A nice touch on the driver CD are recent drivers for both NVIDIA and ATI cards, .NET 1.1 for Catalyst Control Center users and DX9c. Sure beats redownloading this stuff everytime a format comes around.

The Board

The nF4 board looks great. The board itself is decidedly enthusiast oriented with the black, yellow and orange color scheme, it does not feel over the top. The color scheme feels more lively than the Kawasaki green used on the nF2 Ultra II board. Though color preferences are highly subjective, I think that most enthusiasts will like what DFI has done with the nF4. It is not as gaudy as Gigabyte boards and I prefer it over Soltek's purple. DFI has kept up with the enthusiast / modder philosophy as all the plastics and the cabling are UV reflective.

DFI does a good job on the board layout and it is obvious they put a lot of thought into it but it is not perfect and we do have some gripes. The DIMM slots are at the top of the board, like the MSI K8N Neo board we took a look at last year. The both the ATX and the 12v power connection sit beside each other on the right edge of the board which should make things easier for those who are sticklers are cable cleanliness. The ATX connector is actually a BTX style connector with the 4 extra pins. The nF4 Ultra-D require an additional molex connector to be plugged in for even more juice and is located further down the board, above the fan that covers the MCP. Though this is a bit out of the way it is not horribly places as it resides between the PATA and SATA ports so the molex can be bundled with some of those cables.

The expansion header placement could use a bit of work. The firewire headers are located just below the back panel near the edge of the board. The placement there is not the most ideal as it may be competing for space with the PCIe slots on the back of the case. The headers for the USB ports are beside the first classic PCI slot. It would be better if they were closer to the edge of the board so cabling can be a bit cleaner.

The single x1 PCIe slot is sandwiched between the two x16 slots which is similar to what the Gigabyte nForce 4 SLI also does. There is very little clearance with a fairly low profile single slot card like the 6600GT and the expansion slot is a write off with any sort of taller card. It is probably not too feasible from the economics side to lengthen the board, but with the extra x16 port, there is definitely some compromise for the x1 slot placement.

Because enthusiasts like their fans, DFI has included not one but five fan headers scattered around the board. LED diagnostic readouts are available in the corner of the board. While they do their job adequately, I've really grown to like the numbered readout found on the Soltek FGR and EpoX boards. One awesome feature is the built in power button and reset switches located by the front panel connectors. For the tinkerer it sure beats shorting out the front panel leads. The DR versions of the nF4 boards also come with an extra four SATA ports courtesy of a Sil3114 controller. The markings and chip position are outlined on the board but none of the connectors are present on the Ultra-D revision.

The MCP fan unit is also of note. DFI specifically mentioned this in their PR material. The fan is neither a sleeve or ball bearing fan like most but is a mag lev fan. DFI makes several claims about this fan

• it lasts longer due to the lack of the ball bearing / sleeve mechanism so there is no mechanical wear and tear
• it is quieter as there is no friction like a ball bearing fan
• it is more efficient at moving air
• it is a lot more expensive than a regular fan

The longevity issue is something of note. Too often do manufacturers put junk fans on motherboards that break within months and make a huge racket. It would be interesting to visit this issue again a few months down the road and see how well it has held up.