NF4 Expert providing a better OC?

[freecableguy]

I have a vanilla NF4 SLI-DR MB and an Expert MB...I like the layout of the SLI-DR a little better actually. My question is for everyone that has had both boards. Has anyone seen any tangible differences with the Expert board? Better OC? 4-phase power doing anything for you? I can only assume that new BIOSs will continue to come out for both boards so it's not like the non-Expert board is going to get dropped (I hope not). So, throw in guys...anything to report?

[RichUK]

hmm i would like to know this too .. because my next board is either going to be the Asus A8N32 or the DFI eXpert..

Im worried that the DFI eXpert might kill some components though due to some stories i have heard on the net, but i do prefer the layout on the DFi against the ASUS. The only thing i like about ASUS is the passive chipset cooling along with the 8 phase power, ohh and also the more secure SATA sockets.

people mention that they get high temps on the DFI PWM's but i was thinking even if you run a low voltage on your DIMMs like 2.85 would this still be a problem?

[Mr.President]

its the same, the only difernece is 1. the layout 2. the chipsset, 2*16 pci-e lanes instead of 8*2 but theres no differnece @ performance.

if im wrong, plz correct me.

[D_o_S]

its the same, the only difernece is 1. the layout 2. the chipsset, 2*16 pci-e lanes instead of 8*2 but theres no differnece @ performance.

if im wrong, plz correct me.

I think that the DFI uses the traditional nForce 4, so the channels are still 8x2, as DFI claimed that there was no increase in performance.

[Kadaj]

its the same, the only difernece is 1. the layout 2. the chipsset, 2*16 pci-e lanes instead of 8*2 but theres no differnece @ performance.

if im wrong, plz correct me.

the expert board still uses two 8X slots for SLI.

[jetjaguar]

i actually get a lower overclock on the exper then my sli-dr ..

maybe with newer bios it will be better

[xenolith]

IMO, it's too early to tell if the Expert will get better overclocks. Tony has said it does overclock "differently"... uses different drive strengths, skews, etc.

With more time, more people, and more BIOS releases, hopefully the Expert will get dialed-in and get better overclocks.

[freecableguy]

I think I am going to stick with the NF4 SLI-DR for now...

[xgman]

lower or same. Also requires more tweaking than the other one.

[Cooper]

Somebody here at XS mentioned that it needs a bit more volts to achieve same OC result.

[ZeroX]

Somebody here at XS mentioned that it needs a bit more volts to achieve same OC result.

Its because de old DFi overvolts, but the voltage is the same

[xenolith]

Somebody here at XS mentioned that it needs a bit more volts to achieve same OC result.

That's because the older DFI NF4's slightly overvolts, where the Expert reportedly does not. So in the end, they both use the same voltage for the same clock.

[CrashOv3r1De]

Im worried that the DFI eXpert might kill some components though due to some stories i have heard on the net, but i do prefer the layout on the DFi against the ASUS.

Wow your like the 10th person. It was an isolated case...Happened to one guy....

[RAMMIE]

Mine doesn't give me as good a clock compared to ultra-d.
Tried FX57,Opteron148,Winchester3000.All 3 have known clocks with ultra-d

That's because the older DFI NF4's slightly overvolts, where the Expert reportedly does not. So in the end, they both use the same voltage for the same clock.

I get accurate voltages on VCORE.
On shipping BIOS,11/02,selected VDIMM does not jive with VDIMM readout.
Example=select 3.6 receive 3.7

[mdzcpa]

Actually I think my original Ultra D modded to SLI was the best of all the boards I have tried. It beat my SLI-DR and this new Expert.

That said, the Expert is my favorite board. The layout is waaaaay better than the old DFI NF4s with SLI. The CPU voltage is dead nuts on. Very accurate. Adjustments are very precise.

I'm using no more voltage now on the Expert than I did on my Ultra D or SLI-DR. like someone said, the Expert just doesn't over volt like the older boards did.

I won't know until i push things further, but I think the Expert likes my Ballistix better. I'm hitting 290 1T at 2.85v. That's about 5mhz more than I could hit on my Ultra D or SLI-DR.

I'm still fiddling with air cooling for fun. I'll be under phase change and water cooling next weekend. I'll know more then.

[ben805]

Alrighty, so some of you said the Expert clock about the same or slightly worst than the previous Ultra-D or SLI, but overall is it more solid and stable though? higher clock doesn't always mean better....it could also mean quicker death to your hardware so personally I would pick the Expert instead...IF it is a more stable board

[mjassbong]

Actually I think my original Ultra D modded to SLI was the best of all the boards I have tried. It beat my SLI-DR and this new Expert.

That said, the Expert is my favorite board. The layout is waaaaay better than the old DFI NF4s with SLI. The CPU voltage is dead nuts on. Very accurate. Adjustments are very precise.

I'm using no more voltage now on the Expert than I did on my Ultra D or SLI-DR. like someone said, the Expert just doesn't over volt like the older boards did.

I won't know until i push things further, but I think the Expert likes my Ballistix better. I'm hitting 290 1T at 2.85v. That's about 5mhz more than I could hit on my Ultra D or SLI-DR.

I'm still fiddling with air cooling for fun. I'll be under phase change and water cooling next weekend. I'll know more then.

Can you provide your Genie memory settings? Please?

[jetjaguar]

yes pls post ur crucial settings .. expecially ur drv str and data drive str and tref ?

[xenolith]

Alrighty, so some of you said the Expert clock about the same or slightly worst than the previous Ultra-D or SLI, but overall is it more solid and stable though? higher clock doesn't always mean better....it could also mean quicker death to your hardware so personally I would pick the Expert instead...IF it is a more stable board

OPB said yes in his review thread, that it is a more stable board. He said the vcore power regulation is much more stable than the older NF4's, but didn't elaborate. Given the fact the Expert has 4-phase vs. 3-phase regulation, and is spot on in reference to vcore BIOS settings, that should give us a good hint.

Tony also said in his review that he has a "feeling" the vtt/vref is improved. He said he will measure it to confirm this, so hopefully vtt droops are finally a thing of the past with the Expert too.

These are the major reasons that convinced me in getting this board over the others... like the Ultra-D which can be had for $75 less. Layout was a distant secondary issue. Given the price to performance ratio, it's a big leep of faith on my part because I'm as cheap as they come.

[mdzcpa]

yes pls post ur crucial settings .. expecially ur drv str and data drive str and tref ?

LOL....well, everythings still on Auto

[Dumo]

With Expert and RDX 200 we can run Zippy 700W/PC&P 850W and >3.2Vdimm...

[Eldonko]

My max OCs are about the same with Expert and Ultra. Voltage is more stable and will likely kill less RAM. I can achieve the same RAM clocks with slightly less vdimm. Just the potential for less RAM RMAs makes it worth buying IMO.