Is the dfi ultra-d a bad board for a first time builder?

[fstime]

My friend EASILY modded his ultra-D to the SLI version.

It was so simple.

It even boots up as the SLI board.

Either way,

If you want somthing 100% user friendly, get the asus, however, the asus isnt a very good overclocker.

At stock, its very good and stable.

 

[SNM]

I had no trouble running mine @ stock with fairly cheap components. I also didn't have to set any jumpers. Worst part of the build was trying to get my 6600GT into the PCIe slot.

 

[KoolDrew]

I would go witht eh DFI.

 

[imported_g33k]

Originally posted by: gloryfieldzi
no, buy the DFI, comes with round cables, can be easily mod to SLI, and can have voltages up to 4v, not to mention excellent overclocking settings. I read somewhere, I believe here at anandtech actually, that neo 4 has some issues with amd

You imply that the MSI board does not come with rounded cables. In fact they both do. This is an A64 board, why would it have "issues" with AMD? The MSI actually won the Gold Editor's choice award here at Anandtech.

Originally posted by: kcporsche959
also, would the corsair value ram thats like 80 on newegg work on this board?

No Corsair VS is not recommended on that DFI board.

 

[KoolDrew]

No Corsair VS will not work on that DFI board.

I have seen some people that have the Corsair VS RAM witht eh DFi and it works fine. Others seem to have problems though so I wouldn't really take the chance. Get Crucial or soemthing.

 

[Sniper82]

No Corsair VS will not work on that DFI board.

Well thats BS I been running Corsair VS since first part of March and for the first month or longer I ran everything at stock and memtest86 and prime95 was solid after 24 hour testing. Then I decided to o/c my 3000+ to 3200+ at default voltage and again solid. IMO I think the ppl having problems with Corsair VS either don't know what they are doing, they have something faulty somewhere or are not running them in slot 2/4?

Also I'd say the newer BIOS fixes alot of issues with it being picky with memory. Go with whatever memory you want I just wanted to say C:VS works fine for me.

 

[jose]

I've always used Intel for about 14yrs. My first build was one of my UltraD systems, it was the first shipment from ZZF. I had zero problems.

My 2nd A64 build was w/ the A8N-SLI, I lost 6 weeks w/ 2 rma's with this mobo and had nothing but problems. So I got another UltraD, it was DOA but newegg sent me a
replacement w/in a week and I've had zero problems w/ that motherboard.

If I purchase another A64 mobo, it will be a DFI SLI mobo w/ a 4400+ w/ 2 - 1gig dimms...

What you have to do is follow the recomendations/directions w/ the DFI mobo. Too many ppl buy 20pin psu's, cheap or low powered units then complain about their system....
On the mobo 24pin connector their is a recomended wattage range for the psu. Also connect all 4 mobo connectors.

Regards,
Jose

 

[imported_Pressure]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127196

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: kcporsche959
I am very adept in computer knowledge, so i know a lot about how things work and what goes with what etc. This is going to be my first build and i have a few ?'s about the dfi ultra-d motherboard.

Will i not be able to install everything and boot it up and expect it to work? Many of the reviews clearly state "not for the first time builder" and "dont expect to get your system up and running immeadiately". If this board requires so much tweaking and fine tuning to get it to work correctly, why is it so popular? Or are these people just exaggerating and will it work fine for a first timer? I plan to overclock, but nothing beyond stock cooling on my 3000+ venice. So, would you recommend another board for a very experienced first time builder? Thanks.

Don't trust the reviews on NewEgg.com they are filtered and biased. Not a good site if you want motherboard reviews.

 

[kcporsche959]

Okay, thanks.

 

[Googer]

Your welcome.

I have left honest reviews before on newegg.com and the staff over there will mutilate, alter, edit, censor, or complety omit a useful review.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Pressure
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127196

I cannot argue with that choice! It lacks a few features I look for in a board, Although I would not buy it for my self because it does not have a PCI-X 64 100MHz and PCI-e X4 slot among other things; I would not hesitate to recomend it to someone else, it's one of the most stable A64 boards out there. You can overclock it higher than almost anything else out there. PLUS the Port 80 POST Diagnostic LED is a wounderful touch.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Googer
Your welcome.

I have left honest reviews before on newegg.com and the staff over there will mutilate, alter, edit, censor, or complety omit a useful review.

Exactly. Newegg is great for many things, but finding product reviews is not one of them. I am kind of disappointed in them, but what do you expect? They don't want to have it sitting on the warehouse shelves, even if it does really suck.

 

[Cheezeit]

I was in the same position as you, and decided to get the dfi after alot of reasearch.
hang around dfi street, and see if anyone got a setup simalar to yours and got it working.
If you do hae problems, they actually have two dfi engineers on duty(angry games and Rgnone) to help you . i was amazed at that.

 

[imported_g33k]

Originally posted by: ^Sniper^

No Corsair VS will not work on that DFI board.

Well thats BS I been running Corsair VS since first part of March and for the first month or longer I ran everything at stock and memtest86 and prime95 was solid after 24 hour testing. Then I decided to o/c my 3000+ to 3200+ at default voltage and again solid. IMO I think the ppl having problems with Corsair VS either don't know what they are doing, they have something faulty somewhere or are not running them in slot 2/4?

Also I'd say the newer BIOS fixes alot of issues with it being picky with memory. Go with whatever memory you want I just wanted to say C:VS works fine for me.

Well you may have gotten lucky, but dfi-street is full of threads and the tech support themselves state that Corsair VS has issues with the DFI nf-4 board. I simply stated no it will not work to simplify it for the OP. BTW I think it is BS that you would recommend a memory with known issues. Why even bother to take a chance? Just get something like mushkin, or crucial. Both can be had just a cheaply as the corsair.

 

[Penth]

Though it wasn't anywhere near my first build, I used a DFI-D for my latest build (with corsair VS) and had absolutely no problems getting it up and running stable at stock. I didn't have to change any settings from the first time I plugged everything in, (though I since have). My cousin also built a computer with this board (his first build) and had no problems.

 

[kcporsche959]

so dfi it is?

 

[CheesePoofs]

As long as you get ram that is known to work with the DFI board, you shouldn't really have many problems. Just be sure to flash to 3/10 bios as soon as you can and if you experience any instability, bump up the vdimm slightly.

 

[kcporsche959]

hm, what ram would you recommend then? just get the corsair vs and take my chances? or buy another brand of ram?

 

[imported_g33k]

Originally posted by: kcporsche959
hm, what ram would you recommend then? just get the corsair vs and take my chances? or buy another brand of ram?

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These are just some of the threads over on dfi-street.com. Dfi-street are the support forums for dfi. If the DFI enthusiasts and the tech support say that Corsair Value has issues, then I would stay clear.

To give you a better idea on what kind of memory to buy look here.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Originally posted by: g33k

Originally posted by: kcporsche959
hm, what ram would you recommend then? just get the corsair vs and take my chances? or buy another brand of ram?

Thread1
Thread2
Thread3


These are just some of the threads over on dfi-street.com. Dfi-street are the support forums for dfi. If the DFI enthusiasts and the tech support say that Corsair Value has issues, then I would stay clear.

To give you a better idea on what kind of memory to buy look here.

I've got corsair VS on my ultra-d and its working fine, but I'm getting the feeling that I'm just lucky. Still, not all of those threads show problems with Corsair VS. The first one is just angry saying how he doesnt' like value ram, second one is because the person is using the stock bios, and is the third one actually using corsair VS?

Still, its not worth the risk to get corsair VS, especially if you're concerned about how hard the build will be. I believe geil makes some ram priced similarly to Corsair VS.

 

[imported_g33k]

Ahh I also forgot about thisthread here at anand.

There was a BIOS fix that specifically dealt with trying to fix the Corsair VS problem. It has met with success with some and not with others. Again, I'm just trying to spare the OP any future headaches. Since value ram pretty much costs the same across the different brands, why not play it safe.

 

[madogvt]

Originally posted by: ^Sniper^

No Corsair VS will not work on that DFI board.

Well thats BS I been running Corsair VS since first part of March and for the first month or longer I ran everything at stock and memtest86 and prime95 was solid after 24 hour testing. Then I decided to o/c my 3000+ to 3200+ at default voltage and again solid. IMO I think the ppl having problems with Corsair VS either don't know what they are doing, they have something faulty somewhere or are not running them in slot 2/4?

Also I'd say the newer BIOS fixes alot of issues with it being picky with memory. Go with whatever memory you want I just wanted to say C:VS works fine for me.

Yeah, I've had no problem with Corsair VS either - it's been just two weeks, but just ran Memtest over night with no errors. If you're worried - get another kind of ram. This board is friggin sweet.

 

[kcporsche959]

hm, anyone have a link to some ram that would work that is cheap? i still want 1 gb and i dont wanna spend a lot, but i want ram that i know will work in my motherboard.

 

[imported_g33k]

If you go with DFI, get this ram.