Deciding between LanParty UT boards

[Guest dnsx]

hi im new here and i need some help with choosing a dfi motherboard for my new computer. I am going to purchase an AMD 3700+ 939 San Diego along with 2 7800GT's in SLI. Also i will be overclocking the processor. 1 DFI motherboards caught my eye and they are : DFI LP UT nF4 SLI-D and DFI LP UT nF4 Ultra-D. I need to know if either of these motherboards support 32 lanes in SLI configuration because i heard some motherboards only support 16, 8 on each slot. I also need a recommendation on the ram. So please let me know if i should get either one of these motherboards or a different one, and i need to know what kind of ram to get. Also i was thinking of the ULTRA X-Infinity 600w power supply, would this be good choice? Help would be great, thanks!

 

edit: also whats the difference between the DFI LP NF4 SLI-DR and the SLI-D

[palehorse]

32 lanes in SLI is pointless right now...none of the current DFI boards have it.

 

And only the DFI boards with "SLI" in their name are natively SLI-capable. (The ultra can be pencil-modded to run SLI, but I wouldnt recommend it).

 

Ram? Go with Gskill PC4000 (DDR500) HZ kit... right now it's $197 at newegg.

 

Board? go with DFI UT SLI-DR Expert.

 

Power-supply: do NOT, i repeat, do NOT get any Ultra PSU! They will NOT work well with any new motherboard. Click here for a list of PSU's that get along well with DFI boards:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10854

 

GL!

[Guest dnsx]

i was thinking pc3200 ram because 200 for ram is over my budget, i think ill go with some ocz ram or maybe crucial ballistix. well i was thinking the SLI-D motherboard, is the only difference between that one and the ULTRA-D the SLi part or is there more to it? how come 32 lanes is pointless, i dont know much about SLi?

 

also i found TWO LanParty SLI-DR motherboards can someone tell me the difference? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813136151

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813136157

[Guest dnsx]

i just found someone on this forum that uses an x-finity, well ill just ask him how well it works on his system

[lowboy]

Obviously you don't know much about Ultra PSU's or you would not be thinking of buying one.Bling bling but known to be poor quality. And the memory suggested above was for 2X1gb sticks can"t beat the price, same ballistix 300+

[Audiocracy]

WHoa there! That's really no way to respond to someone who's trying to help you. DFI mobos are EXTREMELY picky when it comes to components; that's why we have stickies on the recommended power supplies and ram and such. There are probably better power supplies in the power supplies sticky that cost less and have been proven to work well with DFI boards. We're just giving you our opinions to help you atain a headache-free build (just look at the nf4 forum and take a lok at how many builders have trouble stemming from using unrecommended power supplies). Guide

 

In regards to your question about SLI: only the highest of the highest level of graphics cards even utilize anything over 8x bandwidth (which is why you can run a gfx card in the lower pcie slot at 8x and have very negligible performance drop) so 32x bandwidth is really a gimmick until the can come out with cards that will utilize them. That is why it is not really necessary for you to purchase those boards with 32 lanes although the choice is up to you... most of us here might see it as a waste of money.

 

As for the ram, 2GB PC4000 kits are becoming very popular and almost a necessity in games such as BF2. They can be easily had at around the $190-250 range and the UCCC chips have been able to overclock well.

 

And finally, the mobos... the non-UT SLI-DR will include a PC Transpo sling to carry your case in, a Front-X panel to add additional ports and UV-reactive cable sleeving kit. This is the one I got because newegg was out of the UT and I was impatient, lol ( I have never seen a motherboard come in such a big box... full of those accessories). The UT version basically does not include those accessories and is about $30 cheaper at the egg.

 

I hope you don't try to insult anyone else that tries to help you (especially me)

[Guest dnsx]

thanks a lot, i think ill just get the UT one. so basically the ULTRA-D and the SLI-DR's only difference is that one is SLI and the other one is not. now that i know the difference between the two SLI-DR mobos whats the SLI-D have different between the SLI-DR? how come PC-4000 ram is so good? because i read that thread on memory for DFI boards and i was thinking about OCZ PC-3200 ram

im sorry if im asking too many questions because its so hard to decide

 

also, what do u think of these ram modules?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820146546

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820227211

[Audiocracy]

i believe the SLI-D only has 4 SATA I connectors while the SLI-DR has 4 SATA II and 4 SATA I. PC4000, which is DDR500, runs at 250 Mhz... higher frequency means that you may be able to run the ram 1:1 with your CPU HTT frequency although it's not very important to run 1:1 on A64 chips. I'm sure others are able to explan the full benefits of PC4000 ram better than I. Actually, I think I remember there being a section on why higher rated ram is better in the overclocking guide: here

 

It's ok to ask questions as long as you are polite and curteous to those who are trying to help. Hope this helps in your decision-making.

[Guest dnsx]

o so both the SLI-DR mobos UT or not both have the extra sata ports, but the SLI-D doesnt. because in your previous reply i thought u meant the not UT SLI-DR is the one with extra sata ports. anyways thanks again. i have made my decision to go with the SLI-DR UT and the G.Skill 2gig ram. also one last thing, should i go with a zalman cnps7000b? i heard the zalman coolers work real good on the AMD 64 processors.

[Audiocracy]

yes, both the non UT and the UT SLI-DRs have 2 SATA controllers (8 ports total = 4 SATA I, 4 SATA II) but the SLI-D only has one. You will be happy with the G.Skill. many people in the forums have that kit and it works wonderfully. Zalman coolers are good. If you are intent on getting the Zalman, go for the ALCU one because it's lighter... that all copper one is too heavy imo... i, personally would probably go for a thermalright SI-120 and a panasonic panaflo 120mm fan on top. either way, good cooling.

[Guest dnsx]

hm well thanks a lot for the help, time to go add my parts to my shopping cart

[naddie]

I read that the zalmans are very good, but noone here said a peep about them. Instead, I decided to go with the Thermaltake SI-120. It costs as much as other high quality heatsink (don't buy at Newegg, though - you can get it cheaper on xoxide or elsewhere).

 

Once thing nice about this HS is that it is easy to clean if it gets dusty unlike other HS (search for an image and see what I mean). Also, it acccomidates a 120mm fan so it be more quiet and still push a decent amount of CFM.

 

I recommend the Silverstone FM121 for the fan - it gives you a knob to control speed from 800 to 2400 RPMs. highest speed pushes 110 CFM. not sure at the lowest speed, but my stock CPU speed can be kept at 28*C idle and 38*C full load (see my sig for my rig info).

 

I also like this setup because it circulate air to your memory too if oriented right.

 

One thing to notice with this setup - you will have to zip-tie your fan to the clips, since it was meant to clip to the lower part of the fan's hole. Some fans (including the FM121) has a tunnel that goes straight through for the screws, so there is no "bottom part".

 

http://www.insanetek.com/reviews/cooling/T...cture%20021.jpg

 

But you see here:

http://www.ocia.net/reviews/si120/pic12.jpg

 

It can easily slip off if you don't zip tie it.

 

 

The reason why I chose the Silverstone over the Panaflow is that he Panaflo does not have a speed sensor. Other than that, the specs are similarly impressive for the Silverstone. Price is not that different, and the Silverstone comes with the variable resistor knob that you can mount to an open 3.5 bay.

 

EDIT: Oh, and for the PSU, I am very happy with my Seasonic. As said by everyone on the board, the new revision HAVE NO MORE ISSUES - yay! Mine started up and stayed on the first time.