, this is a new field for them, and for their first line of performance products, they have hit the nail on the head in almost every category. Expect all the same high quality with each release of boards with even more tweaking options =)

fasteddielv

08-08-03, 11:17 PM

Hi Angry James,

Reading your post gives me re-newed hope for DFI!!! Thanks!

So I have been posting here, and continue to have problems.

The PC I built is designed for Home Theater Use and Gaming.

I have two problems:

Audio: I have the ATI 9700 AIW. Has built in TV tuner. I am using this via a cable box that has digital coax out. This only works on digital channels (is needed for DDS) and still needs RCA's for analog audio. I was never able to get the MB to accept the digital signal from the cable box. Also while using the RCA's and watching a Digital CH with a DD encoded movie I get alot of pink noise. The noise is also present with a analog signal but much lower. I gave up on the on-board sound and installed a M-Audio revolution 7.1. Basically I have the same problem. I believe it has to do with the ATI card but not totally sure. This is a new PC build and I don't have a simular to test anything.

1. Has anyone got the digital coax input to work? What type of digital source?
2. Can the MB introduce this kind of pink noise problem?
3. Is it posible for me to use two sound cards?If I can get the digital audio in to work that is. Idea being to input the digital signal and pass throught to the Revo out to receiver.

OC'ing:
Man I can't get this MB to go over DEC=214. I have good RAM. At DEC=220 it boots but the on-board sound either does not install or I get no sounds from windows. Any higher than that and it does load sound card at all, and finds a modem that' not present.
Scoob advised me to fix the PCI bus at 33/66/100 which I did and it made it a little better. I just got the new Revo SC installed. It will go along with OCing better. On-board audio is disabled.
So as I mentioned previously I'm not interested in setting OCing records. But I bought this MB,CPU,RAM H2o cooling, with the idea that I could OC to 2.8 - 3.0Ghz. So far no luck.

I have the latest BIOS installed 7-22-3. I haven't found PAT, where did she go?

Woundering if I should go back to an older BIOS, and try OC'ing.
Also running Prime95 while OC DEC=220 I got errors after about 10 - 30 minutes. Something about expecting less than .4 and got .5, or something like that.

Thanks,
Eddie

Skoob

08-09-03, 12:15 AM

Hey Eddie, I don't know anything about the sound related issues but try these settings for your O/C.

In the BIOS advanced Chipset Features section:

Dram timing selectable: BY SPD
Memory Frequency For: DDR 320
DRAM R/W timing: Normal

In the Genie BIOS Settings section?

CPU Clock: (Try 240 mhz or whatever your cpu can take)
AGP/PCI/SATA clock: 66/33/100
Auto Detect pCI Clock: enabled

CPU Voltage: +(x) mV whatever your cpy can take ,+100mV is probably safe)
DIMM Voltage: 2.7 V
AGP Voltage: 1.5V

These are basic settings that relax your memory and could run the cpu harder. If you crash try more cpu voltage. when you find the cpu sweet spot, start to tighten your mem timing manually. it's Trial and error for whatever hardware you have.

As soon as you change the mem frequency away from auto, PAT disappears. The overall overclock makes up for the performance loss from PAT though. its part of the game.

Angry_Games

08-09-03, 01:14 AM

hiya eddie,

not sure about the sound either. I do know for a fact that it is not nearly as good as SoundStorm NForce2 audio. Other than that, I am not sure (I have it running, but its about the same as my VIA KT audio).

As for the AIW, I can ask the guys in teh video section if they have experience with one using it with digital. The digital SPDIF out on all of the LP boards (KT, NF2, I875) all work correctly for me, but I do not have digital cable to test, nor an AIW.

Worst case, we can try to recreate your machine in the lab and see what results we can get.

2. Can the MB introduce this kind of pink noise problem?

I've never encountered this. By law the motherboard has to accept interference from digital or analog devices (blah blah FCC warnings heh) but never actually seen it happen. Again it boils down to most likely the 9700AIW (not blaming your card intentionally to shift it from the motherboard, but 9700's are full of wonderful little quirks and issues).

3. Is it posible for me to use two sound cards?If I can get the digital audio in to work that is. Idea being to input the digital signal and pass throught to the Revo out to receiver.

I have seen dual sound cards actually work before, but for the most part, trying to run two different audio sources in the same machine results ranging from frequent crashing to data corruption. You could probably fiddle a way to get it to run, but I don't advise trying it with onboard sound, and your results will most likely be less than stellar.

Scoob advised me to fix the PCI bus at 33/66/100 which I did and it made it a little better.

thats the best advice you can get, is to lock that bus. Once you have locked that bus, you can not worry that that is going to be a limiting factor (like AMD VIA chipsets).

I just got the new Revo SC installed.

not sure what this is. I might be out of touch if its an intel-specific item. Gonna have to help me on this one heh.

So as I mentioned previously I'm not interested in setting OCing records. But I bought this MB,CPU,RAM H2o cooling, with the idea that I could OC to 2.8 - 3.0Ghz. So far no luck.

You shouldn't have a problem with overclocking this board at all. I have two pics to link you to, one is my DFI I875Pro LP running a 2.0Ghz Northwood (100MhzFSB) at 2.577Ghz, with very little messing around in the bios. I only had to add +50mv to get this clock:

http://myweb.cableone.net/travish/images/amdmb/p4_2ghz-2577mhz.jpg

This is one that we received at DFI that I posted in another thread, and it soley and aircooled setup:

http://www.tweaknews.net/images/2.4OC.JPG

This isn't to make you feel weak (even though taht 3.6Ghz makes me feel EXTREMELY weak lol), its mainly just to show you that it you can get a decent overclock without really fooling around, and you can get a MONSTER overclock with a bit more fooling around.

The one very important thing to remember when running an overclock is how good is my memory? RAM almost always is the limiting factor on how well you can do an FSB overclock. I don't see your RAM specs listed, so if you could possibly include the specs of your machine, it would probably help me (and Scoob heh) steer you in the right direction a little easier.

I have the latest BIOS installed 7-22-3. I haven't found PAT, where did she go?

The latest bios fixes a few important things, mainly the cpu temp readings, but also adds a few more tweak options. I am using the same bios without fail.

PAT, as Scoob said, does disappear once you start really tinkering in the bios and changing the default performance settings. And he is right that it means nil, as once you are good and overclocked, it usually more than makes up for it being 'disabled'.

I can at your request have the lab look at an AIW (hopefully they have one already lol) like yours and check to see if they have the same issues. Make sure to include your system specs.

Also, since i mentioned RAM being the limiting factor maybe, if you have the make/model/spd of your RAM, i can ask them if they have specifically tested those particular modules out.

If you have GEIL blue shielded RAM, this will be of utmost importance to you:

Yes, GEIL golden dragon PC3200 is compatible with our LANPARTY and most products. This model is cost effective. We also tested it on our new 865PE Infinity and LANPARTY 865PE.

But there's problem with GEIL modules with blue shield. No matter how we change the timing, these modules do not work with stability. There's the same failure on ASUS and Gigabyte boards. GEIL has been checking what happened to those modules with blue shield.

Ok, this is a dang long post heh. Let me know if any of this helps. If not, we'll get together and get a solution worked out.

Thanks!

Travis

fasteddielv

08-09-03, 01:52 AM

I thought I listed them before, by anyhoo here they are:

DFI 875Pro-
P4 2.4/800FSB
2-512 Corsair 3200LL
beeping ATI AIW 9700 Pro using dongle to audio in on sound card
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 sound card AKA Revo
2-120GB Seagate SATA Drive (no raid)
Samsung DVD drive
Koolance Exos external, with CPU, HDD, N.Bridge, and video coolers.

Latest drivers for all of the above.

If I can get the on-board sound working i.e. digital audio in to recieve from my cable box, and play well with the ATI AIW I would send the Revo SC back. I should anyways as it's not curing my sound problem. Although I does have many advance feature over on board. Maybe I will and order a capture card and see if I can get clean sound from it and the on-board audio.

Eddie

Do you have any advanced info on MB audio or can you get it? Like what type of signal will it recieve?
How do you enable it? ETC.

Angry_Games

08-09-03, 02:18 AM

sorry I haven't had a chance to look back through this entire thread. From the moment I posted here I have been back and forth all day in real life =(

Capture card might work, not sure.

that Corsair LL should be able to do a good 220Mhz, but every stick is a lil different. Corsair is usually a really good overclocker.

might try running your CAS to 2.5 as they seem to run better when stressed @ 400DDR or higher.

I will post this question (your original one about the AIW sound above) to the guys in the lab to see if they can concur on it being the card's problem or the onboard sound's problem. I suspect since you get it with both onboard sound and a PCI sound card, that the problem lies in the Radeon.

Cant say for sure so we'll just ask em =)

fasteddielv

08-09-03, 05:02 PM

I've found the audio problems, well most of it. Seem if I connect the the Digital audio out from my Cable box to the amp it produces a ground loop. So it's a bummer as I need it for watching HDTV.
But I still get a hum/pink noise from the PC. Although it low enough that I think I can live with it.

No luck OCing at all over Dec = 214. Bummer, will try some more.
It booted fine at 220 with +50mv's. But Prime05 failed and ATI's MMC 8.5 caused the PC to suddenly reboot if attempted to record.
That was exciting!

So, I don't no, maybe a bad BIOS/Board. This is the second set of RAM. Geil Ultra 3200 killed over after a few weeks.

Eddie:bang head

Mikes95XLT

08-09-03, 05:10 PM

I was still curious as to if this board actually puts out a digital audio signal, or are there just digital outs? I can't find anything in the manual saying for sure if there is a digital signal going out..... thanks!! :)

fasteddielv

08-09-03, 05:36 PM

I had no problem with Digital out. I never could get digital in to work though, at least from the cable box. I should have tried from DVD player. Maybe it's a singal format issue. I know the Digital audio out works on the cable box, as I had it hooked directly to the AV receiver.

Eddie

Angry_Games

08-09-03, 06:31 PM

eddie, was the GEIL the ram in the blue heatspreader?

the board is capable of putting out a true digital signal.

fasteddielv

08-09-03, 08:02 PM

Originally posted by Angry_Games
eddie, was the GEIL the ram in the blue heatspreader?

No I don't thing, it was Gold w/o heat spreader, just clear plastic over chips. Geil site says no need for heat spreader. Gold Ultra 3200 I think.

the board is capable of putting out a true digital signal.

OK, agreed, but what about Digital in?

Have you used your MB with latest Bios?

Thinking of trying to go back to 5-17-03 and trying that

Eddie

Angry_Games

08-09-03, 08:14 PM

have not used the digital in. I am waiting for my Xbox to be returned so I can try that at least. =( Cannot comment about that, but can get you an answer from the lab in Taiwan about it =)

The GEIL Golden Dragon RAM, or just the GEIL Gold? GEIL and the Intel boards are a hard match sometimes. The only GEIL that I can recommend for your board would be the Golden Dragon.

I do have the board running with the latest bios (my cpu temps were 20C hotter with old bios, and the RAID controllers are corrected with the new BIOS + new RAID drivers on the download page). I only have a P4 NW (100FSB) cpu in it right now. My sound is working perfectly (not the best sound in the world, but its onboard =), as is my digital out. Even overclocked 577Mhz.

You can go back to an earlier bios, but I don't suggest it unless it absolutely fixes your problem.

if it does, please inform me so I may tell the guys that make the BIOS to take a close look to see what the differences are when they programmed the new BIOS, and correct anything if need be.

Let me know, and I will have them test the digital in with whatever sources they can test in the lab.

fasteddielv

08-10-03, 02:53 PM

Originally posted by Angry_Games
have not used the digital in. I am waiting for my Xbox to be returned so I can try that at least. =( Cannot comment about that, but can get you an answer from the lab in Taiwan about it =)

The GEIL Golden Dragon RAM, or just the GEIL Gold? GEIL and the Intel boards are a hard match sometimes. The only GEIL that I can recommend for your board would be the Golden Dragon.

Eddie: Yes it was the Golden Dragon.

What size power suppy are you using? I'm wondering if that my limiting factor. Running a 350w U2 PS, spec say 14Amp on 12 volt. Some say not enough.
Can you provide a guide to Voltage min/max?
I can then check WinDoctor to see if I'm pushing it.
Also, can you find out where the SYSTemp sensor is located?
After water cooling my SYStemp has gone up instead of down. Wondering if one of the H20 lines is laying on it or something, could be the new BIOS as well, installed both at same time, duh.

I feel a little dum about the audio noise. It seems it's comming from my cable box. I don't understand why though. It wasn't present before installing PC in AV rack. I did rewire everything as well, but used several different wires tyring to solve it. But with just RF cable attached to PC no sound issues. I'm going to remote locate my cable box just to see if interference was intoduced by the PC. Everything is running of the same AC outlet.

You can go back to an earlier bios, but I don't suggest it unless it absolutely fixes your problem.

if it does, please inform me so I may tell the guys that make the BIOS to take a close look to see what the differences are when they programmed the new BIOS, and correct anything if need be.

Let me know, and I will have them test the digital in with whatever sources they can test in the lab. Yes it was the Golden Dragon.

Angry_Games

08-10-03, 03:46 PM

hola eddie,

GD is good ram according the the engineers in the DFI lab, so looks like you are ok there. Cannot comment on the overclockability of it though.

PSU: always look for the +3.3v/+5v amperage on the PSU, and the total watts put out

so a 500w psu that only does this:

3.3v = 14A
5v = 20A
3.3v + 5v = 180w

is not nearly as good as a 350w psu that does this:
3.3v = 26A
5v = 36A
3.3v + 5v = 200w

rule of thumb is to check the 3.3/5 combined voltage, and try to make sure both of them are over 20A each. This possibly could be your problem. I might have said it before but also make sure the 12v square block is plugged in along with the main ATX block.

I will ask DFI exactly whre the systemp sensor is. You could be correct in your hose laying on or near the sensor.

The latest bios flash corrects the temps problem for the cpu, but as far as I could tell, the systemp was reading correctly. Before the flash though, the cpu was reading 20C hotter.

Travis

PS: try plugging in the comp and monitor (everything PC) to a completely and totally separate outlet. A LOT of times, pc's will mess up if they are unable to be fed plenty of power!

fasteddielv

08-10-03, 09:39 PM

I've been lurking over at the case/PS forum. I read a good one and compaired my voltage readings to those. I was getting scared. So I went to Fry's an got the Antec 480 True power. I just got done installing it. The voltage was almost identical.
I again tried to OC and had the same results.

I took Scoob advise and tried the RAM at 320. I set the DEC=200 and ran Prime for about 15 min. No problems I am now running DEC=250 and doing a prime test Prime test.

The Golden Dragon RAM is history, RMA'ed to New Egg. PC would not boot.

I am know using 2-512 Corsair 3200LL's.

Look over at my thread in the Case/PS forum. Are these values what your getting.

I now have my HTPC in another room for testing. All issues with my Cable box audio are gone. So the PC is causing to audio problems, EMI or something! Or on second though maybe the Exos water cooling system!

I'll post in a little while on the Prime test.

So why can I OC with the RAM at spf and 320? And not 400?

Eddie

Lonely Raven

08-10-03, 11:36 PM

Eddie, I told you before in PM that you needed to set your
RAM to 320 and not 400.

It's like this (and I don't like the naming scheme):

400= a 1:1 Ratio Processor to RAM
320= a 3:2 Ratio Processor to RAM

When you're overclocking your processor FSB (DEC as you've
been calling it), you're also overclocking your memory. So if you're
set for a RAM Ratio of 400, which is 1:1 with the processor,
then if you set your Processor to 250, you are aslo setting your
RAM to 250. You're GIEL (mostly junk memory anyhow) and
your Corsair PC-3200 just can't hit that kind of speeds.

But at a 3:2 Ratio, with your processor at 250, that puts your
memory at 200, which is right was your Corsair is rated at.

Angry_Games, I've also found that setting the PCI/AGP
ratios to 33/66/100 either doesn't work, or leaves the
system unstable enough that it won't boot. Judging from the
testing I've done, It probably just doesn't work. Or maybe
doesn't work past a certain FSB.

I can hardly wait for the 875Pro II. The memory voltage
(which is hardware limited per DFI R&D) will be fixed,
a better overclocking BIOS will be released with it, and
hopefully all the ratios will work correctly.

fasteddielv

08-11-03, 01:24 AM

Sorry, This is part of my frustrations. You guys speak in terms that don't match what this bliping board list for settings. And I don't know the lauguage very well. I use the terms found on the MB in my guestions so you guys can translate. But many times the replys use the terms/slag or whatever and I don't understand.

Eddie :bang head

P.S. the CPU is at 3.01Ghz and has been running Prime95 for about 2 hours.
I just changed the PCI/AGP ratio to auto and it didn't find my SATA HDD during post.

Fellas I've about had it with the MB.

1. The original BIOS reporting a extremely high CPU temps have cause me great pain and money. Four heat sinks and 2 CPU's, yes I was able to return the CPU and a few heat sinks (modded a few), but still. Then finally the Exos H20 system at about $ 320.
2. The fact that DFI uses language I can't understand by reading and seaking help of those more experienced.
3. The Digital in appearently does not work! Thus I had to purchase a sound card.
4. The most recent finding is the voltage is reportin low. Regulators, sensors reporting low, or the WinDoc software?

I mean come on DFI, WTF. When I talked to Frank about the temp issue. His reply was "Sorry, we can't test everything. " Everthing, I would thing that temps would be on the short list of tests!!!
So sorry but I'm going to contact New Egg and see if they will replace this with something else!!!

Eddie :mad:

Skoob

08-11-03, 03:53 AM

Angry_Games

08-11-03, 06:55 AM

skoob: have you downloaded and installed the updated RadarSynch?

fasteddielv

08-11-03, 01:23 PM

I can understand you want to return the board because of the digital sound problem, Eddie, I probably would too. I think alot of us went through some frustration with this board on account of one thing or another. In the end, after everything is set up correctly, I am glad I still have it.

You cant blame DFI because your other hardware can't handle an extreme overclock that you are looking for. Besides, I thought I read a couple posts back that you were not interested in OC'ing, or at least, not OC'ing very much.

On a side note, I just flashed to the newest BIOS and my cpu temps did not change even 1 degree. Guess it was working fine for me before, but I dont rely on the temp readings from the board religiously anyway. They still seem to be a little lower than what i would expect with my setup but at least the numbers make a good reference point when making changes.

Yes the digital audio in is a problem, one of the man reasons I selected this board. I also suspect it may be causing interference with the cable box putting out pink noise. I won't know for sure until I get a different board.
As far as overclocking, no I'm not looking for extremes, but I justified buying a water cooling system so I could OC some. 3GHz is just fine with me. I don't believe that the other hardware I have is the limiting factor. I changed PS (480 Antec True Power)for testing and got about the same readings that seem low. So maybe the regulators, sensors, or software, don't know.
As far as temps go, the BIOS that came with the board reported CPU temps in the 70+ range and would shut down the system at 50% CPU load. This tells me that they don't test much at all before they send out their products.
While it seems they are addressing this issue by hiring real world testers, it's a little late for me.
Thanks guys for your help, sorry but I just can't spend anymore time waiting for them to get these issues fixed.

Eddie

Angry_Games

08-11-03, 05:40 PM

you cannot set the PCI/AGP/SATA to auto and overclock.

If you set the SATA past 100Mhz, and by overclocking the FSB you are going up over 100Mhz on the SATA bus, then your BIOS will fail to see the drive connected.

To overclock AND use a SATA drive, you MUST lock the PCI/AGP/SATA bus to 33/66/100.

The BIOS that was released July will resolve the temps isssue as I have already stated.

As for the digital audio IN, as Frank said, we cannot test everything. I think you might have misunderstood his comment and taken it towards your temps, not sure.

The temp readings are accurate with the latest bios, as I have a 2.0Ghz cpu overclocked to 2.628Ghz and the same thing was happening before updating the BIOS. If your temp readings are still showing high after flashing, you may not have done the correct procedure after flashing the BIOS. Or your cpu may actually be running that high, try pulling the sink and removing the wax thermal pad, cleaning the entire area with 90% or better rubbing alcohol, do the same for teh heatshield on the cpu, and apply thermal grease/paste (I use AS3), and reseat.

As far as needing a water system to overclock, you should be able to easily get a 600Mhz-1Ghz overclock with a decent cooling solution that runs solely on pushing air. I have a 628Mhz overclock on the stock HSF, and some guys have good aftermarket coolers getting them 1Ghz or better overclocks.

Skoob: im bugging them again today about the RS program. I didnt have much luck with the cd version either, but the one for download (updated) should be working correctly.

Skoob

08-11-03, 07:15 PM

Just an FYI, I used the newest version of rad.sync. that I DL from the DFI website not the version that came with the cd. Oddly it flashed my BIOS to an older date.

fasteddielv

08-11-03, 10:01 PM

Well NewEgg came through for me. New Gigabyte board on the way.

Thanks for your time,

Eddie

Lonely Raven

08-11-03, 11:42 PM

Sorry to hear that Eddy. I hope the new board works out
for you for such an esoteric use.

Also, you really need to read up on Overclocking so you can get
the lingo or at very least the theory behind it.

I'm still very happy with mine, and I'm looking forward to the
future ones where they iron out some of these issues
(engineers should really pull their eyes off spec sheets and
talk to people more).

I'll check my ratios when I get my machine up. I was going by
memory so I could have gotten one of them mixed up. I'm
working on transfering my system to a larger case with my
water cooling setup!

It's going to be a while....

Angry_Games

08-12-03, 07:28 PM

sorry to hear that eddie

as Raven said, the PCI/AGP/SATA bus must be locked.

im using cheapo A-Byte Samsung DDR400 and have this P4a 2.0Ghz clocked up 628MHz with no stability issues.

Again, we cannot test everything, and this is honestly the first problem we have heard of with the Digital Audio In.

and DFI is committed to improving upon their products, so expect future versions to be everything the LanParty series is now, but better =)

ya ya, company line, but i own all three LP mobos and I think they are awesome!

Travis

Lonely Raven

08-13-03, 10:04 PM

Damnit. I typed out this (surprise) long response, and I lost
it to an IE Glitch.

Anywho, the short of it was. I don't work for DFI, and I can
honestly say the 875Pro started out as a trainwreck, but
turned into a first gen performance board. Whereas my
NFII Ultra 400 was the BEST nForce board I've seen right out
of the box...and I've tried almost all of them...no exageration.

If the NFII is any example of what the future LAN Party series
are going to be, then we are in good hands, yes we are!

Angry_Games

08-14-03, 07:33 AM

heh Raven, I have had zero problems with the I875 board, but I don't have all my top-notch parts in it either, nor a true 2.4c cpu, just a lowly 2Ghz 'A' version (100FSB). But its a strong and stable board to me. And I am not a big 'Intel' guy either.

But in all honesty, It is the machine beside me until I get a real 'c' processor. This doesn't mean its full of junk or its a piece of junk, I just don't run it nearly as hard as the machine I am on right now (my personal). Though I do have it overclocked a good deal.

Even if I didn't work for DFI, I would have to say that this NF2 board is teh BEST board I have ever owned. Also remember I have been purely AMD for the last couple of years, and the I875 is my FIRST P4 ever. Plenty of p3's but have stuck with AMD all through the P4 days (which those days are over as I love my P4 even if its a junker cpu heh).

This NF2 has taken EVERYTHING I have thrown at it. I can honestly say all the reviews I have read about it are 100% true.

There are issues with the board, but you name me a single motherboard that has never had someone post a problem with it in any forum, and I will pay you a zillion dollars lol.

And yeah, this is the future of LP boards. DFI has listened to what everyone is saying about the few things it lacks (independent SATA channels, mount holes around the cpu socket, maybe dimming those blood red LEDs a litte so you dont have to have a 2megawatt UV light to drown them out hehe), and is taking that to heart. They built the boards to be everything we could want for a tweaker, and I can only suspect that the next versions down the line will be everythign the current boards are but better!

hope that don't sound like a darn company line lol.

Lonely Raven

08-18-03, 06:14 PM

Surprisingly, it didn't.

Skoob

08-20-03, 10:32 PM

Any links or pictures to the PRO875 II? I may consider swapping out to that board in the future if it does indeed fix all of the voltage and power issues. Otherwise I am in the market for something else that can handle extreme overclocks stabily at both the memory and cpu. Right now ths board lacks memory power IMO. 2.7v is such a teaser, or should i say, pretty inadequate?

Angry_Games

08-21-03, 02:37 AM

i've not heard a single word about the I875-II yet.

I wouldnt say its weak, there's more than a couple reviews that have been able to crank it up past any other board they have ever tested =)

Skoob

08-21-03, 11:25 AM

How can they crank it past 2.7v? I was refering to the mem voltage being weak.

Angry_Games

08-21-03, 03:43 PM

good RAM doesn't need to be pushed up past 2.7v

I posted a pic about an aircooled, unmodded P4c 2.4Ghz being clocked up to 3.6Ghz...I can post it again if you want to see it =)

Skoob

08-21-03, 04:38 PM

Im not going to argue at the moment but 2.7v isnt enough to do a massive overclock STABILY. There is no way around it.

Can you find out for us how to hardwire the board for increased voltage? i really want to do this soon.

BTW corsair specs for Twinx-4000 is 2.75v.

Angry_Games

08-21-03, 11:47 PM

We'll have to wait until a modder figures it out. Someone in another forum asked how to do it for the NF2 (as we are limited to 2.8v on those but again they clock very nicely and very stable) and of course DFI's answer is that they do not recommend it.

Again I think they know where they are going to improve when they come up with the next version or revision. =)

Lonely Raven

08-25-03, 12:12 AM

Well at least we've all told them where to improve. I can't seem
to get a straight answer from R&D about what the 875Pro II
will have or not have. I've only been told it looks exactly like
the current one.

Angry, I'd like to see that P4 2.4 at 3.6 with stock stock.

And sure, while it's rare to find a P4 2.4 that's capable of that,
I'm sure he's running PC-3200 at 3:2 memory ratio, which
means it can run at 2.7 volts. But we don't WANT to run at
2.7volts, because the PC-4000 that lets us run at 250FSB
and beyond generally needs 2.8 volts. And the higher end
QUALITY memory still needs 2.7+ and some are even rated
up to 3.0 volts and still be under warranty!

We should have the option of burning our memory to cinders if
we want, otherwise DFI is going to lose to the likes of Epox
for a lot less $$$ for a lot more performance.

But still, my biggest complaints, and what I seem to get a lot
of E-mail about it BIOS. Whomever is posting the BIOS really
needs to pull their heads out of a dark place and check them
before they post them!!

Sorry, I just needed to get this offa my chest. I've spent the
past two weeks testing a dozen processors on both my
875Pro and my NFII and it gets frusterating to have to guess
and test which BIOS works best. And I have a labotamized
PS83-BL due to a bad BIOS that I can't do a thing with till
they post newer ones.

althes

08-25-03, 08:37 PM

All we can do is wait, but an answer would be helpful.

Angry_Games

08-26-03, 07:04 AM

Lonely what kind of BIOS problems are you having? I have the latest BIOS on all the DFI boards and can honestly say they are solid and stable.

As for a solid answer about the LanParty 2 875, I can't even get a straight answer from them so don't feel too bad. The boards usually end up at my door before release though so I have a day or three to get em set up =).

I don't necessarily agree that RAM must have more than 2.8 volts, as I have seen excellent clocks at 2.7 and 2.8...but I wholeheartedly agree that we should have the option to burn it to a crispy PCB pile of ashes if we want to.

I think a lot of mfg's looked at the Epox 8RDA+ and saw that with the voltage mod, which is extremely popular btw, saw a tremendous increase in not only clocks, but in sales lol.

but again, since the first I875 LP came out not too long ago, I wouldn't expect a II to be out anytime soon.

Travis

Mikes95XLT

08-31-03, 08:45 PM

I've got Logitech Z-680 speakers, and it takes a digital coax input, and I used the SPDIF bracket that came with the board, and hooked up a digital coax cable to the speakers, but it tells me that the input is not a digital input. ?????

Angry_Games

09-01-03, 06:53 AM

Mikes: is that a message that you get from the SoundStorm control panel? Can you give me a little more information?

Travis

Mikes95XLT

09-01-03, 11:22 AM

This is going to sound really bad, but what is the sounds storm control panel?

The only way I know that it's not is because my roommate has the same speakers hooked up to his computer, and when he turns the speakers on, his speaker display tells him he's using a digital input, and when i turn mine on, they tell me i'm just using stereo..........

CrazyP

09-01-03, 12:14 PM

more than likely your roommate has a AMD nforce2 system, this comes with soundstrom. it also is the only computer audio optical solution that can produce true surround sound through a decoder

Mikes95XLT

09-01-03, 07:12 PM

He is running an AMD system, but not sure what. However, his connection isn't optical, it's coax...

Angry_Games

09-01-03, 08:23 PM

aight i got a little confused last night when i posted this lol

is the board that is having the problem with the coax/digital audio the I875 DFI LanParty or an NF2 board?

Only the AMD-based NForce2 boards have SS (SoundStorm) audio, and not all of them are SS certified.

The SS control panel is like Creative's AudioHQ that lets you adjust everything about your sound. You can find it in the control panel if the board supports SoundStorm.

As far as I know, most boards do come with an SPDIF bracket for digital audio out, but I don't know if they come with the coaxial header/jack. Most just come with an optical/RCA type jack.

also, re-reading your post, your output is definitely digital if you have it hooked up through the SPDIF bracket. Digital-IN is another story however. It might be telling you that you don't have a truly digital input, only a digital output.

Mikes95XLT

09-01-03, 11:33 PM

The speakers that I'm hooked into take the signal from the SPDIF bracket that came with the DFI I875P mobo... the bracket coax connector is connected to a digital coax cable (for audio or video) that I got from Best Buy. The coax cable runs into the speakers which takes a coax input, and then the display tells you whether or not you have a digital signal or an analog (stereo) one... so far it hasn't said DIGITAL yet...

Angry_Games

09-02-03, 12:07 AM

have you checked within your sound card's software to make sure that it has been told to only run digital signals?

Mikes95XLT

09-02-03, 06:40 PM

What soundcard? It's onboard sound....

Angry_Games

09-02-03, 06:53 PM

your software that controls your sound

Mikes95XLT

09-03-03, 12:05 AM

Would that be the 3D Audio thing or the XEar thing? Cause I have both those things....

Angry_Games

09-03-03, 07:51 PM

ok Mike, im confused again...we are talking about your DFI I875 Pro onboard audio correct? Or are we talking about your friend's NF2 audio?

If its the I875 audio, please give me a few hours to remove the SB Live 5.1 from my I875 and turn on onboard audio to answer your question.

in the meantime, go into your Control Panel, Sounds & Audio Devices, and look in the tabs for Digital sound (usually it will be a tab that says 'only use digital' or such.

Travis

Roarak

09-04-03, 10:52 AM

Angry,

I have a quick question about the DFI 875pro.

In the Genie BIOS options, there is a system bandwidth option. What exactly does this effect? I could not really find any information on it at all.

On a positive note, i very pleased with this board. I bought it on a whim after getting a good review from a guy that told me about it as i was leaving a pc shop. It replaced an asus P4P800dx, and i couldnt be happier.

Thanks in advance.

Roar

Angry_Games

09-04-03, 03:37 PM

hola Roarak,

I too have asked about this, and in a strange bit, I was told that the engineer that developed it doesn't really understand it either. Which made me scratch my head something fierce...lol...how could you not know what you built???

I always use the LPS1 setting...but I have not really experimented with any of the others. Now that you have mentioned it, I will re-pose the the question to the guys directly in Taiwan labs lol.

Hope to have an answer soon!

Travis

Mikes95XLT

09-05-03, 03:26 PM

Well I guess it was a digital signal the whole time... plugged the speakers into my vcr today to watch a movie, and the speaker display said "no digital signal" so i guess the signal i was getting earlier was digital after all.... it should say digital, but oh well.

sorry for the confusion... :(

Angry_Games

09-05-03, 05:06 PM

lol Mike, no sweat bro...i was just confused as to which system we were talking about =)

So you pretty sure you are getting a digital signal? Do you have an Xbox to make sure? (i only say this because the digital on the xbox absolutely will not work unless you are getting a digi signal to it!)

Skoob

09-06-03, 12:21 AM

I ran some benchmarks with the lps1,mps1, and hps1 settings and it is directly related to memory bandwith. About 400 MB/s to be exact comparing lps1 vs hps1. If you are not overclocked very much or using a large divider like ddr266 (3:2) then it is beneficial to use hps1 for system perfomance. The opposite is also true. If you are running a massive OC, then you could probably suqeeze a little more mhz out of her using lps1, and still be somewhat stable. So it depends on how you run your system. It does matter when you start to OC.

GWAR

09-06-03, 12:28 AM

I just gotten this Dfi Lanparty board with a 2.4c and some adata pc4000..can anyone give me some performance tips...im @ fsb 150..28.c... 1:1 on the memory..is 5:4 divider faster than the 1:1 ..?

Skoob

09-06-03, 02:47 AM

Its not faster. It will run your memory at a slower ratio. The benefit is that you may be able to OC your cpu more. Let me know if you get past 262 fsb with the 7/22/03 BIOS.

Citation4444

09-09-03, 01:02 PM

Here is an update on my experience with my new LanParty 875Pro. As far as the mb goes, it is turning out to be a kick-ass board. What has not been pleasurable is finding out my newly purchased memory (Corsair XMS CMX512-3200C2PT) sucks with this board. I tried and tried and couldn't get this memory anywhere near 200fsb. I tried one stick, 2 sticks, many different memory timings, but nothing works with any stability.
I put my old memory in (Corsair XMS 3000C2) and now it's really working good. Got up to 280MHz fsb with great stability with the memory running 187MHz with timings of 6-3-3-2. I'm also using the widest bandwidth setting for the memory! I'm also using the latest bios. So, I'm really happy with the board. :)

It will post and run at 300MHz fsb, but Prime95 will begin to show some errors. No errors at 280 though. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm using a P4 2.4C cpu, so this is quite a good overclock. I think I'm limited by my memory now, and need to buy some good memory.

What memory do you guys recommend for this board? I've already bought the wrong kind one time and don't want to repeat the error. :)

Angry_Games

09-09-03, 05:11 PM

Citation: good to hear that you are enjoying the board. I don't have any experience with your Corsair memory, but some of the NF2 users are also complaining that its not getting them good clocks yet their NF7-S will run it to 230 or better etc.

Here's some RAM that I know works really well in the I875 LP/Infinity boards:

Buffalo DDR3200/DDR3700 BH-5 Winbond chips. The CH-5 is probably better (more compatible), but the BH-5 apparently is getting slightly higher clocks. I have 2x256MB Buffalo CH-5 in the I875 Infinity board, and it EASILY maxed out the P4 2Ghz 100FSB to 132x20 @ 2.654Ghz.

The LanParty will get the RAM soon, since it has a 2.4c. There is some really cheap Samsung DDR400 in it (I can get the numbers off it if you want...ive read elsewhere that this was a good batch of DDR). Its doing this right now (waiting on a SLK900 to go higher heh):
http://myweb.cableone.net/travish/images/amdmb/p4-3ghz.jpg

TwinMOS BH-5/CH-5 Winbond is excellent also.

I have some Kingston HyperX PC3500 that I have yet to try in it, but will be doing so very soon. Been running the HyperX in the NF2 board to test for a customer.

GEIL Golden Dragon is another that is excellent RAM, but the I875 LP board doesn't have enough voltage to supply to it at very high speeds. I also have no personal experience with this RAM.

So to make a long story short, Buffalo with the Winbond BH-5 or CH-5 or the TwinMOS with same is about the best RAM i have tested to date. And I know they work extremely well in the DFI I875 boards.

Also, when Prime starts to show errors at 300FSB, do you have your chipset voltage, vdimm voltage up all the way? Have you tried adding a bit more voltage to the cpu at 300? Also, I have found that sometimes adding .1v to the AGP slot can help (in some instances).

Travis

GWAR

09-09-03, 06:52 PM

Ok..did abunch of test on my lanparty 875 with adata pc4000 and 2.4c...Its weird about the memory options or the memory settings, becuse if i put my pc4000 @ anything below 400 i just get the beeps'pc wont boot'..also if i put the memory setting @ 400 in the bios,it says its @ 500 at the start-up screen..hmm...So i cant really test this cpu for its max...Heres a few pic to what ive gotten so far...at least my memory is @ 1:1 @ 170fsb...:)

http://home.comcast.net/~xgwar/270_fsb.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~xgwar/270_fsb_memory.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~xgwar/volts.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~xgwar/temp..cpu_16.5_c.jpg

My h/s/f is a coolermaster"the copper h/s" cant remember what model it is...Also with artic cerm applied..

My volts look wacked!! do i need a new power supply..?

Here's the memory i gotten...great stuff..!!! http://www.komusa.com/51kit2pc50du.html

Angry_Games

09-09-03, 06:55 PM

good God GWAR...what kind of memory do you have in that thing that will do 260Mhz 1:1??? lol, thats awesome...I can only get up there with the current Samsung DDR400 that is in there (buffalo CH-5 going in soon) at a ratio (3:2 i think is current).

what kind of cpu cooler you got also? (I just posted in cooling about a Swiftech)

edit: duh, just saw your ram...can you link me to it somewhere so I can take a look?

Citation4444

09-09-03, 10:24 PM

I think I'm going to buy some of that memory that GWAR's got!! :D

Skoob

09-09-03, 10:58 PM

Check this oddity out. Finally got the mem timings in the BIOS to stick in windows. Usually when I set tras cycle time to 5, i get 7 in windows. I had to shut it down today so I decided to mess with the memory again.

http://members.cox.net/skoob/mem.JPG

Here is what everything looks like (this is a stable clock folks not "I just booted at 350mhz for 1 second and took a screenshot"). The next screenshots are after 5 days of folding@home on both virtual cpu's for 24 hours a day no crashes.

http://members.cox.net/skoob/mbm.JPG

http://members.cox.net/skoob/cpu.JPG

Im pretty sure the intel gods were not nice to me because this is the max STABLE oc my 2.6 will do, even with spd mem timings and 3:2 ratio. Notice my cpu voltage? Well in the BIOS it is set to +250mv or 1.775V, clearly undervolted by about 0.07v.

GWAR

09-09-03, 11:06 PM

Very nice man..:) Scoob..do you have any pc4000..? im tripping on my memory timmings..i cant set it @ anything under 400, or the pc will just hard lock and beep..My volts were that high, just to see what the chip would do..:)

Skoob

09-09-03, 11:07 PM

I think we could all benefit from the memory GWAR has....:D

Edit* I wish I did Gwar. I have Corsair pc3500 that reports pc3200...:o

Lonely Raven

09-10-03, 01:30 AM

good luck finding a relaible source for ADATA PC-4000.

I had to order mine from Taiwan directly, and it costed me
two weeks pay!

But then again, I bought 2 Gigs worth. LOL

I might have a pair of 256MB sticks of that ADATA memory up
for sale for $90 EACH. I'm still testing it, right now I'm just
waiting for my 865Infinity and my 875Pro Lan Party II to
come in before I start selling memory off!

PS I have in my stock Corsair, OCZ, Hyper-X, (generic) Infinian,
(Generic) Hynix, TwinMos PC-3700 and the KICK ASS ADATA
PC-4000.

I can say for sure, the current version of the 875 Pro Loves
them all, but is voltage limited. Speaking of which, GWAR, your
voltages aren't whacked, the motherboard it. It's typical for
the DFI motherboards to Undervolt almost everything.

My NFII, 975Pro, and PS83 all undervolt the core by nearly a
half volt, and the memory voltages are all off by about .2
I'm hoping the future versions are a bit tighter on that. I've
sent a letter or two into the R&D and suggested they tighten
that up as it's sure giving me a headache with my memoy!!

Citation4444

09-10-03, 08:53 AM

The voltages on my LanParty 875Pro seem to be OK.

http://home.comcast.net/~rrwe/hdwdr.jpg

Angry_Games

09-10-03, 04:46 PM

yep...DFI boards do tend to show a bit of undervoltage like Raven says...but its never been an issue (just crank it up a lil heh).

I'm quite sure the next revisions of the DFI boards will be hardier on the voltage side of things =)

Lonely Raven

09-10-03, 05:27 PM

I do hope so. Even though I've been able to hit between
265 and 285FSB on my Lan Party pro, it really seems to depend
on how the planets are aligned or something. Every week, with
the same hardware, I'm finding things running differently.
Tighter voltages would sure help as my $200 power supplies
sure don't seem to make a difference.

I'll keep you all updated as I see the boards hit my work bench.

GWAR

09-11-03, 10:09 PM

Well i ordered this. Thermaltake W0014 Silent Purepower 480W ....

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=17-153-007-04.JPG/17-153-007-03.JPG/17-153-007-02.JPG/17-153-007-06.JPG/17-153-007-05.JPG

Ill let you know how it compares to my TGFI 420w supply im using now..

Citation4444

09-15-03, 10:01 PM

Hey GWAR

I've got the same memory you've got now. My 875Pro loves it so far. I'm running my 2.4C at 250MHz at 1:1 with the high memory bandwidth setting with great stability. MUCH better than that Corsair crap I had before. Thanks for the tip!

Skoob

09-15-03, 11:02 PM

Corsair. Crap. LOL.

Citation4444

09-15-03, 11:20 PM

Originally posted by Skoob
Corsair. Crap. LOL. Corsair CMX512-3200C2PT would not run 200MHz stable in either my LanParty 875Pro or my Asus A7N8X Deluxe. My older and lower rated Corsair CMX512-3000C2PT runs at 200MHz in both boards. To me this is ample justification for me saying once again the CMX512-3200C2PT is crap. I sold it.
My new memory is cheaper ($152 vs $262) and runs great at 250MHz.

GWAR

09-16-03, 12:03 PM

Very nice Citation4444.!!! this adata kicks some butt doesnt it...yea the memory settings are great in the dfi bios..:) whats your max yet..? Citation4444 can you run your memory @ anything below 400..? i cant..it just beebs on start-up...

UPDATE on my voltage read-outs...I received my Thermaltake Silent Purepower 480W WOW its cool..here are my volt compare to my above post...its funny though,what to beleive...Sandras latest,winbound or the bios..lol..bios seems more on the dime...

pic..

http://home.comcast.net/~xgwar/temps.jpg

Citation4444

09-16-03, 12:22 PM

Well, horse manure. My LanParty 875Pro just died on me. Won't start at all. Checked power supply for 5v and started it just fine from the power connector, but it won't start from the board either with the power switch or the power button on the board. Just to make sure, I substituted another power supply with same result. I've RMA's the board back to NewEgg. Now I've got a few days to wait for the new one.

The board was working great until this. Boo.

GWAR

09-16-03, 12:29 PM

Damn bro..that sucks...Try this...Remove the battery and replace it after 1 min or so...my story...my dfi 875 wount'nt boot 1 morning @ all.."no power" nothing..i took the whole board apart,tried swapping mem and cpu..still no power..then just for kicks, after 1 hour of trouble shooting i clicked the battery out of its spot and waited about 1 min,put it back in..and"WOW power came back!!! i havent had 1 problem since that...try it bro g/l...

Citation4444

09-16-03, 12:38 PM

GWAR, you're a lifesaver. That WORKED!! Now the board is back to normal. I've canceled my replacement order and the RMA.

But, this episode makes me wonder what's going on.

Thanks again, you're great!!

GWAR

09-16-03, 12:51 PM

Yea i was thinking the samething..wtf is going on..?i was thinking that also , is this going to happen every damn morning..but..my dfi 875 has been running perfect ever since i did the battery thingy...been about 8 days and havent had 1 problem since...:) Right on bro..glad it worked 4 yea...it has to be a dfi bios flaw i think...

Have you tried your adata 4000 @ anything under 400..?

Citation4444

09-16-03, 03:14 PM

GWAR, I looked at the chips on my memory pcb's and they are not Adata. They are Infineon HYB25D256800BT-5 These are the new Infineon DDR400 chips look in brochure or excel sheet at bottom of this page. (http://www.infineon.com/cgi/ecrm.dll/ecrm/scripts/prod_ov.jsp?oid=13529&cat_oid=-8005)
From what I've read, most people haven't liked Infineon memory, but I'm quite happy with this stuff.

By the way, I have exactly the same behaviour as you. My memory works at 250MHz period. When I've tried setting memory speed to DDR333 or DDR266 it won't boot. It works 1:1 with the fastest memory settings just fine, but no other way so far.

Are you sure you don't have the Infineon memory also?

GWAR

09-16-03, 03:25 PM

Do you have the gold heatsink on your pc4000? Mine does..i dont wanna take it off too see...Ill call the place i got mine from and ask whats going on ..?

Citation4444

09-16-03, 03:30 PM

Yes, I have the gold heatsinks. On mine, there is a gap on the chip side of the pcb such that when you remove the little clamps (they just slip off) you can tilt the gold heatsink enough to indentify the chips. It appears to me the heatsink is oversized for the thickness of the pcb and that more thickness of thermal tape is required for contact. Check yours out. I bet it's the same.

GWAR

09-16-03, 04:27 PM

Ok here's the scoop..i just called Komusa, and talk to bill chen for about half an hour about whats going on ..So he said WE"buyers" have to request adata @ ordering time..I told him we cant, it just says HyperRam pc4000,he said hes going to tell the web page designer to put that on there web page..So..we keep talking about whats better adata or the infinion chips,and he says infinion is the better chip than the adata,they tested every chip out before they sell it "bill" said the tested infinion goes 30%overclocked with turbo ON...I asked him what he would do about trading in the infinion for the adata and he said no problem..but..he would keep the infinion ram..'ITS BETTER' he says..and about the data sheet you posted,he says all data sheets are wrong on the pc4000.hmm...and...the reaon we cant lower our timmings is becuse he"bill" says its too fast to run @ anything under 400mhz...so it up to you to what you want to do...im keeping my infinion as it works wonderfull...

Citation4444

09-16-03, 04:48 PM

I like the Infineon chips just fine. I'm a little unhappy about the fit of the heatsink to the pcb, but we'll see what Komusa proposes to do about that.
Anyway, this memory rocks. :)

Angry_Games

09-16-03, 05:08 PM

as far as I know, the only JEDEC standards are for PC2100, PC2700, and PC3200 (which was pending still a few weeks ago when I checked).

This means that there are no set standards for any RAM above PC3200. Which could account for why your RAM is not 'backwards compatible' or able to run at reduced (DDR266) speeds. Or I could be a giant monkey throwing feces hehe.

As for the battery trick, yeah, it works =). Aother thing to try if you get nothing, is to also clear CMOS while the battery is out for at least 30 seconds. Never failed me yet lol.

so...260FSB 1:1 @ what timings? You guys have made me bug the gf enough to order some of this soon hehe. She thanks yoU!

Travis

Citation4444

09-16-03, 06:25 PM

Here are my timings at 250MHz
http://home.comcast.net/~rrwe/timings.jpg
And my memory bandwidth
http://home.comcast.net/~rrwe/bandwidth.jpg

I don't know if it's good or bad. I just know my puter seems really fast!

GWAR

09-16-03, 07:17 PM

Very nice bro...yea we on the same page...:) with this mem...

250fsb...

http://home.comcast.net/~xgwar/250_fsb.jpg

Angry_Games

09-17-03, 05:47 AM

does the PC4000 ram come at CAS3 or did you guys dump it down to CAS3? And how much more Mhz can I expect to maybe get by dumping down to CAS3? I have never been down to 3, always 2.5 or 2...im learning though!

Travis

Citation4444

09-17-03, 07:42 AM

Mine is CAS 3 default. I haven't tried CAS2.5 yet.

Angry_Games

09-17-03, 09:29 AM

ive noticed as the RAM gets faster, the CAS keeps bumping to higher numbers...plenty of PC2700 @ CAS2, but PC3200 is mixed @ CAS2 & CAS2.5...seems the PC3700 and PC4000 etc are all going CAS3...

Skoob

09-17-03, 11:34 AM

OCZ has cas 2.5 pc4000.

Its a small loss to go from cas 2 to 2.5 or even to 3 in a dual channel board. It is easily made up when you increase the bus speed anyway.

Angry_Games

09-17-03, 06:11 PM

thats what I figured Skoob...I been trying to convince someone that 210x11 is a hell of a lot better than 133x18 (133xANYTHING lol).

i also noticed this:

the DFI LP I875 - when running ratio ddr333, and its up to 3.006Ghz (260x or such), i score only 400 points higher in 3dmark2001 than when its a full 1:1 2.54Ghz (210x)...this 3dmark is more gpu/memory intensive than cpu right?

btw, I scored 40,090 on the new Aquamark with my AMD 2.2Ghz + Radeon9700 =)

Citation4444

09-18-03, 10:58 AM

:( Looks like my memory is going back to Komusa for exchange. In addition to the heatsink fit problem I mentioned earlier, I have been getting memory lockups. I raced some online last night and had to change computers because of the lockups. I then booted up in memtest86 at 250MHz 8-3-3-3 and both memory modules were generating errors. This is no good for PC4000 memory running at the default speed and timings.
Also, when I ask CPU-Z to list the coded SPD settings, this is what I get:

CPU-Z version 1.19b
Memory Modules Serial Presence Detect (SPD)

Module #0
Memory type DDR-SDRAM
Manufacturer (ID) (0000000000000000)
Size 256MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200MHz)
Part number
Max frequency @CAS#3.0 200MHz

This is supposed to be PC4000 memory. What's going on here? Is this because there is no standard for PC4000 and it defaults to PC3200, or do I have the wrong memory?
GWAR, what does yours say. (go to the "about" tab on CPU-Z and get the SPD.txt file)

Anyway, I'm exchanging mine. I hope the replacement stuff is good.