DFI NF4U going south

rykoryko new york
edited November 2007 in Hardware
Hello everyone,

my a64 rig in my sig below has been acting up lately. was rock stable for about a year and i was enjoying many a late night gaming session. has always been cranked up on the oc without any issues untill now. now it will randomly reboot after i make it into windows. never on the same thing though...sometimes it's when i open my computer, or other times it is when i try to install an update....no rhyme or reason it seems.

first thing i did was turn down the oc to try and make things stable. dropping to 250 htt from 312 worked ok for about a week..but then i get the same random instability. so of course i tried to run things stock, but stock is not stable at all! i get an infinite reboot loop of POST, reboot, POST, reboot. i have to oc to at least 225 htt if i want to get into windows. but then same issue of completely randoom reboots.

i have tested all components in another rig (dfi nf3u) and they all work just fine. the 2gb pc4000 passes 12 hour memtest @ 250mhz (3,4,4,8 - 1t). the opty 165 works just fine as does my x1900gt in looping 3d benchies. also have done stability testing with ORTHOS for 12+ hours. i have done hdd scans with no errors...even switched hdds and did a fresh install of winxp just in case windows was borked. tested psu with a multimeter and it is good too. even went so far as to buy a new UPS with AVR (boost and trim).

guess what....still getting random reboots for no apparent reason. i can't even replicate a reboot---meaning that it will reboot at different times for different things.

at this point all of my experience tells me that the mobo (dfi-nf4u) is dying a slow and painful death. anybody else finding out their their dfi-nf4u is slowly going tits-up? is a year about the expected lifespan of a heavily oc'ed rig? all of my other oc's where mild in comparison...but i thought these DFIs could take it...what gives?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2007
    My dad's DFI NF4UD is going belly up after about two years as well. Random reboots, failure to cold start, etc. Same symptoms, same level of OCing.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited September 2007
    poop...DFI seems to be the sprinter of mobo companies....fast out of the gate but can't last in the long run.

    and s939 mobo selection is slim as of late. replace mobo or rebuild completely as a c2d rig...hmm, what to do?
  • rykoryko new york
    edited September 2007
    can anybody else chime in here?

    trying to figure out if this is a DFI specific problem or a nf4 problem. somebody with an asus, gigabyte or abit s939 board that is still kicking....or has recently died? anybody want to talk about their s939 system?

    thx!
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited September 2007
    I've actually had very good luck with my NF4 Ultra-D and NF4 Expert. The Ultra-D has been to hell and back with my Vapochill LS and is still as solid as the day I bought it back in February of 2005. Generally speaking, they have a pretty good track record (especially for a board geared to enthusiasts).
  • rykoryko new york
    edited September 2007
    hmm...interesting...maybe the icee-cold goodness of the vapochill helps.

    i menioned above that i have a DFI nf3u-d that has been wonderfully stable. so i was thinking nf4 problem. maybe just bad QC @ DFI. i know they must have sold like a million nf4u-d's...
  • rykoryko new york
    edited October 2007
    update:

    replaced dfi-nf4u with a vanilla msi nf4 and i am back in business! overclock is nice and stable @ 250htt. way lower than the dfi's 312htt but at least things are usable. i will miss having the old opty @ 2.8ghz though...
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    Looks like you've got it sorted out. The symptoms you described with your previous motherboard are quite often indicative of a PSU going out. But since everything is running well now, it does look indeed like it was the motherboard. Capacitor(s) gone bad? Chips, such as the MOSFETs starting to fail? Out of probably 30 or more motherboards, I've destroyed a couple but have never had one fail on its own. Not sure if that means much of anything, as I've never kept a motherboard longer than three years.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited November 2007
    yep, i thought it was psu related at first and i tried 3 different psus on it all with the same results. the psus were an antec smartpower 450w, and then the 2 in my sig. then i thought maybe dirty power from the wall so i got a nice UPS with AVR (boost and trim), but it was the same story.

    i definitely think the prolonged oc just wore down the motherboard. it was on 24/7 most of the time too. RIP dfi-nf4u...it was fun while it lasted!

    that brings me to the question of what to do with a dead mobo besides recycle it? i feel like i should hang it on the wall or something...you know geek art.:)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    i definitely think the prolonged oc just wore down the motherboard. it was on 24/7 most of the time too. RIP dfi-nf4u...it was fun while it lasted! that brings me to the question of what to do with a dead mobo
    Assuming the computer case was well ventilated and the motherboard was designed for overclocking, extended overclocking should have had no more effect on the board than normal usage. What to do with the board? The two boards in the past that I killed - I removed all salvageable heatsinks for future projects.
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