LANPARTY UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert

Rob Williams · 11-12-2005, 03:07 PM

Where in the world did this motherboard come from? I attached a picture that shows the old school Ultra-D beside this Expert board, and the differences are quickly evident.

First off, they removed the 6 large tabs in between the dual PCI-E ports.. which is odd. SLi may be the only option in the motherboard now. What's strange though, is that apparently you don't need the SLi bridge at ALL, because there is no way that it could stretch between those two ports now.

Some other minor differences I can see is that the Expert has "True stereo line inputs", whereas the Ultra-D and SLi-DR do not. That's like a small difference that not many will notice. But then we see the Expert has EIGHT S-ATA ports! That would allow someone to have a huge RAID setup or JBOD's. One of my favorite additions, is the extra PCI slot. Not that PCI is that common anymore, two just may not cut it for those who have three cards.

The largest difference on this board though would have to be the new Genie BIOS, which has even more options for the more hardcore overclocker. And look at the DIMM slots! Man, that would make it so easy to cool your memory. Just clip a 120mm to your PSU and you are good to go.

Hmm.. I really want to get a hold of one of these..

Greg King · 11-12-2005, 07:47 PM

Where are all of the power sockets? No 4-pin, no 4-pin molex and no floppy power connector. Whats up with that?

Rob Williams · 11-12-2005, 08:52 PM

I see the four-pin floppy connector on the board, but not the other ones. That is a good question..

Jakal · 11-12-2005, 08:52 PM

There's a black 8 pin plug right beside the 24 pin. Hard to see at first glance. Do you have any performance specs on that board yet? I'd love to see how the new revision implemented the SLi with that much distance between it. The new bios will really be able to push the limits on performance. Cool~

Rob Williams · 11-12-2005, 08:56 PM

Oh yeah, that 8-Pin must replace those two.

The only performance reports to be found are here.

madmat · 11-12-2005, 09:45 PM

It's no further apart than the ASUS SLI mobo and they have the SLI widget that connects the cards for it.

As to the SLI bridge on the board itself it's quite possible it's done in the bios now since there was talk about implementing mobo's without a physical bridge.

Rob Williams · 11-12-2005, 10:01 PM

Yes, true.

I want this damn board. Looks like I need to beg DFI.

/e gets out fake tears.

Bobbythecat · 11-13-2005, 07:12 PM

Yeah somewhere in the forum I ranted about how sucky my current board is, and that I will switch to this one, once it's out and once I'm back from Tokyo! Of course, if there's anything more interesting selling downtown, I just might pick that one up instead, although hardcore enthusiast boards start out costing around or *WAY* over $300. I remember an ASUS board going for about $450 once..

Buck-O · 11-14-2005, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madmat

It's no further apart than the ASUS SLI mobo and they have the SLI widget that connects the cards for it.

As to the SLI bridge on the board itself it's quite possible it's done in the bios now since there was talk about implementing mobo's without a physical bridge.

From here...

http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_prod...D=3872&SITE=US

LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert exclusive features

AMD socket939 Athlon FX55+ & Athlon X2 CPU supported
Software control SLI switch
Karajan Audio(Theater like7.1/8ch Audio)
Dual Gigabit LAN
Magnetic-levitate fan on chipset heatsink
4 x Serial ATA-2(3Gb/s)
100% Japanese Capacitors/ 4 phase PWM
UV sensitive slots
EZ-on / EZ-touch onboard switch button
Silicon image3114~RAID5 ready
nVIDIA nTune(embedded overclocking solution)
nVIDIA ActiveArmor
(Embedded hardware firewall & network solution)
CMOS reloadedÂ®
All New Genie BIOS for extreme overclocking!

As for the SLI bridge. I imagine they will just ship a custom one with the motherboard. Other companies have done so, why not DFI?

I also think they switched the boards layout around in direct responce to some fitment issues that alot of people had in cases. Especially aluminum ones with cross braces that where running a large aftermarket HSF.

Id be curious to see how this board stacks up. Im sure the performance will be great...provided it doesnt have "issues".

I really like DFI, and they have come along way in a short time. But they still cant come close to holding a candle to the quality and realiability of Asus or Abit. And i HOPE they can turn that around with this board.

Rob Williams · 11-14-2005, 09:36 AM

Well since I've killed two Ultra-D's, I can back up your statement there about reliability. However, those were really my fault.

madmat · 11-14-2005, 01:09 PM

Yeah, coming after 'em with a butcher's knife usually ain't considered good for 'em.

Jakal · 11-15-2005, 09:23 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136165

See if you can round up one of those for testing Rob! No SATA 2 which is a shame. You might be able to wrangle 2 Crossfire enabled cards to test with as well.

Bobbythecat · 01-11-2006, 11:15 AM

I have this board now. I had a kit of PDP Patriot DDR600 running on it for a week or two, but heh, wouldn't boot beyond the 250FSB with the divider ratio of 1:1 and relaxed timings. Then the sticks became unresponsive. Now I have my 1GB backup ValueRam from I forgot where running fine at the default speed of 200FSB 3-5-5-8 T1....I am having the feeling that the PDP were actually bad, as they didn't work well on my last eVGA mobo as well, and on that one no matter what FSB, didn't go too high without errors with that MemTest. So sad, but soon a pair of Corsair DDR400 CMX512-3200XL as replacements...and perhaps they will do better. And this might be the last upgrade before the AM2 socket CPUs and mobos and DDR2 are available for AMD.......provided that they are any good!

11-12-2005, 03:07 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	LANPARTY UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert Where in the world did this motherboard come from? I attached a picture that shows the old school Ultra-D beside this Expert board, and the differences are quickly evident. First off, they removed the 6 large tabs in between the dual PCI-E ports.. which is odd. SLi may be the only option in the motherboard now. What's strange though, is that apparently you don't need the SLi bridge at ALL, because there is no way that it could stretch between those two ports now. Some other minor differences I can see is that the Expert has "True stereo line inputs", whereas the Ultra-D and SLi-DR do not. That's like a small difference that not many will notice. But then we see the Expert has EIGHT S-ATA ports! That would allow someone to have a huge RAID setup or JBOD's. One of my favorite additions, is the extra PCI slot. Not that PCI is that common anymore, two just may not cut it for those who have three cards. The largest difference on this board though would have to be the new Genie BIOS, which has even more options for the more hardcore overclocker. And look at the DIMM slots! Man, that would make it so easy to cool your memory. Just clip a 120mm to your PSU and you are good to go. Hmm.. I really want to get a hold of one of these.. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far. Last edited by Rob Williams; 11-12-2005 at 03:10 PM.

11-12-2005, 07:47 PM	#2
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Where are all of the power sockets? No 4-pin, no 4-pin molex and no floppy power connector. Whats up with that? __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

11-12-2005, 08:52 PM	#3
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	I see the four-pin floppy connector on the board, but not the other ones. That is a good question.. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

11-12-2005, 08:52 PM	#4
Jakal Tech Monkey Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Missiskippy Posts: 634	There's a black 8 pin plug right beside the 24 pin. Hard to see at first glance. Do you have any performance specs on that board yet? I'd love to see how the new revision implemented the SLi with that much distance between it. The new bios will really be able to push the limits on performance. Cool~ __________________ Intel C2Quad Q9400 @3.6Ghz \| Asus PM5Q Deluxe \| OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-8500 8GB \| XFX Black Edition 260/216\| knobs are great for twisting, turning, squeezing and pulling... especially your own..... that's how doors open \| Chaos Havok: grrrr im lagging me \| <@Deathspawner> I wish I was in Windows :-/

11-12-2005, 08:56 PM	#5
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Oh yeah, that 8-Pin must replace those two. The only performance reports to be found are here. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

11-12-2005, 09:45 PM	#6
madmat Soup Nazi Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: No soup for you! Posts: 1,636	It's no further apart than the ASUS SLI mobo and they have the SLI widget that connects the cards for it. As to the SLI bridge on the board itself it's quite possible it's done in the bios now since there was talk about implementing mobo's without a physical bridge. __________________ M4N82 Deluxe Phenom II 940 Black Edition quad core @ 3.5Ghz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum, 2x1gig GSkill PC26400 EVGA GTX260 Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

11-12-2005, 10:01 PM	#7
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Yes, true. I want this damn board. Looks like I need to beg DFI. /e gets out fake tears. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

11-13-2005, 07:12 PM	#8
Bobbythecat E.M.I. Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Sacramento for now... Posts: 78	Yeah somewhere in the forum I ranted about how sucky my current board is, and that I will switch to this one, once it's out and once I'm back from Tokyo! Of course, if there's anything more interesting selling downtown, I just might pick that one up instead, although hardcore enthusiast boards start out costing around or WAY over $300. I remember an ASUS board going for about $450 once.. __________________ Attorney #1: I stepped on a baby bird this morning on the way into the courthouse. Attorney #2: The jokes are right. We don't have souls. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do." ~ Mark Twain. Many may say something like it, but few act upon it. Woe unto them.

11-14-2005, 09:36 AM	#10
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Well since I've killed two Ultra-D's, I can back up your statement there about reliability. However, those were really my fault. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

11-14-2005, 01:09 PM	#11
madmat Soup Nazi Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: No soup for you! Posts: 1,636	Yeah, coming after 'em with a butcher's knife usually ain't considered good for 'em. __________________ M4N82 Deluxe Phenom II 940 Black Edition quad core @ 3.5Ghz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum, 2x1gig GSkill PC26400 EVGA GTX260 Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

11-15-2005, 09:23 PM	#12
Jakal Tech Monkey Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Missiskippy Posts: 634	http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136165 See if you can round up one of those for testing Rob! No SATA 2 which is a shame. You might be able to wrangle 2 Crossfire enabled cards to test with as well. __________________ Intel C2Quad Q9400 @3.6Ghz \| Asus PM5Q Deluxe \| OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-8500 8GB \| XFX Black Edition 260/216\| knobs are great for twisting, turning, squeezing and pulling... especially your own..... that's how doors open \| Chaos Havok: grrrr im lagging me \| <@Deathspawner> I wish I was in Windows :-/

01-11-2006, 11:15 AM	#13
Bobbythecat E.M.I. Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Sacramento for now... Posts: 78	I have this board now. I had a kit of PDP Patriot DDR600 running on it for a week or two, but heh, wouldn't boot beyond the 250FSB with the divider ratio of 1:1 and relaxed timings. Then the sticks became unresponsive. Now I have my 1GB backup ValueRam from I forgot where running fine at the default speed of 200FSB 3-5-5-8 T1....I am having the feeling that the PDP were actually bad, as they didn't work well on my last eVGA mobo as well, and on that one no matter what FSB, didn't go too high without errors with that MemTest. So sad, but soon a pair of Corsair DDR400 CMX512-3200XL as replacements...and perhaps they will do better. And this might be the last upgrade before the AM2 socket CPUs and mobos and DDR2 are available for AMD.......provided that they are any good! __________________ Attorney #1: I stepped on a baby bird this morning on the way into the courthouse. Attorney #2: The jokes are right. We don't have souls. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do." ~ Mark Twain. Many may say something like it, but few act upon it. Woe unto them.

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