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Conclusions

The DFI LanParty NFII Ultra B is about as good as it gets as far as Socket A boards are concerned. With the very limited availability of the updated NForce2 chipset with native Gbe and Nvidia's hardware firewall, most users will find themselves looking another solution, the Nforce2 Ultra400. Add to the fact that there are very few Nforce 2 boards that still use the MCP-T southbridge with Soundstorm, the DFI LanParty NFII Ultra B is very attractive indeed. DFI also comes with an additional Gbe port as well as the integrated 100Mbs LAN port. The audio outputs on the back panel are robust. One of the interesting features is the onboard power and reset switches making it easy for the enthusiast to play around with the board outside of the case.

On the overclocking side DFI allows a large range of multiplier, FSB and voltage settings along with a lot of memory tweaking options. DFI does allow settings that can potentially break things; there are few boards that will allow the end user to pump 2v of power into an XP chip but the NFII Ultra B does that. A very nice BIOS feature is the BIOS Reloaded option on the DFI - this remembers BIOS configurations that can be saved and loaded on a whim allowing the end user to switch between a few different configurations depending on the situation.

On the accessories side, DFI goes all out with the LanParty series, with UV reactive IDE cables, a modular front panel connector unit and a carrying strap to lug around the case. DFI understands the Lan concept and the culture it attracts beyond standard computer users which is why the visual appeal of the board is also a big factor in the case of the NFII Ultra B. As the benchmarking shows, Socket A is not quite dead yet; it remains competitive at overclocked speeds versus the Athlon 64 platform. This is not to say that there are no big differences; we note large frame rate differentials in several of our benchmarks, yet there are a few where they are within single digital percentage points of each other. For the end user who is uncomfortable with overclocking, the Athlon 64 or a newer P4 nets significant performance gains over a stock Athlon XP chip.

DFI has put together a great package for the enthusiast in their LanParty lineup and for those that are not quite ready to migrate to a P4 or an Athlon 64, the NFII Ultra B deserves a hard look.

Special thanks to NCIX and DFI for arranging this review