Verdict is in on the DFI SLI-D

[housecat]

Much better board than the Asus A8N SLI Deluxe I had previously.

Stable as a rock, I dont see this thing being topped by any of the current boards.

Karajan is cool but needed to reroute my front port audio cables to use it.. they need to put that thing on a PCI slot card IMO.

pics of rig
http://home.mchsi.com/~mwkinney/

 

[FastEddie]

Finally some joy at housecat land.

Good to see you up and running.

 

[housecat]

yes it runs very well. no complaints.


i did need to update the bios first thing though.

and had some probs with interference on my front port audio cables (another reason it should be on a PCI card so you can not only reach it without rewiring the case, but also to avoid the PSU more)

all in all, a worthy upgrade i believe

and a little cleaner wiring if you noticed the pic

before it was a firetrap

 

[FastEddie]

and had some probs with interference on my front port audio cables

Check the ground at the outlet you have your system plugged into. You could be picking up "noise" from an appliance in your house if the ac line isn't dedicated.

DFI has it "right" when it comes to the enthusiast market---the little extras like the Karajan module is a major improvement to the standard onboard audio. Probrably cost all of a few bux to implement too.

 

[housecat]

no it was coming from being next to the PSU, i moved it south a bit and it was fine

basically going from this http://home.mchsi.com/~mwkinney/wiringclose.jpg

to this http://home.mchsi.com/~mwkinney/dfi.jpg

made a world of difference. it was watery sounding, things were cutting out. it was strange.


i checked the grounds when we moved here.. its all fine. but i dont know if its dedicated or not.

I'm on a APC Back-UPS Office280 "powerstrip" (if you can even call it that).
But I could use my monstercable powerstrip, it supposedly cleans the power thats going to my TV ect.
maybe it would be useful on the PC.





on karajan, they really need to move it south on the board. they took the audio chip off the board, which is good.. but most ppl are too lazy to rerun their front port audio cables north like i did. a pci slot instead, even tho it takes a pci slot would be better for cabling and for whatever was causing my interference

 

[garikfox]

I agree also this MB is way better then the A8N-SLI-DLX

 

[imported_llama]

its probs the best overclockers board and i havent heard anything bad apart from some of the packaging is poor (as in boards arrive damaged) but they seem solid

EDIT, Hi Garik!!!! its Gilly from nForcers, didnt know you retreated here too!

 

[garikfox]

Originally posted by: llama
its probs the best overclockers board and i havent heard anything bad apart from some of the packaging is poor (as in boards arrive damaged) but they seem solid

EDIT, Hi Garik!!!! its Gilly from nForcers, didnt know you retreated here too!

LoL @ Gilly

 

[Solema]

I think I am sold on this board. I can get the SLI-DR (full version, not UT) for $229 at MicroCenter down the street, so I think I will get it there. That way if there's a problem with it I can swap it for another one same-day. Now I just wish I could get my hands on a Venice chip!

Anyone want to buy an A8N-SLI Deluxe with a 3200+ Winchester combo?

 

[iamauser]

Thanks for those pics, housecat. I've been trying to figure out, without success after a couple of tries, how to use those wee hanging-off-the-main-plug miniplugs to wire up the front of my case, 'cause the wire is just a little bit too short. I'll be trying it again tonight, with your pic in hand.

 

[Rodamus]

Nice pics!

Love the cats!

 

[housecat]

Originally posted by: iamauser
Thanks for those pics, housecat. I've been trying to figure out, without success after a couple of tries, how to use those wee hanging-off-the-main-plug miniplugs to wire up the front of my case, 'cause the wire is just a little bit too short. I'll be trying it again tonight, with your pic in hand.

I had to take the front case bezel off and rerun the front port wires. On mine there were six screws holding the front piece on, once i pulled that off, there was the main unit where the front port audio/USB came too.
I just pulling the front audio wire to the front, and ran it a different way. As you can see, I just went out the middle.
On the first try I ran it to the top where the CDROM drive is and I got alot of interference. I did that to keep the case wiring looking nicer.

 

[imported_llama]

nice rig pics! is that some HD515 Sennheisers i see?! they are great use them for PC and they seriously kill anything else i have seen

what is the Dell screen like for gaming (im sure you do this now and then )

 

[housecat]

they are sennheiser pc150s. headset/mic
they are great, i tried some hd497s but did not like them as much.. no mic and alot less bass. But better high end.

But for games, I preferred teh PC150s.

The dell is great, I use it for constant CSS, and WoW. Right now thats all I have installed besides UT04 which I dont play much anymore.
I wouldnt trade the screen for anything, the part I love the most is the widescreen aspect ratio.

Heres the difference, scroll about halfway down and look at what you can see onscreen from both screenshots:
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=49242

Nice huh? It works in widescreen under Warcraft too. You can see alot more on the sides and same horizontally.

my wife wants my screen so I'm goign to give it to her and get a dell 2405 when they go on sale again.
as far as ghosting and stuff, I cant see any myself, neither can my wife.

If you get a new monitor anytime soon, I'd recommend a widescreen. Either CRT or LCD, whichever your preference.. but I'm totally sold on it for gaming!

Most of the new games support it natively, UT04/HL2/WoW ect.