Bundle and presentation
DFI delight us again with enough extras to drown a delivery man. The huge box it arrived in was testament to just how seriously DFI takes its accessories.
The
DFI LANParty NFII ULTRA arrives with the moniker of 'It's Party Time'. A
windowed PC case and a funky-looking case holder informs one that it's
more than just a bare motherboard in the box.
DFI
saves the reviewer the trouble of spelling out all the extras. Dual
Ethernet LAN and the weird RAID 1.5 causes us to raise an eyebrow of curiosity.
Otherwise, it's a jam-packed jamboree of features. nForce2 Ultra 400 is the
high-performance version of the nForce2 logic, supporting dual-channel
RAM at 200FSB / DDR400 speeds.
A
motherboard's box could comfortably fit into the space that's left bare.
Accessories is what the LANParty thrives on, so let's take a gander.
The
backpack is designed to hold a standard case without difficulty. The
integrated handle and shoulder strap should allow you to carry your
pride and joy around in consummate style. Just don't try fitting it
around a Vapochill or Prometeia system. The hernia-inducing weight of
either could mean a trip to a physiotherapist.
Yes,
there's more. 2 lime-green ATA133 cables and a matching floppy cable,
all UV-sensitive, will make windowed case owners happy. Add a UV
cathode and watch the board light up. On to more mundane extras now, DFI
bundle in a much-needed RCA (Coaxial) S/PDIF In and Out cable, a 2-port
FireWire cable (a 3-port would be nice), GAME port, a single SATA cable with accompanying power
connector and a custom, irregular I/O shield.
The
sheer number of features on board the LANParty NFII ULTRA gives rise to
another FrontX front-mounted module. It sits in a 5.25" bay and can
provide a number of useful connectivity options. Its modular nature
allows one to include various socket and ports. DFI chooses to include 2 USB 2.0 ports, a single FireWire port and
mic-in / sound-out sockets. All attach to motherboard headers via a
generous amount of cable.
Two
well-written manuals will help novice users to get the motherboard up
and running with the minimum of fuss. All the required drivers,
presented via an easy-to-use GUI, makes software installation a breeze.
The NFII ULTRA sports Highpoint's newest hybrid RAID controller, and
both OS and pre-OS drivers are included. DFI continue to bundle InterVideo's suite of
utilities, as found on the
Canterwood. Useful.
