DFI 875Pro Lan Party

[Mikki]

Check out Prometheus' review here (http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/dfi_875pro_lanparty/dfi_875pro_lanparty_pg1.html) and feel free to comment or ask questions about it in this thread...:)

[LastRide]

Thats really too bad about the vdimm and vcore.Otherwise sounds like a fine mobo.There is always something you find in a board thats wrong but those are 2 big things I would like to see fixed.

[prometheus]

While I agree with you, LastRide, the DFI STILL overclocks further than the IC7 with the latest 025 BIOS and is faster. It seems to go further at 2.7 than the IC7 does at 2.8. The finer increments are just a BIOS upgrade. I am pressing DFI on both issues, because this is one FAST board.

[LastRide]

I would seriously consider trying one regardless.Adding the finer increments would just make it that much better.I would really like to see the vdimm fixed for sure for 2.9Vdimm anyways should be sufficient.I don't like raising vcore much anyways.I like a board that holds steady idle and load with not much fluctuation.The only thing that concerns me is that I run a 2.4C.You test with a 3.0C chip therefore I have no idea what FSB this mobo is capable of before becoming unstable.Prometheus,maybe you should have a good overclocking 2.4C handy for testing the limits of a mobo for FSB and test score results.I know the 2.4C isn't the ideal CPU due to memory limitations but for those of us that do use them is vital information.My P4P800 will do 285FSB stable.I can push it to 292 but the board is unstable at that speed.I know the CPU has more left in it and I am being restricted.If the DFI can do 300 or more stable I'll snatch one up quick.:D

[prometheus]

I will have a 2.4C shortly. Evan Lieb, at Anandtech, with a modest OC setup found the DFI made it to 282FSB - the highest FSB on any board he tested. Evan's review is at http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1829&p=5

To quote Evan ". . . we were somewhat taken aback by the PRO875’s excellent FSB overclocking results. So far the DFI PRO875 is the highest overclocking Pentium 4 motherboard we’ve come across, coming in at just over 282MHz FSB (or about 1130MHz FSB). "

[oldfart]

Agree. Most us us are using 2.4C and 2.6C's. It would be nice to see mobos tested with a lower clocked CPU.

[pastorjay]

Very nice results Prom... I, too would be interested to see YOUR results with a 2.4c, so I am glad you are getting one.

PJ

[LastRide]

I was just reading that over at anandtech.The P4P800 was the highest at 283 and the DFI at 282 tied with a couple other mobo's.I read the 20 board roundup review.In Evan's testing te DFI was always near the bottom.I know he didn't run 3DMark2001SE or anything,but the board was on the bottom of the pack through all testing.Its hard to get a good idea sometimes cause everyone comes to a different conclusion and results along with the harware used.

[ThugsRook]

i personally think both reviews have valid results.

cpu selection is gonna make ALL the difference in weather a board is good or not.

:wave:

[prometheus]

BIOS also plays a HUGE part in this case. Evan was using the 5/16 or earlier BIOS, and I waited to complete the review until DFI had fixed the 5/30 BIOS - which was VERY fast, but had issues with overclocking. We certainly saw this with the performance improvements with the IC7 from the slowest 1.0 to 1.1 to 1.3 to beta 1.4/025.

The IS7 was Evan's fastest board, and also my fastest - until the DFI with the latest BIOS.

[LastRide]

Evan used a few older bios's with the other boards aswell.The IS7 was the fastest but at stock speeds.Great for a guy that doesn't overclock but also a good choice for overclockers also.Everyone is coming out with a board thats faster than the next.Epox is next up on deck.We'll just see companys making faster bios's to beat the next guy.Its coming down to who has the best bios support.Its kinda good to let the smoke clear a little and see who the top dogs will be.

[shoman94]

Originally posted by LastRide
Evan used a few older bios's with the other boards aswell.The IS7 was the fastest but at stock speeds.Great for a guy that doesn't overclock but also a good choice for overclockers also.Everyone is coming out with a board thats faster than the next.Epox is next up on deck.We'll just see companys making faster bios's to beat the next guy.Its coming down to who has the best bios support.Its kinda good to let the smoke clear a little and see who the top dogs will be.

Yea I wish Prom and BigToe would re-review the AX4C-Max. The performance is awesome. When i compare clock for clock with others here its there or better....as with this DFI.

[prometheus]

I certainly agree with you about the AOpen - it is now one of the fastest boards on the market.

[prometheus]

A few things I didn't mention in the DFI review.

Intel has the stub for on-board audio built into the 875/865 southbridge, and the manufacturer can choose the front-end chip. DFI uses the new CMedia chip designed for the ICH5 series southbridge, and it is a very good one, doing better than 90db signal-to-noise in all channels. I also think some will prefer the coax digital I/O connectors on the DFI to the Optical used on the Abits.

There are two microphone connections on the FrontX box instead of the rear deck, along with 2 USB ports. I think the front MIC makes a LOT more sense that fishing on the rear like you have to do with most designs. I could do a whole review on the FrontX modular Port box that DOES have options for Firewire front ports as you can see at www.frontx.com The DFI also DOES come with a game port and connector which will matter to some with a favorite controller.

The DFI doe NOT come with Firewire. The lack of Firewire will matter to some, and I should have mentioned that, but I do not consider it a big loss. USB 2.0 seems to be winning that race, and many have firewire cards lying around that came with their video editing software if they need a Firewire port. FrontX allows the option to move the Firewire ports to the Front where they are more useful if you choose to.

[grot]

Hey, I have this board too, and just started working on my OC settings. I have cheap DDR400 memory, and was having issues getting past 225FSB with my 2.8c. Need to check my voltages I guess.

Also, has anyone found where in the bios you can set a 4:5 memory ratio??

[prometheus]

It is like Asus, 1:1 is 400, 5:4 is 320, 3:2 is 266. In advanced memory timings, you take mem timings off auto and set 320 and you have selected 5:4. If your mem is doing 225 (DDR450) with your mem, then at the 320 (5:4) setting you could do about 1132FSB (283) at that same DDR450 - if your processor can do it.

[prometheus]

For those who have been concerned about how the DFI 875PRO performs at high FSB I have finally been able to test with a 2.4. It took several trys to get a good 2.4C, but I finally have one that does 283+ at default voltage on the DFI.

http://home.rochester.rr.com/hessfink/283cpuz.jpg

http://home.rochester.rr.com/hessfink/283b.jpg

Memory is a couple of cheap sticks of Crucial256 DDR333 that use downclocked Samsung 400 chips, and just happen to OC to DDR460 at 2.5,7,3,3 SPD. These chips seem to do high speed 5:4 better than most.

Based on early testing with the 2.4C you can be confident the DFI 875PRO can handle your OC and will not present a wall to your high overclocks. 290FSB seems fine at 1.572V and this chip will likely do higher.

[eva2000]

woooooooow that's a nice 2.4C.. where can i get one like that ? :)

btw, how many 2.4Cs did you have to go through to get that ?

[LastRide]

Nice work prometheus.Is that stable at 290 FSB?.I know my P4P800 is not at 292.Have to drop it to 285.The good pack dates for a 2.4C are L0310 and the L0309.Your chip is like mine for overclocking basically.I have an 2.4C L0310.Nice sticks of ram too.

[prometheus]

This is a Malay SL6WF L320A671 - a Tray processor from www.outpost.com. I tried 2 retails from NewEgg, but neither of them was really that good over about 240FSB. I usually have better luck with tray CPU's from Outpost.

[JeffPH]

Nice review prom :)

good thing is this board is available now at my country.

PS: prom my msi works great now am using 2.6C @ 265 FSB. using 1.6 bios.

[Sweeper]

I will have to admit I didn't like this board at first... I do trust Prom and when my P4P800 Deluxe got hosed down by my water cooled system leak I went to Fry's and bought the DFI.

I am running my 2.8c @ 3.5 which is 250 fsb (1000Mhz). My voltage is averaging around 1.58 vcore and my memory is 3:2 @ 2-6-2-2. I did go out and purchase (2) sticks of Kingston HyperX PC3500 / 512 this past weekend.

So far this is solid with no hic-ups. The temps are very good as well... running around 90-93f and 98-105f under load.

I will probably leave it where it is at for now. I was going to switch back to my P4P800 once it gets back from repair... but I don't know now. This thing is smok'n.

Sweeper

[vader43]

OK, I'll admit I'm OC newbie, but I've been reading so much about how you can OC these P4C's I thought I try my hand at it.

So hears the poop.

DFI LanParty 875Pro
P4 2.6C w/ stock cooler
2 x Geil DDR 3200 512MB sticks


So when I try and type in the speed to like 210, it accepts it but doesn't show any change in the proc speed at post or in the OS? Is there something else I need to change?

Is there something I am missing? How closely is the OC'ing the CPU tied to the SPEED at witch the memory is running....I'm currently running my mem @ 2.5-7-3-3…whatever that means.

I’m not a newbie to PC’s or PC hardware I just don’t understand this. If any can help, I’d appreciate.

[dbwillis]

patiently waiting for mine to arrive via..FedEx (http://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/tracking?action=track&language=english&cntry_code=us&initial=x&tracknumbers=630614717533)

[Chuck232]

Ok, after setting the changes, did you remember to save the BIOS then exit?

If you're not using any dividers for the FSB and RAM, your RAM increases speed the same way your FSB does. So increasing your FSB to 210, your RAM would run at DDR420. 2.5-7-3-3 is your RAM latency. The lower the better, but some RAM won't run at lower timings. And the rule of thumb is, if you want higher clocked RAM, you'll have to relax the timings.


Originally posted by vader43
OK, I'll admit I'm OC newbie, but I've been reading so much about how you can OC these P4C's I thought I try my hand at it.

So hears the poop.

DFI LanParty 875Pro
P4 2.6C w/ stock cooler
2 x Geil DDR 3200 512MB sticks


So when I try and type in the speed to like 210, it accepts it but doesn't show any change in the proc speed at post or in the OS? Is there something else I need to change?

Is there something I am missing? How closely is the OC'ing the CPU tied to the SPEED at witch the memory is running....I'm currently running my mem @ 2.5-7-3-3…whatever that means.

I’m not a newbie to PC’s or PC hardware I just don’t understand this. If any can help, I’d appreciate.

[Chuck232]

Originally posted by dbwillis
patiently waiting for mine to arrive via..FedEx (http://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/tracking?action=track&language=english&cntry_code=us&initial=x&tracknumbers=630614717533)

Seems like it arrived...:yummy: :D

[dbwillis]

hmm, not yet, its "on veh for deliv", but I bet you they leave it on there overnight for "package not due for delivery" crap...:(

[Chuck232]

lol... good ol fedex eh?


Originally posted by dbwillis
hmm, not yet, its "on veh for deliv", but I bet you they leave it on there overnight for "package not due for delivery" crap...:( :p

[dbwillis]

Ah, missed em....hopefully they return and leave it...otherwise Ill have to run a few towns away to the warehouse in the AM and get it myself...

[Chuck232]

Told ya it'd be there today...


Originally posted by dbwillis
Ah, missed em....hopefully they return and leave it...otherwise Ill have to run a few towns away to the warehouse in the AM and get it myself... ;)

[dbwillis]

Yeh, Ive got it on hold and have to run to the warehouse and get it at 9am tomorrow!:evil:

[dbwillis]

Mines running great, 255fsb, 1.60vcore, VERY low temps...2gb DDR at 408mhz @ 2-3-3-7

[dbwillis]

Ive noticed in the BIOS startup screens, with the latest BIOS installed...the speed of the memory is shown...but once you get past 255fsb..it starts back at 0mhz....265fsb shows 11mhz on memory...wonder if its the same 255 wall as the IC7..?

[pointreyes]

Well I just got this board and the 12v line is all of sudden dropping below 11v which effectively shuts down the computer. This is a practically new Antec 380w. The video card is the AIW 9600 Pro so there is no power required to the card from a molex connection. Only one drive, one sound card, on DVD player, one floppy, and the two sticks of RAM. Does this board incorrectly read the voltage lines. The latest bios is installed on this board. This only started when I upgraded to the latest bios however it sure is better than the 5/16 bios which had the incorrect temp for the proc.

[dbwillis]

I was using the 7/22/03 BIOS....it had "user bandwith" in the BIOS thats adjustable...made a big difference.
Mine was stable at the volts...all around....Vantec 470w unit...

[pointreyes]

Originally posted by dbwillis
I was using the 7/22/03 BIOS....it had "user bandwith" in the BIOS thats adjustable...made a big difference.
Mine was stable at the volts...all around....Vantec 470w unit...

It appears that my 380w gave up the ghost. That stupid PSU was less than 6 months old. :( The 12v line finally completely died. The system just stopped working and when I tried to startup the computer, the proc fan was not coming on. I amazingly enough had a 430w still in the box sitting about 20 feet away from the computer. Replace the 380 with the 430 and all is well. I currently have my 2.6c oc'ed to 3.14Ghz.

[dbwillis]

on your POST screens, does it show the DDR speed (mine did).

let me know if your board mis-reports the speed after 255fsb (with 5:4)

Mine started to say DDR speed = 8mhz...

Glad its back up and running!

[pointreyes]

Originally posted by dbwillis
on your POST screens, does it show the DDR speed (mine did).

let me know if your board mis-reports the speed after 255fsb (with 5:4)

Mine started to say DDR speed = 8mhz...

Glad its back up and running!

Yeah, my board shows the DDR speed but wow 255fsb. I have never gone about 240 on any of my boards. This OCZ RAM is PC4000 but it does not like tight timings at all. :sad: I will attempt what you ask later today maybe. Little nervous about going that high, the AS has not even cured yet. :p

[pointreyes]

Originally posted by dbwillis
on your POST screens, does it show the DDR speed (mine did).

let me know if your board mis-reports the speed after 255fsb (with 5:4)

Mine started to say DDR speed = 8mhz...

Glad its back up and running!

Now that the AS has cured I have tested board at 256fsb with 1:1 ratio and the DDR speed is displayed as 510Mhz during the bios bootstrap.

[dbwillis]

Nice!

I wonder if you could try and see if 5:4 makes it read weird?:-)

[pointreyes]

Originally posted by dbwillis
Nice!

I wonder if you could try and see if 5:4 makes it read weird?:-)

How do I test 5:4? I think I'm suffering from bios fatigue, four computers with four different bios. :p

[dbwillis]

Should be mem setting for DDR333

(200mhz / 5x4=160mhz) DDR333
(200mhz / 3x2=266mhz) DDR266

I think the BIOS on the DFI says 'memory setting for DDR.....'

[pointreyes]

I didn't have to switch to 5:4. :) I simply increased the fsb to 260 at 1:1 ratio and the bios bootstrap screen shown 4 fsb. :)

[dbwillis]

Thats some fast 4mhz ram you got there....thanks, that darn bug is still in there....maybe it means that the chipset has problems with 5:4 past 260fsb? (not running it, just reading it and doing mem stuff?)


THANKS! for checking!

[nailbomb]

Prometheus,

How were you able to get the OCZ Gold Rev 2 to run 250FSB 1:1 on this board? I for one cannot, even bumping up the voltage.

The best I've been able to do 1:1 is 14x233 at SPD vDimm 2.7 volts.

Does 14x250 5:4 at 2.7volts 2.5-3-3-6 okay thou.

Am I missing something that I need to do to get to 1:1. It seems like everyone except me has had good luck running these sticks at DDR500 speeds.

[Flamer]

I belive that Prom used rev 1, they are different then rev2 . Have you tried 3,3,3,7 @ 250 there will be no noticible difference on these sticks @ cas 3. I have also heard from bigtoe that the proMOS IC's used in 3700 gold rev2 do not like to be overvolted so just keep that in mind. Hope this helps and Welcome to the forum:wave:

[nailbomb]

Originally posted by samcolt
I belive that Prom used rev 1, they are different then rev2 . Have you tried 3,3,3,7 @ 250 there will be no noticible difference on these sticks @ cas 3. I have also heard from bigtoe that the proMOS IC's used in 3700 gold rev2 do not like to be overvolted so just keep that in mind. Hope this helps and Welcome to the forum:wave:

Thanks for the welcome Sam :)

Jah, I quickly found out that volts weren't the answer. 3-3-3-8 wasn't the answer either :( Its interesting thou because in the Anandtech review they DID do slight voltage bumps to hit DDR510 on this board.

500DDR
1000FSB 2.5-3-3-7
2.75V 402.6 INT 3447
FLT 3439 INT 5951
FLT 5992 104

Well wait, I believe this was on the Asus, but they went on to say:


The DDR500 performance at the DDR466 rated timings at 2.5-3-3-7 is also noteworthy. In fact, we were able to run up to DDR510 at these same 2.5-3-3-7 timings on the latest Revision B of the DFI 875 LanParty. The new DFI also seems to do a bit better with this memory on the top end, since we reached a stable DDR528 with the DFI 875 LanParty Rev. B.

If you or anyone else has any ideas, feel free to fire away. Tony is also working on it, and said he'll get back to me, but the more the merrier. :)

At this point I"m wondering if I should have went for the 4200EL, or even the new 3200 Platinum LE, and just juiced them up.

[Tony]

It is hard for us to guarantee overclocks..we do our best to tell people what they can expect and do guarantee a lower base speed.

The 3700Gold rev2 is a 466 part we test to 500.Its VERY close to its limit at 500 although most will do a little higher.No 2 boards clock the same with the same modules..so while yours may not do 500 in your board they may do it easy in mine.

Also 2.65V is the sweet spot for this ram..try to keep around this voltage.

[Sengir]

I recently bought/built a new system but I'm having problems with the memory.
Here are the Specs:
DFI LanParty Pro875B Rev.A00
Pentium 4E (Prescott) 2.8GHz
2x512MB OCZ EL 3200 ECC CAS: 2-2-3-6 (Dual Channel)
36GB WD Raptor Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9800XT
Enermax CoolerGiant 480W PSU


Won't boot with the OCZ DDR in it, but will with some old 3200 Corsair XMS CAS:2.5 1x512MB
I would love to get this running with the OCZ Memory, but all I get is the long beeps associated with the memory error.

Will the new BIOS support this?