**Official Chaintech Zenith VNF4 nForce4 Motherboard Thread**

[HQee]

Originally posted by: Dukex64
As far as i know, most my settings in the BIOS is set on AUTO in terms of the HT, Memory timings stuffs, cause i dont know much about those settings.

AUTO HT multiplier is the first setting to change. Set it to 3x.
You have regular ddr400 memory, and with your 220 HTT, its DDR440. Regular ram does not often go beyond this, at least with factory timings. To make sure, that memory doesn't limit OC, set DRAM speed to 166Mhz. This way you have little HTT freq playroom.
And after these 2 operations start to raise HTT. See if it helps you.

 

[xpose]

I am wondering if Chaintech would provide any help on revision 1 boards with passive cooling. My cpu is OC'd about 50% and I wonder if the chipset might burn out eventually? I am sure it effects the temp by OCing so much? If I email them saying I want the cooler for the chipset .. .would they provide it? I am sure its not that hard to put it on. . .

 

[danielcps]

I've been using this mobo for about a month now...

just got it along with a venice 3200+ (0515) and its has been up and running @ 2.7Ghz on a zalman 7700ALCU since then... zalman its great due its large area it cools all nearby components.. 😀

i bumped my vcore up to 1.45v.... its prime occt and superpi 32mb stable up and runnig 24/7... i've been trying to reach 2.9Ghz but so far without success... 😀

should i change my chipset heatsink ??? it gets reeeeaallly hot sometimes... thats why i even made a new hole on my case and placed a 80mm fan on top of it...

my rig:

Venice 0515 3200+ @ 2.7Ghz 1.45vcore
1gb gskill f1phu2 @ ddr 450 2.5-3-3-6
MSI 6600gt (stock speeds)
BIOS 4.0


THIS BOARD ROCKS !!!!




quick question, a friend of mine just got this mobo with a sandiego 3700 but it just wont boot at all !!!!

is it the bios ? (1.0) that came with it ??

 

[GadgetBuilder]

danielcps,

The active cooler on my VNF4 chipset was marginal with ambient above 80F.

I've been experimenting with other schemes and prefer a Zalman NB47J or similar plus a nearby fan blowing air across it - it doesn't take a lot of air but some is needed with all heatsinks I've tried. Using SpeedFan on the CPU and chipset fans allows both to be inaudible with temps held below 35C

More info about my VNF4 tinkering: http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/Computer/ComputerCooling.html

 

[Doobz]

Hi. I'm building a new computer for my friend, using this board, an X800XL, a Venice 3000, and 1gb (2x 512mb) of OCZ DDR400 performance series. We recently ran into some major trouble. After building it (using a Raidmax 420w 20 pin I had laying around), we ran into a blue screen error loading windows that caused an immediate restart. After popping in the Windows disc and running a repair install, we got into Windows.

Now, after doing a few things and going through 1 or 2 restarts, I popped in the chipset drivers off the cd (needed to get the ethernet working before I could get on the internet for the latest drivers) and hit the restart button after all that was over. Only now we get a no boot.

Basically, the BIOS is beeping a rhythmic long beep, not a long one and then a short one, but a long one followed by another long one over and over again. There's no signal being sent from card to the monitor and there's no power going to peripherals like the mouse or keyboard. I've tried swapping out his memory for mine, no luck. I tried resetting the CMOS jumpers, no luck there either.

Does anybody have any idea what's going on or how to fix it?

It just seems funny to me that a board that was working previously would all of a sudden just refuse to boot.

 

[GadgetBuilder]

Best guess is a memory problem -- try one stick at a time.

More info:
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/award.htm

 

[Doomguy]

I don't know if this bios differs at all from Chaintech's 6/09 VNF4 bios, but it works on my board, even though some people still think this board isn't the same as the BFG 🙂 BFG bios dated 6/29

http://www.bfggaming.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=6

 

[ppopops]

Ok so I have the following setup:

A64 3000+ Venice
1 GB corsair value select
evga 6600gt
antec 450 smartpower 2.0
80GB sata seagate

Well it worked with the default BIOS, but then I flashed it to version 4.0 that I found on Chaintech's website:
http://www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/Download/dl_desc.asp?DCSNo=4&PISNo=318

So i put the .bin in a floppy, restart my comp....it updates the BIOS... the computer restarts,
then nothing...black screen and a infinite series of long beeps

I don't get it...nothing happened during the update process

What can I do? Please don't tell me my bios is corrupted 🙁

 

[ppopops]

well i resetted the cmos seems to work now 🙂

 

[javelin2]

Newbie question! I'm building my first computer and I got this board (Chaintech VNF4 nForce4 Socket 939 ATX Motherboard) and an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ venice. How do I set cpu voltage, frequency ratio, and clock? It doesn't say in the manual.

 

[Budman]

So guys what's the best bios for this board if you want to overclock?

I just ordered this board and want to know if there's a bios ver better suited to overclocking a venice 3000+.

 

[kehi]

yeah, any word on a new bios? Thanks

 

[athlon64X2]

Anybody got issues with 06/03/05 bios update from the Chaintech website?

I am not OCing the system or anything -- but I am not able to run Everest benchmark test. Whenever I run Everest, my system freezes and the only way to get out of it is to reset.

Could this be a bios issue?

Am running memtest right now. and thenwill run stress test. but i doubt the system is unstable. Everything is stock, have not tweaked a bit.

Athlon 64 X2 4200+
2x512MB Corsair DDR400
160 GB Sata 2
80 GB Sata
Connect3D ATI Radeon X800 GTO

Any inputs appreciated.

 

[Majke]

Hi guys! I'm gonna overclock my VNF4 Ultra and got a question. When enable the PCI-lock, will alla the sata-ports also be locked? I've seen on some MSI-boards that only sata 3-4 is locked, that's why I'm asking, don't want to lose my data. 🙂

 

[redtruck]

I'm not sure if this is the right spot to post this question, but out of the blue I seem to be having some problems with my computer. Stats are:

VNF4 Ultra
2x512 Mushkin Ram
3200+ Winchester
Leadtek 6600GT
Sony DVD drive
NEC 3520A DVD Burner
WD 80 Gig HD

I was going to copy a CD, and as soon as it starts to spin up, the computer reboots. No error, no nothing, just all of a sudden it is restarting. It seems to be somewhat intermittant, as some cds seem to take and others don't. When I go to rip this same cd into iTunes the same thing happens. Any ideas on what could be going wrong? I have never updated my bios (bought the MB back in January) is that something that I need to do? My computer has been awesome so far, but all of a sudden it is giving me problems. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Joel

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: Budman
So guys what's the best bios for this board if you want to overclock?

I just ordered this board and want to know if there's a bios ver better suited to overclocking a venice 3000+.

Answering my own question. 😉


After testing a few bioses including the BFG ones (yes they do work) I found that ver 4.0 is the best for me to OC with.

it's the only one that's allowed me to OC my 3000+ at 9 x 267 = 2.4ghz with 1.45v and it's very stable with this bios while others were not.

tested a lot & played through F.E.A.R and serious Sam 2 and it's all good not one lock-up or anything.

So far i love this board,100X better than that POS MSI Neo4 i had b4.

Link for you MSI!!!

 

[javelin2]

This issue involved a random connection drop by the NIC. It is not software related and is likely a power delivery flaw in the Chaintech design, or possibly a bad capacitor disrupting power somewhere. Who knows. What we do know, is that it is power related, because unpluging the PSU for a few minutes and rebooting the system DOES work. Whats mroe fustrating is not all of these Chaintech VNF4 boards have these issues. My first board, for example, had this problem. My second, however, had an entirely different problem (less severe) and I have YET to find a perfect solution for it.

Originally posted by: Samus
PREFACE



I'm having this seem problem. Any updates? The link is dead.

 

[Undersea]

Javlin,

See this post: http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?p=3644560#post3644560

This is not only a chaintech problem. It seems nvidia and windows don't work together well.

There is a user fix from someone who seems to know his stuff. I've given up on it till nvidia addresses the problem.

PS If you look around all ultra boards seem to have these problems.😉

Budman, come visit if you need more info. Don't use version 5 with a single core it may kill your bios!

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: Undersea

Budman, come visit if you need more info. Don't use version 5 with a single core it may kill your bios!

First thing i do with a new board is flash a spare bios chip i keep stored in a safe place just in case. 😉

I did try ver 5 and flashed using winflash 1.74 with no problem,i flashed the board about 5-6 times using winflash test bioses without incident.

I tried them all even the BFG ones found HERE 0629 and 0719 but for my venice the best bios for me is still ver 4.0.

 

[Undersea]

Budman,

Yea version 4 is the best for me too. I can run 2.6 no problem. I'm not really an overclocker because I don't need the couple of extra seconds but I practice to help people that want too.

http://img436.imageshack.us/my.php?image=oc6fw.jpg

 

[Markfw]

OK, I have bios verion 5 (the latest) and there is no CPU multiplier choice !!! I can change HTT 3x,4x,5x, but not the CPU 8x,9x,10x, etc. Am I stupid ? where is it ?

 

[Undersea]

Markfw900,

A64 are locked upward except FX. You can lower the mult. I'll be right back!

OK Hammer fid control under Feq.

 

[dgood]

since this is the vnf4 chaintech offical page I figure I should do this post here. my problem is I changed my bios to v5 from verion 1 to get the video card and the rest of my system to run smoothly, because lots of things would freeze/hang. now they work great but it also slowed my memory clock to 333 from 400 ( running at 2t don't worry never dreamed of running it at 1t). I am running 4x512mb pc3200 ram (ddr 400) dual channel kit it is patriot signature series ram. ( the cheaper stuff with the ram sinks). now before you say oh its the processor or oh its the mobo. I did on version 1.0 have it running at 2t on 400mhz. so any ideas should I try v. 4? and see if my system is still stable there and running 400mhz? I remember one of the earlier posts on this massive threada said he had 4x512mb running dual channel on a beta bios? don't remember waht page I think 2 or so. thanks in advance. dgood.

 

[Undersea]

You can switch to 400 in bios in freq. control, first line on right hand side. You might only run 333 depending on how many sides of memory you have and what core revision of your chip.

You won't be running 1t with all that memory most likely. Cpme over to PCPer forums, chaintech, for some more help. I don't have that much memory running in my machine but some do!I use version 4 bios.

 

[dgood]

I tried v4 it booted with windows at 400 mhz but would freeze in gaming again I guess I can't run 400mhz 2gb of ddr 400 ram at 2t even with my chipset, guess I'll go back to v5 I saw good results there actually but I'll just be stuck with dual channel at 333mhz when its capapble of 400mhz, or I'll buy a new mobo thats not so crappy as this. I bought the newer core stoo so that I wouldn't have that issue I didn't think. -dgood