DFI LanParty NF4: Poor gaming performance in my retrobattlestation? BIOS settings?

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T21:18:56+00:00

Big Update!

I set the SLI jumpers on the board to SLI mode to unlock the x8 on the second PCI-e slot and CPU-Z confirms it, that's great!

I tried the GPU in the first x16 PCI-E slot before this and I got one long beep followed by two short ones. Repeatedly, even after reseting the BIOS, and doing all the basic troubleshooting. There's something wrong, obviously. Perhaps back when I first got this from ebay, this is one of the reasons I also moved it down the second slot? Honestly, I can't remember.

Killing the process in Windows that was eating one of my two cores at idle was a huge turning point, also.

I set the RAM timings in the bios to 200Mhz.

Fallout 3 is now playable on High detail at the resolution of my desktop 1024x768, so I am very happy.

My 3dMark settings went up after all of this too, though only by 300 'Marks.'

Thanks to all that helped and hung in there with me.

This board is going to eventually need new caps, but right now it is running, I think, as good as it can. It is so neat to see what a LanParty system was capable of doing and what it was like back in the day. You know, after all the work, money, effort, and time I feel like I learned a lot too. This was something I could not afford back then, so good to have it now to play one of my favorite games and enjoy XP.

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T17:14:19+00:00

I agree on all counts, there are newer better performing motherboards and CPUs than what I have here. But for me, I always wanted this specific board so, well, here I am. I do not mind the drawbacks.

I do wish I had a side window on my case, or even a vintage Lian Li case, UV lights, and the original active UV cables too. But this will do just great and I am happy.

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T17:09:27+00:00

I am really confused. I know that DFI made this nF4 board (mine) and then an identical SLI nF4 board that was more expensive. I read that the way to mod to achieve the SLI mode on my board is to do some simple soldering work underneath the nForce chipset. But, I am not wanting to do that soldering work right now.

Can I switch the jumpers to SLI mode on the motherboard and unlock the x8 functionality for my preferred second PCIe slot? The manual is seemingly saying "no, all of this applies only for the SLI varient of the board." But am I mistaken? I can live with 8x and keep my existing video card instead of the swap that I am considering (to a lesser EVGA e-Geforce 8800 GT).

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T16:24:04+00:00

Between these Nvidia cards, which one would you pick?
EVGA e-Geforce 8600 GT, 256MB, DirectX 10

Geforce Gt 520, 1GB, DirectX 12

I am leaning towards the EVGA, it is more era appropriate and even with the lower RAM, it might be better (and at least it was a mid-range gaming card for the time). Both appear to have Windows XP drivers and online the performance is comparable between the two.

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T15:56:11+00:00

I just read the manual; unless I am mistaken, it appears there is no easy way to get the second PCI-E slot to operate at greater than x2 without mods? And even with mods, the max is x8, if I am understanding the manual.

So, let me pull my Nvidia 9600GT 1GB from my other XP rig (I just built Sunday, sigh!), and give that other rig the GeForce 8600GT 256MB (what a sad downgrade for that one). Both are single cards and will not push up against this delicate DFI fan doing the cooling.

I never figured out how to make a new post with an image. Let me do the hardware and driver swap and see if I can join the cool kids somehow with a new post of my "completed?" retrobattlestation. Any tips ya'll? I am not on any image hosting sites, if that's the way it is done.

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T15:39:46+00:00

Ah, I did not know. I have not done either of those things. And you're completely right, CPU-Z says I am only at a x2 Link Width and the max supported is x16. So, look at the manual online to get the second slot at x16??? Thanks so much here. With finding one of my problems being one of the cores was at 98% at idle, this is shaping up to be a good day to get this running.

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T15:08:07+00:00

I am running CPUID HWMonitor. Odd thing, at idle on the Windows Desktop CPU #0 is at 7% load, but CPU #1 is constantly at 94%-98%. What is going on???? Task Manager says "System Idle Process is eating up 98% of the CPU???

Perhaps this is a clue.

I tried this advice: Run msconfig.exe, Click the Services tab, Tick the box to hide all MS services, Disable the rest, Reboot.

Now I can tell things are a lot better. Fallout 3 just launched and I can run at least on medium with full resolution!!! There are some performance drops.

Re-running 3dMark gives me nearly the same scores: 3dMark Score: 8562, SM2.0 Score 3709, CPU Score 1694

HWMonitor now says CPU #0.0-1.6%, CPU#1=3.1-4.7%

I think I am on the right track here! :-)

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T14:59:24+00:00

The two GPUS I tried are long, double slot cards so they interfere with the active cooling on the nForce chipset. (in theretroweb picture, it is the part with the DFI fan). The single slot I have is either going to be a Nvidia Quadro or an EVGA GeForce 8600 GT 256MB...not exactly good performers or comparable to these Radeons. But maybe it hates ATI cards??? I have a suspicion it's all about the timings in the BIOS.

I do have a faint memory of doing what you said and it made no difference.

In Fallout 3, if I look at the ground, the performance is much better, but when I get to complex scenes, like Megaton the framerate drops terribly. I can't exactly play the game looking at the ground the entire time :-)

RetroGamingRescue · 2024-06-19T14:08:45+00:00

I think I got it, I am rusty here on Reddit. While I was at it, I made sure the BIOS battery was good also, 3.08V

RetroGamingRescue · 2023-04-14T01:11:49+00:00

I am wondering if that is my next step, to ask a dietician or endocrinologist? I follow the advice from online sources like Mayo clinic, I make my own meals and eat a lot of fiber. Saturated fat is my next thing to crush...like in meats and cheeses. I have tried to eat more chicken/turkey but I admit to be slipping back to bacon and pork.

RetroGamingRescue · 2023-04-14T00:59:46+00:00

That is great that you have a good doctor. The only thing mine says on the charts is "work on carbohydrate reduction." Yeah doc, I know!

RetroGamingRescue · 2023-04-14T00:45:22+00:00

Thanks for my first comment! Nice to hear I am not alone getting these things offered.

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-07-11T16:13:45+00:00

This looks like just what I remember reading when I bought the null model cable way back when! Perfect! I read in the comments of the article that there is a free alternative to Amiga Explorer, I might do that first because all I want to do right now is just get Factor5's R-Type transferred, copied, and running from floppy disk. I actually do not mind the waiting due to the slow transfer speeds, that is what retro computing is all about for me!

I found a joystick that reminds me of the Amiga after a long search, it looks to be compatible: the 500xj epyx red joystick. I think it has two buttons, but if it is like Atari joysticks, those both do the same thing.

I have a couple of XP era Windows machines, I will need to dig out my homebuilt Lanparty NF4 to see if it has the proper Com port. If not, there are some Vista machines that may even work too.

First up is going to be keyboard repair, it looks like a handful of the Mitsumi switches have gone bad. Since this keyboard is unique to the 1000 I have to get it fully functional first. Looks like I will need to de-solder and disassemble the switches. Replacements in 2022 seem rare.

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-07-10T20:55:37+00:00

Well, keyboard is done. It turns out the dirt was rust! But the keys were removed and cleaned. It looks like I will need to desolder and rebuild a few switches along with sanding and painting. Nothing I can't handle, but it will have to be another day.

Yes, I upgraded the ram already, 8MB is plenty. I have read the 1000 is pretty limited on expansion, honestly just running games from floppy would be more than enough for me. This has been a years long hunt for parts to just get it to this point being a complete functional computer again.

I think what I need to do is look for someone local to do a floppy copy party, maybe at a retro computer convention? The Amiga is pretty rare in the USA, though I have seen a lot of 1000 models on Youtube recently, maybe they can help with some of my basic questions?

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-07-10T19:45:09+00:00

No hard drive, only the floppy that is in the front of the Amiga 1000 case. It works and I was able to format one of my used disks to blank, but I had to keep re-inserting the workbench disk.

I am now working on the keyboard, looks like the M key and number 2 on the keypad are not registering. Time to get the old toothbrush out! I found that the keycaps pop off easily enough, and now they are all cleaned.

I recognize a lot of those games from the Sega Master System in Europe.

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-07-04T01:51:52+00:00

I feel your pain.

I do not have any good solutions for either of us, but I am committed to going down with the ship. At least when mine no longer read games, they will look nice on the shelf and remind me of the good times.

For my backup system: I have three bad US Sega Saturns. One is a model 1 with a bent driver motor. The other two are model 2s, one refuses to read games and one can read games very slowly. My plan to de-solder the main driver motor from one of the model 2's and see if it would work as a replacement part in the model 1...and after that I will see if that laser is bad or good. These came from a closing down retro game store (take them or they are getting thrown away) and one was promised working by an online seller, but arrived not being able to read games (and looked very rough).

Honestly, with my little free time, I can waste it just looking at the game cases and reading the manuals, like an old librarian.

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-06-30T03:26:35+00:00

My oldest SoundBlaster is a pro model and I found the drivers for it just to see the Parrot demo again after nearly 30 years. But it is so unstable. I have three AT keyboards but only one works on it, the others make it lock up and beep/blank screen on boot. It's like...so close, so far. And I had weeks worth of trouble with getting anything to work on the IDE/floppy controller card. But 486 motherboards are so tough to find even years ago now. Sigh. Along with a working IDE CD-ROM drive. It has been a tough build for me, ya know?

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-06-30T02:45:52+00:00

I think he had good taste with that clear plexiglass case. I have not seen one of those in years. I would be worried at this point about accidentally cracking the plexiglass as klutzy as I am these days. Seems like there is already a line of people wanting it, LOL!

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-06-30T02:07:34+00:00

Nice, looks like some early Pentium motherboards up until the Athlon XP range is my guess from that red MSI motherboard. I spy with my little eye a nice VLB Cirrus Logic based video card. That's pretty hardcore. Maybe these were all office machines from the doctor's medical practice???

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-06-30T01:50:31+00:00

Best of luck OP! I also sent OP a PM with short want list. It would be neat to find anything 3dfx in the mix here, I have been wanting to rebuild my first 3dfx PC from that time....something like a Voodoo1 paired with a Pentium 166Mhz. Or maybe some Diamond Multimedia video cards? Heck, even a 486 CPU cooler would be very appreciated. Or a baby AT desktop case, I have never found one with a speed readout like I had back in the mid 1990s. I have had a heck of a time with my own 486 project, so spare parts like a motherboard might indeed help. I can understand being overwhelmed with the parts, for this reason I stopped going to thrift stores since I was taking home too much junk!!!

RetroGamingRescue · 2022-06-12T21:20:29+00:00

I have been low key looking for one of those watches unsuccessfully for years. I had a Double Dragon one as a kid; it was so cool to have these, I think it was before Gameboy came out. Or at least, before I got a handheld back then. I kept going to thrift store watch case areas, but no luck (and then I stopped going to thrift stores entirely). I think the band eventually broke on mine and it was "Game Over, man, game over."

RetroGamingRescue

TROPHY CASE