DFI, MSI or Chaintech?

[AMD NUBI]

My current P4 2.4 Northwood is exactly 3 years old and still running good. But I guess it's time to get me a new rig and keep this P4 as wife's internet surfer maybe. I already have bought everything else exept mobo.

I'm debating between these 3 mobos. Since NF4 Ultra mobos haven't been on the market for that long every mobo seems to have a problem(s) of it's own and I can't quite pick the right one for me. My goal is to reach 2.4G. Everything above that is just bonus for me. Now here are the mobos I'm interested in.

DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D ---> I'vd read so many problems, but potential OC winner of all current NF4 ultra mobo.
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MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum ---> Less bad stories then DFI, but still has it own problems. Good OC'ing board though, IMO.
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Chaintech VNF4 Ultra ---> Generally less bad stories compare to other NF4 Ultra boards, especially with the new bios. Least amout of features of 3 mobos, but I'dont need features such as dual lan, 8X SATA, 2X PCI-E, sound or 1394 port. Decent OC'ing board IMO and the cheapest of all.
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What would you guys choose? If you are/were using one of these mobos please let me konw of your experiance with it.

Thank you in advance for your golden help.






These are the other parts I already bought.
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CPU: AMD 64 3200+ 939 90mm
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CPU Cooling: Zalman CNPS7700-CU
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MEM: Patriot PC3200 C2.0 2X512MB TCCD "I'll use mem divider 5:6 or 3:4 if over 2.4g. I want to keep the timming under 200Mhz or less"
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VC: Gigabyte GF 6600GT PCI-E
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SC: Creative Lab AUDIGY 2 Value PCI
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HD: 2 X Samsung 160G SATA "I will not raid"
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FD: Sony FD DRIVE
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DVD-RW: Lite-On 16X DVD RW DRIVE
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DVD: Lite-ON 16X DVD
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CASE: Thermaltake w/ 120mm front, 120mm rear and 80mm side fans installed
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PS: Fortron Blue Storm 500W ATX12V v2.0 24pin
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KB & Mouse: Microsoft
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Monitor: Dell 1905FP 19" LCD
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Speaker: Logitech "I have extra collecting dust"

Total is little over $1600 so far including monitor. I was originally planning to spend less then $1000 w/o monitor. But as always I found somthing better for little more money here and there and now I'm over $200 w/o MB. I didn't buy all these parts from newegg. I used newegg, eWIZ, monarchcomputer, eCOST and Dell.
Am I missing anything?

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[Silversierra]

I have the vnf4 ultra chaintech mobo, it's really nice and cheap too.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

I think you'd be happy with any of them. I would choose the VNF4 Ultra for the wonderful c/p ratio.

 

[patsun123]

what bad stories did you read about the DFI? i'm using one and it works great. Can't say the other boards are bad/good but DFI is great.

 

[AMD NUBI]

If you search the word "DFI ULTA-D" in any forum you will find more bad stories then good ones. Even if you check the DFI-Street forum you will finds many ppeople having trouble with anything from no boot to can't install win-xp. Good to hear that yours is doing great.

 

[jose]

I also have a DFI mobo with zero problems. check my sig for components that I used.

I've seen ppl post problems w/ the DFI mobo also, but some are using pc2700 memory or pci video cards. (not pci-e).
The ram I'm using is Patriot Extreme LL memory. One thing to consider on whichever board you get is get a good power supply.
Their are tons of post on the Asus A8N, inwhich ppl try to get by with either lower power or low quality power supplies.

Regards,
Jose

 

[BrokenVisage]

I really like the choices of hardware you made, my list contains many of the same things and I can say I'm going with the MSI Neo4 almost definately unless I see something else worth while. I'm going MSI mostly because of its SLI capabilities but also because many people seem to have better success with it over the others. The DFI Lanparty looks like a childs toy if you ask me and has no PS/2 or Parallel ports, and Chaintech doesn't have all the feautures I'm looking for like you mentioned. MSI just seems like better build and more reputible. I claim to be no computer wiz and this is simply how I see it so spare me the DFI lover-flames.

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: AMD NUBI
My current P4 2.4 Northwood is exactly 3 years old and still running good. But I guess it's time to get me a new rig and keep this P4 as wife's internet surfer maybe. I already have bought everything else exept mobo.

I'm debating between these 3 mobos. Since NF4 Ultra mobos haven't been on the market for that long every mobo seems to have a problem(s) of it's own and I can't quite pick the right one for me. My goal is to reach 2.4G. Everything above that is just bonus for me.

I would (and did) go with the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra. I have had mine since X-mas, and it is an AWESOME overclocker (see my sig to see what I have been running at for almost a month now). There are only 2 caveats with this board. if you ARE overclocking, please add a fan to the chipset's heatsink (although I have heard that rev2 boards will have a chipset fan, I have not heard of anyone who has a rev2 board yet, so they may not yet be available for sale). The stock cooler works fine if you are not overclocking, or if you are not going too far with the overclock, but I would recommend one to anyone going above 240HTT with this board. The second caveat is (again if you are overclocking) to make sure to download one of the newer BIOS' from the chaintech site. The stock BIOS would not overclock past 240HTT for me (and past 220HTT for most others).

These caveats aside, this board is the best overclocker I have ever known, and for an amazingly low price. I recommend it completely, to anyone wanting a way to get into PCI-E or Nforce4. There is also a new review of this board by ModdersHQ, which talks about some of the same points I touched on. It can be found here: http://www.moddershq.net/reviews.asp?reviewid=83&pagenumber=1

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
I really like the choices of hardware you made, my list contains many of the same things and I can say I'm going with the MSI Neo4 almost definately unless I see something else worth while. I'm going MSI mostly because of its SLI capabilities but also because many people seem to have better success with it over the others. The DFI Lanparty looks like a childs toy if you ask me and has no PS/2 or Parallel ports, and Chaintech doesn't have all the feautures I'm looking for like you mentioned. MSI just seems like better build and more reputible. I claim to be no computer wiz and this is simply how I see it so spare me the DFI lover-flames.

No PS/2 Ports?!?!? Are you serious? Does this mean that the board requires USB keyboard and mouse, or are you talking about a different kind of PS/2 port than I am aware of?

 

[AMD NUBI]

I really like the Chaintech for it's price and as I said I don't relly need dual LAN, 8X SATA, 2X PCI-E or better onboard sound.... There seems to be less issue with Chanintech using new bios. I am not extreme OC'er so people saying they reached 3Ghz with DFI or MSI doesn't really excite me that much. I just want stable mobo that I can reach at least 2.4Ghz(240HTT, 200mhz mem using 5:6 divider). Ofcourse I want to push it more if my current specs allow it, but I don't want to spend extra $200 on PC Power & Cooling power supply ,$280 G.Skill memory, $200 on water cooling and so on to OC to become the fastest rig in my neighborhood. The way I see it is if you try to OC more than 20% from it original value you do have to spend considerably more money on higher quality parts verses if you weren't OC'ing. IMO

One thing to consider on whichever board you get is get a good power supply. Their are tons of post on the Asus A8N, inwhich ppl try to get by with either lower power or low quality power supplies.

I thought my Fortron Blue Storm was enough as it is ATX 2.0 24pin and Fortron is decent power supply company.
Link

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: AMD NUBI
I really like the Chaintech for it's price and as I said I don't relly need dual LAN, 8X SATA, 2X PCI-E or better onboard sound.... There seems to be less issue with Chanintech using new bios. I am not extreme OC'er so people saying they reached 3Ghz with DFI or MSI doesn't really excite me that much. I just want stable mobo that I can reach at least 2.4Ghz(240HTT, 200mhz mem using 5:6 divider). Ofcourse I want to push it more if my current specs allow it, but I don't want to spend extra $200 on PC Power & Cooling power supply ,$280 G.Skill memory, $200 on water cooling and so on to OC to become the fastest rig in my neighborhood. The way I see it is if you try to OC more than 20% from it original value you do have to spend considerably more money on higher quality parts verses if you weren't OC'ing. IMO

One thing to consider on whichever board you get is get a good power supply. Their are tons of post on the Asus A8N, inwhich ppl try to get by with either lower power or low quality power supplies.

I thought my Fortron Blue Storm was enough as it is ATX 2.0 24pin and Fortron is decent power supply company.
Link[/q

There IS 1 issue with one of the beta BIOS from chaintech. The 2nd Beta BIOS (I cannot remember the date) would not let folks run some ram in 1T, even if they only had 2 sticks. The newest BIOS fixed this. The original BIOS is great, it just would not let me pass 240HTT (it has a built in auto-reset if you OC too far, but it was initially set TOO tight on the first BIOS, and the later ones fixed this). I have been using the first beta BIOS since it came out (almost a month ago), and it is ROCK stable. No issues here.

As for OC'ing costing more than it is worth, sometimes this IS true, but not always. I already happen to have a great 24-pin 550W PSU, so I did not have to spring for extra here, and I already owned my 2GB of Kingston HyperX Ram (which I picked up at a great price too), so I did not have to drop more there. And great overclocking boards do NOT come cheaper than my VNF4 Ultra! The only thing I spent extra on was $40.00 for a new CPU HSF (a Coolermaster Hyper6, which is a great cooler), and $10.00 for a chipset fan. Considering that I am running at speeds which people pay $400 to $500 more than I to get, I would say that I saved a hell of a lot of money by OC'ing, vs paying to get to these speeds at stock. I must admit tho, OC'ing is in my blood. If I but a new CPU or motherboard, I immediately start trying to figure out what it will do, cause if I do not, then there is just that much more that I COULD get out of my system, but have not.

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: MajorPayne

Originally posted by: AMD NUBI
I really like the Chaintech for it's price and as I said I don't relly need dual LAN, 8X SATA, 2X PCI-E or better onboard sound.... There seems to be less issue with Chanintech using new bios. I am not extreme OC'er so people saying they reached 3Ghz with DFI or MSI doesn't really excite me that much. I just want stable mobo that I can reach at least 2.4Ghz(240HTT, 200mhz mem using 5:6 divider). Ofcourse I want to push it more if my current specs allow it, but I don't want to spend extra $200 on PC Power & Cooling power supply ,$280 G.Skill memory, $200 on water cooling and so on to OC to become the fastest rig in my neighborhood. The way I see it is if you try to OC more than 20% from it original value you do have to spend considerably more money on higher quality parts verses if you weren't OC'ing. IMO

One thing to consider on whichever board you get is get a good power supply. Their are tons of post on the Asus A8N, inwhich ppl try to get by with either lower power or low quality power supplies.

I thought my Fortron Blue Storm was enough as it is ATX 2.0 24pin and Fortron is decent power supply company.
Link[/q

There IS 1 issue with one of the beta BIOS from chaintech. The 2nd Beta BIOS (I cannot remember the date) would not let folks run some ram in 1T, even if they only had 2 sticks. The newest BIOS fixed this. The original BIOS is great, it just would not let me pass 240HTT (it has a built in auto-reset if you OC too far, but it was initially set TOO tight on the first BIOS, and the later ones fixed this). I have been using the first beta BIOS since it came out (almost a month ago), and it is ROCK stable. No issues here.

As for OC'ing costing more than it is worth, sometimes this IS true, but not always. I already happen to have a great 24-pin 550W PSU, so I did not have to spring for extra here, and I already owned my 2GB of Kingston HyperX Ram (which I picked up at a great price too), so I did not have to drop more there. And great overclocking boards do NOT come cheaper than my VNF4 Ultra! The only thing I spent extra on was $40.00 for a new CPU HSF (a Coolermaster Hyper6, which is a great cooler), and $10.00 for a chipset fan. Considering that I am running at speeds which people pay $400 to $500 more than I to get, I would say that I saved a hell of a lot of money by OC'ing, vs paying to get to these speeds at stock. I must admit tho, OC'ing is in my blood. If I but a new CPU or motherboard, I immediately start trying to figure out what it will do, cause if I do not, then there is just that much more that I COULD get out of my system, but have not.

P.S. My OC puts my CPU speed at 2.7GHZ, up from 1.8GHZ stock. This is a 50% overclock with only $50.00 spent additionally to get it (and I easily saved this much just by getting such a cheap mobo).

 

[jose]

BrokenVisage,

The DFI NF4 does have ps/2 ports, try to get your facts correct. This is the first DFI mobo I get, have always used Tyan, SuperMicro, Intel & Asus . I find this DFI mobo to be a very good mobo so far. With all new NF4 mobo's some ppl will experience problems being so new. In the months to come almost all manf's will iron out any compatiblities that we early adopters are running into.

AMD Nubi, check the reviews for any mobo your considering and the bbs on the net. They will point out any problems w/ whatever board you choose.

Regards,
Jose

 

[AMD NUBI]

MajorPayne,

Your OC'ing is impressive considering you are using 4 stick of those rams. What is the mem timing? 1:1, 5/6 or 3:4 ? Is your system 24/7 stable at 2.7G? I've heard people OC'ing to over 2.7Ghz, but mostly only with 2x256 or in some cases 2x512. Great job major.

 

[KDKPSJ]

Originally posted by: MajorPayne

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
I really like the choices of hardware you made, my list contains many of the same things and I can say I'm going with the MSI Neo4 almost definately unless I see something else worth while. I'm going MSI mostly because of its SLI capabilities but also because many people seem to have better success with it over the others. The DFI Lanparty looks like a childs toy if you ask me and has no PS/2 or Parallel ports, and Chaintech doesn't have all the feautures I'm looking for like you mentioned. MSI just seems like better build and more reputible. I claim to be no computer wiz and this is simply how I see it so spare me the DFI lover-flames.

No PS/2 Ports?!?!? Are you serious? Does this mean that the board requires USB keyboard and mouse, or are you talking about a different kind of PS/2 port than I am aware of?

Don't worry, he's not serious. I clearly see PS/2 is there, or does my eye has problem?

Anyway, like BrokenVisage is against DFI, I am against MSI. I've had nothing but problem with MSI. I know they became better, but still, MSI is not on my list. I haven't used DFI or Chaintech before, so I'll say nothing about it.

 

[imported_BadKarma]

Go with the Chaintech VNF4 board. It'll save you the headaches of some of the DFI owners on here. Between the Chaintech and DFI, I see less problems being reported on the Chaintech in this forum. Considering the Chaintech board was released first. Plus, with the money saved you can buy a better CPU.

The DFI NF4 does have a lot of problems, most being memory compatibility. I have one running in my box and I'm pretty happy with it. Like jose said, DFI is addressing those issues as we speak. But had I not own a DFI NF4 and read all the problems people are running into with the board, I would be hesitant to buy it.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: everydae

Originally posted by: MajorPayne

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
I really like the choices of hardware you made, my list contains many of the same things and I can say I'm going with the MSI Neo4 almost definately unless I see something else worth while. I'm going MSI mostly because of its SLI capabilities but also because many people seem to have better success with it over the others. The DFI Lanparty looks like a childs toy if you ask me and has no PS/2 or Parallel ports, and Chaintech doesn't have all the feautures I'm looking for like you mentioned. MSI just seems like better build and more reputible. I claim to be no computer wiz and this is simply how I see it so spare me the DFI lover-flames.

No PS/2 Ports?!?!? Are you serious? Does this mean that the board requires USB keyboard and mouse, or are you talking about a different kind of PS/2 port than I am aware of?

Don't worry, he's not serious. I clearly see PS/2 is there, or does my eye has problem?

Anyway, like BrokenVisage is against DFI, I am against MSI. I've had nothing but problem with MSI. I know they became better, but still, MSI is not on my list. I haven't used DFI or Chaintech before, so I'll say nothing about it.

Brain fart on my part, I didn't mean to say PS/2. But did I say I was actually "against" DFI or are MY eyes having problems? I just said their one board looked like a childs toy. One MoBo maker I AM against is Asus however, nothing but headaches.

 

[gobucks]

I like my chaintech, the only gripe I have is with the 1T timings - my board won't seem to run stable with them. I think I might be the only one, though. All in all, it's pretty good for the money. Also, I know my board can do at least 278FSB, which is pretty good. I've heard of people hitting 300, too.

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: everydae

Originally posted by: MajorPayne

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
I really like the choices of hardware you made, my list contains many of the same things and I can say I'm going with the MSI Neo4 almost definately unless I see something else worth while. I'm going MSI mostly because of its SLI capabilities but also because many people seem to have better success with it over the others. The DFI Lanparty looks like a childs toy if you ask me and has no PS/2 or Parallel ports, and Chaintech doesn't have all the feautures I'm looking for like you mentioned. MSI just seems like better build and more reputible. I claim to be no computer wiz and this is simply how I see it so spare me the DFI lover-flames.

Wheras I have had NO issues with Asus board at all, and love them. I HAVE had issues with MSI boards, but it was not MSI's fault... A local computer store sold cheap MSI's that they "refurbished" themselves (I found out after I bought one), and they did NOT do a good job of QA.

Anyone can have a bad board, and ALL of the manufactures have great reputations, and the boards listed ALL look like good boards. I would base your decision on the board's features and layout, and get the one that most suits your needs.

No PS/2 Ports?!?!? Are you serious? Does this mean that the board requires USB keyboard and mouse, or are you talking about a different kind of PS/2 port than I am aware of?

Don't worry, he's not serious. I clearly see PS/2 is there, or does my eye has problem?

Anyway, like BrokenVisage is against DFI, I am against MSI. I've had nothing but problem with MSI. I know they became better, but still, MSI is not on my list. I haven't used DFI or Chaintech before, so I'll say nothing about it.

Brain fart on my part, I didn't mean to say PS/2. But did I say I was actually "against" DFI or are MY eyes having problems? I just said their one board looked like a childs toy. One MoBo maker I AM against is Asus however, nothing but headaches.

I have had NO issues with Asus ever. I have heard from others who swear that Asus boards are trouble ridden crap. Anyone can get a bad board, even from good manufacturers. I would advise that you just base your decision on which board's price, layout and features match your needs, and get that board.

 

[kindest]

i have the msi and really like it.
but if your looking for value and to save some money
get the chaintech.

 

[imported_burningrave101]

I would go with the DFI or MSI myself. I wouldn't so much about the issues people are reporting because a very large number of these boards have been sold so the fact there are a few issues is only normal on most cases. The MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum had several issues but it was still the best s939 board until the nForce 4 boards released.

Alot of the issues are just plain user error. You wouldn't believe how retarded some people are.

If there are any real memory issues they should be addressed soon by DFI in a BIOS update.

I bought the DFI Ultra-D and it looks to be a great board and a heck of an overclocker.

 

[AMD NUBI]

Alot of the issues are just plain user error. You wouldn't believe how retarded some people are.

Well, I didn't find that many reatarde people using Chaintech and having issues. Chaintech was one of the first NF4 Ultra board on the market and many have been sold untill MSI and DFI showed up. I don't think DFI and MSI have sold considerbly more NF4 Ultra mobo than Chaintech.

 

[imported_burningrave101]

Well i dont know how many Chaintech boards have been sold but i know the board isn't talked about very much on HardForum so its not very popular. The MSI and DFI have been selling out since they started shipping and when you start overclocking there are always more variables added to the equation of problems. I'm sure alot of the people using the Chaintech board are running stock settings.

The first thing people are probably doing with the DFI board is trying to overclock it to hell and back lol.

BIOS versions 209 and 217 are suppost to fix the TCCD related issues with the DFI boards.

 

[Waylay00]

I like the DFI board.

 

[kindest]

another thing to note is that the DFI only has 2 pci slots..
so if you wanted to run windows MCE with a ati hdtv wonder and hauggrp150
it aint happening.