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A little
more than a month ago I built a computer for a new customer of mine; he wanted a
very fast computer but he did not want to spend over a thousand dollars on just
the processor. So I recommend the
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 processor and this
DFI LanParty UT nF4 SLI-DR motherboard. As always, I went online to
newegg.com
and ordered it for about $170 plus shipping. The reason recommended this
motherboard to my client is that one of my best friends has this and is always
telling me to try them
FEATURES AND DESIGN :
This particular motherboard has a lot of features that a gamer, enthusiast, or
even some professionals would like. First of all, the yellow and orange color
combinations are somewhat nice if you have a case with a window (if you have
lights, it would look even better). After reading many reviews about this
motherboard and its predecessors, I did notice that DFI made some very nice
changes on the layout of the components, and addressed a few issues that were
present in previews versions. The position of the processor socket is in the
center of the board and as far away from other components as possible. This is a
939 pin boards that is compatible with the AMD Athlon 64/FX, Opteron, and even
some Sempron processors. One thing I did notice is that there is not enough room
around the processor socket if you want to use a big heatsink and fan, but you
will be fine if you use the stock heatsink and fan. Another good thing that DFI
did was to put more room for the memory sticks and video cards.
Another thing I noticed (you can call it an issue) is that the 24 pin ATX and
the 4 pin 12V connectors are right next to each other. It absolutely makes sense
to put these power connectors together, but I do not know why most other
manufacturers put them on different sides of the boards. One more thing that I
liked about the power connectors is that DFI put a stickers on it to put minimum
requirements; for an AMD
Athlon 3400+ combined with a pair of 6600 GT video cards, you would
need a minimum of 350 watt power supply. I know it seem a bit low, so my minimum
recommendation would be about 400 to 450 watts.
You also have an option to connect up to about 10 or 12 hard drives to this
motherboard if you wanted. It also supports RAID (Redundant Array of Independent
(or Inexpensive) Disks) configurations and also has 4 SATA (Serial - Advanced
Technology Attachment) ports.
This board also features a two of PCI-E x16 (Peripheral Component Interconnect -
Express) slots to fit two nVidia SLI (Scalable Link Interface) video cards. It
has x1 and x4 PCI-E slots and a two standard PCI slots. There is a set of
jumpers in between the x16 and x1 slots that will allow you to switch between
VGA (Video Graphics Array) or SLI modes. In VGA mode you will only be able to
use one video card, but two in SLI mode which will give you more graphic power.
Therefore, the SLI mode will run at 2x8 and the VGA mode will run at 1x16.
Unlike some other motherboards that have a card that you have to flip to
enable/disable SLI, this uses the jumpers. I have heard many stories that the
card easily fall out, but with these jumpers you will not have that problem.
There are many things on the back of this motherboard; it still has PS2 ports
(for a mouse or keyboard), but who uses those nowadays when we have USB
(Universal Serial Bus). There are six USB 2.0 ports available on the back and on
top of that you can add two more with the on board connectors. There is a
firewire port on the back and you can add one more with the on board connector.
You will also find that this has two, yes two, LAN (Local-Area Network)
connectors that provide high speed connectivity.
There is also a semi-on board sound available on this board. Meaning, it will
not operate unless you insert another card in the 14 pin connector. I think DFI
made it this way because they put so much on the board and they simply ran out
of room. The 7.1 channel sound is very good and it does sound nice, but if you
are like some hardcore music junkies, you would want to use your own sound card
for better quality.
INSTALLATION :
Hardware
This motherboard is compatible with the ATX form factor so it should fit any
current ATX pc case. Installation from the side is somewhat standard and the
motherboard did not create any complications for my client's case. His case is
medium sized but it fits without much hassle.
The physical installation for this motherboard is no problem since all screw
positions (to hold it in the case) are conveniently accessible even with the
processor (CPU=Central Processing Unit) and memory (RAM=Random Access Memory)
already installed on the motherboard. However, watch out which screws you use
since neither motherboard nor the case go into too much detail about that. The
ones that fit the studs for the motherboard are the ones with the Hex/Phillips
head! You should also use the red/pinkish washers so there are never any shorts.
This motherboard requires ATX 24 pin and the 4 pin ATX 12V power connectors to
work properly. My client already has a 450 watt power supply so he does not have
to worry about lack of power. This power supply has all the connections and the
power that the motherboard (any component in the computer) will ever require.
My client wanted 4 PC3200 512MB memory sticks to be installed on this and this
board accommodates for them without any problems. After fine tuning the Bios
settings to my clients needs, you can start using the computer without any
worries. The Bois controls almost all features on this board. I personally like
the ability to save up to five different configurations and recall them when
needed. This will come in handy when you are overclocking or playing around with
the settings. This will save you a lot of time if you ever mess up.
Software
The driver CD has all of the software needed to make the board compatible with
your operating system. My client already had the 32-Bit version of Windows XP
Pro installed on the computer, but wanted to try out Windows XP 64-Bit to see
the difference in performance and power. I installed the retail version I had so
and it was very quick to install. I did not notice any incompatibilities with
the 64-bit operating system. Major speed increases are not expected in the
64-bit version, but I did notice that it boots up faster than the 32-Bit version
does.
Once everything was installed, I downloaded all updates and drivers for Windows
XP Pro and Windows XP 64-bit for this motherboard. This is a lengthy process
since there are a lot of critical updates (which includes SP2) that is supposed
to make the system more secure. But I personally think the updates makes the
system run slower. The whole process takes a good hour or two. If you do not
want to spend this time downloading and installing, you can just purchase a
Windows XP version that already comes with SP2 and a lot of other updates.
PERFORMANCE :
I installed antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall, sound software, and other
software that is need to get everything running properly. After we had all the
hardware and software (even the updates) installed, it was time to see how it
worked. I agree that a lot of credit goes to the graphics card, but overall
speed and power enhancements were great. I noticed a reduced boot up time from
somewhere about 15 to 20 seconds to about a solid 10 to 20 seconds, which is
amazing.
My client is very happy with this configuration and just flies through
everything that he does on this new system. With the entire performance boost,
this motherboards has plenty room to expand. The memory can be upgraded to a
maximum of 4 gigabyte.
FINAL THOUGHTS :
This DFI LanParty UT nF4 SLI-DR motherboard is all about performance and you
definitely get that bank for your bucks. You will love how easy it is to tweak
the Bios and have the boarding working like you want it to.
My client knows that PCI-Express and SLI are the future of graphic cards and
motherboards so that is why he went ahead with this motherboard. After this
upgrade my client's computer is now ready for the future and will not need any
major upgrades for a long time. So if you are thinking of going this somewhat
expensive upgrade route, I would only give you encouragement. |
