EVGA NF4 SLI (NF41-AX) report

[kravmaga]

Yeah I think it's an excellent board for free. I was able to oc my 3500 venice to 2.5 ghz in all of 2 seconds just using the auto oc feature, saved me some hassel actually because I still wasn't familiar with OCing A64's. As simple as setting HTT to 230 and leaving the multi at stock and using the auto features for everything else. I have Corsair Value select ram so going over 200mhz is difficult but from what I've tested higher multi+lower HTT and FSB is quicker than using a lower multi with higher FSB and memory speed.

For example 228x11 with ram at 191mhz is faster than 250x10 with ram at 208mhz.

 

[splat1]

Got a 3800x2 running stable at over 2.6ghz on this board. Its a bit touchy with memory though. Highest I got with memory was 245 @ 2.5-3-3-6 1t with twinx2048 3200c2 sticks.

 

[AMDCrazy]

SLI is running good and stable with 2.5ghz cpu.

 

[ahsumdude]

I purchased the EVGA GTX and SLI combo from Zipzoomfly a few days ago and just installed it today.

Evga's MB manual is quite inadequate.

I can not locate how to change the Hypertransport multiplier anywhere. I found where I can adjust in increments from 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and auto. This is fine if i want to run everything at stock.

I have a athlon 64 3500+ and two sticks of Corsair DDR 550. Should be able to run this stuff at 275 Mhz.

I can not get this mainboard to post with command 1T. What gives?

Everytime I change my system to run at 240 X 10 (specs on my MSI NF3) it boots up according to CPUID at 1200 mHz with mulitplier 5 and HT 240.

Some one just slap me and tell me what I'm doing wrong.

 

[acroig]

Originally posted by: ahsumdude
I purchased the EVGA GTX and SLI combo from Zipzoomfly a few days ago and just installed it today.

Evga's MB manual is quite inadequate.

I can not locate how to change the Hypertransport multiplier anywhere. I found where I can adjust in increments from 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and auto. This is fine if i want to run everything at stock.

I have a athlon 64 3500+ and two sticks of Corsair DDR 550. Should be able to run this stuff at 275 Mhz.

I can not get this mainboard to post with command 1T. What gives?

Everytime I change my system to run at 240 X 10 (specs on my MSI NF3) it boots up according to CPUID at 1200 mHz with mulitplier 5 and HT 240.

Some one just slap me and tell me what I'm doing wrong.

You're not doing anything wrong, these are all current issues with the board. We're all witing for a BIOS revision to take care of these issues. The HT can be adjusted where you saw the 1000, 800, etc., 1000 being 5x, 800 being 4x, and on down. For 200FSB keep it at 1000, then move it to 800 up to 250 and 600 after that. The 1T is a well documented issue.

This is the link to the evga motherboard forum: http://www.evga.com/Community/messageboard/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=26

There's also a very informative thread at the hardocp mainboard forum:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=943238&page=1&pp=20

The 10x bug is also known at evga. See if 9x is OK for you but be aware that after 250FSB the board will start to have boot issues and will not boot at all at 270FSB. I encourage you to post at the evga forum so Wade Shelly of evga can look more into this. Hope this helps you.

 

[silentvois]

Is there any issues taking the FSB up 270-280 with a memory divider. Or even running 9x300mhz with a 133mhz memory divider while keeping the memory at 200?

 

[acroig]

Originally posted by: silentvois
Is there any issues taking the FSB up 270-280 with a memory divider. Or even running 9x300mhz with a 133mhz memory divider while keeping the memory at 200?

From my experience and that of other owners it is only possible if you use clockgen within windows. Setting a 270 or higher FSB in the mobo usually results in the board not booting, booting at 200 or great instability. Your mileage may vary depending on what RAM you use.

 

[johnnqq]

from reading about this board from page one, it seems that (from you guys) this is a good board but doesn't overclock well...which is fine because i don't overclock. i plan to get a 7800gt combo. are u guys SURE that a zalman nb heatsink can't be put on with bent fins?

 

[Oakenfold]

Has anyone been able to run 4 sticks of any kind of ram in this thing? I have 4 sticks of Corsair value select but it will only boot with 2 of them.
I'm thinking I'll have to pickup some 1gb sticks like MichaelD did but I can wait to play BF2 for a while if need be.

What really gets me is there is apparently NO memory compatibility list for this motherboard? Maybe I missed it on the EVGA forums..

 

[acroig]

"from reading about this board from page one, it seems that (from you guys) this is a good board but doesn't overclock well...which is fine because i don't overclock. i plan to get a 7800gt combo. are u guys SURE that a zalman nb heatsink can't be put on with bent fins?"

From what I've read at the evga forum it does not look like it could be done in single card mode. The card sits right on top of it. You're welcome to try it and let us know if it works.

 

[Skyhanger]

I can run the FSB up to 255 from bios before it becomes unstable... as for the cpu... I can only go up to 238x11 before prime95 craps out on me

I do think it might be caused by the piss-poor job of mounting the stock HSF w/ stock pad (i had to remove it and put it back on). The AS5 is still out in the mail and I'm waiting to see if the limitations are caused by cooling problems...

Also my OCZ Performance 2x1024 can run at 2-3-3-5 1T timings at stock speeds...

I haven't tried OCing from clockgen yet... I'm kinda wary of OCing from windows. (due to rumors of instability) Is this true? I might try testing the real limitations of this board once I get AS5 applied.

The newest BIOS should have a E04 postscript... check the boot screen if you have the E04 vs the E03. (press tab to show the boot screen, caps lock to keep the splash screen off)

 

[johnnqq]

so nobody can get it to boot with 4 sticks of ram? could that be fixed with a better bios, or is the board bad? is the fan loud?

IF i get the combo, i'll definitely spend the $8 to buy the zalman heatsink...i guess the yellow one (the blue one is tall, not wide)

 

[acroig]

Originally posted by: johnnqq
so nobody can get it to boot with 4 sticks of ram? could that be fixed with a better bios, or is the board bad? is the fan loud?

IF i get the combo, i'll definitely spend the $8 to buy the zalman heatsink...i guess the yellow one (the blue one is tall, not wide)

I believe that 4 sticks will work but you may want to check the EVGA boards. The fan is not loud at all. Can you post a link to the yellow zalman? Thanks

 

[johnnqq]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118214
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118202

i don't know if you can buy it without the kit...but whatever.

 

[acroig]

Originally posted by: johnnqq
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118214
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118202

i don't know if you can buy it without the kit...but whatever.

OK, now I see. I don't thing that would work as the vid card sits right on top of the HSF unit. I think someone posted a pic earlier in this thread.

 

[Oakenfold]

Originally posted by: acroig

Originally posted by: johnnqq
so nobody can get it to boot with 4 sticks of ram? could that be fixed with a better bios, or is the board bad? is the fan loud?

IF i get the combo, i'll definitely spend the $8 to buy the zalman heatsink...i guess the yellow one (the blue one is tall, not wide)

I believe that 4 sticks will work but you may want to check the EVGA boards. The fan is not loud at all. Can you post a link to the yellow zalman? Thanks

Yeah I've been over @ Evga forums they still don't have a memory compatibility list out that I can tell.
Back to searching [Hard] forums for info on the ram, not sure if a bios update could fix something like this. I just don't like the fact they haven't stated what ram they tested this thing with, kinda scarey.

 

[daddyo]

I need to find a solution to the NB fan for this board. It's LOUD. I mean really loud.

Does anyone know if you can put a single PCIE card in one of the SLI slots?

 

[Skyhanger]

Simply stick the NB Fan connector into the nearby SYSFAN1 instead of CHIP FAN. The fan will go down to 4100 rpm and become far less audible... you will also be able to monitor its speed through MyGuard or SpeedFan. Now that I've done that, my GPU is now the loudest component (a 7800GT; no means loud but you can hear the low rumble from the air turbulence)

*sigh* This just feels like overclocking where you solved one bottleneck just to find another down the road...

 

[daddyo]

Skyhanger, check out the Zalman VF700 VGA cooler. I picked one up from SVC for about $30 shipped. It's silent, and it cools a lot better than the stock HSF.

 

[daddyo]

That NB mod worked like a champ. My once "airplane-like" case is much, much better.

 

[Skyhanger]

Of course the mobo beeps like crazy when I boot up cuz it doesn't detect a NB fan. I wonder if it would stop doing that if I plug the PSU rpm report line in?

 

[MichaelD]

I know that in the "NF-41 memory issue threads" on the EVGA forums, the admin there, Wade Shelly was soliciting "Please post what memory is working/not working for you" in the threads. Many folks were contributing.

This leads me to believe they are working on a memory compatibility list.

AFA the NB fan being loud goes, I believe that user has a problem b/c the fan on my board is whisper quiet.

Possibly, his fan is being contacted/compressed by the videocard? I know that my 7800GTX is literally resting right on the heatsink itself. Maybe he moved his heatsink or the fan during card installation?

 

[daddyo]

I'll check fan placement. It might be a bad fan. The noise changes tone and volume frequently, which might lead me to believe the fan is dying or defective.

 

[rickn]

the little vantec iceberq copper chipset/vga cooler fits fine as well. i must say, the nforce4 chipset is in a bad location for anything but very low-profile coolers. they should move it someplace else

 

[Budarow]

HELP ME!!!

Do you guys think this board will work okay with this RAM (I also plan to pick up a Athlon 64 3000+ and overclock to ~2.2 GHz (using a 1:1 divider).

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4453786?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Thanks,

Bud