DFI NF2 Ultra-AL, not lanparty, good?

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

Travis. i have some concerns about my DFI NFII Ultra-AL, but first i want to mention that the value is excellent and well worth the price, now for the bad:

1) when cpu voltage is changed beyond 1v at a time, it will not boot at times and needs a clear cmos sometimes with the power to the mobo pulled, or just a restart button jamming

2) when i cut off power to the board for swapping components, via switching the power supply to 0 position, it needs a clear cmos

3) the clear cmos jumper is located in the worst position, right under the last pci slot where i put my tv-tuner card, although i must say everything else is in the perfect positions - such as the ide/floppy/power connector on the upper right

4) don't know if it's my ram or the board, my mushkin 3200 blue can only do 205 stably no matter what voltage, no matter what timings, it will give errors in memtest86, it performs better at 2.7v than 2.8v, i believe i've had the same stick up to 210 in my dead 8rda+ without errors at 2.6v

feedback is appreciated, nice demonstration of installing a motherboard and cpu Travis, can't wait till you find out what the bios can do

 

[Angry_Games]

Travis. i have some concerns about my DFI NFII Ultra-AL, but first i want to mention that the value is excellent and well worth the price, now for the bad:

1) when cpu voltage is changed beyond 1v at a time, it will not boot at times and needs a clear cmos sometimes with the power to the mobo pulled, or just a restart button jamming

Unfortunately (for you i think) I have not encountered this issue one time. I've went from 1.65v to 1.825v without an issue during a single reboot. This could be a fault in your board, as I am pretty sure you are better skilled than me at overclocking.

2) when i cut off power to the board for swapping components, via switching the power supply to 0 position, it needs a clear cmos

Again this has to be some fault in your board. I always kill that power switch when pulling cards/RAM/etc in and out. I've yet to experience this issue.

3) the clear cmos jumper is located in the worst position, right under the last pci slot where i put my tv-tuner card, although i must say everything else is in the perfect positions - such as the ide/floppy/power connector on the upper right

I can't say anything other than I have no clue what DFI was thinking when they decided to put the CMOS stuff here on both the LP board and the Ultra-AL. The Ultra-AL is even worse position it seems. Hopefully they will realize this is ugly and hard to get to, and will fix it.

4) don't know if it's my ram or the board, my mushkin 3200 blue can only do 205 stably no matter what voltage, no matter what timings, it will give errors in memtest86, it performs better at 2.7v than 2.8v, i believe i've had the same stick up to 210 in my dead 8rda+ without errors at 2.6v

I not sure about this. I've experienced different boards doing different clocks many times, especially when I see the difference in the I875 LP board vs the NF2 LP board. The NF2 only will allow me to take my Buffalo up to 225FSB stable, but the I875 has clocked to 238FSB without a problem. Thats with very low voltages too.

Also note that a customer and I have almost exact same setup in AMDMB forums, especially the Barton2500 + Buffalo + NF2 LP. My Buffalo hates not having 2.8v steady to it, while his will BSOD all day with 2.8v, but runs like a champ at 2.7v. Very odd eh?

What I guess I am getting at, and you already know heh, is that each component will most likely perform slightly different in another machine. Vid cards and sound cards maybe not so much, but core components like cpu/RAM definitely will.

Even between the NF2 LP and the NF2 Ultra-AL I see a difference in how the components perform. Another major difference I see is that the Ultra-AL went straight into the case that housed the P4 I875 LP. The difference is of course, amazing (P4 @ 3.2Ghz vs Ultra-AL @ 1.8Ghz so far lol).

now...before you read any further, also remember I am still stuck with a Palomino core XP2000 on the the Ultra-AL. I guarantee our results will be totally different. This Paly is after-market unlocked, but its just not liking the system, or my RAMs or something.

feedback is appreciated, nice demonstration of installing a motherboard and cpu Travis, can't wait till you find out what the bios can do

When I get back from Dallas, I will have another couple of I865/I875 boards laying around, and a couple more P4's to put in them. What this means is I can remove my Barton2500 or my Tbred B 2100 from one of the other machines and get it locked into the Ultra-AL. Preferrably my Barton, as I will move everything from the NF2 LP system direct to the Ultra-AL system (basically just change mobos). This will give me a huge test of how well the Ultra-AL really stacks up.

I'll be around most of the day today, then im off to the big nowhere for a few days =). If you think you have a faulty board, please return it immediately. I've not heard any issues like this from Randy or the Taiwan lab either, so it could be just a localized issue with your particular board. Will go mess around with mine some more now though just to make sure I'm not talking out my *** heh =)

T

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

wow, that's a very thorough response, thanks for the feedback Travis - it's great to have you here on the forums

i'm very interested in how the Ultra-AL stacks up to the almost double-it's-price Lan Party, please post when you have results

i will see if i'll return the board when i get my backup board from the 8rda+ RMA, hopefully an 8rda3+, smoke came out of that one

 

[Angry_Games]

argh...the reason I got this job was because of an 8RDA3+ lol. Total junker board for me (was my first ever NF2 board if you can believe that). Decided after too many days that it was never going to work, and spent the $20 extra for the KT400A LanParty.

From there, I loved it so much taht I bugged them to death until they hired me.

as for this Ultra-AL...well, another customer at AMDMB forums was wanting to know if it would run this crucial RAM, some old stuff PC2700 cheapo, and I happen to have a single 256MB stick of it lol.

So we jacked it in, and after it locked up twice (forgot to set it to 1:1 lol...stupid NF2 hates 3:2 for some reason!), we ran Prime for a while, and now my assistant John is happily blowing away Corsairs and Mollies in Freelancer, and has been for the better part of three hours.

Unfortunately, we have to take the machine down tonight and rebuild the DFI LanParty I875A, and then Monday/Tuesday we have to break that down and run the I875B LanParty. I just don't have enough hard drives around here to make them all run at once! lol. Though it does heat up my downstairs in the winter

But

I've no problem in giving as much info as you can handle, or trying all my different hardware in it to make sure. Only bad thing is that I am limited on the different hardware right now =(. Once the two LanParty boards show up (865PE and the new I875B), I will be forced to remove my personal machine, the one I am typing on right now. I mean, who would want a 2.2Ghz AMD when they could get the I875B to do 3.2Ghz with a Radeon9700Pro heh.

But, as I babble on, I will have the Barton from my LanParty NF2 to throw in the Ultra-AL, and then I will have the gf's Tbred B 2100 to throw in it next.

Might be a week or more before I can give you the overclock results with my Barton2500 and Buffalo CH-5 PC3200, but just keep reminding me and I will get to it

T

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

ahh, i've heard that epox merchandise is hit or miss a lot of the time, either it arrives dead or it's good and works perfectly

a 2.2ghz Barton at 200fsb should give performance close to a 3.2 p4 i think

i'll make sure i remind you every once in a while, i'm tempted to buy some buffalo ram, 2x256mb of the 3700 variety, so i'd like to see what you can get out of your 3200 sticks, think i can get a job if i keep bugging you?

 

[Angry_Games]

a 2.2ghz Barton at 200fsb should give performance close to a 3.2 p4 i think

heh...not even close really. The bandwidth on teh P4 is incredible, and it definitely shows with a 9700Pro.

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

yeah, of course, i was just thinking the Barton 3200+ is at 2.2ghz and 200fsb, but of course those ratings don't mean much anymore now that the p4 runs at 200fsb quadpumped

i wish i could build all over again, i'd get a p4 this time

 

[Angry_Games]

well...im of the same mind, yet I am still loyal to AMD because the P4 system would mean tossing out another $300 (p4 2.4c = $177, I875 Pro Canterwood board = about $180-$200).

consider that you can get excellent results from a $50 XP1700 and an $84.00 NF2 board....

but the P4 just really owns right now. Don't sweat it too much, as next year (about the time you will really need to upgrade anyway with all the great DX9 games coming out), the A64 will be down in price, and make no mistake, its as good if not better than the P4. With the onboard memory controller (built onto the cpu), the P4 cannot hope to match the type of memory bandwidth that the A64 can scale up to.

but as always, Intel will never let AMD win, adn will always have something bigger faster better, and so it goes, a see-saw battle, and we are the winners =)

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

heh, i'll probably wait a long while before major upgrades, so much to buy, so little $$$

the A64 looks very promising, i hope it's not the last straw for AMD as Ed predicted

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

thought about it, i'm definitely going to return my DFI NFII Ultra-AL, i had to boot with the jumper on clear cmos once before i could get it to work again 15 min ago, don't wanna have my buddy be upset with it if i build her a comp using it, wanna keep her happy

Travis, do you suggest I do the RMA with newegg or straight to DFI? I'm aware that with newegg, their policy is if the merchandise isn't defective, they will charge a 15% restocking fee, though I'm quite sure it is something with my board although it works.

oh yeah, i also wanted to remind you to do the comparison between the Ultra-AL and Lan Party NFII boards , expect more reminders , take your time tho

 

[Angry_Games]

can you give me the specs on the machine you are building that is not working properly? That would help a lot =)

Differences so far (and we just took the Ultra-AL down as I am leaving for a week and my buddy wants the I875 LanParty to use lol):

besides the obvious missing items from the LanParty, nothing really. When I get back from Texas I will be switching the NF2 LP board for the Ultra-AL and play with it for a few days, as the parts in the NF2 LP are all very overclocker friendly =)

Then its on the I875B LP =)

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

my current system specs are:

DFI NFII Ultra-AL (NFII Ultra 400) 1.6vdd
AMD AthlonXP 1700+ TBred-B DUT3C JIUHB0303 (200x10.5) 1.85v
Maxtor D740X 80gb 7200rpm ATA133 (Acoustic Management OFF)
Thermalright SLK-800 w/ 2500rpm led fan
Visiontek Geforce2 GTS-V (175/286)
Mushkin [Blue] 512mb PC3200 (2.5-3-3-8) 2.5vdimm
Enermax EG465AX-VE(W) FCA (433W)
Leadtek Winfast TV2000XP Deluxe PCI
2 case fans at ~2000rpms each
2 cold cathode lights
Lite-On 32x12x40 Burner
Lite-On 16x48x DVD drive
Mitsumi Floppy drive
Evercase ECE4252 Case

when i moved the tower today i disconnected power to the power supply and it wouldn't post until i booted in the clear cmos position then back to the regular position, before that i tried unplugging it from the motherboard and clearing cmos

the system i am building will have:
DFI NFII Ultra-AL
1ghz duron morgan or 1600+ pally
2 sticks of 256mb pc2100 (1 crucial, 1 kingston)
visiontek geforce2 gts-v (175/286)
antec truepower 380s
an old generic enlight mid-tower case
cooler-master heatsink with 74mm fan running at ~2800rpm
-other parts aren't determined yet

lanparty vs. ultra-al will be interesting

 

[Angry_Games]

razor, keep me updated on this problem if you are still having it. I been working my own gig all week and haven't been around much =)

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

hey Travis, how's the rig coming? i only run into the problem when the system is overclocked, with the cpu at stock and the pc3200 at 133/266DDR and 2-2-2-6, it runs fine and won't need the bios cleared even if components are changed or the power switch in the back off

my usual overclock is 200x10.5 giving 2.1ghz at 1.85vcore, 2.5-3-3-8 memory and 2.5vdimm, it passes memtest86 fine, i've had this overclock on my old motherboard and i didn't get this bios problem then

 

[Angry_Games]

man this is one crazy effing week bro lol. I've had to tear down my NF2 LanParty board, as I sold the Barton2500 cpu =/

its going in my old Giga KT600, but I might be able to talk the customer into purchasing the Ultra-AL, which means I would have days to mess with it more heh. Stupid KT600, only overclocks a wee-bit grrrr.

either way, if i dont get that chance, I will have to wait until I get back from Texas to pop another Barton into it.

XP1700 on the DFI NF2 boards seem to be an enigma. On the LanParty, most users have to use the Beta Performance BIOS when overclocking it, and most Barton2500 users CANNOT use the Beta Perf BIOS as it seems to screw up more or perform less than the regular BIOS.

Let me ask around the DFI lab and see if they have a 'beta' BIOS for the Ultra-AL, or are working on one.

Not sure if the Ultra-AL only having an MCP SB makes a diff (the LP has the MCP-T).

also maybe try loosening up your timings just a smidge, and add +.1v to the AGP (1.6v). That has helped me a lot in overclocking the NF2 boards for some reason =/

More after I awaken!

 

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

so it may be a conflict with the cpu eh, hopefully the next bios will fix this

i will try loosening the timings, but i don't know what to loosen them to from 2.5-3-3-8, perhaps 3-4-4-9?, and i will l change the vagp to see what happens

i saw the infinity series at the DFI site, they look like they were meant for overclocking, what are the features or differences these boards offer apart from the Ultra-AL and LanParty boards?

 

[Angry_Games]

the Infinity boards are all P4 boards that I know of. I think there's an Infinity AD77 NF2 board, but will have to check.

id try loosening timings to something like 11-3-3-2.5 before I went down to CAS3. I've had no chance yet to ask DFI about a beta bios for the ultra-AL, but I'm getting there lol. =)

 

[onx]

whats the diff between the preformacne bios and the normal bios? I'm still trying to get mine (edit: DFI NF2 lanparty ultra) working after it crapped out almost a week ago =/

 

[Angry_Games]

beta bios has a bit more stuff to fool around with in the RAM timings etc. Its also very helpful to XP1700 users and users with some types of RAM. Cant remember which right off hand, but if you hit the DFI section of AMDMB Forums you will find threads that have to do with the beta bios =)

 

[onx]

Advanced Chipset Features
-------------------------


System Performance Expert
CPU Interface Optimal
Memory Timngs Expert
T(RAS) (1-15)
T(RCD-READ) (1-7)
T(RCD-WRITE) (1-7)
T(RP) (1-7)
T(RC) (9-30)
T(RCF) (9-31)
SuperBypass Disabled
Sync Mode Memory Bypass Disabled
Data Scavenged Rate Fast
DIMM1 Driving Strength (1-15)
DIMM1 Driving Slew Rate Auto
DIMM2 Driving Strength (1-15)
DIMM2 Driving Slew Rate Auto
DIMM3 Driving Strength (1-15)
DIMM3 Driving Slew Rate Auto
CAS Latency 2.5 (2.0, 3.0)

The rest is standard


Oh so spiffy!

man i got this board and another gigabyte board (ga-7n400 pro-2) and ive gown to hate the giga board, and like the dfi more and more :X