DFI Lanparty NF4 problems.

dragonV8dragonV8 not here much New
edited February 2005 in Hardware
As some of you folk would have seen in the Pub, i got a puter for my birthday.

Specs.

DFI Lanparty Nf4 Ultra-D
Amd64 3500 Winchester @2210
2 x 512Meg OCZ EL PC3200 Rev.2
80 Gig Seagate - ide
Superflower 500W psu - 20 pin
PowerColor X600XT ATI PCI/E Vid card
Antec SuperLanboy case / 2 x 120mm fans
Small fan on ram
Round cables

Have been reading nearly every thread on the web re: this board. Once built, she fired up first time, straight into bios. Loaded up MS XP Pro SP2, put on heap of software like spyware checker, reg cleaner, etc.

Last thing Sally does is put folding on, due to multiple re-starts with all the new programs. This is where it all went belly up. :(

As soon as the folding cog hit the system tray, BSOD (B=Black).
Nothing on the screen, no HD activity, yet the puter was still running.
Restarted the puter, activate the GUI, same thing.

Tried different settings in the bios, like a bit of extra Voltage, fsb, all to no avail. Updated the bios to the latest one, v2.18. No better. Must say Larry's comment (Mt Goat) about this bios is almost an understatement. Never seen so many different setting. Perfect for the enthusiast, bad for us oldies. ;)

On DFI-Street is a thread, explaining all the settings for the bios. Followed it all the way through........no difference. Ran memtest86 for 25 cycles with 0 errors. Did that before Prime told me to do it. :mullet:

Just now tried to give it a bit of extra grunt @2410. Ran ok, just same problem trying to fold.

Worst part is, i'm flying back to the mine in the morning, so replies will be sporadic.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions will be welcomed.

Thanks in advance

Jon & Sally

Comments

  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Jon

    Worst case, you can run it @ stock. I've been folding back @ stock as I had simmilar difficulties. I think we just need more practice and experimentation with these new boards. ;)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2005
    Has ANYONE successfully OCed these boards and run F@H on them while overclocked? If not you guys may be screwed... new boards mean new issues. Old (pre-Rev 2.0) ASUS A7N8Xs will die if you set the FSB to anything over 210... they may not die right away but generally within 24hrs they're dead.

    There are all sorts of boards out there where the first revision (or first few revisions) had issues that were later fixed. This may just be an issue with the DFI boards. If it is, hope it can be fixed with a BIOS update, and hope DFI will fix it (as opposed to ABIT, which refuses to even acknowledge the problem with their CPU temperature calculation algorithm [which takes the resistance of the CPU's thermal diode and calculates the CPU temperature from it] on many of their P4 boards, let alone fix it, regardless of the fact that a BIOS update could fix it quite easily)
  • dragonV8dragonV8 not here much New
    edited February 2005
    mtgoat wrote:
    Jon

    Worst case, you can run it @ stock. I've been folding back @ stock as I had simmilar difficulties. I think we just need more practice and experimentation with these new boards. ;)


    Larry, if only we could. :(
    We have tried stock, just under, a bit over and the screen just goes black.
    The screen has a notice floating about "no signal". Might try Sally's card out of her puter as it is PCI/E also. Just seems strange that the HD has NO activity at that time.

    If the bios didn't have so many options in it, we might stand a slim chance to have a play around. Way to many options for us...........too confusing. :)


    Geeky, there are some pretty good OC's around, from what i have read on a few different forums. Just some of the initial problems i guess. The fellow that writes the bios for DFI came from Abit. Oskar Wu i believe his name is. Supposed to be very good at his job. There is a lot of communication between him and the guys/girls at Xtremesystems and dfi-street. At least he gets to hear about any issues arising from these boards. :thumbsup:
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    But has anyone overclock and Folded?

    An ATI video card. It seems that the cases I reall of people OCing htese were all using NV cards. Video driver issues????
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    I haven't tried folding yet on the DFI here. The board is probably dead anyway, but that's another story. But i tested it a little, and i can use as much fsb/htt i want basically, as long as you know what the memory goes for.

    I have disabled all throttling stuff, disabled anything in bios i will never use. Test cpc off in the memory section if that helps. I have a couple of other boards on the way, the MSI diamond NF4 and the Gigabyte NF4 as well, so it will be interesting to see how those fares.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited February 2005
    I have an NF4 Ultra-D and I've been folding for days at 2.7GHz on my A64 3500+ without a hitch.

    As Mackanz mentioned, try to loosen up your memory timings. Some of the A64 memory controllers have difficulty with high clocks unless you loosen up the memory clock or timings. I have the same ram (OCZ Rev.2 Platinum) which will do 300+MHz without a hitch at aggressive 2.5-4-3-7 timings, however my CPU will not break 2.5GHz at those memory settings. If I back the memory off to 275MHz with the same timings, I can take my chip up to it's ceiling of 2.75GHz, no problem..

    [Edit] Just another thought: I notice you are using a 20-pin PSU, for greater PCI-E stability, make sure you connect the on-board molex close to the chipset fan, and if possible, the floppy style molex above the first 16x slot as well. If your X700 does not have an offboard PSU connector, this will be important, as it can cause some instability with 20-pin psus..
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited February 2005
    Try another benchmark program to get the temps up. What do the temps look like anyway? And the voltages, how are those?

    If the HS isnt properly seated, once folding hits it could cause it to go belly up right away.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited February 2005
    edcentric wrote:
    But has anyone overclock and Folded?

    An ATI video card. It seems that the cases I reall of people OCing htese were all using NV cards. Video driver issues????

    I have a PCI-E X850XT, with the Cat 5.2 drivers on the Ultra-D, and they seem to be working well..
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    I have seen several over @ ES OC'd and runniing F@H. I'm still not OC'd but folding just fine so far @ stock.
  • dragonV8dragonV8 not here much New
    edited February 2005
    Back at the minesite today. :(

    Before i left last night, i took Sally's ATI graphics card of less value and swapped it over. Sally had intentions of running Prime95 and see what happens.

    Also talking to geeky on MSN and he suggested NOT to rule out a faulty install of XP Pro SP2. Another thing to consider i guess.

    Lemonlime, as we are not all that experienced with OC, what is the chance of getting a copy of your settings. First time i checked the bios i had to put another battery in my Pacemaker, lol. :)
    Way too many adjustments for us to play with. Found the ones R-Gone put up on dfi-street and put those entries into the bios. It booted and ran no probs @2210. Good starting point. Need to know about more settings.

    Also the molex and floppy style connectors are both plugged into the mobo. Did this before the first boot. The X600XT does not have an off card connection.

    Ed, one of our Abit AA8 boards has a Gigabyte card. If we still have problems by the time i get home next, i will try that one. Just ran out of time due to work commitments.

    Marc, from memory it was running at around 40c. Looking at trying a few different programs to make it bring up the temps. Also will check the HS when home and see if it had been seated correctly. Should be an easy check as the AS5 will be on the bottom of it.

    Thanks for the replies guys. All info will be passed on to Sally, though i'm 100% sure she does check in to keep an eye on this thread.

    Jon
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    You had to add that last comment just for self preservation didn't you Jon.
    Just watch, by the time you get home Sally will have it all sorted out and running smooth.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited February 2005
    dragonV8 wrote:
    Lemonlime, as we are not all that experienced with OC, what is the chance of getting a copy of your settings. First time i checked the bios i had to put another battery in my Pacemaker, lol. :)
    Way too many adjustments for us to play with. Found the ones R-Gone put up on dfi-street and put those entries into the bios. It booted and ran no probs @2210. Good starting point. Need to know about more settings.

    Also the molex and floppy style connectors are both plugged into the mobo. Did this before the first boot. The X600XT does not have an off card connection.

    Sure thing. I'm at work right now, but I'll try to get my configuration to you soon..

    Off the top of my head, I know that there is one setting in the bios that is troublesome with Winchester procs, 'Errata 94' or something to that effect, double check that it is 'Disabled'.

    I'd also be curious to see if the graphics card is the culpret. Let us know how that other ati card does..
  • dragonV8dragonV8 not here much New
    edited February 2005
    Ed............you caught me out nicely. ;D

    Sally has the patience to keep working away at it. It's the competetive spirit. Should she not have it running as it should, it certainly won't be through the lack of having a go.:thumbsup:

    Lemonlime, you are correct with the "Errata 94. Must be disabled. From memory throttling is off. Ram in slots 2 & 4 (orange slots). We had fairly loose timings first time around. Tried to tighten them a bit, raised the fsb slightly and did the same with the voltage. Just in small increments. Still not doing what it is supposed to. :(

    When you have some spare time, any info you can give us to try out is greatly appreciated. Always open to suggestions and keen to learn more or something new. :)

    As information comes to hand from Sally, i'll be sure to pass it on.

    Jon
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Jon,

    Either yourself or Sally can get some assistance from me on MSN if you wish. Just let me know.
  • dragonV8dragonV8 not here much New
    edited February 2005
    MackanzOCZ wrote:
    Jon,

    Either yourself or Sally can get some assistance from me on MSN if you wish. Just let me know.

    Certainly appreciate your offer Mack. Just read your post as i finished talking to Sally on MSN. Got GOOD news. :D

    UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

    Sally did a memtest run for around 24 hrs with 0 errors from the OCZ ram. 1 item ok. Checked psu connections again, all ok. So Sally said, i'm going to do Prime95. This is when i flew back to work.

    Just found out Prime95 ran for 24 hrs. So............she thought, if it can run Prime, why not fold??????

    Put folding back on and in her words: "Voila"..................it's folding.

    Not sure if the smaller Vid card had anything to do with it, but i am sure Sally's perseverance had lots to do with it. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

    So, yes, all is well. It is running @2210. Just basic speed for now. Next item will be to OC. Dont think Sally will have it long at the standard speed, lol. :D

    So any suggestion with settings will be very welcome.

    Thanks

    Jon
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