Chaintech VNF3-250 Review and Overclocking Guide

jmke · 22nd August 2004, 13:03

The VNF3-250 is a budget board designed with the overclocker in mind. It has most of the necessities that a general user will need, excepting Firewire. The SATA is limited to 2 drives and the NF3-250 chipset used does not have the Gigabit LAN and Nvidia Firewall as found on the NF3-250Gb version. We instead have 10/100 LAN in the form of a Realtek chip that operates off the PCI bus. These "minor" compromises allow the board to be available in the US for about $88.00 and this makes it hard to top in the value arena.

http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/c...nf3250_01.html

Sidney · 22nd August 2004, 17:02

Quote:

Nick,7/12/2004 5:28:40 AM

This is a very nice baord for the price, an excelent overclocker as well. I also support the low voltage A64 mobiles after a BIOS flash.

I'm currently running my 2800+ mobile at 280x9, thats 2.52GHz, on air.

This is what I really want to find out more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is what I've come up with:

Quote:

Bar81,4/1/2004 10:48:38 PM

This is a *much* better chip than my retail 3200+. This is what I can confirm about the 3200+ Desktop Replacement CG Revision chip:

1. Multiplier half lock - like the desktop chip, multiplier is locked at a maximum of 10x; setting it higher does nothing.

2. *Much* cooler running chip than the desktop 3200+ - temperature difference of 9C at idle and under load. This corresponds with the lower max thermal output (81.5W v 89W) and the better cooling allowed by the lack of IHS (integrated heatspreader.) It must be noted, however, that I currently have a quiet low airflow setup so the difference in temp may differ depending on your setup.

3. This is the new CG stepping of the Athlon 64 and overclocks better than current desktop C0 revision chip.

4. These are technically mobile chips (although Desktop Replacement category) so your motherboard BIOS must recognize the microcode. Otherwise, it will lock down to 800mhz (4x mutliplier). Another user has claimed to be able to use clockgen to change the multiplier; I am unable to confirm this. I can confirm however that the 3200+ DTR works perfectly in the Asus K8V Deluxe with latest BIOS.

5. Heatsink contact is a very real concern. Most backplates in my experience, whether included with the motherboard or the ones AMD includes with their retail chips will not work properly - the screw poles aren't deep enough. The only stock heatsink setup I found that works is my Alpha PAL8150 *with* the specific Alpha backplate. I'm not sure if it's the combination or the Alpha backplate by itself that allows the heatsink to make proper contact with the DTR core, but it does and the beaty of the K8 HS retention mechanism is that there's no need for a shim as there is no risk of crushing the core unless you're an idiot and you push down on the heatsink.

--------------------------------------------------------------

So, it will work but;
1) Microcode - this could be corrected by manually adjusting BIOS; yes/no?
2) Heatsink mounting; may be a couple of nylon washers will allow / make up the spacing issue?

22nd August 2004, 20:52

1) as mentionedin those quotes, the latest biosses already support the mobile chips. And if it doesn't, you could try to pursuade someone to "fix" the bios for you or if you're lucky, that's already done

2) would depend on the way the backplate is designed. if it's just tapped holes in a plate, washers should do the trick, if it has tapped tubes you would have to file the screws and tubes down about the amount of the thickness of the center of the heatpreader I guess...

22nd August 2004, 13:03	#1
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,021	Chaintech VNF3-250 Review and Overclocking Guide The VNF3-250 is a budget board designed with the overclocker in mind. It has most of the necessities that a general user will need, excepting Firewire. The SATA is limited to 2 drives and the NF3-250 chipset used does not have the Gigabit LAN and Nvidia Firewall as found on the NF3-250Gb version. We instead have 10/100 LAN in the form of a Realtek chip that operates off the PCI bus. These "minor" compromises allow the board to be available in the US for about $88.00 and this makes it hard to top in the value arena. http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/c...nf3250_01.html __________________

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22nd August 2004, 20:52	#3
kristos Posts: n/a	1) as mentionedin those quotes, the latest biosses already support the mobile chips. And if it doesn't, you could try to pursuade someone to "fix" the bios for you or if you're lucky, that's already done 2) would depend on the way the backplate is designed. if it's just tapped holes in a plate, washers should do the trick, if it has tapped tubes you would have to file the screws and tubes down about the amount of the thickness of the center of the heatpreader I guess...