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DFI Ultra D or Asus SLI-Premium

A

Axbattler

Member
I am building a new PC with an Opteron 165 and Radeon X1800XT.

I like the idea of the Asus passive cooling, but I am concerned about what I have heard of the memory compatibility. And I assume that the DFI will be a better clocker.

So what I'd like to know is if the memory compatibility issue with the Asus is warranted (i.e. is it worse than the DFI), and whether it is possible to reach reasonable overclocks with it.
And about the DFI, I have heard that it its layout is less optimal for fitting larger heatsink. Is that true (I am thinking of getting a Scythe Ninja)? And how hard would it be to mod it to be passively cooled?

Cheers.

Note: I have read this thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1639727&enterthread=y but I am still not sure which board to get.

Note2: Frankly speaking, I don't care about SLI (Ati card at the mo). I only care about stability, noise and overclocks in that order.
 
At the moment, I am on a 600W Enermax Noisetaker. But I highly suspect that it is damaged (any way for me to check it?), as my old PC would shut off as soon as its switched on (that said, the mobo looks suspicious too, since all the fans except the northbridge would spin when it would switch on). So I unless someone suggest otherwise, I am getting a Seasonic S12 500W to replace it.

As for the ram, I am re-using the ones on my last PC: 2x 512MB Twinmos PC3200 (Winbond CH5 chip).

Come to think of it, can I get away with a 430W Seasonic PSU (Opteron 165, X1800XT, 4x HD) or am I better off with the 500W. Its almost a 50% price difference 😵
 
Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
Keep in mind that the DFI board doesn't like Corsair's Value line. Tell us which RAM you plan on getting as well. 🙂
Click to expand...

It sometimes works, depending on what chips are on your particular memory sticks. No problems here with this combination.
 
Originally posted by: Axbattler
At the moment, I am on a 600W Enermax Noisetaker. But I highly suspect that it is damaged (any way for me to check it?), as my old PC would shut off as soon as its switched on (that said, the mobo looks suspicious too, since all the fans except the northbridge would spin when it would switch on). So I unless someone suggest otherwise, I am getting a Seasonic S12 500W to replace it.

As for the ram, I am re-using the ones on my last PC: 2x 512MB Twinmos PC3200 (Winbond CH5 chip).

Come to think of it, can I get away with a 430W Seasonic PSU (Opteron 165, X1800XT, 4x HD) or am I better off with the 500W. Its almost a 50% price difference 😵
Click to expand...
If you get a Seasonic S12, go with the Asus.

If you get an Antec, go with the DFI.
 
Thanks. Seems like I will have to go with the Asus then.

Appart from being able to do 16x PCI-E in SLI mode, what other advantage does the Asus 32-Sli has over the Asus Premium?
 
Originally posted by: Axbattler
Thanks. Seems like I will have to go with the Asus then.

Appart from being able to do 16x PCI-E in SLI mode, what other advantage does the Asus 32-Sli has over the Asus Premium?
Click to expand...

Review

Dual x16 does nothing performance wise. Price is much higher. Only real difference is 8-phase power regulation.
 
Thanks. Having looked a bit more, the 32-Deluxe seem to provide external SATA (probably not needed).

However, it also seems to clock a bit better than the Premium.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2661&p=4

http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2589&p=5

However, the Premium seem to have more space around the CPU for exotic coolers (I am thinking of the Scythe Ninja).

Tough decision...

Edit: It just occured to me. Is the RAM a big limitor in Opteron OC potential? What exactly do you need to look for to accomplish a good OC nowadays?
 
Originally posted by: Axbattler
What exactly do you need to look for to accomplish a good OC nowadays?
Click to expand...

Besides luck?
Some OC'in ram won't hurt, just make sure not to spend too much 😉
 
Originally posted by: Axbattler
Edit: It just occured to me. Is the RAM a big limitor in Opteron OC potential? What exactly do you need to look for to accomplish a good OC nowadays?
Click to expand...

Not really, all you need is a good chip and know how to use dividers properly. 😉
 
I actually have a similar question. With all the problems of the DFI board, if I plan on overclocking and running a single GPU (NOT SLI), is it better to buy the ASUS SLI-Premium? Again, I am looking for stability and some good o/c results and will buy an SLI board if it means I can achieve that, even if I am not running SLI.

 
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