EPoX "EP-9NPA+Ultra" NVIDIA nForce4 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard

[gate1975mlm]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-236&depa=1

I wonder how this board is?

 

[krose]

Pleased with mine.

 

[althes]

Very nice stable board.
Gives 3.1vdimm can get 1.95 on cpu using percentages.
chipset runs hot, but the board remains stable.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Are you using 90nm CPU's? Does your board set the default Vcore as 1.4V or 1.5V?

 

[krose]

Originally posted by: ChineseDemocracyGNR
Are you using 90nm CPU's? Does your board set the default Vcore as 1.4V or 1.5V?

That is the only glitch. Vcore is 1.5 with my Winchester. They released a new BIOS to support rev. E CPU's so let's hope Vcore is correct for them.

 

[arswihart]

Very nicely priced = $109 @ Mwave, get it while they still give you the instant $15 rebate that was supposed to expire 4/15!

If you want an nforce4, IMHO this is the one to get for the best value. DFI for extreme high voltage OCer's. There aren't many others even worth considering.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

I got one, and replaced the Foxconn nF4 Ultra board I had originally with it. WOW. That is the best I can say. The board is uber-stable. I left for vacation a week ago, and left Prime95 running the background with 3DMark 2005 in the foreground for 7 FULL DAYS and I came back to find there were no reboots, lockups, or errors of any kind. Now THAT is impressive. Very happy I replaced the Foxconn with this board. It does overvolt just about all of the components, but I am considering this a good thing. It could also be that the BIOS is misreading the voltages, but I do not think so. My Patriot XBLK RAM is running at 2.78 volt by default according to the hardware monitor and BIOS screens. Processor is running at 2.59 volts (although I am using a Newcastle core CPU).

 

[alexandreBR]

Hi guys!!!

I intend to upgrade for a PCI-E System. And I'd like to clarify some doubts towards that new Epox.

Different from the 9NDA+, does the 9NPA read rails +12v and +3.3v?
Does it has problems with memos working @1T? I ask that because I've noticed 9NDA+ really has problems with it.
Are SATA, PCI-E and IDE locked?
Is it worth to pay 20 bucks plus and get a DFI Ultra D?

THX!!!!!

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: alexandreBR
Hi guys!!!

I intend to upgrade for a PCI-E System. And I'd like to clarify some doubts towards that new Epox.

Different from the 9NDA+, does the 9NPA read rails +12v and +3.3v?
Does it has problems with memos working @1T? I ask that because I've noticed 9NDA+ really has problems with it.
Are SATA, PCI-E and IDE locked?
Is it worth to pay 20 bucks plus and get a DFI Ultra D?

THX!!!!!

Try swapping RAM slots on your 9NDA3+. I'm using 3 and 4 and have 1T enabled without any issues. SATA and IDE are also locked on the 9NDA3+, just make sure to use the ports near the AGP slot.

 

[alexandreBR]

The sticks are already in slots 3 and 4 (aren't they the ones far from the cpu?)... Simply I've considered these Kingston Hyper X UL don't like working at 1T.. the system doesn't boot sometimes when they're working at 2-2-2-5-1T... It misses video.. I has begun since I've instaled theses Hyper X... Now I've set them 1:1, 245x9, 2.5-3-3-5-2T, 2.7v... doesn't seem to be unstable... but, unfortunately, I won't keep them with me... I'll sell them as soon as I can.

Towards the questions, I really want to know about EPoX 9NPA+ ULTRA...

 

[MDE]

Try 5-2-3-2 1T. My RAM wouldn't boot at 5-2-2-2 either, I believe it's a limitation of the memory controller.

 

[alexandreBR]

Originally posted by: MDE
Try 5-2-3-2 1T. My RAM wouldn't boot at 5-2-2-2 either, I believe it's a limitation of the memory controller.

I'll try that... but, not only me, but some friends of mine have had problems with theses KHX... what a pity!!! The question is that, here, sometimes it boots, sometimes it doesn't...


P.S.: would you mind give me your msn, if you have one? You could send it through MP... I'd really like to clarify some doubts with you, if possible...

 

[gate1975mlm]

Does the On board Nic card work ok? Or would I be better off using a PCI Slot card? I ask because I heard that people were having problems with the on board Nics on some Nforce4 boards.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: gate1975mlm
Does the On board Nic card work ok? Or would I be better off using a PCI Slot card? I ask because I heard that people were having problems with the on board Nics on some Nforce4 boards.

On board NIC works fine. I am using the nForce 6.39 driver set, but I am not using NAM. NAM is still broken, even in the 6.53 set. Also, weirdo software IDE driver issues are present in the 6.53 set as well, so I am staying away from them until nVidia gets their act together and finally releases a fully working stable driver set. Lately they seem to break more things than they fix with each release of nForce or even ForceWare drivers (for vid cards).

 

[SPQQKY]

Seems like fewer people are using Epox these days. It's a shame, they really make great boards. I am truly happy with my Epox. I replaced that dreaded DFI with it and it has been rock solid. I used Epox for years until a while back. I had.....

8kta2
8kta3 Pro
8k7a
8kha
8k3a
8rda
4pda2
4pca3

I then swithed to Asus and Abit for a while with my Intel rigs, but back to AMD and Epox. Can't understand why anyone would pass this board up, especially at $110 give or take. Only problem I find is I cannot get 5x htt to work, but it didn't work on the DFI either.

 

[webley]

Anyone know the max setting allowed for VDimm on the Epox? Oops didn't see that above. 3.1V VDimm.

 

[Budarow]

Anyone know if this board has "problems" running on a 20-pin ATX connector (i.e., with NO 24-pin adaptor)?

 

[RobbyG]

EDIT: question was answered.

 

[Cacophonous]

Originally posted by: Budarow
Anyone know if this board has "problems" running on a 20-pin ATX connector (i.e., with NO 24-pin adaptor)?

I tried with a 20-pin PSU, it worked just fine, but I wanted to do everything right so I bought one 24 pin (compliant, as I will explain now) from MTEK. This one comes with an adapter, so it converts the 20 pin to a 24 pin conector, which in turn connects to the motherboard. So it´s actually a 20-pin atx connector, plus an adapter. I didn´t feel ripped off because it´s a very silent PSU and it has 550W output. Hope I helped.

 

[Cacophonous]

by the way, one thing that bugs me about this motherboard is that I have to unplug the power cable (or turn off the UPS) whenever I want to turn the computer on again, or the fans start, but the computer won´t boot up. This is my first EPOX, but a friend of mine said that this is common for this brand. Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

 

[Zap]

It shouldn't do that. I have had an 8RDA, 8RDA+ and now an 8KDAI. All overclocked well, none had that problem.

 

[Budarow]

Originally posted by: Cacophonous
by the way, one thing that bugs me about this motherboard is that I have to unplug the power cable (or turn off the UPS) whenever I want to turn the computer on again, or the fans start, but the computer won´t boot up. This is my first EPOX, but a friend of mine said that this is common for this brand. Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

I've had an Epox 8rda running for ~2 years and it does not have this issue.

 

[Insomniak]

Epox makes excellent boards. If you're in the market, I say go for it.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Originally posted by: Cacophonous
by the way, one thing that bugs me about this motherboard is that I have to unplug the power cable (or turn off the UPS) whenever I want to turn the computer on again, or the fans start, but the computer won´t boot up. This is my first EPOX, but a friend of mine said that this is common for this brand. Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

This is definitely not normal. I have over a dozen EPoX boards that I have used in builds currently up and running, and none have ever displayed this behavior.

That said, it sounds like you have a PSU issue to me.

When it comes to nF4 Ultra boards, it is best practice to use a VERY high quality 24 pin PSU. It does not necessarily have to support ATX V2.0 (ie, dual 12V rails), but it really should be something with a native 24 pin connector and relatively high amps on the 12V rail (21 or higher is what I consider the minimum). I have a OCZ 520 Watt PowerStream in my personal system and I also use the 9NPA+Ultra board--that PSU has 31 Amps on the 12V rail. Buy a good PSU and you will be surprised how many issues will either go away or never even occur. My personal favorites are the higher-end (420 Watt or higher) Enermax Noisetaker ATX 2.0 12V Active PFC PSUs with such nice things like Ring Core, Dual 12V rails, 80% efficiency, smart fans, etc., and the OCZ PowerStream series (PowerStream for brute force overclocking potential....) None of these PSU's are cheap. Minimum $80!

 

[UKnowWhat]

I am helping my nephew to build a system with this mb just bought from Chiefvalue. Booting up is fine with the initial screen showing proper CPU, right amount of RAMs, HD, DVD etc but no keyboard responded to the F1 & Delete message. LED code is 7F meaning waiting for keyboard entries. Keyboard does flashes during power up sequence but that's it. I have changed 3 kbds but no luck. Have any one ever have this problem before? BTW, he has the 20 pins PSU into a 24 pins connector too. Could it be an issue?

TIA