DFI NF4 SLI & Ultra Infinity Motherboard Reviews

Post by **Apoptosis** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:02 pm

Many consumers can't afford cutting edge enthusiast motherboards, but that doesn't mean performance should suffer. LR takes a look at the DFI NF4 SLI Infinity and NF4 Ultra Motherboards that don't have bling, but are still performance heavy weights. Read on to see our thoughts on these mainstream boards!

The DFI NF4 SLI showed itself to be a great board for the gamer on a budget. I was greatly impressed by the overclocking performance of this board (both boards actually). That, coupled with a pretty deep and customizable BIOS definitely makes this board worth the price. While this board fills DFI's slot at the lower end of the motherboard price range I feel that the Infinty SLI would satisfy the needs of even the most hardcore gamer or enthusiast.

Article Link: DFI NF4 SLI & Ultra Infinity Motherboard Reviews
Pricing: DFI NF4 SLI Infinity
Pricing: DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity

Let us know your thoughts!

shwA · Post by **shwA** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 5:53 pm

I absolutely love DFI boards. I think this is a good step in the right direction creating even more competition...this time with an even better price.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:28 pm

man, now that's value, 100 bucks for the Ultra?? and it has many of the same features of the Lanparty UT?? too sweet, tooo toooo sweet

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:40 pm

yeah i think i might get one

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:46 pm

It'll give me just a little extra cash for that Exos 2 watercooling system I want to pair with my X2 3800+; one question though, directed toward you Yves, is the Exos 2 a good system to go with, because I want the best cooling for the money here.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 8:09 pm

Legit Reviews - The Koolance Exos-2
http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=205

I actually reviewed it a few months ago, and when price is taken out of the equation, its the best cooling unit you can get. The number of cooling combinations you can arrange, the ability to move 700W, easy set up, great looks.
I've been using mine 24/7 got 4 months now without any issues. But they are expensive.
I have been using a Cooler Master Aquagate Mini-120 on my test bench for the last 2 weeks. For under $100 you cant beat it, good temps, easiest set up I've ever seen, and it comes with all of the hardware for (socket 939,775, A, 875)

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 8:52 pm

like Rich says if your not going to build your own then its the best you can get on the market. If you look at it based on cost, you can do better building your own.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:00 pm

Oh wow, ok, I didn't know you did a review on it Rich, I'm going to have to check that out!! Personally, when it comes to cooling, there is no price tag on that in my view; I want to get a great OC (I know you can on air but I am looking for something a bit more spectacular) and still keep the processor nice and "frosty". I thought the unit appeared amazing myself, with integrated radiators, pump, and thermal monitor, not to mention it's one sexy beast, lol

. anyways, I decided to ask another person because I am one for multiple opinions, and it appears that they're in one accord, so the Exos 2 will be a definite for me. Thanks for the advice

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:30 pm

If you want max performance and a internal kit, you might want to take a look at the new Swifty APX extreme kit. Overall the best berformance out of the top parts on the market, but it does require some installation skills if you want it totally internal.................

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:38 pm

Actually, I'm really fond of an external unit due to the fact I want more room for air flow in my system. The overall installation appears simple, but would probably need to refer to the instructions to figure out what I need to route to which ports. I will be honest, this will be my first watercooling system install, but even this looks simple, just like the choosing of waterblocks. I plan on using splitters like Rich did in his review, because I want to cool my video card, HDD, and CPU, and maybe my memory if I can find a good block, but then again I might not need it with OCZ Platinum memory, as it already comes with heatspreaders, but I will leave that opinion to you guys. Thanks for the link to the review Rich, it was extremely helpful, especially how to mount everything; looks like that VGA cooler is immense!!!!! Hope it will all fit in the Tsunami Dream tower.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:43 pm

IMHO you only need to cool the CPU and GPU, all the rest are flow killers and there aren't any real gains to be had. Good air flow is all thats needed to cool HD's, ram and the NB. That is unless you're in it for the bling factor........................

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:47 pm

Well, the only thing I would be concerned about out of the "flow killer" batch would be the NB: is the factory cooler included by DFI efficient enough to keep that little firecracker of an NF4 chipset cool? Or would you just simply recommend an aftermarket air cooler for it? If a good aftermarket cooler will do here, then I will just cool the CPU and VGA with the water system; might even get slightly better temps than what was experimented with.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:41 pm

It isn't necessarily a flow killer. Looking at overall performance and heat dissippated the Koolance outperformed kits I had from both Danger Den and Polar Flo. while both of those kits cooled very well, they didn't cool as well nor were as easy to work with as the Koolance. Also consider the Koolance moves 700W of heat, almost three times as much as the other kits mentioned.
I happen to like external kits as well...... much easier to set up, maintain, and customize. I like the Koolance kit because their water blocks are as good as any, and their GPU and HDD coolers are incredible.
As far as actual cooling, I like the fact that I chose to water cool the chipset, there is a big difference between 38C load and 52-55C load, which in my mind is only going to make the board last longer. I also like cooling the chipset because most active cooling solutions are pretty bad (fail after a relatively short time) or use a passive solution which hinders O/Cing and definitely shortens the life of the board.
The DFI LANParty boards use Sunon fans that are rated something crazy like 55,000 hours, and I think they work as well as most other solutions. I'd seriously recommend replacing the thermal pad on it with some AS5 though, better cooling, and better clearance for your video card

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:54 pm

I myself have never and more than likely never will water cool a NB. On my DFI board my NB doesn't go over 40c even when OC'd and I'm using the stock NB cooler (lapped of coarse) along with the fan turned down so I don't hear it above anything else in my system. But my system does have excelant air flow and the MoBo area is cooled directly by 3 evercool 120mm fans running at 6 volts. but to eachs own they say...........

I'd be willing to put my little Storm block system up against any other water cooling system out there...........

I'll even take one of the heater cores off line to make it fair.................

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:59 pm

How cool is your house??!! At 76F my chipset idled at 38C at stock speeds, and 42C when overclocked. Load temps are usually 44-52C.......however once watercooled it dropped to 36C and 39C, which is pretty good in my opinion, and as you said, to each their own.
Also, lets get this thread back on topic.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:11 am

AC is set to 76f 24/7, but my computer shop in in my walkout basement.........

So it might be a degree or 2 cooler.

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 6:31 pm

HMMMM, nice to see a "budget" board that still overclocks well and has some of the basic features of the more expensive boards. With the $30 you would save on the Ultra Infinity over the LanParty Ultra-D, you could go and buy a 5.1 or 7.1 sound card and have the one major missing link between the two boards.

Overall a very nice review. But why does the SLI board score lower in many of the graphics benchmarks than the Ultra? Is it just game support for SLI? But it still scored lower in GPU in 3DMark05 too....

ADMIN Edit... thanks for pointing that out... original post fixed.

Yuriman · Post by **Yuriman** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:49 pm

The SLI board is not using the same video card. If I remember correctly, it was 2x 6600GT vs 1x X850XT? No?

Anyway, I am very impressed. I think I may use this from now on in the pc's I build for my clients. This site is great.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:08 pm

yeah, I used two XFX 6600GTs, the only NVIDIA cards I had at the time. I am now using a pair of 7800GTs in the SLI board as my own system and it works great.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:01 am

need I say more, lol