DFI Expert on the way... Tips to prevent explosions??

[Scroatdog]

Well, I finally got through the holidays and travelling, and I'm happy to report that my mobo is enroute from Monarch. I have on hand right now and X2 3800+ , a Storm block to replace my current 5002, a Seasonic S12 600w PSU, and that's about it. Still need to decide on a video card, and order some Audi (Pentosin) antifreeze.

I may delay the build until the X1900XT comes out, so I can get a lower price on the X1800XT, or I amy just throw caution to the wind and get it! But I doubt that.

Anyhow, I'll be on water, and I'd love to see 2.8 on this chip. My memory is older OCZ Gold RevII PC3700, so I don't expect too much out of it. I'm mainly interested in the CPU overclock. Any tips you can throw my way to ensure this board doesn't die and take other components with it?? I read something somewhere in the forums about listening for some humming sound or clicking before starting up, or something like that. Anyways, any tips/lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. I'd hate to see this chip get fried. It's a great stepping.

Thanks! :toast:

[Ampz]

The safest you can be is to use a crap cpu to get into OS and then flash the bios to newest version which they have said to have fixed the RARE but still present huge vcore bug that fried some people chips. The best advice I can give you.

[Ampz]

BTW I had 2 experts and they have been nothing but TOP NOTCH boards just like dfi is known for. Never had a prob just got my 2nd in today and installed 175 opty on it without hesitation. The bug is there but its RARE. I did flash the bios as soon as I got into windows though not only to be safe but to be updated :P Not like I'm gonna need the fx60 support anytime soon :slapass:

[irenic]

Since i dont have any extra s939 processor, i flashed my expert to the latest bios first before installing windows. So far everything is okey but I am still scare of that death bug..

[Scroatdog]

I don't have a floppy. What's everyone's take on flashing the Expert with the Windows flash utility? Good? Bad?? RUN ?????!

I do have a USB stick, so if there's a way to do it using that, I'm all ears. Unless the Windows flash is ok.

[MaxxxRacer]

Winflash is a great prog. Done prolly 50+ flashes on various boards without issue. Just make sure your at totally stable settings before using it. :slapass:

[Calderbrae]

I got an Expert, and talked my buddy into getting one as well for his 4400+ X2. Didnt even flinch when I put the chips in. I was initially concerned, but overall I would say you have little to worry about.

@Maxxx - :ROTF: :hehe:

[Eldonko]

Take a read of OPB's thread. Link (http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79638&highlight=onepagebook+expert)

[icon57]

I don't have a floppy. What's everyone's take on flashing the Expert with the Windows flash utility? Good? Bad?? RUN ?????!

I do have a USB stick, so if there's a way to do it using that, I'm all ears. Unless the Windows flash is ok.

you can go to dfi-street.com and dl tmods cd 6.5 and use that to flash your bios, it works great!

[CrashOv3r1De]

I had 2 experts. The first one shipped with a dead battery/holder but the second one is awesome man.

updated to the latest official bios.

make sure you plug in the 24pin power connector and the 4pin 12V or if your psu has an 8pin 12v (preferred)

[THunDA]

you can go to dfi-street.com and dl tmods cd 6.5 and use that to flash your bios, it works great!

Tmod's Cd is awsome !!!!

dfi-street has been up and down for upgrades this week.. the cd can be found here too..
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=424204

[Scroatdog]

Thanks for all the advice guys, and for OPB's link. Got the Expert yesterday. Now all I need is a new vid card. I think I'm going to wait for the X1900 to be released, so the prices will drop on the X1800's. Don't want to shell out the kind of $$$ that the X1900 will be commanding.

I don't know where to look on the board for the revision I have. I do see a brownish/silverish dot on the BIOS chip though, if that's an indication of anything. Yeah, I'm an AMD nOOb.... :p:

[thunderstruck!]

Thanks for all the advice guys, and for OPB's link. Got the Expert yesterday. Now all I need is a new vid card. I think I'm going to wait for the X1900 to be released, so the prices will drop on the X1800's. Don't want to shell out the kind of $$$ that the X1900 will be commanding.

I don't know where to look on the board for the revision I have. I do see a brownish/silverish dot on the BIOS chip though, if that's an indication of anything. Yeah, I'm an AMD nOOb.... :p:
The revision sticker should be on the back of one of the PCI slots, check there and report back:)

[Scroatdog]

The revision sticker should be on the back of one of the PCI slots, check there and report back:)


Eureka...... Revision AA0. Hope its a good one!

[thunderstruck!]

Is AA0 the latest revision? I thought there were a B revision floating around.:confused:

[Scroatdog]

I don't think it's the latest unfortunately. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I hope the AA0 won't give me much trouble...:toast:

[situman]

Its like a grenade. If you don't pull the pin it won't blow up.

[chew*]

Hmm dont plug it in? J/k

[ShoNuff]

Is AA0 the latest revision? I thought there were a B revision floating around.:confused:


Where did you get if from? I just (like 10 minutes ago) ordered from NewEgg and I also think there is a rev B out there? We will see on Friday.

[Scroatdog]

Ordered from Monarch last week. Got here Friday. Wasn't home. Picked up at FEDEX yesterday.

[mdzcpa]

The only thing that I would do to enhance "safety" using the expert is to follow the "10 second" power down rule. If you power down the mobo (via PSU switch or unplug) wait the full 10 seconds before repowering the board. This seems to fix the "issue" of unwanted voltage at start up.

[Scroatdog]

The only thing that I would do to enhance "safety" using the expert is to follow the "10 second" power down rule. If you power down the mobo (via PSU switch or unplug) wait the full 10 seconds before repowering the board. This seems to fix the "issue" of unwanted voltage at start up.

Gotcha. Since I hardly ever power down this wont be as much of a PITA. Also, my current IC7 MAX3 will not turn back on unless I cycle the PSU power switch in the back, so I am fully used to doing that already. I think that was a common problem with the board when overclocked.

I'm gonna miss that mobo when I sell it. She's been running at 250FSB almost continuously for a year.:D

But hopefully my loss will be short-lived as I begin to experience the AMD side of the house. I plan on building the rig up, not like I usually do, but will follow the instructions on the DFI-Street to the letter, and not just slap it in the case and attach the H20 cooling to it.

One question I have though....... About a month ago I talked my buddy through building his first computer, all over the phone. He said trying to get the AMD heatsink on (3800+ X2) was a royal pain in the ass, and was worried he might break something due to the amount of pressure he needed to get that clip mechanism in place. Any tricks/tips on how to get the stock heatsink on and off easily???? I'm gonna do the test build with the mobo out of the case with the stock heatsink and one stick of memory.

[Scroatdog]

Ok guys. Here it is. One of my friends will be buying the mobo, hard drives (just the 80's), video card, PSU, and probably RAM from me, since I am building the AMD rig hopefully next week. I am currently running 2x512 OCZ Gold Revision2 PC3700 RAM. Should I keep it and get some value RAM for my friend, or should I let him have the OCZ and get something new. And, what would you all recommend (those of you with perfect running Expert systems with decent overclocks), and even those of you that don't!

I have read over and over again that the RAM speed doesn't matter that much because of the on-board memory controller on the AMD chip. If so, wouldn't some decent sticks of PC3200 suffice?? If that is the case, I do see alot of people running PC4000 on their rigs.

Let's face it, I am a total nOOb when it comes to AMD. Most of the reading I've done on it I did months ago when I thought I was going to start the project, but became too busy.

Anyhow, thanks in advance once again for your replies.

[dinos22]

have there been any more instances of dead mobos/hardware since the first few weeks anyways.....if so did anyone experience those issues with the latest bios

i'm still on the default bios and need a good reason to flash...........any performance differences heheh

[Nettwerk]

I got mine from newegg today and its AB0.

It runs great so far but I bought 2 expensive 320gig maxtor sata 2 drives that dont work with nf4 motherboards #$@#@($

[Scroatdog]

Anyone have recommendations for good memory for this board, or should I just keep my EOL (end of life) OCZ Gold Revisoin 2 PC3700??