Anyone using the Foxconn nF4 Ultra Board?

[ChicagoPCGuy]

I have had my eye on the Foxconn nF4 Ultra board for some time now, and it has a couple very positive reviews up (OCWorkbench, Neoseeker), and I am looking to make the buy/not buy decision on this mobo. Any realworld experience with this board from someone on the forum would help. Please post what other components you are using.

BTW, does anyone know if the nF4 boards have the same issues with the TB Santa Cruz in regards to the joystick/midi port not functioning properly like the nF3 series? I love the TB Santa Cruz, shun the Creative Labs cards due to driver insanity, and like the Envy24 cards, but they do not DSP accelerate sound.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

There's a long thread here:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/11057.html

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Thanks--I read the thread. I do not overclock, so the fact the board is not a stellar overclocker is not an issue for me. It appears that no one is complaining about stock speed/stability. That is what I am most interested in.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

I would get the Soltek SL-K890Pro-939 or the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra The Foxconn boards that are popular here (mostly mATX, socket A, integrated boards) are not very reliable, so I don't trust them.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Thanks, yeah the Soltek is at the top of my list too. It is also faster, I bet. It beat out a Gigabyte SLI board in some benchmarks.

 

[bradley]

Being the A64's have their memory controller on-die, it makes speed differences between nForce4 boards negligible in real-world usage. And sometimes saving $20-30 isn't worth the overall headache in the long run. Especially when you purchase a first revision anything; you're paying someone to beta test a piece of hardware. Myself, I'd pay more attention to the quality and reliability of the motherboard, and whether it will be well supported.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

bradley:

Quite true. Soltek has great support (I once sent an email and had a reply back in 10 minutes) and updates their BIOSes regularly if needed. Foxconn does not seem interested in updating their BIOS to satisfy the enthusiast crowd--which says something about them.