DFI LAN Party NForce2 Ultra System Together

[Abrasive]

Got my DFI LAN Party System together. NForce Ultra 400 model. VOTE FOR THE LABORATORY CASE HERE

Had a b|tch of a time with the OS. Reinstalled 3 times seems okay now. %&$*@#$!!!!

I forgot I have no open 5.25 bay for the FrontX box! Doh. I will have to mod a 3.25 bay cover to fit the extensions I will use from the FrontX box. FrontX makes handy dandy cut out diagrams and dimensions for the mod community - FrontX Cuts

Am running the (2.08 - 333FSB) 2600+ @ 2.25 GHZ (166 x 13.5), aggressive RAM timings 5 - 2.2.2, 1.625 V, the 2600+ is not unlocked I need to get some conductive paint.

Hopefully the replacement SLK-800A (Had to ship back the SLK-800U model cause this mobo has no mounting holes (BAH!) will be here today and I can mount the 1700+ JIUHB and see where that will land on an OC.

So far so good.

I do have an image directory - The Laboratory

The little guy is a Simpsons charcter my kids got in a BK kids meal and I have been holding on to it for just this purpose. I just knew he was UV reactive!!!

http://rdoenvironmental.com/DFI/laboratory/P1010006.jpg

So the new name for the rig is "The Laboratory".

One of the 80MM UV LED fans SVC sent was not a LED fan so I have to RMA and am waiting on a reply to an RMA request. You can see it in one picture. With the UV CCFL next to the fans it doesn't matter when the CCFL is on bit when it is off you can tell.

2 of the UV Lazer LED's were not working that SVC sent too so I have to RMA too. Hmmm.

"The Laboratory" Collage of The Laboratory

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ @ 2.25 GHZ (2.08 - 333MHZ FSB Model) running @ (13.5 x 166, 1.625V)
DFI LAN Party NForce2 Ultra 400
Thermalright SLK-800A with mounted Thermaltake Smart Fan 2 using manual adjustment mode and Artic Silver 3
2-512 MB (1GB) Mushkin PC3200 DDR 400 MHZ 2.2.2 Latency
Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
2-80 Western Digital Special Edition 8MB Buffer
PCToys (Chieftec Dragon) Aluminum Computer Case
Lite On DVD 16x48x
Lite On CD-RW 52x24x52
1-Vantec Nexus NXP-201 Fan Controller
2-SVC City Lights UV 80x25mm Exhaust
2-SVC City Lights UV 80x25mm Intake
Lost In Space 5.25 Bay LCD Display
Enermax 430 Watt Power Supply Unit (PSU)
DFI UV Rounded Floppy Cable
DFI UV Rounded IDE Cables
2-Dual (4 lights) UV CCF lights
Win XP Pro SP1
19" Philips Magnovox Monitor - Model 109S
Office Keyboard (Black)
Intellimouse Optical Mouse 3.0a Sliver
fUNC Mousepad
Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick
Logitech Wingman Rumblepad
DSL Router
1.5 DSL

 

[yhelothar]

looks nice!!!

yeah damn SVC ALWAYS sends the wrong stuff..
it happened 2/2 times..
first time they sent a blue CC instead of the tri color one i ordered
and second time, they sent me a turbine grill instead of the biohazard i ordered..

 

[DFITechsupport]

Please feel free to E-mail to tech@dfiweb.com if there is any problem with your DFI NFII Ultra.
BTW, why don't you send your glowing picture to:
http://www.lanparty.com/dfilanparty/casemod.asp
I think you can win.


DFI Techsupport

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Very nicely done

It's also good to see a DFI tech rep here too

 

[MK005]

Have you tried all three DIMM sockets at the same time? I have the same board and am having problems using all three DIMM sockets at the same time. My system freezes randomly. I can get the system to hang regularly when trying to install a large program, such as Battlefield 1942 or installing a windows service pack. There is no problems installing small programs like winzip. If I take one module out I have less system hangs, but I just had the problem trying to install Visual Studio .NET with only 2 memory modules in. The system froze on disk1 the first time I tried and then froze on disk 3 the second time I tried. I scaled it down to one DIMM and there was no problem installing. Seems like the more I put in the worse it gets. I have run memtest86 (standard tests) on all three modules, one at a time, two at a time and three at a time. There have been no errors reported by this program.

So I don't think my memory is bad. I think the problem has something to do with either the board/bios or the onboard integration of the SATA drive. I am using the onboard SATA IDE Interface with SATA enabled in Bios. The only other component using the IDE's is the DVD drive on the Secondary Master IDE channel.

I have a few more tests I want to run before contacting DFI support.

1. Get a harddrive that uses the regual IDE interface.
2. Try a different CD Drive
3. Find hammer to smash to little bits, if hammer not available find another smashing device j/k

Besides this issue, I'm very pleased with the board and my setup in general. The OS and programs run extremely fast. If this problem is taken care of I hope to do some benchmarking and tweaking. And will get that information posted asap.

System Components:
Memory: 3 x 512 Crucial DDR PC2700 ? CL=2.5 ? Unbuffered ? Non-parity ? 6ns ? 2.5V ? 64Meg x 64
MB: LANPARTY nForce2 Ultra 400 Socket A NFII
CPU: AMD|2600 /333 ATHLON XP TBRED (default settings 12.5 @166)
HD: 36GB|WD 10,000 WD360GD 8MB (Raptor SATA)
Video: Xelo 9000 128mb (Temp. until I get the memory problems fixed)
DVD Drive: Toshiba 16X DVD-ROM Drive, ATAPI, SD-M1712
CPU Fan: Thermaltake TR2-M2
PSU: Antec Tru480
OS: Windows 2000 Pro (Same problem with Windows XP)

 

[Abrasive]

Originally posted by: DFITechsupport
Please feel free to E-mail to tech@dfiweb.com if there is any problem with your DFI NFII Ultra.
BTW, why don't you send your glowing picture to:
http://www.lanparty.com/dfilanparty/casemod.asp
I think you can win.


DFI Techsupport

I posted it someone vote for me. It is called "The Laboratory".

 

[DFITechsupport]

HI MK005,

Sorry to know that you've got problem using 3 sticks of 512 MB DDR on NFII. Please E-mail to tech@dfiweb.com so we can send you a new BIOS to test (By the way, what is the date of the BIOS you are using?). In the meantime, we'll try to simulate the symptom and get back to you.
Thanks for your patience.

DFI Techsupport.

PS. We will all vote for the LABORATORY

 

[Abrasive]

Here is the direct link to my page and to vote go to bottom of page and click vote.

http://www.lanparty.com/dfilanparty/casemod.asp?app=mod&ent=42

I have no problems running the matching 2x512 of Mushkin PC3200. I dont use the 3rd slot so I cant answer that question.

 

[MK005]

I emailed dfi techsupport@dfiweb.com yesterday morning and haven't heard back. After comparing the specs of the LABORATORY and some other NFII system I figured that the Crucial RAM was not the best choice for the system. Seeing that Abrasive didn't report any problems with 2 modules, I went on a search for the Mushkin PC3200 DDR 400 MHZ 2.2.2 Latency, unfortunately the Mushkin site was out of stock and all other places I check I either didn't trust or the cost was too high.

I decided to try the Corsair CMX512-3200C2 512MB DDR400 PC3200. I only ordered one and if that works I'll get another and then another.

The crucial RAM has been listed on ebay and sold. I'll check the BIOS version this afternoon and send techsupport that information. FYI... Crucial has the NFII listed as a compatible board with the NFII. It may be, but only stable with one module as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the help.

PS: The LABORATORY looks good, after some more of my my parts come in and I get everything working properly I'll post my system pics too.

 

[Abrasive]

www.newegg.com has the PC3200 Mushkin 512MB sticks for $165.00 w/ no shipping.

Yeah I'd be interested in seein you rig.

 

[MK005]

Abrasive-

It looks like you have some type of UV sensitive wrap around one of your cords. It is hard to tell, because of all the glowing, but if that is true where did you find the wrap?

Thanks,

 

[Abrasive]

I was looking for mod stuiff and found - http://www.aboveboardelectronics.com which turned me on to - https://microplastics.com

Microplastics wants $30.00 plus shipping for a 100' bag of green 3/8" .0052 wall thickness, would anyone want to buy some from me if I ordered? Say $.50 per foot shipped in US? Most places sell it for $1.00 a foot plus shipping.

I would like to make all the cable green in my rig. The blue cable wrap is actually clear spiral wrap from Lowes Hardware spray painted with the PCToys UV Reactive blue paint, about 6 coats. That stuff sucks @ss.

I also ordered some "samples" of some carrying handles from a company at www.southco.com

Bad @ass handles like these -
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/spazmodic/4sale/AMD2200no2/16.jpg
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/spazmodic/4sale/AMD2200no2/handl002.jpg
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/spazmodic/4sale/AMD2200no2/handl003.jpg

Also for those that missed my metal mesh fan "sample" post

"I got the "sample" mesh grills given to me by www.airfiltrationprod.com

Same quality as the ones you spend good cash on and I even got a couple black anodized all for free. "

Now to get these samples you have to be creative. Figure it out.

 

[DFITechsupport]

MK005,

1. We did duplicate the symptom here and reported to R&D department last night. R&D Engineer is still working on the solution.
2. We assign a special E-mail (tech@dfiweb.com) for Anandtech fans.
techsupport@dfiweb.com would be handled by the guy who got tons of E-mail everyday. Sorry for some reason he couldn't answer your E-mail within 24 hours.
3. From now on, please E-mail to tech@dfiweb.com. We garrantee to answer your E-mail in 24 hour.
Please forward your previous E-mail to me. In case the solution release, we can send it to you right away.
Sorry for the inconvinience.

DFI Techsupport

 

[Megatomic]

Abrasive, I don't have a window mod for my system but I'd like some wirewrap so I can tidy up my system wiring . That stuff from Microplastics.com, is it spiral wrap or something else? If it is spiral wrap, I might buy 20ft from you. LMK or give me a link if you can. Thanks, and that system looks pretty nice, too.

 

[ArborBarber]

DFI TechSupport...
Maybe you could check out this link...
P4 DFI 875Pro Lan Party Link...

reason being, I would like to see this link kept alive as I'm interested in the OC'ing of this MB... I am interested in putting together this system with all the bells and whistles. I understand that ocz 3700 gold works real nice when trying to oc this mb...if not the best oc'ing mb out there for the p4 platform...I guess I'm looking for a "bump" just to see how others have embraced this mb...

cheers!

 

[Abrasive]

I called Microplastics and they sell only in 100' and wont have some till August 6th if I order now.

Still game?

 

[Megatomic]

I guess not. I might be moving around that time. I think I need to find some that is on hand immdediately. Thanks for checking though.

 

[DFITechsupport]

Hey ArborBarber,

We'll check this link from time to time. I think there'll have some other Anandtech fans can share their experience on playing DFI LANParty PRO875 with us.
Thanks

DFI Techsupport