DFI nForce4: SLI and Ultra for Mad Overclockers
by Wesley Fink on February 5, 2005 9:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Board Layout: DFI nForce4
Each new generation of DFI motherboards seem to be improving on board design, and the DFI nForce4 boards feature a very functional layout.
The DFI nF4 places the CPU in the top center of the board and DIMMs at the top. This arrangement worked well in our testing and should work better for those who change memory frequently than the crowded right edge location used on most boards.
The ATX 24-pin and the 4-pin 12V connector are in ideal locations on the DFI nF4. The bulky 24-pin ATX is located on the preferred top right edge of the motherboard, and the 4-pin 12V power connector is right beside it. This board-edge location keeps bulky cables away from the CPU and memory.
The CPU socket is in the top center of the board. PCI slots are below the socket and memory is above the CPU. There is plenty of room around the Socket 939, so most Heatsink/Fans should work fine. A Zalman 7000 overhung DIMM slot 4, but it still cleared our stock OCZ memory and dimms could work in all slots.
The IDE connectors are at our preferred upper right edge of the motherboard, and the floppy connector is a board edge connector about right midline of the board. Both locations are nearly ideal and worked well in our testing. If you use a floppy drive, you might want to connect the floppy before screwing down the board, as many mid-tower cases are tight in the area of the floppy connector. Having said that, we would still choose this floppy location any day over the floppy placed at the bottom of the board.
SATA connectors are to the right of the nF4 chipset and the magnetic levitation fan. The fan is low enough for video cards - both ATI and nVidia - to mount properly. We tried both ATI and nVidia top-of-the line cards to make sure.
Most competitive boards with 2 x16 PCIe video slots use a simple card edge selector that is reversed for SLI operation. DFI uses 6 jumper blocks that must all be moved to switch to SLI mode.
DFI also continues CMOS reloaded, which was introduced with the second generation LANParty boards. This feature allows you to save several different custom BIOS set-ups so that you can recall custom BIOS settings easily for a particular overclock or settings for a different OS. Overclockers and users who run multiple operating systems will really find CMOS Reloaded to be a useful feature.
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xsilver - Sunday, February 6, 2005 - link
Is there already performance benchmarks for ATI's SLI option?? -- it would hardly be surprising that it beats nvidia's solution as it is 6months if not a year after (I did read that they were using differing approaches to SLI) -- I was only stressing that if ATI were in the same position nvidia is in now, they would do the same thing of price gouging, stopping such easy mods etc...when ATI's solution comes out nvidia will respond with either lowering their price below ATI or developing their own next gen product -- and the cycle will continue || LATEST = GREATEST - usually :)
bob661 - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
#89They probably wouldn't have bothered if there wasn't so much press about it.
PrinceGaz - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
It's only a few tens of dollars difference between an Ultra and official SLI board, given how much you'd be spending on two high-end graphics-cards if you go SLI, why would you even risk saving a few dollars in the first place and sourcing the bridge afterwards?The only people who are probably bothered about the Ultra to SLI mod being disabled, are those would would never buy two 6800GTs (or better) anyway. Reviews elsewhere have shown a 6800GT outperforms the 6600GT SLI in almost every game, so using SLI for 6600GTs is stupid.
DFI would be fools to allow the Ultra to SLI hack to be continued if as a second-tier mobo manufacturer they expect to continue nVidia supplying them with chipsets. Even considering selling the bridge to Ultra owners struck me as foolish in the extreme for them.
Myself I'll probably get an SLI board even though I'll never use two graphics cards, just because the price difference is so small compared with the other components that go into the system, and a mobo with all the bells and whistles is always nice to have "just in case".
nVidia have made a great chipset in the nForce4, le's not deprive them of the revenue they deserve by not buying SLI boards if that's what you intend to do, or getting a lower cost board if you don't. Everyone who knows they'll never want to use SLI benefits from the price differential which allows Ultra chipsets to be sold slightly cheaper.
Zebo - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
word on the street is buy your ultra board before 2/20 if you want to use Wes' SLI discovery...still does'nt help you find a bridge..xsilver- Bullheads about to beat NF4 like a drum, hold your tounge. I don't blame nvidia but I also belive in the FREEDOM of mobo makers to do what they will with a chipset they purchased...not to be lorded over by nivida on the back end.
erios666 - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
Well, that update freaked me out. Ultra-D on order. ZZF seems to be the cheapest that's in stock. I'm still hoping to be able to play my vids in a surround gaming mode 3840x1024. We'll hafta see.Locut0s - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
It's a disappointment that Nvidia has decided to making modding these boards harder but hardly a surprise. If anything it's surprising they didn't do this earlier.bupkus - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
Competition from ATI is the only answer to this price gouge. Do you remember back before AMD's Athlon when it was just Intel with AMD and Cyrix trailing far behind?xsilver - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
lol -- bullhead will also be bullshit if ATI were in the same position -- nvidia is losing $30 per modded chip -- they want to reduce the possibilities of this --- duh! -- other mods were not 100% guaranteed - eg. opening pipes etc. but this was --Zebo - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
The more I deal with nvidia scum (PVP on my $450 card anyone?) the more I think I'm waiting for bullhead (ati's chipset)..CrystalBay - Saturday, February 5, 2005 - link
Keep up the good work oldman :)Signed another oldman... :0