Which DFI 939 board - Expert or CFX3200?

[Draxx]

Will be upgrading to PCI-E at end of month to a Sapphire X1900XT card. I have 2 x 512Mb OCZ BH-6 memory and a 3000+ Venice that I currently run at 2.52GHz.

I need a board that will do my BH-6 justice (unlike my Neo2).

Whats the best board to go for? Expert NF4 or the RD580 CFX3200?

Thanks in advance :toast:

[Laiho]

Hello,

I think the CFX3200 its better for you, but, you know, they is the same ones...

But CFX3200 for the CF.

[gsan]

bh5 not overclockable on expert mobo...

[Draxx]

bh5 not overclockable on expert mobo...

Really? I thought the Expert was more geared to BH-x than TCCD.

I don't know about the RD580...

[pcfreak]

bh5 not overclockable on expert mobo...

where did you get this from? I use tccd on my expert (easy 300, 1-1 with 2.5-4-3-7) but from what i have seen in this forum (and others) expert has problems with tccd and works very well with bh5.
here is a link
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94391&highlight=expert+bh5
(you will find more if you search more)

[kiwi]

bh5 not overclockable on expert mobo...

Why would you say that? :)

I had bh5, ch and bh utt and all worked great :D

[sofarfrome]

The expert is geared toward the BH5/BH6 ICs. I highly recommend the expert for your needs.

[Shift]

I too say the CFX3200 for the CF. You get the x16 modes in CF and it's not a bad board at all,:D I had it

[Sparky]

I see it this way, if you have an ATI card get the crossfire mobo, if you have an nvidia card get the NF4 mobo. That is the reason why I got my A8R32-MVP instead of the A8N-SLI :)

[cky2k6]

have in mind that the cfx3200 uli sata controller is borked. causes the system to freeze up every few hours, not a big deal for me as my raptor is sata 150, but keep that in mind. the sil is much faster than the uli anyways, cause for some odd reason the uli runs in emulated pata mode or some dumb crap like that, the sil is about 35% faster in benches.

[Draxx]

So I'd have trouble with a Seagate SATAII 7200.10 then?

[cky2k6]

a very large amount of users have problems using the uli connector, so yes you wouldnt be able to use your sata II drive fully. however, when i ran my sata II drive, a wd 250, it was around 45mb/s on uli, and 62 mb/s on the sil using the sandra bench. the uli connector has very serious issues and neither dfi nor uli seem to be doing much about it. i wouldnt deter from the cfx3200 though, its a very stable board otherwise, at least in my experience.

[Sparky]

My asus A8R32-MVP uses the ULi SATAII controller and I don't have any trouble :confused: Is it only the DFI board that has trouble with it?

[yaddam205]

CFX3200 for the CF


Agreed

[cadaveca]

CFX3200...5x300HTT. The Expert can't do that.:fact:

[cky2k6]

My asus A8R32-MVP uses the ULi SATAII controller and I don't have any trouble :confused: Is it only the DFI board that has trouble with it?
i think it did have the problem, but it got fixed almost right away... dfi seems to think that their time is too precious to bother fixing a 200+ board.

[The Nemesis]

If your into overclocking and don't mind spending time tweaking & setting up a board DFI rules. I recommend the expert. Its not easy to set up on some memory, I'm having hell getting it to work with some g. skill hz's w/samsung uccc ic's. But I got 297mhz on some TCCD's 7-3-4-2.5 run them @ 290 daily 323HTT *9 2906mhz 9/10 divider. I've had my most stable performance using winbond BH-5 moudules on this board so u can't go wrong there. I'll help you set them up if you need. I don't like the performance of the cfx board in other areas besides sheer overclock, and I already had nvidia based gfx cards.

[Draxx]

I'll take you up on the help Nemesis, thanks :)

I'm swaying back to the Expert now simply because I want full HD performance.

3GHz HT is just as fast as 2GHz HT, so that makes bugger all difference.

[largon]

3GHz HT is just as fast as 2GHz HT, so that makes bugger all difference.The extra throughput of 3GHz HT naturally doesn't make any difference, but the lowered I/O latency might actually show in some benchmarks.
;)

[cadaveca]

small...2-3%, in only some applications.

[Dani]

CFX3200...5x300HTT. The Expert can't do that.:fact:
Hehheh, why not, some Finnish guys has tryed 5x370HTT on EXPERT mobo, I have only tried 5x300 SP32M, not so big deal for me in SuperPI:stick:

[fhpchris]

Not everyone has problems with the ULI controller, almost everyone that does uses WD drives.

Just use the SIL controller....

Get CFX3200 for xfire.

Ive run over 300 2.5-4-3-7 with TCCD, but the board does much better with BH-5

Read EVA's guide.

[cadaveca]

Hehheh, why not, some Finnish guys has tryed 5x370HTT on EXPERT mobo, I have only tried 5x300 SP32M, not so big deal for me in SuperPI:stick:
370x5? That's a big'un. Ideal K8 frequency is 3ghz, imho, so 3ghz LDT just kinda seems right. Would like to see some pics, as I bet it's very rare!

[Eldonko]

Ultra is the best DFI IMO, the expert board I had sucked w/ BH-5.

[gsan]

The expert is geared toward the BH5/BH6 ICs. I highly recommend the expert for your needs.

sound like you are the only one who have luck with bh5 on expert

[Draxx]

sound like you are the only one who have luck with bh5 on expert

Not what I've read and been told. OCZ Tony even says the Expert is geared towards BH memory.

[Draxx]

Not everyone has problems with the ULI controller, almost everyone that does uses WD drives.

Just use the SIL controller....

Get CFX3200 for xfire.

Ive run over 300 2.5-4-3-7 with TCCD, but the board does much better with BH-5

Read EVA's guide.

The Sil controller would not be an option as it does not support SATAII or NCQ.

[gsan]

Not what I've read and been told. OCZ Tony even says the Expert is geared towards BH memory.

to be frankly, my bh5s can did 265 @ 2-2-2-5, 3.64v on ultra-d but since changed to expert, it cant prime stable beyond 250mhz... now i back to ultra-d, able to hit 265 again... :banana:

[Dani]

370x5? That's a big'un. Ideal K8 frequency is 3ghz, imho, so 3ghz LDT just kinda seems right. Would like to see some pics, as I bet it's very rare!
Sorry, no pics about 5x370, it was'nt my test, just an Finnish guy..
..but here is my test, just SP2004 with 5x333HTT, it's done with my aircooled 24/7 rig ;)

5x333HTT (http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20SLI-DR%20EXPERT/Opt144%20CAB1E%200604CPMW/Opt144_5x333HTT_SP2004.gif) with DFI EXPERT, Opt 144 and 2x512mb Winbond BH-5

My EXPERT is best so far with Winbond BH-5, Ultra-D (3pcs) SLI-D (2pcs) and SLI-DR (2pcs) did'nt handle BH-5 so nicely than this EXPERT :fact:

[gsan]

Sorry, no pics about 5x370, it was'nt my test, just an Finnish guy..
..but here is my test, just SP2004 with 5x333HTT, it's done with my aircooled 24/7 rig ;)

5x333HTT (http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20SLI-DR%20EXPERT/Opt144%20CAB1E%200604CPMW/Opt144_5x333HTT_SP2004.gif) with DFI EXPERT, Opt 144 and 2x512mb Winbond BH-5

My EXPERT is best so far with Winbond BH-5, Ultra-D (3pcs) SLI-D (2pcs) and SLI-DR (2pcs) did'nt handle BH-5 so nicely than this EXPERT :fact:

what's the highest memory frequency u can archived with prime stable on expert?

[Dani]

I dont know, have not tested..
SP32M around 280FSB 1:1 with tight timings

This DFI EXPERT 24/7 rig is just perfect to me, Winbond BH-5 2x512mb 250FSB tight @ 3.41V and Opt 144 3GHz @ 1.37V, TT BigTyphoon at silence mode ;)

I just noticed I have 1.39V to CPU, most take it down to 1.37V :p:

24/7 setup (http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20SLI-DR%20EXPERT/Opt144%20CAB1E%200604CPMW/Opt144_3GHz_SP2004_1.37V_AIR_+16h.gif)

[OnLine]

Agreed - DFI Expert is crap for BH-5 mem.
Big disappointment when compared to the old DFI LP UT NF3 250GB which did 270[+]MHz easily.

$280 piece of crap :banana: :banana: :banana: , should have gone DFI ULTRA-D instead ...

Dani; ss of your "SP32M around 280FSB 1:1" thanks! :D

:slapass:

[Dani]

Dani; ss of your "SP32M around 280FSB 1:1" thanks! :D

:slapass:
Ok, it's "only" 276FSB with 2x256mb, it's not with Ultra-D, it's with EXPERT;)
Oh, that was AIRCOOLED too, ambient -3'C and TT BT cooler :toast:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20Ultra-D/Opteron%20146/146_0540FPBW_SP32M_3315MHz_22m06s_1.7V_AIR.gif

[OnLine]

Ok, it's "only" 276FSB with 2x256mb, it's not with Ultra-D, it's with EXPERT;)
Oh, that was AIRCOOLED too, ambient -3'C and TT BT cooler :toast:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20Ultra-D/Opteron%20146/146_0540FPBW_SP32M_3315MHz_22m06s_1.7V_AIR.gif

Thanks Dani!

That's nice :), such a shame 2x512MB BH-5 won't work properly with this board.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/7687/superpi32m11x258dd3.jpg

The highest stable BH-5 mem speed I got out of this :slapass: mobo.
258-260 1:1. Nothing to write home about.

:)

[Draxx]

I take it your using active cooling on the BH-5~6 for these clocks?

Still unsure as some people say BH rocks on Expert and some say it doesnt, to me this says that some people can set the board up better than others.

Then again DFIs are renound for being pigs to set up lol

[Dani]

Thanks Dani!

That's nice :), such a shame 2x512MB BH-5 won't work properly with this board.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/7687/superpi32m11x258dd3.jpg

The highest stable BH-5 mem speed I got out of this :slapass: mobo.
258-260 1:1. Nothing to write home about.

:)
Thanks OnLine!

Here is my 2x512mb BH-5 on EXPERT, cold AIR boosted:cool:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20SLI-DR%20EXPERT/2x512mb_BH-5_11x270FSB_SP8M.gif

[OnLine]

I take it your using active cooling on the BH-5~6 for these clocks?

Still unsure as some people say BH rocks on Expert and some say it doesnt, to me this says that some people can set the board up better than others.

Then again DFIs are renound for being pigs to set up lol

Cooling? :confused: :confused: :confused:


I'm not (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8910874) a newbie.
I've yet to see anyone getting 2x512MB BH-5 stable on this mobo beyond 260MHz.

Maybe I hold the WR!? :p: Edit, no I don't - damn You Dani! I guess I need to cold air boost my BH-5 sticks lol. DFI NF3 mobo never needed that. :)

[Eldonko]

Expert could only clock my BH-5 to 260 at the most, where Ultra did 268Mhz. The boards are kinda hit and miss though, some expert are ok w/ bh-5.

[Dani]

Maybe I hold the WR!? :p: Edit, no I don't - damn You Dani! I guess I need to cold air boost my BH-5 sticks lol. DFI NF3 mobo never needed that. :)
:D
Cold AIR helped me about 3FSB, not more...

Here is some Prime95+2x256mb with EXPERT & TT BT:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20Ultra-D/FX-57/FX57_3106MHz_1.56Vcore_Prime95_+22h_AIR.gif

[gsan]

sorry double post...

[gsan]

2x512MB BH5s on NF4 Ultra-D

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/349/265lx2.th.jpg (http://img130.imageshack.us/my.php?image=265lx2.jpg)

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/6269/260stableiz5.th.jpg (http://img130.imageshack.us/my.php?image=260stableiz5.jpg)

2x512MB BH5s on NF4 Expert

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7365/expert3ml9.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=expert3ml9.jpg)

any frequency above 250 will lead to prime & 32M failed no matter what vdimm & timing.

[Draxx]

Well I've just spoken to Tony from OCZ and he says 100% Expert.

[gsan]

Well I've just spoken to Tony from OCZ and he says 100% Expert.

He also told me like that before. But when I owned the expert, I really cannot hit above 250 @ 2-2-2-5 prime stable no matter what vdimm or alpha timing setting.

[Draxx]

I think it must differ from board to board.

[szukalski]

Shouldn't this tell you a few things?
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62056

[Draxx]

Cool :)

[Dani]

Tested my EXPERT and 2x512mb BH-5 with Prime95...

Few thing's is very odd:
355x9=3195MHz Prime95 with MEM@228FSB for several hours ok
355x8=2840MHz Prime95 with MEM@258FSB +3h ok
355x9=3195MHz Prime95 with MEM@258FSB error after 3-4min.:stick:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/dani69/DFI%20nForce4%20SLI-DR%20EXPERT/Opt144_2x512mb_258FSB_Prime95_+3h.gif