Are all of the Nforce4 problems real? (Data corruption, etc.)

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DVDdude

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What is up with all of the issues the Nforce4 chipset seems to have?

I want to build an AMD dual core system, but I keep seeing all kinds of horror stories about
the Nforce4 chipset.

Are all of these real?

1. Data corruption on SATA & IDE if the channels become too saturated (i.e. moving big files)?

2. Data corruption/timeouts/disconnects if using the Nvidia firewall & active armor?

3. Maxtor SATA drives not working/disappearing/slow booting?

4. NCQ has to be turned off to get a stable system with no data corruption


If these problems are real, when is a major website like Anandtech, Tom's, Hardocp, etc. going to do a story or investigation?

Does the Via K8T890 have problems like this? If not, then I am heavily leaning toward getting an Asus A8V-E SE (K8T890) board which supports AMD dual core.

Anyone know when the K8T900 boards will finally be released?
 
I've never heard of any of those problems, so I imagine they are probably isolated incidents. Really the only true problem I have heard about nForce 4 is that the IDE controller runs like absolute crap, and that a SATA HD is practically mandatory. Other than lackluster IDE performance though, I haven't heard of all these corruption/timeout problems you mentioned.

Also, VIA has had a crappy streak of late so I wouldn't just buy a VIA board without waiting at least a few months for good reviews.
 
I know #2 is still a problem. The Active Armor corrupts downloads, but if you never install it, you never have problems ;).

#3 - I've never had a problem and I have 2 of these in my system right now. It was a problem early on, but Maxtor fixed it with a firmware update.

Also the Nvidia IDE drivers are junk. That might lead to some of the problems. Just use the Microsoft ones.
 
DVDdude said:
What is up with all of the issues the Nforce4 chipset seems to have?

I want to build an AMD dual core system, but I keep seeing all kinds of horror stories about
the Nforce4 chipset.

Are all of these real?

1. Data corruption on SATA & IDE if the channels become too saturated (i.e. moving big files)?

2. Data corruption/timeouts/disconnects if using the Nvidia firewall & active armor?

3. Maxtor SATA drives not working/disappearing/slow booting?

4. NCQ has to be turned off to get a stable system with no data corruption


If these problems are real, when is a major website like Anandtech, Tom's, Hardocp, etc. going to do a story or investigation?

Does the Via K8T890 have problems like this? If not, then I am heavily leaning toward getting an Asus A8V-E SE (K8T890) board which supports AMD dual core.

Anyone know when the K8T900 boards will finally be released?
Click to expand...


the ones highlighted in yellow arent problems that i had when i had an a8n sli deluxe mobo w/ 250gb maxtor drive, yes it was difficult to build the first time but i didnt have problems after i finally set my computer up correctly. i think your only problem might be the one in orange, i personally didnt find the active armor to be useful instead it gave me a big headache so just dont install that and you will be fine. another thing the nvidia ide drivers seemed much more faster than the microsoft drivers. just my 2 cents
 
Went from an intel 925xe to a nf4 sli x8 recently. Some things to keep in mind...

1. ide driver - don't use it: Upon ocing the htt, I experienced bsod's and eventualy hdd corruption. After reinstalling windows without the ide driver, I had no issues w/ oc. I could oc to my bsod's content without need for reinstall :D

2. nv firewall crap: haven't used it since it's release cause it caused MAJOR slowdowns in a previous nForce 3 board I had. (DFI Lanparty for 754)

3. It's based on performance, so expect some issues and you'll be glad ya did :p
 
I've never had any issues but I don't fit into all of those categories either... Only one I can really comment on is the moving of big files across drives and also across a network.. I routinely move large files from my main RAID array off to a backup drive. Also, I backup my parents picture files to my RAID array, burn a dvd and then copy a backup to my large hard drive...

Only problem I ever had with data corruption was a bad overclock incident caused by myself that stuck the system during windows boot and killed some system files. Quick reformat and I was good.
 
i just had to uninstall the Nvidia IDE drivers to get my Pletxor SATA dvd burner to work.

thats a problem. but not a biggie in my books.

btw, thats on a Tyan S2892
 
I have had issues with #3. Im on my 3rd drive(on warranty thankfully). I am now RMAing the board.
 
Dav5049915 said:
i just had to uninstall the Nvidia IDE drivers to get my Pletxor SATA dvd burner to work.

thats a problem. but not a biggie in my books.

btw, thats on a Tyan S2892
Click to expand...

this is what i don't get, why should u be forced to do this.. nvidia should either fix the problem or remove the IDE drivers from the install package. please hardOCP, look into these problems... I've know many people who had data corruption because of the IDE drivers
 
DVDdude said:
Are all of these real?

3. Maxtor SATA drives not working/disappearing/slow booting?
Click to expand...
Defintely real. Maxtor Diamond Max 10 16MB cache SATA drive made end of '04 / early '05 require a firmware update available only through Maxtor support. Otherwise the NF4 chipset SATA controller (not Silicon Image SATA) simply will not see the drive AT ALL. It's a real pain in the butt.
 
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