We've seen a continual progress in the ability to push the FSB on the different 939 boards that we have taken a look at in the past months. Some hit the 250 mark, the Gigabyte hit the high 270s mark and the Soltek K8T90 even managed to push 280. There were many reports that DFI's nForce 3 250Gb board could routinely hit about 300Mhz on the FSB. All of that is nothing though compared to what the nF4 Ultra-D is capable of - it blitzes past the 300 Mhz mark easily. Prime95 would fail within a few minutes at 369 - at 368 it took about 6 hours before an errors showed up. Playing it a bit conservatively, we ended up dropping the FSB down to 365 and the nF4 ran Prime95 for over 48 hours before we concluded that the board and processor were completely stable. We had access to three different processors, all 90nm Winchesters, one would refuse to work at FSB frequencies above 343 while the other two were stonewalled at 368. We had no luck even when raising the chipset and HTT voltages. We cannot conclusively say whether it was the processor or the board that was responsible for the Prime95 errors. What we can say is that we were still able to boot into Windows with a 375Mhz FSB. There is no doubt that the DFI nF4 Ultra will be one of the best, if not the best, board for the hard core overclocker. We touched on the fact that DFI has an unbelievable number of memory options and a great selection of memory dividers both of which will be important for maximizing memory performance at high bus speeds. Those with watercooled or more exotic cooling solution will like the ability to throw up to 2.108v at the processor. Conclusions
The DFI LanParty UT nF4-Ultra-D is going to make some major waves. The board design is top notch - putting the memory above the processor socket is a good idea as there is arguably more airflow there than on the far side of the board. DFI makes a concerted effort to get most of the cabling in a single spot. For those who put value into the aesthetics of their case and boards, the nF4 has a slick color theme that is not overly flashy until the blacklight is turned on at which point all the plastics start to glow. We liked the fact that a PCIe 4x slot was included along with two x16 and a single x1 which provides more flexibility when PCIe expansion cards hit the market en masse. Dual Xpress Graphics is a nice option for those that are not looking for SLI. The second x16 slot seems to have put some constraints on the board design however. The x1 slot is extremely close to the x16 slot and taller cards will block off access to it. DFI has a pretty nifty jumper system to reconfigure the PCIe lanes. I would have preferred that the onboard USB headers were a bit closer to the edge of the board to limit the amount of cabling that needs to run across the board but that is one of the few complaints I have about the design. The nF4 Ultra-D can be modded into a SLI board but the SLI bridge piece cannot be purchased separately and is manufacturer dependant so this may be a tricky route for those looking to save a few bucks.
On the performance side, the nF4 proved to be no slouch and was generally faster than the Gigabyte SLI board that we took a look at earlier. All in all though, most of the K8 boards seem to perform pretty similarly at stock speeds.
While the DFI is a fine choice for people looking for stability at stock speeds - it is the overclocking prowess that will send droves of enthusiasts to this board. DFI has a BIOS that is not likely to be rivaled by any other company in the short term. Memory options can be as simple or complicated as the end user wants, voltages that can definitely break things are available for the more adventurous. DFI has gone all out with the BIOS to allow enthusiasts to maximize the performance of their systems. What can end users expect? How about stable FSB speeds in the 360, 370 range? The nF4 Ultra-D had been delayed a couple times so that DFI could make some last minute component changes and if our sample is any indication, this should be one of the best overclocking mainboards available.
Fast, stable, great looks and phenomenal overclocking abilities are highlights of the LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. It is hard to highlight all the positives about an excellent product without sounding too gushy but the nF4 Ultra-D is just that good. Definitely a must have for anyone serious about overclocking.
DFI nForce4: SLI and Ultra for Mad Overclockers (2005-02-08)