DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-D vs Asus A8N-SLi Premium

TooNice · Post by **TooNice** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:13 pm

Hi, I am new here.

I am building a PC, and am wondering about the difference in terms of noise between the DFI and the Asus. I would expect the Asus to be quieter, being passively cooled (I think?), but is the DFI very noisy?

I am not interested in building a completely silent PC (since my current PC is very noisy), but ever since I've picked headphones as a hobby, I've been longing for a quieter PC to make my music listenning session more pleasant.

Cheers

miTchy · Post by **miTchy** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:54 pm

the northbridge on the dfi is in a really awkward place so it is hard to get a cooler to fit, even on the expert it is placed badly

TD22057 · Post by **TD22057** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:28 pm

miTchy wrote:the northbridge on the dfi is in a really awkward place so it is hard to get a cooler to fit, even on the expert it is placed badly

Check out the DFI Infinity SLI. The NB on that is completely clear of the 1st graphics slot and pretty clear for the 2nd. Looks like you could easily put a Zalman with maybe a few rows of pins cut off on NB and be fine. I'll probably be going this route next month some time (w/ just 1 GPU though).

djnotepad · Post by **djnotepad** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 7:44 am

having owned both of these and currently running the Asus, I would recommend the Asus. The DFI NB is exteremly loud and whiney, there are some mods for it but why not just spend the extra ~30 and not have to pay for the mod and waste time installing it. Plus you'll have SLI down the road if you choose too.

TooNice · Post by **TooNice** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:29 am

Thanks for the replies

Well, my X1800XT just came in today, so SLI is not on my mind.

Having said that, I wasn't aware that the DFI has an awkward layout. Would the Scythe Ninja be easier to install on the Asus than the DFI then? (Guess so, since its bigger than the latest Zalman).

The problem is, prior getting into headphones, I was kinda into overclocking etc. So I doubt that I will be able to resist tweaking my system (with an Opteron 165) for performance.

Which is why I am not aiming for a SILENT PC, just something about half as loud as my current one (shouldn't be that hard to do, my Coolermaster Aero-something is a screamer). Though perhaps once I get a taste of quieter PCs, I will seek to go ever quieter as my new goal

Edit: I am also a bit concerned about all the reports on various forums regarding the Asus mobo's pickyness when it comes to RAM...

AZBrandon · Post by **AZBrandon** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 7:21 pm

I don't know about ASUS board and RAM, but I can tell you my DFI would not boot up with my memory in the "suggested" orange memory slots. I had to put it in the yellow slots to even get it to POST at all. Better still, it's incompatible with Seasonic S12 power supplies in some cases (mine being one of them) so I can't turn off my PC, ever, or else it can take 10-15 minutes of plugging and unplugging it to get it to a state where it will power up at all. I have ordered an ASUS A8N Premium motherboard and will try that out once it shows up. I'm hoping for a better experience than I've had with my DFI NF4 Ultra-D, but we'll see.

djnotepad · Post by **djnotepad** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:48 pm

In regards to installing a Ninja in a DFI or Asus, once again having done both

, I can tell you its alot better with the Asus. The spacing around the mobo is the same so its not a clearance issue with either, but the stock backplate that comes with the asus is compatible with the clip that you need to use with the ninja, but the DFI is not. Meaning that you have to use the Ninja's backplate which has a sticky substance which is nearly impossible to get off without damaging the mobo once it gets set. So if you put the backplate on there, it's pretty much there for the duration of the motherboards life more or less

stukovx · Post by **stukovx** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:57 pm

i used the stock backplate with a ninja or my dfi ultra-d no prob

stupid · Post by **stupid** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:26 am

Slightly off topic, but I just wanted to point out that if you are considering the Seasonic S12 PSU series, there are issues with DFI motherboards.

TooNice · Post by **TooNice** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:19 am

Umm, I *am* considering the Seasonic S12 PSU series (either 430W or 500W). What is the problem with the Seasonic/DFI combo? Is there anything unusual about the Seasonic design?

At the moment, I'll have to lean towards the Asus.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:45 am

What is the problem with the Seasonic/DFI combo? Is there anything unusual about the Seasonic design?

No, Seasonic's design is totally in line with the ATX12V v2.0 guidelines; it seems that some/all DFI boards require an excessive amount of current on the +5vsb line at start-up which triggers the Seasonic's overcurrent protection circuits.

Thread in PSU forum about Seasonic/DFI problems

TooNice · Post by **TooNice** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:35 am

Thanks. I just read that thread. It looks like the Rev 3. of the PSU will be more DFI friendly. I am still leaning towards the Asus (bye bye mad overclocking days?), but I am wondering if I should wait for Rev3. anyway... in case there are other enhancement.

On a side note, are there better alternatives to the Seasonic (in terms of efficiency and noise), and do they work confortably in a P180 case & Asus board should I take that route?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:54 am

are there better alternatives to the Seasonic (in terms of efficiency and noise), and do they work confortably in a P180 case & Asus board should I take that route?

The only PSU's I know of that are quieter and more efficient than the S12 are fanless, ie Antec Phantom, Fortron Zen, etc. I don't know whether either of these PSU's have long enough cables for what you are considering; no doubt there is more information in their respective reviews:

Fortron Zen Review

Antec Phantom 350

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 6:10 am

I´ve definately had it wit DFI Ultra-D. Wont go thru the details since this would become a very very long rant wich would end up providing a poorer picture of the DFIs than they truely are. They are nice boards but they are very picky about what you connect to them and they have a poor chipset placement. very poor placement. im just, well, pissed off ATM. Im going to sell these suckers and get an A8N-SLI deluxe. Dont want the damn heatpipe chipset cooler on the premium since im watercooling, and the A8N series has room for a chipset block or larger heatsink if you do aircooling.

The only problem is A8N and NeoHE incompatibility, but im going to test it anyway. If it doesnt work ill sell the Neo along with the P150 and just use the phantom.

Got to give DFI some credit though, once set up properly they are very solid boards and once you replace the crappy thermal pad on the chipset HS with some proper goop temps drop enough for you to be able to drop the RPM of the fan from 6000 to 1500 and keep it under 50c. I also think the mobo has a thermistor built in the mobo under the chipset since it reports temps very accurately and the chipset temp changes rapidly depending on load(or if you spray "ice-spray" on the HS

)

And before you ask, yes i´ve got more money* than sense and no girlfriend. *break your back for life and get money from insurance

AZBrandon · Post by **AZBrandon** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 11:49 am

Well, to follow up with my previous post; I ran my DFI Ultra-D for about 10 days before ordering my Asus A8N SLI Premium, which I swapped in on Wednesday and have been testing, benchmarking, overclocking, and trying to find any way to crash possible. I have had only ONE crash so far with my A8N, and that was when pushing to a 250mhz FSB @ 1.5v; an overclock from 2.2ghz to 2.75ghz. It actually never got any errors in Prime95, but once I was screwing around with both the networking and USB hub, it locked up. I'm now running it at 2.2ghz and only 1.1v vcore - extremely cool and quiet, no problems.

None of the problems I had with the DFI are present with the A8N. Granted, the Asus costs another $35 more or something, but IMO, you get what you pay for.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:45 pm

The A8N-SLI Deluxe is up and running

Got the trusty old Reserator back in business, its cooling the CPU, GPU and chipset with very nice temps as before

Anyway, i like the layout of the ASUS board much better, i can place my cooler of choice on the chipset and i have three PCI slots instead of two on the DFI.

The VRMs also seem to run cooler on the ASUS, maybe its 4-phase instead of the 3-phase on the DFI? And the dont have indiviual heatsinks as on the DFI either, justone big HS fastened with normal pushpins, and there´s waterblocks available to replace the HS. Even making one myself wouldnt be hard

The Ultra-D has identical layout to the SLI-D so i would think theres no major differences.

So my wote would go to ASUS, i used to like the DFI very much but not anymore..

However you might want to think about wich A8N-SLI model you get before you purchase, the Premium might be better if you have a CPU cooler blowing on the heatsink, but if you are going to watercool then you would have to rig up a fan to blow on the HS.

Skiplives · Post by **Skiplives** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:43 pm

I have to say the DFI Lanparty series really would not be my first choice for a quiet PC. It is a single purpose MB. It's built to overclock and that is really it. It needs quality memory, it is highly picky about PSUs, and the chipset is extremely difficult to passively cool. That being said, if you follow the advice on DFI Street and chose your components carefully, it will out-clock any other MB made.

But high OCs require additional voltage, and that means heat. Heat means fans (or a heavy-duty water rig) and that usually means noise. Even with water cooling the DFI chipset needs air flow to stay cool. Also, technically it's not a Northbridge because the memory controller is on-chip.

If you still want to use the DFI board (and I may use it on my next build), replacing the chipset cooler with a Evercool VC-RE and AS5 significantly drops both temps and dBs. And it is a relatively easy mod as the pins almost exactly match.

That said, the Asus MB is easier on your choice of components, overclocks well and easier, and is already passively cooled. But it costs more and may not get you that last stable MHz. They are both good boards and are some of the best boards at what they each do.

Good Luck.