DFI Ultra-D Motherboards suck!

[Dasnipe]

I heard the board is touchy but if you get everything right you'll be happy, sometimes you just have bad luck or a bad board, hope you work it out

 

I'm getting the board next week (on it's way atm), hope it's nicer to me than it has for u, lol

[mucker]

How about these:

 

Bios 510-3

 

CPU Vcore 1.350 x 113%

250 HTT x 10 = 2.50 GHz

LDT x 3

PCIex: 105

1:1 memory ratio DDR500

LDT v = 1.3

Chipset v = 1.6

Vddr: 2.8v

Command rate: 1T

Tcl: 3

Trcd: 3

Tras: 10

Trp: 4

Trc: auto

Trfc: auto

Trrd: 5

Twr: 3

Twtr: 2

Trtw: 3

Tref: 3072

Twcl: 1

Bank int.: Enable

 

Skew control: Auto, 0

Drive strength: 7

Data strength: Level 3

Max. Async: 8

DRAM response time: normal

Read Preamble: 6

Idle Cycle: 128

Dyn. Counter: disable/disable

R/W Bypass: 16x/16x

Bypass Max: 7x/7x

32Bit Gran.: disable/disable

[billy1ear]

I had same problems caused by the nvidia ide drivers.

[SADtherobot]

SADtherobot - You are WAY off base. I am not a noob and if you would have read I have done many computer builds.

 

I read that you have done multiple computer builds, but since there has never been a board like this, those systems probably provide little/no experience when considering how different the BIOS settings and hardware are on your setup. I didn't say anything about being a "noob", I was just saying that it takes a lot more work than most boards to get it working properly. Also, the number of systems that someone has built does not determine his/her skill or knowledge, I've known plenty of people that have built systems, yet they couldnt answer some simple questions about the hardware.

 

If you would have continued to read more you will see XP was installed and was working.

 

I read everything that you posted. Being able to install Windows says very little about overall system stability. Recently I created a test-system to prove to my friend that windows could be installed on an unstable system. I lowered the RAM voltage and changed some timings to settings that I knew were unstable, then I installed Windows perfectly, but showed him that Prime95 failed after about 4 hours. It is the minor instabilities that slowly break Windows and prevent it from starting up, these instabilities are usually not apparent when installing windows.

 

I ran all types of benchmarking and stability tests. Prine95 ran for 12 hours stable, 3DMark 01,04,05 all ran overnight without issues.

 

You did not mention this in your previous posts, you only said that you were able to "run all the benchmarks", which wasn't very specific. Some benchmarks aren't always able to pick up errors (like Sandra for example), but the 3DMark tests usually do, but as you had not mentioned them, I did not know.

 

I did do a ton of research just like the other guy whom posted but he is also having problems and I am too.

 

If you did do that research, you would have noticed that a lot of other people have also said "This board is touchy.". It is true that this board can be frustrating to setup, but it does work correctly. I did not see the other guy's post until after I posted mine, but his problem seems different from yours.

 

I am not actually here to bash the board just share my fustrations and seek some help/guidence.

 

Well, with a title like "DFI Ultra-D Motherboards suck!" in a DFI support forum, I'd have to wonder about that, especially when you have this quote: "COME ON! Your at DEFAULT settings and still wont boot you dumb piece of you know what!" in your first post. In fact, with a thread title like that, it actually prevents the Admins from coming to help you.

 

I would suggest checking all of your power rails and BIOS settings to make sure everything is ok. Next, I'd remove the Maxtor drive when trying to use Windows, I have experienced a problem firsthand on this board, as well as other NF4-based motherboards from different manufacturers. The Maxtor SATA drives have many problems being detected on newer boards from any manufacturer (Asus, MSI, Giga-byte, DFI, etc.), but I've also seen a different issue (in addition to the non-detection) on this specific board. I installed Windows 2000 on an Ultra-D based computer, the system was running fine for almost 1 month (except for the drive disappearing on boot), but after about 1 month, Windows started locking up completely or not booting all the way (stuck at loading screen). It took me a few days to realize that the Maxtor drive was at fault, I removed the drive and the system has worked fine for over 1 month. The fault is Maxtor's and they have released many different firmware revisions, yet they don't always help. I'd suggest setting all BIOS settings to something that should be stable, run some stability tests (like memtest86, etc.), remove the maxtor drive, and reinstall Windows. I did notice that you put the drive on a separate card, but the drive may have been part of the problem originally.

 

Llathos, it seems as though you could have gotten some bad memory, it happens occassionally, if you have access to another system that can run RAM at those settings, try them out and see what happens. Also, it is possible to have too much voltage going to the RAM, I don't know what voltage you tried, but see if lowering it helps at all. Another thing to check would be the voltage rails, if your modstream is the rail adjustable model, you could try to make the rails as even as possible, or just slightly higher than their ratings.

 

Finally, this is something everyone should understand, it is unlikely that settings that work for 1 person will also work for you, even if they have the same hardware. Every piece of hardware works differently, even if it is the same model. You can see what other people are using and try those settings, but if they don't work, you can't assume that your stuff doesn't work, it most likely just needs some minor tweaking.

[Vortexics]

I bought this mobo knowing in my country there was no DFI support and if the mobo came screwed up I wouldn't be able to return it cause the shipping was to expensive back to usa, anyways I took the risk and damn . dude, I been having this girl for 30 days now, I been able to do high condiser OC's with my sucky memory like 222x9 1:1 , 244x9 166 mem divider, 266x9 150 mem divider but I do all manual settings, I can't complain about this mobo only thing is the chipset driver lol my vga card take a little bit to make it fit in , but I already fix that with the dremel lol.

[timpanogos]

love mine ... gumbie here ... first real system build ... 2880mhz at 250, tight ... only trouble here was getting some cool on that fx55

 

I'd buy another one in a heart beat

[HuddaDudda]

Well I have really think I isolated some of my issues being this Maxtor Drive. With the drive installed - if the RAID doesnt recognize it then XP wont boot. By putting it on a PCI SATA card sometimes it will recognize it and start to boot then crash and sometimes even on the card it wont recognize its there. So bottom line is with this drive installed even on a PCI SATA card it has issues. I also seem to have some issues with the random crashes - those however are related to the DLINK wireless card. Could this be some setting that is OC the PCI slots or are they controled by the FSB? If those are not working properly I am begining to wondering if its a setting I need to change because the PCI cards are not working properly. Any ideas? If this Maxtor drive is uninstalled it will boot to XP fine. So I am begining to think its a SATA drive issue. Just strange that Maxtor and DFI are not compatible and why just MAXTOR drives? Who cares - I just was at my wits end with this machine not being stable and working. I have taken many valium now and drank a ton of wine - so its been a fews days and I am calmer and ready to reapproach this machine and try again.

 

Please forgive me I been under a ton of stress and this was the last thing I needed.

[Vortexics]

don't worry it happens, once I took an MSI kt6 delta and smash it in the floor just cause it won't regconize my w.d 120 old sata I spend 4 days trying to make it work and the day number 4 like they said and god create the light but instead I create the big mess of mobo pieces on my room

[Badge56]

HuddaDudda

 

I just read ( pretty fast ) all the messages. I had a few problems at the beginning also. I now love my DFI. Best board I have ever had and I have had a few...

 

My earlier problems where caused by not plugging in both the floppy connector and the molex connector to the motherboard. Did you plug yours in ?

 

Also use the 24 pin power connectors.. :nod:

[HuddaDudda]

I have made sure all power connections were made even the 24 pin.

 

Its realy looking like the Maxtor is the cause of all evil - with it totally unplugged from the onboard Raid controller XP boots up fine. With the SATA PCI Card I still have issues with it too which is strange because you would think it would recognize on the PCI SATA Card. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt. When it does reconigize it the system freezes up during boot. My final thoughts are either its a setting on the board thats causing issues with the PCI slots since the wireless card was also crashing too - or it all revolves around the Maxtor Drive and SATA card. All my programs were loaded on the Maxtor so XP installs but I cant "test" anything because my programs are not there. I will be doing a fresh install of XP this weekend - with settings I know worked good under benchmarks before. Then see if the PCI wireless card still give me grief. I am thinking if it still cashes the system to crash it might be a PCI setting or something.

 

I see some light at the end of the tunnel - or things are moving in a more positive direction. This board has caused me so much fustration.