"Official" DFI nF4 Ultra-D / SLI-DR Thread

[rise]

i've never flashed that way but that certainly isn't normal. i'd reflash it.

i didn't realize the 6.23 wrnt official, nice. may try them sometime.

 

[ruffilb]

I know this has been said before, but a zalman 7700 Does fit, and with relative ease. However, you must place the ram modules down BEFORE you put in the heatsink, and I don't think it's possible to remove the ram modules w/o taking off or loosening the heatsink.

 

[astrophysics]

An update... i reflashed my bios to the 3/20?? version but this time i updated bootblock/mainblock/ and DMI.. So far the gradiant bar issue has not appeared...

 

[Munky]

I just joined the A64/DFI/OCZ club too, yesterday. Got the board from monarch in a combo, everything is in good shape, they even installed a cooler when I didnt ask for one. Thats too bad, because I replaced it anyway with a zalman 7000. So far I'm fairly impressed with the board, it has such astronomical limits, I dont even know how far to push it - it booted up at 320 fsb at stock voltage!

Anyway I got a few questions:

1. I'm using a usb kbd/mouse, and although they work fine in bios, Windoze will not recognize my mouse and kbd. Anyway to fix this? I tried enabling/disabling usb kbd support in the bios, makes no difference. Do I need to switch the usb jumper? I think there's 2 of those jumpers, I'm not sure which one to switch.

2. I have 2x512 OCZ vx gold pc4000 ram, and it passed memtest at 400mhz with 3.2v. I plan to run it at about 500-533mhz, and I was thinking of increasing the 3.3v rail on my PSU in case the ram needs more juice. Is there anything else that uses the 3.3v line, because I know the ram can handle it, but I don't want to damage anything else.

3. I'm running at 2-2-2-7 timings and all the other mem settings are at auto/default state. Should I tweak any other settings, or do just leave them?

 

[rise]

welcome aboard munky

for starters, which bios did monarch put on for you?

some of the bios rev.s fixed the usb kb/mouse problems but i don't use it so i really can't help you there. it maybe as simple as a jumper but i'll have to check the manual.

i know the sata hdds have a 3.3v line. i don't think you have anything to worry about unless you are modding your psu to provide more than 3.3v from the 3.3v line. i mean, if the hdd has a 3.3v line its expecting 3.3v

some of the best ocs are done just as yours is. my first winny oc was using 2.5-3-3-7 and everthing else on auto. one thing you'll notice is synthetic benches will suffer a bit but i don't think you'll see much real world difference.

for instance, when i memtest at say 2.5-3-3-8 with everything on auto and then switch to my "dialed in" 2.5-3-3-8 timings and memtest, i see a difference in memory bandwith. i wouldn't imagine it translate into large realworld performance hits.

i usually load all auto settings, reboot and run a64tweaker to see how the cpu/spd are playing together. i jot down all the timings and dial them into bios. then i tweak from those settings. i try to leave tref on auto unless i need. i think from tcl to trwt make the biggest differences for me with stabilty/performance.

also, if you haven't seen it, check this out-
http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11397

 

[Munky]

Ok, thanks for the link. I'm using the 3/10 bios, I haven't checked yet if a newer one fixes some issues, I'll give it a try. I have an OCZ Powerstream PSU with adjustable voltage rails, and I'm thinking about increasing the 3.3v a little if the vx memory needs more voltage, I'm kinda hesitant to run it on a 5v line.

 

[rise]

do a search on extreme systems. you'll find plenty doing that over there. i have low voltage ram so i never concerned myself with it much.

 

[vanvock]

Try jumpers 5 & 6 on 5VSB your power supply should be up to it. That's pins 2 & 3.

 

[Munky]

OK, the usb problem is solved, I just needed to use a regular mouse/kbd to let Windoze finish installing some drivers. No other problems with the board.

 

[CheesePoofs]

I installed a new XP-90 on my winny a few weeks ago, and now that the AS5 has had time to settle in, I'm ready to work on improving my overclock (currently 2412mhz).

What would be a good bios to use (right now I'm on 3/10)? I dont' mind using a beta bios, but I want to make sure its a beta bios that won't cause any major issues. I've got Corsair Value Select for ram, if that matters.

 

[rise]

i like the 5.10-2, i've been using them for about a month since changing off 3.10.

the 6.23, which are based on the 5.10's, is now official so you matters well try them. i'll probably try them some day.

 

[pelikan]

Just got my Ultra-D a few days ago. I really like the control the bios gives you. I was nervous about setting it up because of so many people complaining about it. But the only difficulty I had was that it took me a little while to figure out that I had a very old bios (1.25) and needed a newer one for XP to get along with my San Diego.

Tweaking memory with this board is a blast. I'm having to learn quite a bit as there are about 20 settings I've never seen before.

Here's my 3700 SD and Crucial 8T: screenshot

 

[Zebo]

:thumbsup: Nice OC Pelikan.. Still kickin it with crucial 8T.

 

[pelikan]

Thanks. Yes, this 8T stuff has been good to me for a pretty long time now.

I'm going to work on the cpu now to see what it can do. It may have a little more in it. A guy at AMDMB sold me the cpu and mb for $200. shipped. He was trying for 290 x 10 1:1 and got sick of borking his windows install. I guess he got frustrated enough to just want to get rid of it.

 

[Zebo]

HS! That less than half price! How'd you snap that deal up via PM?

 

[pelikan]

Yeah, via PM. He mentioned that he was going to sell it in a "DFI issues" thread. I PMed him and about a month later he replied and offered to sell the cpu for $200. and give me the refurb motherboard free.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Wow, thats an amazing deal. Nice OC too!

Just out of curiosity, how is it that you go about learning what all the extra memory settings do? As in, do you just change them and see what they do or go to some sight and read about them? I havent' seen most of them before, and so I have no idea what they do, but I'm curious to find out.

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
Just out of curiosity, how is it that you go about learning what all the extra memory settings do? As in, do you just change them and see what they do or go to some sight and read about them? I havent' seen most of them before, and so I have no idea what they do, but I'm curious to find out.

I read about the timings. Then I started trying them out by setting them in bios and booting into memtest86 test 5. If test 5 passes then windows won't get screwed up. If it would pass test 5 then I go into windows and run super pi with the three digit mod to see what effect the timings have. Once I know which timings pass test 5 then I use A64 Tweaker to adjust them so I don't have to go into bios all the time.

Here's some of the links I used:

eva2000 A64 o/c guide: links to download things like A64 Tweaker and modded super pi.

DFI Street memory settings explanation.

OCZ support forum: here are specific timings that work for different kinds of memory. If you know the kind of chips your memory has, it doesn't matter much if its OCZ brand or not.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Thanks for all the links! Looks like I've got some reading to do.

 

[pelikan]

NP. Have fun.

 

[CheesePoofs]

I was just opening up my computer, looking around and cleaning it out. I took the ram out and started it a few times with the HD's unplugged (but the ram in) to see where which fans were making this somewhat high pitched noise I've been hearing.

Anyways, when I packed my computer back up and fired it up, I got this message on the first screen (where it says hit del to enter bios):
"Warning! System is now in Safe Mode.
Please re-setting CPU frequency in CMOS setup." (yes, it said "re-setting")
So I went into the bios and saved and exited (without savign anything) and it booted fine, but I'm still wondering what caused this. I'm on the official 6/23 bios.

 

[rise]

a64 tweaker always kills me. actually i only tried it twice and it froze me up bth times so i never went back to it. it looks like they have a newer version though. maybe i'll try it again.

 

[Hacp]

I had troubles ocing my ram with 6/23-2. It would not get past 235 with 3.2 volts. I could previously get 240 with 3.2. I went back to 6/18 and it hits 240 again at 3.2.

 

[nealh]

will this ram work for modest overclock or even stock speeds

OCZ Performance Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Copper Heatspreader Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
Model #: OCZ4001024PFDC-K

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr_pc_3200_rev_3_dual_channel

is this ram alot better
OCZ Gold Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Gold Mirrored Copper Heatspreader Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
Model #: OCZ25331024ELDCGE-K
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_4200_gold_dual_channel

thanks

 

[rise]

option 1 is fine, option 2 is ddr2 which won't fit, you need regular ddr 184 pin.