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ive made my mind up and its dual core mind ! im going to take the plunge after new year and buy one but i would like to know what board is best for overclocking them
i see dfi everywhere but i dunno if im so sure about them as i keep hearing more people with problems with them than any other board :confused:
A DFI is an overclockers board with many extra BIOS settings, especially for memory and you need to match them with quality components again particularly the RAM.
If you aren't happy adjusting things in the BIOS or aren't prepared to spend the time required to find your max CPU clock and stable RAM speed and timings then it's not for you :)
Read the guides on http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/ in the NF4 (or Crossfire) and AMD Overclocking sections.
My 146 and OCZ RAM easily went to 10x260 with timings of 3 3 2 7 and I will only bother tweaking it further when I upgrade the video card.
DFI boards are top of my list, but pretty close to them are the Asus A8N32. It seems to need less in the way of tweaking and tuning but achieves nearly the same results, courtesy of a well designed power regulator.
A couple of days ago I would have reccomended DFI all the way but im not so sure anymore. I Have been having alot of trouble with both my boards (Ultra D and SLI-DR) This weekend they only seem to boot when it suits them. If tweakings not your think then give them a miss if it is then there is alot of fun and frustration to be had with these boards.
Scott
i dont mind mild tweaking but id rather spend my time in an os doing stuff that tinkering i a 4 colour bios screen
im not a benchmark whore either just want a fast dual core for what i want to do with my pc
my ram is ocz platinum 3200 el ddr rev 2 or something like that and its 1gb (2x512)
the cpu will be a 175 opty and it will be cooled with a swiftech storm waterblock and a very heavy duty watercooling system and the northbridge will also be cooled
all im needing is the right motherboard and yet more horror stories are putting me of the dfi's
they may have the most options but all those options gives more chance of things going wrong especially where im concerned!
Mine is running fine again now, tempremental to say the least. Asus are great boards and supposed to be rock solid and reliable
Get the Asus. DFI boards are flakey at best.
so the asus a8n32 is about the best bet for clocking excluding dfi ?
ive never really been keen on dfi, there fine if you like to spend your time posting benchmarks and screenshots on forums i suppose .....
if you can afford it the A8n32 is supposed to be good.
Don't discount Abit AN8 series
http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=98232 - a X2 but Opterons run fine.
DFI boards are what you make of them. I have never had a single problem with mine and would more than recommend it to anyone. Just check nf4 roundups and reviews on the internet and they almost all show the DFI nf4 series coming out on top.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smokey21
If you want the best overclocking board then you want an Ultra-D/Sli-d from DFI, simple as that. It will take a lot of work to get the oc to its best but thats been the best part about having this board for me as I have learnt so much more about overclocking than if I had just set some numbers and forgotten them.
If you're happy to settle for a fairly good overclock which doesn't take much work to get then go for Asus and then Abit.
i cant be bothered with alot of work want a good overclocker but i want it with ease and stability
Do you need SLI?
If not an nF4 Ultra chipset would do you fine e.g. Abit AN8/KN8 Ultra or ASUS A8N-E for 1/2 the cost of the A8N32.
Whatever you get don't skimp on the PSU.
Another vote here for the AN8 Ultra. Very easy to overclock & very stable.