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We'll wrap it up with a
benchmark round from Unreal Tournament 2003. We
utilized a simple benchmark script that does "Fly By" demos
on the Antalus, Asbestos and Citadel levels. We set
the resolution to 640X480, so as to take as much of the
workload off the GeForce FX5200 Ultra as possible and place
it on CPU and system bandwidth.
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Unreal Tournament 2003 |
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DirectX 8 Gaming
Performance |
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I
The two
motherboards are pretty much neck and neck in the Unreal
Tournament 2003 benchmark, as each claims a small lead in
one level or another. We think it's safe to say that
these boards pretty much perform on par with each other.
However, this next generation nForce2 chipset obviously has
a bit more room as far as overclocking goes, since its
default settings are set to run at a 200MHz FSB.
DFI LANParty NFII Ultra
Analysis:
Where do we start, when summing up the DFI LANParty NFII
Ultra motherboard? No matter which aspect you look at,
the board is impressive. Its bundle is loaded with
everything you need to get this motherboard connected and
into a case with a window, where it belongs. A handful
of other extras like the FrontX panel and the case transport
make this package even more attractive. The aesthetics of
this board are definitely interesting to say the least.
If LAN parties are what you're seeking, then this is the
motherboard you want to be going with, you since it will
draw envious onlookers and make the trip hassle free.
With its UV reactive slots and rounded cables to its black
PCB, it's sure to impress and we like it because it breaks
away from the typical motherboard mold.
Performance of
the LANParty NFII Ultra is equal to and even slightly
better in some instances, than other nForce2 boards we have
tested. Some people may ask, "why bother updgrading to
the nForce2 Ultra chipset? The performace seems to be
the same, right?". For the most part we could answer
"Yes" to those questions, but what the nForce2 Ultra chipset
gives you is the extra headroom for overclocking.
Additionally, since the Ultra version of the nForce2 chipset
is running a default 400MHz FSB, it officially supports the
latest 400MHz FSB "Barton" Athlon XP processors. All
this was proven by the final overclocks of both boards,
where the DFI NF2 Ultra based board handedly beat out the
Abit NF2 standard board. The feature set and
flexibility of options this motherboard brings to the table
is perfect, for even the most hardcore enthusiast in the
crowd. Maybe the only small downfall to this package
is that it comes in around $143 on various search engines.
However, even at that price this bundle is still a great
value. If you're in the market for an upgrade that can
run all of today's software title's and take you into the
future, then this motherboard deserves your attention.
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-
Great
overclocker
-
Fast and
stable
-
Good
value
-
SATA
support
-
Variety
of IDE RAID configurations
-
Dual LAN
-
Supports
200MHz FSB Athlon chips
-
Dual
DDR400 support
-
USB 2.0
and IEEE 1394
-
Case
Transport
-
Great
looks and unique
-
FrontX
Panel
- Minor layout issues
- No IEEE-1394a rear
bracket
- Only 1 SATA port
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| We're giving the
DFI LANParty NFII Ultra a HotHardware Heat Meter rating
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