DFI NF4 Ultra/SLi-D BUGS and Fixes Thread

[ugp]

http://www.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/LPNF450310.zip

--> Maybe you should try this "old" bios, a friend of mine who has the same board as yours with a San Diego on it, runs 250*10 with stock cooler 24/7 and doesn't report problems (and his f@h scores are good, so I believe his rig is stable).

Was he getting problems with the new BIOS? But wasn't with the old one...?

And I have OCZ Plat Rev 2..so would that BIOS be the right one for me...

[jetjaguar]

hmm my bios and speedfan are reporting my chipset temp to be 54C ..
what is going on ?

also did u guys alter the settings under the pc health part of the bios ..
like lowering the temps to get the fans to spin faster ?

[EMC2]

I still have some doubts about my next purchase (DFI Ultra-D and A64 Venice)

If you aren't in a hurry... I would wait a little and see if a) a new rev of the MB does come out and b) if you like ATI cards wait and see how the grouper based MBs are

The thing is, I read somewhere that unless you update your BIOS, you'll have troubles or issues with a venice core.
Now, If I only have a venice processor (my first A64 system), is it even possible to flash the board with the venice plugged??

Here's a link where Steven ran one of the first Venice chips on an old BIOS, no problem, so don't let that bother you:

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57291

That said, newer BIOSes seem to be better for the Venices... but you will be able to boot and run without them.

What about the memory killing, some people talk around? (EMC2 said up here it's a myth, not real)

Please don't misrepresent what I said ...never said nor indicated it was/is a myth... what I did say is that some of the deaths weren't deaths... and some of the real deaths may have been due to other causes... if you read the post I linked above and others, I also said "the jury is still out on some causes"

Or the need to boot with a high vdimm (near 3v) to achieve stability?
I'm going to buy normal memory, so I doubt it will be able to resist a high voltage.

Different memory likes different voltages... some like 2.6, some closer to 3V, some 3.5V... but "near 3V" is not high Vmem in general

Are this scary things solved with a BIOS update?

Based on your intended use and the use of TCCx type memory, nothing scary exists...

Thanks on your replys

You're welcome

Peace

[EMC2]

I ordered this Chipset cooler and will throw some AS5 on it...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835110103

Is it correct to remove the Chipset cooler it is like the old 9800Pro video cards with pinching the clips on the back...?

Yes to the HS removal method... be sure to leave on the foam spacer between the HS and nF4 chipset (prevents the HS from getting ":banana::banana::banana::banana:ed" at an angle and shorting against things)... or take some of the rubber feet off an old athlon and use them at the corners

Regarding BIOS to use with your mem... I would say 310-3, 331-3, or 510fixed-3. And your mem is TCCx based, so you aren't going to OC very high with 2-2-2 timings Look thru the Extreme Bandwidth and Overclocking threads for timings and voltages for your mem and CPU.

--- jetjaguar ---
The nF4 chipset does get hot... your 54C is about average for the stock configuration HS/TIM combo. You can use some AS5 (CAREFULLY) or Ceramique to replace the stock thermal transfer material and get those temps down a bit. Use screws & nuts on it instead of the plastic pins would help some too (use nylon washer on bottom of MB to prevent possible shorts). There's a thread around here on chipset cooling solutions... search for the words DFI chipset HS or similiar

Peace

[metro.cl]

i got my board about 2 weeks ago, but finally had everything (cpu & vga) last week im in serious trouble, i got bsod at default, then i reinstalled os twice, kinda got it ok, from my experience all power conectors must be plugged that helped me solve bsod at default settings, now i can oc 5% my cpu im reallly frustrated, las night i flashed to bios 510-3 and got bsod right after flashing the bios now the mobo its been clearing cmos with battery and psu all night long.

my rig
3200+ venice stock cooler
dfi nf4 ultra-d
2x256mb value tccc ram
1x80gb hdd sata
1xcd-rw ide
x800 asus 128mb
enermax noisetaker 600w.

im reading a lot to solve this im on page 10 of this threat, i've read a lot on dfi forum but support is pretty bad

p.d. weird thing is that my mobo is r.aa0 havent seen this revision yet anywhere else

[Piotrsama]

Different memory likes different voltages... some like 2.6, some closer to 3V, some 3.5V... but "near 3V" is not high Vmem in general

Hey, Thanks a lot, I was thinking everybody was ignoring me

You know, I'm considering going for the Asus A8N-E (it's nforce4 Ultra, also).

The problem I see (I'm not a hardcore OC) is that the DFI mobo (while it's awesome) is hard to setup, and you also need good components to pair with it. I mean, expensive memory and PSU. (at least expensive for me, I want to make a normal system, maybe OC a bit).
So, unfortunately, I must go other route, because I will buy normal memory and PSU (and from what I read on DFI-Street forums, they are not recommended).

Anything else you (or somebody) can tell me, Thanks Again.

[OneyedK]

hmm my bios and speedfan are reporting my chipset temp to be 54C ..
what is going on ?

also did u guys alter the settings under the pc health part of the bios ..
like lowering the temps to get the fans to spin faster ?

Try in bios to set:
NB FAN FULLY ON IF NB Temp > 25°C
NB FAN FULLY OFF IF NB Temp < 25°C

This way, NB-fan stays at topspeed... Do that and check temps again...
(I reach 37°C with those settings, cpu and gpu watercooled, so it will be higher with aircooled cpu and gpu)

[OneyedK]

Would someone be so kind to explain (or give me a link to a good explanation)
of the following bios options:

CPU VID Startup Value (currently set to 1.45V)
CPU VID Control (currently set to 1.45V)
CPU VID Special Control (currently set to auto)

--> I use these setting to make my watercooled 4200 X2 run at 275*9 = 2475Mhz (still experiencing some minor instability issues, only shown by Folding@Home)
Mobo is DFI nF4 SLI-D
Memory is OCZ PC3200 plat. rev.2 tccd (2.8V set in bios, 2.85 in reality), 2..5-3-3-7

Nobody seems to know???

[EMC2]

CPU VID Startup Value - sets what voltage is applied to your CPU during initial boot and for POST testing. Once you've past the BIOS POST tests, the voltage is changed to that determined by the next two values.
CPU VID Control - sets the base CPU core voltage
CPU VID Special Control - enables you to increase your CPU core voltage by percentages. Multiply "CPU VID Control" by this number to determine the core voltage applied.

People have noticed that in some cases they get a more stable overclock when the use a combination of CPU VID Control and CPU VID Special Control to set the CPU core voltage they want/need. Example: Instead of setting CPU VID Control to 1.5 and CPU VID Special Control to AUTO or 100%, they use 1.225 and 123%.

Other note: Non-default VDIMM values sometimes won't "stick" unless you have CPU VID Special Control set to something other than "Auto"

Peace

[OneyedK]

Thanks for the clear explanation!!!

[jetjaguar]

Try in bios to set:
NB FAN FULLY ON IF NB Temp > 25°C
NB FAN FULLY OFF IF NB Temp < 25°C

This way, NB-fan stays at topspeed... Do that and check temps again...
(I reach 37°C with those settings, cpu and gpu watercooled, so it will be higher with aircooled cpu and gpu)

thanks

[jetjaguar]

can anyone recommend some dram settings for an sli-dr

im running a winnie with 2x512 of gskill le and 5-10-3 fix bios

[ugp]

Does Chipset voltage make a difference?

[EMC2]

Look in the "Best of AMD" and "Memory Tweaking Guides" forums...

[ugp]

I have looked and looked and I cannot find what the PCI-E Max Payload Setting is in the BIOS or what it should be set to...does anyone know????

[EMC2]

Here's how to do it the easy way

[robbysca76]

Hi friends...

I'd like to understand which version of Oskar's bios for DFI NF4 is for TCCD memory. I don't know if it's 3 or 1.

Could u help me please?

[burningrave101]

I have looked and looked and I cannot find what the PCI-E Max Payload Setting is in the BIOS or what it should be set to...does anyone know????

It should be left at the default 4096. There is no reason for your to change it. It has nothing to do with the amount of memory on your video card. It is NOT The PCI-E equivalent of AGP aperture size. It has to do with the PCI-E spec and lowering it will just lower your performance.

Hi friends...

I'd like to understand which version of Oskar's bios for DFI NF4 is for TCCD memory. I don't know if it's 3 or 1.

Could u help me please?

You should use -2 or -3 for TCCD. -1 is supposedly for RAM that runs really tight timings like BH-5. -2 is what most people use for everything.

[NetZeroZeus]

Where can I find information about these so-called memoey deaths?
It seems this happens only on bh-5, which is what i have, OCZ VX, and running at 3.5v, will it die? I have 2 80mm lowspeed fans on it, I am supposing that is enough?

[robbysca76]

In this website http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/114 is specificated that -1 is for TCCD 2- for BH5 and -3 is generic.

Now where could I see any Oskar's informations about this question?

[OneyedK]

Simply flash and test and flash and test and flash and test

You'll find out what works best for your cpu/board/memory,
that goes a lot faster than browsing the internet or discussing
wether -1 stands for yellow or brown

Until now, 704-3 worked best for my tccd (OCZ rev2), but I will try the other two again to make sure I didn't make some config errors in bios...

[Mitolo]

DFI NF4 Ultra D is reading my CPU as a FX25 when its a FX57. Is there a bios fix for this ? And I can not install windows x64 with my sata dvd-rw "Plextor" as it just hangs and does nothing, After pressing f6 to install SATA drivers for my x2 WD Raptors 10k rpm HD... it loads the two in then when it says starting windows "The next screen is the pick your Drive and format all that good stuff" just satys stuck. Works just fine when I install Windows XP Pro 32bit. Think I will try a IDE-CDROM just to see if I can install XPx64 unless some one has a fix.

[ugp]

My other 6800GT OC will be here today...I am sitting here waiting for FedEx to arrive..

My chipset now runs over 50+ at full load...is it safe like that? Because of the video cards not allowing for air flow over the chipset and I ever put a vantect chipset cooler on it today as well...

[OneyedK]

My chipset now runs over 50+ at full load...is it safe like that?

50+ is still safe from the electronic point of view,
but temps like that will limit your OC.
Is there no possibility to put a 80mm fan blowing from the side of the motherboard in the direction of the chipset???

[ugp]

This is what I did...I took my 120x38mm 108CFM fan blowing straight over it and it stables the temps at 42-44 LoL...It is loud as hell but that is ok...