DFI LANParty UT NF680i LT SLI-T2R - Mini-Review

[Pedro Rocha]

This was surely one of most wished motherboard in the industry.

After I saw the small booth of DFI in Cebit I have serious doubts that DFI can even produce and market this board to attend enthusiasts demand.

But now the wait is over, and the 680i mobo from DFI finally arrived at the shelfs.

As some of you may know, I’m long time DFI Lanparty fan, I use a socket 939 DFI Lanparty to break the AMD 4Ghz barrier with my friend Ricky.

I still have a few 939's DFI Lanparty fully operational here, waiting that have time to mount it with PC’s to offer my nephews.

Lanparty DFI motherboards differentiate from others by the following:
- 1st - they are aimed for enthusiasts
- 2nd - good layout and design (although I’m not a big fan of neons)
- 3rd . for me the most important thing is the BIOS – very complete, with a lot of options that are not generally available in other motherboard (tweaking is one of my favourite games)
- 4 - they are not for newbies – particulary this one with his “suicide” range of voltages and very obscure options very "experts" oriented

As usual in my mini-reviews, I cut the crap (features, nice photos ..bla bla) and go to thing everyone want to know here: Overclocking and OCers Gaming (3DMark:rofl: )

Here at DFI you can read more detailed information on features http://us.dfi.com.tw/Press/press_header_content_us.jsp?PAGE_TYPE=US&TITLE_ID=8334&LINKED_URL=arch457.jsp&SITE=US

Based on the Nvidia 680i chipset they are not a motherboard for high FSB maniacs (600 or more) but I already see very good results here, special from our friend VitorWang that run a dual prime in a Core2D (E6700) at 533 de FSB which is remarkable for a 680i – see http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=144585

So my question: is this the best 680i on the market?

I will try to answer that question.

1st advice: be very careful on mounting the northbridge cooler – DFI put a large sticker say something like this “if you broke it with bad mounting, warranty may not cover the damages caused on the motherboard” – I doubt it is completely legal for a consumer product, but the board came from China: the future leaders of world (sorry US citzens) so who cares about consumer protection laws ..this is a board for experts, if you dont know how to mount a fragile NB cooler better buy an Apple :D

2nd advice: obviously upgrade the bios. Go to this site http://www.lejabeach.com/DFI/dfilpnf680i/ – Attention Beta Bios are different for Dual and Quad Cores – so pay attention before upgrade the bios.


In the 1st part of this mini-review I used my m QX6700 – Quad Core – because of the following reasons:
1st. – I’m chasing the best mobo for Quad Core im SLI in my twin 8800 Ultras - hello, hello 3Dmark2006 Game :D
2nd – In July Q6600 will drop price a lot and gonna be “mainstream”;
3rd – Overclocking a Quad Core is always more challenging, and I like chanllages..

Here is the photo of the setup used

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/Dfi680i_aAr.jpg

- QX6700 retail
- Corsair 6400C3
- Tagan 900W
- EVGA 8800 ultra
- Tuniq tower

Ambient temp here was around 26ºC

As you can see mounting a TuniqTower it is not an easy task, and due to its large size may difficult the air flow on the NB cooler and on the voltage regulators (on the front of the CPU on this photo).

In relation to Bios settings I used most of VitorWang settiings the he describe very well (nice job my friend and case study;) ) in this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=144585

I’m sure VictorWang does not oppose if I reproduce here this very well explained screen - very nice work Victor :up:

http://vic.expreview.com/attachment/1179510026_0.jpg

Before some results, where are the chipset information detailed on Everest

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_ChipsetInfo.jpg

Did you like this 3-3-3-3 1T – I like it, a lot .. seems DDR1 but is DDR2

In this aspect (low latencies) I have a feeling that this mobo may crush the competition, so it may very soon to my mini-cascade to play my favourite Game (3DMark2001 of course) that loves 1T and low latency

And now the usual 4 simultaneous SuperPIs

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_QX6700_3700_3-3-3-1T.jpg

With just 1.45v on core and silent air cooling i tis not to bad

Sorry about the size of the screen, but I want to demonstrate that the CPU Temps read on SmartGuardinan are to high compared Everest and CoreTemp.

I really don’t care which temps are more accurate, as long the rig is fully stable.


And now the very demanding CineBench with a very nice score for that low speed : 11 seconds.

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_QX6700_3727_CineBench.jpg

And finally my favorite game, althought with a single stock card and a freshly instaled HD with no special tweaks

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_70K2001_QX6700_3700.jpg

In the next days I will show you some DualCore results and more considerations on this very nice mobo.

I will also put this one the mini-cascade, to play my favourite game at decent CPU speed (near 5Ghz with a X6800)

This is mobo will go definitively in my collection. Less 250€ in my bank account, a bit expensive but there are other sports more expensive and more prejudicial to my healt (cars and nightlife with a lot of alcohol for example).

I hope you enjoy reading this 1st part of the mini-review, I really enjoy and have fun in these first 2 hours of testing the board.

And, in the end, that’s the most important part of it (much more than scores) have fun and not stress too much.

This is Pedro Rocha over and out.
:toast:

[Pedro Rocha]

OK, here starts the 2nd part of this mini-review, dedicated for Core2Duo results

First the usual photo of the setup

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/FotoCoolerDigitalPWM.jpg

If you look close, I put a small 40mm fan pointed to the Digital PWR.

I strongly recomend you do this for serious OC, specially with Quad Cores that really put that are quite hot (not so hot as the P35 mobos), but anyway quite hot. Having active cooling on that area may be the key for more stability with overclock systems.


The motherboard boot very easy at 500FSB with the X6800, but for now I will concentrate with results with memory at 1:1 3-3-3...1T, because is usualy the best for my favorite game :)

And here are some results with X6800 air cooled (Tuniq of course):

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_X6800_3780_1_1_333_1T.jpg

I must say that I'm really impressed with the bandwith / perfomace of the memory at 3-3-3..1T, but at suchh low speed: 420Mhz

Of course this reflects on the results of my favorite game..:yepp:

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_X6800_73176_3Dmark01.jpg

Will continue this weekend the Dual Core results...

[itznfb]

nice... typical LP bios mem settings?

[virtualrain]

Hey nice mini review. 412x9 is a great OC on a quad...

Can you share your GTL settings? What about voltages?

In my experience getting this board and a quad PRIME stable is a real challenge... have you tried for PRIME stability? What is your experience?

BTW, for others interested in this board, there is a wealth of info available via these links...


A list of tips, tricks and known issues with the DFI NF680i LT board on my blog...

http://virtualrain.blogspot.com/2007/05/dfi-nf680i-lt-tips-tricks-and-known.html

Many XS members interested in this board are also familiar with these key threads...

[First Look] DFI 680i LT NF-680i LT SLI (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=139778)

DFI LAN Party UT NF680I LT SLI-T2R 1T 3d benching (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=143120)

DFI LP UT NF680i LT SLI-T2R nears completion (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=137410)

Victor Wang's Overclocking with DFI NF680i LT (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=144585)

Windwithme's Memory Overclocking Thread (The motherboard that breaks the limitation of memory:DFI LANParty NF680I LT SLI-T2R)

And of course, the wealth of information available at the DFI Club Forums (http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=56).

[erwinz]

very nice review.. :)

subscribed.. :)

:woot:

[Borgod]

Good review and awesome results :)

I'm also interested in your GTL and voltage settings ;)

[Pedro Rocha]

Well I did not change the GTL settings yet, so use the default:
- CPU GTL1 - 140
- CPU GTLL 0/2/3 - 75
- NB GTL Ref volt - 75

Other voltages: more or less the voltages recommended by VictorWang, just a bit more on LDT e VTT voltage.

With these settings here is the max FSB stable I can get with my retail QX6700

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_QX6700_460FSB.jpg

---------------------------- Begin of Hipro5 style ---------------------

460MHz FSB for a Quad Core in a NForce 680i mobo it is quite nice ;)

Also really like the 1T setting in DDR 1000+ no other board I tested can do this ..nice work DFI :up:

---------------------------- End of Hipro5 style -----------------------

:rofl:

[-Acid-]

wow nice stats Pedro
how about some mem bandwith shots at T1

subscribed

[virtualrain]

How about PRIME stability? I found this board can be stable enough to run SuperPI but not be PRIME stable at all.

[Pedro Rocha]

If you guys insist I can try some quad cores primes, BUT (and that's a big but) I do not understand why some of you guys are so blinded with Prime.:confused: :confused:

Is there any real life application / game / benchmark that put some much stress on the components as prime?? I don't think so

I do overclocking for near a decade and I always follow the 10 - 15% rule for 24/7 use and I never had stability problems.

For instance if I had a CPU that run most of the benchs (superpi / 3mark, etc) at 4.000Mhz, for daily usage I always run it wih less 10 to 15% of the max OC, more or less 3.500Mhz in this case.

Please do not flame this, it is just my opinion. I respect others opinions, if you consider a system stable only if passes a 100% stress prime it's ok - use it and stress it..

The most important thing in OC it is not to have stress (prime or other) but have fun a enjoy your system :D

[SafeFire]

Nice job on the review, good to see somebody doing some good testing on this board. I'm looking at purchasing this board before long, but I have yet to see it show up in any danish shops :(

Also, I'm quite jealous of that psu of yours, damn heavy equipment you've got there, 9000 Watts and all :p

[Borgod]

Fair enough Pedro, I partially agree with you. :)

[virtualrain]

Moved to proper thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=146441

[Pedro Rocha]

A very strange problem happend, suddenly the board stops to post any overclock, after a few minutes I discover that the problem is the VDim that stay at 1.36 no matter what value I select in the bios.

EDIT: OK, FIXED: If this problem happend you should:
- Remove batery for a few hours
- Reflash the bios

[Apollonas]

If you guys insist I can try some quad cores primes, BUT (and that's a big but) I do not understand why some of you guys are so blinded with Prime.:confused: :confused:

Is there any real life application / game / benchmark that put some much stress on the components as prime?? I don't think so :D

Yes, there are application like cinema 4d and other 3D creating programs that stress the components like prime and for more than just 8 hours.


Bad news, seems the review have to stop:(

A very strange problem happend, suddenly the board stops to post any overclock, after a few minutes I discover that the problem is the VDim that stay at 1.36 no matter what value I select in the bios.

Thats too bad:(
Have you tried to remove the battery and leave for some hours perhaps it might come back.

[Gothic]

Early BIOS? At DFIs official webiste all I can see is the initial release...

But at the Beta site I see a lot of BIOSes

- 4CTST521 - 2007/05/21 - http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/4CTST521.zip

Major Reasons of Change:
1.Fixed Core Multi-Processing function fail issue on Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 /X6800 CPUs.
2.For Intel Core 2 Quad ,Intel Core 2 Extreme & X6800 CPUs only.


- 2CTST521 - 2007/05/21 - http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/2CTST521.zip

Major Reasons of Change:
For Intel Core 2 Duo & Q6600 CPUs only.


- 4CTST504 - 2007/05/04 - http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/4CTST504.zip

Major Reasons of Change:
1.Fixed CPU Bselect can’t set to Auto mode with E6750(FSB 1333MHz) CPU.
2.DRAM Voltage will be selected on 3.04V when doing the load last bootable setting.
3.Fixed CPU Fan speed control.
4.Fixed DRAM speed can’t over 1100MHz at unlink mode.
5.For Intel Core 2 Quad CPU only.


- 2CTST504 - 2007/05/04 - http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/2CTST504.zip

Major Reasons of Change:
1.Added “CPU Clock Ratio Unlock” in BIOS .
2.Fixed CPU Bselect can’t set to Auto mode with E6750(FSB 1333MHz) CPU.
3.DRAM Voltage will be selected on 3.04V when doing the load last bootable setting.
4.Fixed CPU Fan speed control.
5.Fixed DRAM speed can’t over 1100MHz at unlink mode.
6.For Intel Core 2 Duo CPU only.


- QX67TEST - 2007/04/24 - http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/QX67TEST.zip

Major Reasons of Change:
1. Modify Dynamic ROMSIP Table.
2. Enhance OC function for Intel® Core™2 Quad processor .


-----------------------------------

Interesting way to work those tweaked-to-the-bone BIOS, specific for Dual and QuadCore CPUs... although a bit annoying...

Noticed the 3.04v VDimm after load last bootable?? Some DDR1 can handle it... lol

[shimmishim]

nice start.

i'm surprised no one has commented on pedro's 9000 watt Tagan psu :D

i'm sure it's a typo but who knows... wouldn't be surprised if they sent him a prototype PSU :)

[Pedro Rocha]

Problem fixed

Flashed 4CTST521 - 2007/05/21

Been playing with memory timmings and here is something quite nice:

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_QX6700_3970_3-3-3-1T.jpg

433Mhz @ 3-3-3-3-3-16-3-6-3 1T

I really love these DDR2 very tight timmings with 1T and I suspect my favorite game (3dmark 2001) also gonna love it :D

More to come in this weekend ..

[Pedro Rocha]

nice start.

i'm surprised no one has commented on pedro's 9000 watt Tagan psu :D

i'm sure it's a typo but who knows... wouldn't be surprised if they sent him a prototype PSU :)

:rofl: :rofl:

I wish, my twins 8800 ultras will love that power

Fixed the typo . thank you :yepp:

[hipro5]

---------------------------- Begin of Hipro5 style ---------------------

460MHz FSB for a Quad Core in a NForce 680i mobo it is quite nice ;)

Also really like the 1T setting in DDR 1000+ no other board I tested can do this ..nice work DFI :up:

---------------------------- End of Hipro5 style -----------------------

:rofl:

:ROTF: :D

Nice work as always my friend... :)

[erwinz]

very nice DFI mobo.. :) a little late.. but its ok.. ;)

[railmeat]

Edit for Stability issues: read the proper thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=146441

nice review btw:up: but sorry 1 gig of ram is not mainstream,2 gigs is........1 gig is good for showing quick benches but try to run a nice 2 gig kit.

[revenant]

if it wasn't for the uber crappy placement of the pci-e 1x slot I'd be all over this board.. grrrrr.. I love my rocketraid card tho..

[Pedro Rocha]

"
nice review btw:up: but sorry 1 gig of ram is not mainstream,2 gigs is........1 gig is good for showing quick benches but try to run a nice 2 gig kit.


CPU-z error .. all test with 2x1GB Corsair 6400C3

Plese don't start a discussion on stability, anyone is free to have their opinions ..besides this is for benching, for 24/7 I use noiseless system with very low OC (E6700 at only 3.4 with 1.35v) is more than enought for me.

[fhpchris]

Moved to proper thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=146441

[Raja@ASUS]

Moved to proper thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=146441

[Pedro Rocha]

Sorry, but no more dicussions about stability / stress prime will be allowed in this thread or other thread in XS Reviews

For those you want dicuss what is stable system and if stress prime is the best method I create this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=146441 on XOC Q&A, please express your opinions there.

If you want post your comments about this Review or the DFI LANParty UT NF680i LT SLI-T2R, feel free to do it here

Thank you

[Mekrel]

Any chance of some Raid 0 performance benchmarks with HDTach etc?

Thanks :)

[Pedro Rocha]

Any chance of some Raid 0 performance benchmarks with HDTach etc?

Thanks :)

HDTach with single HD sure

RAID no, I don't use RAID for many years, I'm to old and lazy for frequent HD formats or backups

Try to find that info other less Overclock oriented review / post , I'm sure you will find it..

[Pedro Rocha]

I have done some memory bandwith test and you may find suprised by the results..

First some important findings:

- Always use yellow slots for much higher bandwith -
- If you use the orange slots with 1T you can OC the memory a bit more (5 to 10Mhz) you will loose on bandwith
- At least in the orange slots if you use more than 2.55v real VDim (around 2.67 set in bios) the board will only detected 1 stick of DDR2 (see capture above)
- As always bandwith depenpends on cup multiplier / strap - for my QX6700 the sweat spot seems to be 11x - do some testing with your cpu by comparing everest mem read.

And now some bandwith

DDR 1160 4-3-3-5 2T
http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_DDR11602T.jpg

DDR 840 3-3-3-3 1T
http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_DDR840_1T.jpg

:shocked: I never expetect to see this results, much lower speed with tight beat higher speed with more relaxed timmings

This board needs a lot of testing to find the sweat spot for your cpu / memory so be prepared to spend a few hours :yepp:

[Raja@ASUS]

the yellow slots were originally stated for 2t clocking to me from Tony, I never checked actual bandwidth performance though, might be worth checking out..

[hipro5]

Pedro, do you have a Core 2 Duo CPU to test how this mobo doing at 1:1 and Cas 3-3-3-x and 1T?.......Thanks M8...... :)

Also how hot is the Digital PWR when working the QUAD @ 3800MHz+...:)

[Solarfall]

wow really good ram timings with 1T... btw very nice mini revew Pedro Rocha

[Pedro Rocha]

Pedro, do you have a Core 2 Duo CPU to test how this mobo doing at 1:1 and Cas 3-3-3-x and 1T?.......Thanks M8...... :)

Also how hot is the Digital PWR when working the QUAD @ 3800MHz+...:)

Yes sure, I will test this weekend

Hot of course, but I put a fan over Digital PWR (not a Delta like yours ;) ) - with 40mm fan I would say around 60ºC, is hot but nothing compared with the P5K Dlx cpu voltage regulators than can reach more than 100ºC :shocked:

For OC, and much specially with Quad Cores, active cooling is almost mandatory on the Digital PWR - se photo at Post #2 http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...15&postcount=2
:yepp:

[Pedro Rocha]

Pedro, do you have a Core 2 Duo CPU to test how this mobo doing at 1:1 and Cas 3-3-3-x and 1T?.......Thanks M8...... :)



Your wishes are orders to me :D , see Core 2 Duo results at post http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2219515&postcount=2

I suspect you will like to see that numbers;)

BTW: dam hot here today (near 30ºC) seems that I am in Greece, think I have to go out to buy some Delta Fans :rofl:

[hipro5]

Your wishes are orders to me :D , see Core 2 Duo results at post http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2219515&postcount=2

I suspect you will like to see that numbers;)

BTW: dam hot here today (near 30ºC) seems that I am in Greece, think I have to go out to buy some Delta Fans :rofl:


Hmmm......ONLY at up to 420MHz?..... :(

:D DELTAs for ever....

[Pedro Rocha]

Hmmm......ONLY at up to 420MHz?..... :(

:D DELTAs for ever....

Absolutely not :D

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_X6800_4060_1_1_333_1T.jpg

:ROTF:

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_X6800_4060_Everest.jpg

:ROTF:

[hipro5]

Absolutely not :D :ROTF:

Ahhhh......NOW you're talking.... :D

[Pedro Rocha]

As you can see in the photo above I mounted the DFI 680i in the cascade, altought it really needs to recalibrate (drop to -78ºC or more in load) I can have an idea how it compares to a fully moded (vcore, vdrop, vmem) EVGA 680i with serious cooling.

Here is the photo:
http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/NaCascataSingle.jpg

After boot up, I noticed that I can not use the 11x with 1:1 - that is really bad since 11x will be the sweat spot for 450Mhz 3-3-3..1T benching :(

In terms of overclok I would say it overclocks approximately less 100Mhz than the full mod EVGA680i in the same conditions - so the Vdrop mod should be realy needed for extreme overclocking.

Anyway here are the results:

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_X6800_4930.jpg


And of course I have to run my favorite game - altought for now with a Single Card fully stock, here are the results

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/83427_DFI4900_8800ultraSingleStockCooler.jpg

The 2 Lobbies (specially Loby High) and the Car High are quite good for less than 4.900Mhz :)


I will do some SLI runs later..

Also I think I need to get some post, and discover how to do VDrop mod..


Anyway this was not to bad for fully stock motheboard :yepp:

[Mekrel]

Thanks for the review, especially the memory findings.

So even with an added 5/10 Mhz at the same timings, the orange slots will be slower than the yellow?

Just came into stock in the UK and I have an itchy finger :(

Was looking forward to watercooling the NB, but the hooks make it a pain. I think the kind of overclock I'm looking for (on water) means the default heatsink with a very quiet fan will sufice either way.

I'll go look for Raid performance :)

[Radamanthys]

maybe the Raid is badly compared with the ICHXR . The matrix is absolutely amazing :O .

Very nice board!! Thanks for the mini review

[Pedro Rocha]

Here is a quick SLI run with the 8800 ultras full stock

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/93535_3dMark2001_DFI680i.jpg

I think there is margin for improvement, specially after the vdrop mod, anyway not to shabby for a quick run in a HD with Windowd recent installed (some tweaks missing there) ;)

As forecasted 3-3-3...1T make wonders in 3DMark2001, hope the next Bios alllow me the full use of the 11x multiplier to have some 1:1 450Mhz 3-3-3...1T action :D

[virtualrain]

Pedro,

I ran my memory in both the orange and yellow slots and checked bandwidth in Everest and SiSoft... here are my results.

http://members.shaw.ca/virtualrain/MemoryBW.png

Comments:


Strangely, I could not get the board to POST with the RAM running at 1T in the yellow slots.
At 1100MHz running 2T command rate, there was no difference between the yellow and orange slots with my memory. What am I missing?
Oddly, when switching RAM between slots, the board requires a CMOS clear to POST. Then after adjusting settings (loading from cmos reloaded profiles for example) and rebooting, it would hang on POST code #75 for 2 minutes before rebooting normally. I'm not sure why it does this, any thoughts?.
1T is marginally faster at 800MHz than 2T at 1100MHz (at least according to Everest... Sisoft Sandra has 1T slightly slower).

[I)ickie]

Pedro,

I ran my memory in both the orange and yellow slots and checked bandwidth in Everest and SiSoft... here are my results.

*SNIP*

Comments:


Strangely, I could not get the board to POST with the RAM running at 1T in the yellow slots.
At 1100MHz running 2T command rate, there was no difference between the yellow and orange slots with my memory. What am I missing?
Oddly, when switching RAM between slots, the board requires a CMOS clear to POST. Then after adjusting settings (loading from cmos reloaded profiles for example) and rebooting, it would hang on POST code #75 for 2 minutes before rebooting normally. I'm not sure why it does this, any thoughts?.
1T is marginally faster at 800MHz than 2T at 1100MHz (at least according to Everest... Sisoft Sandra has 1T slightly slower).


If the difference in 1T overclocking on the yellow slots is worth Tony saying something my guess is that there is some difference between the treatment of these pairs of slots and the chipset. This would explain the lack of boot in the yellow slots. seem to have lost the link but i too heard tonys statement about the orange slots being the ones to use for 1T. What do you think the chances are of running this board with 4x1gb at 1T?

[virtualrain]

If the difference in 1T overclocking on the yellow slots is worth Tony saying something my guess is that there is some difference between the treatment of these pairs of slots and the chipset. This would explain the lack of boot in the yellow slots. seem to have lost the link but i too heard tonys statement about the orange slots being the ones to use for 1T. What do you think the chances are of running this board with 4x1gb at 1T?

I think you answered your own question :p: ...with my experience not being able to POST with 1T in the yellow says to me it's going to be damn near impossible to run four sticks at 1T on this board.

BTW, Pedro, if you are around, I'm still interested in understanding how you get more bandwidth from the yellow slots.

[I)ickie]

I think you answered your own question :p: ...with my experience not being able to POST with 1T in the yellow says to me it's going to be damn near impossible to run four sticks at 1T on this board.

BTW, Pedro, if you are around, I'm still interested in understanding how you get more bandwidth from the yellow slots.

Naive hope that perhaps the board would exhibit different behavior when all four slots were loaded.
Thanks for the reply

[Pedro Rocha]

BTW, Pedro, if you are around, I'm still interested in understanding how you get more bandwidth from the yellow slots.

I'm in my laptop now, think I have some screen capture that evidence the diference in my bench disk, altought small there is diference.

What sticks you have ??

With my Corsair - 8500C5 and 6400C3 - I can run at 1T with no problem at all in booth the EVGA and 680i with no problem at all.

Also remember a basic law of physic - less cycle (1T) need much more voltage .. for 410 3-3-3-1T, 2.40V in Dimms is the miminum for 1T benching ..of course my 450 3-3-3 1T (see above) I was using around 2.6V.

Two things you guys should remember.
- 2.6 or even 2.5v should be only use for benching - NOT to 24/7
- Always use active cooling over the DDR2 sticks with higger voltages.


A final note regarding some comments from you :

My reviews are Overclocked Oriented Reviews - they are not by any mean intend to reproduce a 24/7 use environment!!
If you want stock level or moderate OC reviews, please look elsewhere, here in XS or all other over the internet.. there are hundreds for stock level or moderate OC reviews.

I do these reviews on pure hobby basis, I am not and I am not intended to be a professional reviewer.

I just want to leave these 2 things quite clear:)

[virtualrain]

Pedro, good grief, I'm not trying to be difficult for you in any way. I don't know why you are defensive... what did I say that offended you? :confused:

BTW, I think hobby reviews are the most valueable and I've found your work here interesting and I've posted a link to your review and some of your tips on my blog to share with others with full credit to you of course. I mean no disrespect... let me be clear about that! :) (I may be jealous of the resources you have but that's the extent of my ill feelings! :D )

Anyway, back to this board...

When you said that you could get more memory bandwidth from the yellow slots I wasn't sure whether that meant that clock for clock the yellow slots were faster or you could get higher clocks from the yellow slots. Can you elaborate?

As you can see a few posts up, your comments encouraged me to try both slots to see if I could improve my memory performance in anyway. The results speak for themselves... they were statistically the same for me at 2T and 1T would not POST in the yellow slots. :shrug:

I'm using Mushkin PC2-8500 2x2GB (rated for 5-4-4-12 at 1066) which is a very good kit of 4GB... maybe the best... but still no match for 2x1GB. I've found this kit very stable at 2.3V at 800MHz 4-3-3-8 1T on this board for 24-7 use. I could run it as high as 900MHz 1T which is amazing for 2x2GB sticks, but I'm FSB limited on my quad and find that I get the best memory performance running linked/synced as in my sig.

Cheers! :toast:

[Pedro Rocha]

Hi virtualrain

Sorry I lead you to misunderstand me, neither I'm at defensive, neither you offend me.

This a general observation for all used, not for you in particular:)

Back on topic : I only compared 1T speed versus 1T speed on yellow / orange slots. Didnt even compared 2T speeds.

I can do some test with 2T, maybe with 2T results are similar.

But for the me the main advantages of the DFI over the EVGA is the much higger overclock you can achieve in 1T with lower timmings.

[virtualrain]

Back on topic : I only compared 1T speed versus 1T speed on yellow / orange slots. Didnt even compared 2T speeds.

I can do some test with 2T, maybe with 2T results are similar.

But for the me the main advantages of the DFI over the EVGA is the much higger overclock you can achieve in 1T with lower timmings.

Ok... I see what you are saying about yellow/orange now. I'm still perplexed as to why I couldn't even post in the yellow slots at 1T :confused:

BTW, I don't think testing with 2T on this board is worthwhile, as you say, 1T is where the performance is at on this board.

[virtualrain]

BTW, if you are interested in power consumption with this board, I posted some results in the PSU forum... :eek:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=147546

[Pedro Rocha]

Seems I forgot to post this memory read bench that I managed last week with my X6800 Air Cooled (TuniqTower)

I really like these numbers

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/DFI680i_X6800_4060_Everest.jpg

More 12.500 MB/s for Everest Read with only 450Mhz (DDR900) at 3-3-3-3...1T - that's what I call bandwith :yepp: :yepp:

I really like the DFI performance in 1T :)

[filmbot]

Thats very nice!

What volts did you have to use there and could you do that on your Evga?

[Pedro Rocha]

Thats very nice!

What volts did you have to use there and could you do that on your Evga?

Around 2.6v VDimm on my Corsair 2X1GB 8500C5

No, I can not do this on my EVGA even volt moded - EVGA may be a little better with 2T, but DFI seems realy better with 1T - low timmings:yepp:

[VictorWang]

haha, really nice result from the mobo :D
i think it's the time for u to turn on ur mini-2stage and 2*88ultra for battle :D

[C-N]

The bandwidth at around 450fsb sync is amazing I can nearly get 12000mb/s CL4 1T with my E6400 using warranted voltage on the RAM the interesting thing is 2T isn’t that bad either I only drop 400 ish mb/s.

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/CraigNeilson/DFI%20LP%20UT%20NF680i%20LT-T2R/E6400%20AT%203650MHz%201T/

Regards

Craig.

[giorgioprimo]

Hi Pedro, are you doing ? ;)
I'm testing this mobo too and have some question:

1) About the voltage you told you use with your ram, (2,6 volt 450 3-3-3-8 1T) you talked about the value showed from smartguardian of the value you set in bios ? ( because i experienced that smrtguardian shows a value 0,12 lower the the one set in the bios

2) Wen I get a system-freeze during a benchmark ( 3D or super-pi) is impossible to restart, the only chance is to CCMOS and restart. Did you experienced the same ?

P.S. I'm using the last official bios (521-dual)

:up:

[Pedro Rocha]

Hi Pedro, are you doing ? ;)
I'm testing this mobo too and have some question:

1) About the voltage you told you use with your ram, (2,6 volt 450 3-3-3-8 1T) you talked about the value showed from smartguardian of the value you set in bios ? ( because i experienced that smrtguardian shows a value 0,12 lower the the one set in the bios

2) Wen I get a system-freeze during a benchmark ( 3D or super-pi) is impossible to restart, the only chance is to CCMOS and restart. Did you experienced the same ?

P.S. I'm using the last official bios (521-dual)

:up:

Ciao giorgio, good to see you BiB (Back in Benching:D )

1) Yes, around 2.6v (2.65v set in bios, if I remember) - it is not just smart guardian in bios you can also watch some drop on voltages
Remember to alaways use active cooling on top of the memory sticks!!
Of course not all mem sticks do 450Mhz 3-3-3-3..1T - but booth my Corsairs pairs of 2GB (8500C5 and 6400C3) do with appropriate voltage.

2) That's very strange, never happend to me - board just crash and restart. If you push the EZ power on button for more than 4 secs board back to default, so never need to to use CMOS jumper.
You should save your profile in bios - for example in Bank1 I have the x6800 4.8 1:1 3-3-3-1T

I use Bios 4CTST521 that are for all Extreme (X series) no just for Quads - the description is quite clear


Date Code 2007/05/21
File 4CTST504.zip
Size 509,123 bytes
Major Reasons of Change:
1.Fixed Core Multi-Processing function fail issue on Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 /X6800 CPUs.
2.For Intel Core 2 Quad ,Intel Core 2 Extreme & X6800 CPUs only.
3.Fixed CPU Bselect can’t set to Auto mode with E6750(FSB 1333MHz) CPU.
4.DRAM Voltage will be selected on 3.04V when doing the load last bootable setting.
5.Fixed CPU Fan speed control.

So if you are using your X6800 try to use 512-"quad" (4CTST521.zip ) - they are also available here http://www.lejabeach.com/DFI/dfilpnf680i/

Hope you can solve the problems, I want you guys from Team Italy BiB and specially to see if you learn my quick Cebit lesson about my favorite game ;) :ROTF:

[DEVIL K-ce]

learn my quick Cebit lesson about my favorite game ;) :ROTF:

Maybe more explain on this "game" for guys who is not on Cebit :p:

2k1 of course game :up:

btw : I search and learn this topic and this mobo is hmm strage as DFI LP nF4 939 socket :ROTF:

Martin.

[giorgioprimo]

1) Yes, around 2.6v (2.65v set in bios, if I remember) - it is not just smart guardian in bios you can also watch some drop on voltages
Remember to alaways use active cooling on top of the memory sticks!!
Of course not all mem sticks do 450Mhz 3-3-3-3..1T - but booth my Corsairs pairs of 2GB (8500C5 and 6400C3) do with appropriate voltage.

2) That's very strange, never happend to me - board just crash and restart. If you push the EZ power on button for more than 4 secs board back to default, so never need to to use CMOS jumper.
You should save your profile in bios - for example in Bank1 I have the x6800 4.8 1:1 3-3-3-1T

I use Bios 4CTST521 that are for all Extreme (X series) no just for Quads - the description is quite clear



So if you are using your X6800 try to use 512-"quad" (4CTST521.zip ) - they are also available here http://www.lejabeach.com/DFI/dfilpnf680i/

Hope you can solve the problems, I want you guys from Team Italy BiB and specially to see if you learn my quick Cebit lesson about my favorite game ;) :ROTF:

Thanks for answer, I'll try that bios to check....
About your precious lesson, we'll show you our homeworks soon ;)

[Ming@s]

Peter Rocha always in its better. Already I have homesicknesses yours in I besiege it of the custume. Cumpreimentos and parabens.

[Kamel]

Same giorgio's problems for me... a boot failing means

turn off system
turn off PSU
remove battery
clear cmos

there's no other way to make te mobo start again!

Plus i have some usb problems with a pen drive.. i/o errors and i have to removeit and replug everytime... annoying..

Hope some better bios ..i'm with 4-version... i will try this new one.

Kam

[giorgioprimo]

solved most of the boot problem pedro...and...definatly this mobo rocks !!!!:shocked: :shocked:

http://www.atris.it/Forum/photoplog/images/4480/1_450_3_3_3_3_3__Large_.jpg