Best nForce 4 for <$100 ?

[B S D]

Hello,

What is the best nForce 4 Ultra board out there for under USD $100?

Also, are there any "gotchas" involved with using all 4 DIMM slots? (I plan to put in generic 2 x 256 now and 2 x 256 later..)

Thanks,
David

 

[imported_Kensai]

Some boards drop the speed down to DDR333 when using all four slots at once. Also, I don't know of any nForce 4 boards below 100$.
(I'm Canadian) Only know of nForce 2 boards under 100$.

 

[Thurgo0dy]

Chaintech VNF4 Ultra

 

[B S D]

Thanks for the Chaintech link.

Will this board have any trouble with 4 DIMMs in use?

 

[Thurgo0dy]

I've heard of people having the same problems as Kensai stated on alot of the Nforce boards, including the chaintech. You're best bet would be to buy 1 stick of 512 and get another later.

 

[B S D]

Thanks for the info.

Is there a big speed drop doing to single channel mode?

Also , the Chaintech board says this in it's PDF manual:

Due to CPU specifications limitation, two DDR400 memory modules
inserted into DIMM1/3, three DDR400 into DIMM1/2/3, or four DDR400
into DIMM1/2/3/4 is not recommended.

Does this mean that you can't run PC 3200 memory in dual channel mode?

Also, I saw this board over at Newegg... seems a tad cheaper... is there any difference?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-491&depa=0

Thanks again,
david

 

[B S D]

sorry.. See above...

 

[Thurgo0dy]

For AMD the difference in dual and single channel isn't very big. It isn't noticeable. MSI is (usually) a good mobo manufacturer although I haven't heard anything about that board. I think you can run dual channel in 2 and 4, not sure cause I don't own this board.

 

[gobucks]

it's not the board that has the problem, it's the A64 memory controller, which is on the CPU. Winchesters and newcastles can only handle 2 sticks at DDR400 with 1T command rate. With 3 or 4, you drop down to DDR333 and 2T command rate, bringing pretty big performance hits. If you upgrade to a venice core (rev E0), then you should be able to run 4 sticks at full speed in your existing mobo. Just bite the bullet and grab a gig of ram - Newegg has a couple of choices for under $100 - kingmax, mushkin, and Corsair, i believe.

Also, i second the Chaintech. While there are better nforce4 Ultras out there (DFI, MSI), they run you up to $50 more. Chaintech is the only company to have a sub-$100 Ultra board, a price point that was supposed to be reserved for non-ultras, which lack SATA-II, sometimes overclocking options, hardware firewall, etc. And you can run dual channel. Chaintech uses slots 1 & 3 for channel 1 and 2 & 4 for channel 2, so dual channel is made for slots 1 & 2 (or 3 & 4). If you get the board, though, make sure you get the 02-03-2005 bios, cause the version 1.0 shipping bios blows monkey nuts.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

If you get 4 single sided sticks you will be able to use DDR400 at 1T command rate.

 

[B S D]

How do I tell if a DIMM is single sided?

Is the Corsair Value Ram 256 or 512 DIMM "single sided" ?

Thanks

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The 256MB is probably single-sided (all the memory chips are only on one side of the PCB, and not both).