NF3 UT 250Gb setup

[pbi]

I am glad that I found this forum. I would be lost without the information found here.

 

After finding some pitfalls with the NF3 250Gb (1/28/2005 BIOS), I am overall happy with my results with this mobo. This machine crushes my Barton 2500+ at 3200+. I am amazed with my new setup.

 

However, some rather annoying problems were found during my setup.

 

1) I used the auto detect for my mobile AMD processor (3400+) and my mobo detected it at 800MHz. I could not verify it until I downloaded H.Oda’s wcpuclk. Handy little program. I tried to bump up my multiplier and my mobo froze. It turns out the “auto” voltage is at 0.90V (ITE Smart Guardian). After many tries to get it everything setup for 11X200MHz, the computer would freeze just using the reset button. I would have to cold boot the computer to get it to boot properly. In this forum, I found that the BIOS is the problem with the mobile processor. After flashing my mobo, this “auto feature” problem still persisted (800MHz at 0.90V), however setting the default clock manually worked. Later, I was able to OC to 11 X 230MHz at 1.48V. This processor is amazing, especially when paired with a fast video card (6800 GT at 425/1100MHz). I don’t want to go any higher due to the coming summer months. The video card generates enough heat as it is.

 

2) I had problems with my SATA drives (Raid 0; 2X250GB drives), when I used the “external” connections. After about one day with XP Home installed, my OS would not boot properly. In fact, I could not boot anymore into windows. Luckily, I have a version of Ultimate Boot Disk v3.2 (MrBass.org) and checked the drive integrity. Some of the data was corrupted. I found in this forum that the BIOS and the external connectors could cause problems with SATA drives. I wish that I knew to use internal connections for SATA drives, especially when OC’ing. Again, the new BIOS update helped out. Fortunately, I was able to recover my data after the flash and “repair” XP. IMHO, This is should be a critical note to this forum.

 

The plus side.

 

1) The BIOS flash helped (1/28/2005 beta). I have to admit the Memtest86+ feature on the 1/28/2005 BIOS is an excellent feature for memory and cpu stability. I used it several times to get my memory timed correctly at 230MHz (2.5-4-3-8). This was the sweet spot for my Corsair memory at 2.6V. That took some time to find timings that would not give errors. I could get through all of the testing cycles without errors or freezing the system. The processor could be pushed even more, but I will settle for 2.53GHz for the time.

 

2) The power for the video card is great, especially when I can OC it beyond Ultra speeds. I can not say enough about the Leadtek A400 GT card. This card is beyond my expectations, however, I believe having a good PS and motherboard power gives the advantage.

 

3) The Raid 0 SATA configuration is great...much faster than my IDE 80GB WD special edition.

 

Overall, I was trying to decide if I wanted the 939 or the 754 setup. I found that the 939 setup was more expensive, however they offer only a slight advantage over a 754 due to the dual memory. After price comparisons, the 754 setup was nearly $500 cheaper (processor, heatsink, board, and PCI-E video card). I would state that the other point was the mobile 3400+ and NF3 250Gb seemed to be a good match for a good OC (I was not disappointed). In addition, the PCI-E video cards are at least $100 more for the faster cards. AGP is ~5 old, however I see no advantage with PCI-E at this time. Lastly, after all of my years with system builds, I rarely replace the processor using the same motherboard. I know that 939 setups will have the possibility to have SLI & dual processor cores. However, I don’t think that these present boards will give anyone that advantage until these new devices will mature.

[Angry_Games]

1. DFI doesn't support use of mobile/dtr cpu's

 

2. =/ we all found out the hard way about 240+