Abit AA8XE problems

[JNav89GT]

http://ocxtreme.org/forumeng/viewtopic.php?p=24#24

Anyone else experiencing this issue?

[FUGGER]

Im limited to astable 274FSB after I unloaded ocguru

The bandwidth on my board is horrid compared to the P5AD2-E, it is very stable but lacks in memory performance delivered.

Did you get/find the special bios?

Did you visit the fatal1ty.com website? did you try the support button?

Have you tried tech support lately?

I have not seen mine jump around.

[ar7786]

My AS8 and 2.8E won't go pass 275fsb, after that I get this,

http://home.earthlink.net/~xhu7786/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/520.jpg

It's only a snapshot, those values are jumping around like crazy.

[JNav89GT]

Well per a person I know, it's a voltage termination issue, ie bus voltage.

Fugger, ty for suggestions!

yes I did make thread at abit forums and emailed a contact at abit.
I will check those other options

[eva2000]

Abit in the news
http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20050121B2060.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboards/display/20050121031017.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboards/display/20050121203617.html

guess they have their hands full!

[FUGGER]

I have known about the problems for a while. I want ABit to survive as they have delivered great boards in the past.

[death metal]

I have known about the problems for a while. I want ABit to survive as they have delivered great boards in the past.

i couldn't agree more.....

[JNav89GT]

Fugger! What is your problem with bandwidth :p
look at this

[JNav89GT]

Actually, This is the test system I assembled for DDR2 testing purposes. I have no cheat programs at all, I think the whole idea of cheating is horrible. Anyway, the following screenie is of an Abit AA8XE 925XE chipset board, I have fluctuating PLL after 270fsb where under stress system/PLL downclocks bus. There is NO CPU throttle at all, this is the bus causing lowering of clocks. This in effect causes the pause or stutter cheat. Michael Schutte covered this in a Lost Circuits article people should read http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/P4-373e/8.shtml

Anywho, take a gander! All P4 775 results at high bus speed in non verified benches are suspect to me at this point :(

Also, during benching I can see cpu/bus speed fluctuate wildly while no throttle is recorded by throttlewatch.

[eva2000]

Fugger! What is your problem with bandwidth :p
look at this
woah 9800MB/s :D

[JNav89GT]

yeah too bad it's not real :p

Least I'm not some A$$hat that tries to pass this off as real :)

[FUGGER]

My sandra, notice maximum bus bandwidth.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23106

[JNav89GT]

ugh! that is BAD.
Well EE CPU on 925EX is known poor performer in certain benches, at least prior to latest Asus bios that is.

Also, I was j/k about my bandwidth I hope you know :). This PLL issue is pure chaos :(

[JNav89GT]

lemme run a non bugged score on my board at 267 I can post it then and see if Prescott pulls up scores which it should. Well lemme clarify, it shouldn't make that much difference, but in the end I think it will :O.

[JNav89GT]

non bugged sandra mem

[FUGGER]

That is closer to what I get on the P5AD2-E

Try unloading uguru and see if that helps on FSB

[JNav89GT]

ok, I got to go to bed now though!

Darn kids will be up at the buttcrack of dawn :)

Ty for suggestion on the uGuru, I'll try but I don't think it will help as I think it's a bigger issue, but definately worth a try.

I'm gonna try to get an Asus 925EX for testing now. I have the p5DA2 925X board, but thought this Abit would be bettter :O

Guess we'll see!

P.S. Can't wait to play with some of that centon either. Also, Mushkin is supposed to be putting out some killer DDR2 as well.

[death metal]

jnav, this is a little off-topic, i experienced the Bus "throttling" (no CPU throttling) on my MSI i915G combo as soon as I hit 267FSB (maybe due to PCIe reacing it's limit)....

[JNav89GT]

well I was told that all boards will do this if there is not enough bus termination voltage. Now I wish I was smart enough to know what that meant! :O

[CrazyXP1700]

i cannot boot my AA8 duramax past 265FSB... but in uguru i can change it up to 269FSB and then i get like 15000mbps in sandra (obviously not real!, (7600mbps is real)) i have screenies on my SATA drive... and i dont have SATA on my NF7... so i gotta wait for a new cpu to get them uploaded

im hoping its not my board... 260FSB 24/7 is good yeah... but id like more... since i can pump pleanty more volts into it

so me selling my duramax for a XE chipset still wont solve my problems... think an E0 stepping will help?

[FUGGER]

275FSB is my max stable FSB with or without termination voltage on mine. I can go into 280 but it gets flakey and barely benchable.

[JNav89GT]

Fugger! How did you adjust the bus termination on the Abit board.

I put in an Asus P5AD2 premium 925X board and it runs up fine at 275fsb. Past that I'm limited on cooling.

[death metal]

jnav, as for the bus termination voltage, MSI support doesn't even mentioned that *lol*. in fact, they can't even give me a good answer, until i saw your post here =).......

ot: i'm really torn about the two mobos. being unlike you guys, i'm cash strapped, so i'd like to ask which is better of the two 925xe (OC wise, highest FSB, not necessarily best in benchies). is it Abit Fatal1ty or Asus P5AD2-E....

ot2: jnav, where did you get your ballistix DDR2? i can't seem to find them last week. i'm prepping to get a pair if that's available in Orlando, Florida...

[JNav89GT]

jnav, as for the bus termination voltage, MSI support doesn't even mentioned that *lol*. in fact, they can't even give me a good answer, until i saw your post here =).......

ot: i'm really torn about the two mobos. being unlike you guys, i'm cash strapped, so i'd like to ask which is better of the two 925xe (OC wise, highest FSB, not necessarily best in benchies). is it Abit Fatal1ty or Asus P5AD2-E....

ot2: jnav, where did you get your ballistix DDR2? i can't seem to find them last week. i'm prepping to get a pair if that's available in Orlando, Florida...

The Fatality I hear isn't that good, Fugger isn't using it b/c the Asus is better so I would trust his judgement there. My older Asus P5AD2 premium is better than my Abit AA8XE so that shows me Abit has REALLY dropped the ball and I don't count on them to fix it anytime soon as thier bios support has really seemed to suffer in the past years. I would go with the Asus.

I got the Ballistix DDR2 through Crucial for review, however they should have some on their website I would think. The tracer stuff is such a hoot to play with. Now In my limited testing is performs about the same as their regular DDR2 so if you don't need the lights you might want to save the $$$$ and just get that. I am doing a DDR2 review in the next few weeks, so if you can hold off a month or so buying DDR2 I could give you more information on which dimms perform best. I hear Mushkin is going to put out some low latency DDR2 and Centon already has some. Might be worth looking into if your buying now.

[death metal]

jnav, oh ok, that explains why i can't see the DDR2-Ballistix =)...and I'll go Asus mobo =)....

[FUGGER]

I pulled the Fatal1ty, termination voltage might not be in the 11 bios. I went out to look at other reviews on the board to find the same t[h]ing.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23223

Im on the DFI 925X-T2, non XE chipset. This board runs with much lower vcore and reports correct cpu temp. It has a very old bios and doesnt report much.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23222

Runs rock solid at conservitive settings 3:4 ratio

This board is slightly behind the P5AD2-E in performance and half the price.

[JNav89GT]

wow great! thanks for the information FUGGER!

I have my Asus P5AD2 premium 925X board in there now, and it's better. I can run it up to about 275 but not stable, I think my CPU is becoming limited on air at this point, but I'm a bit unsure until I get my Alphacool waterkit.

[CrazyXP1700]

do you think theres a possible work around on other 925x boards? like the AA8?

[FUGGER]

I got my replacement Fatal1ty today and it can hit a decent FSB.

FSB termination voltage on the bios that came on it is labled as VTT chipset voltage (IIRC). Im not near it now.

This option was present on other bios and didnt do anything.

At default termination voltage I was able to get to 290FSB, 1.45v I was able to get to 330FSB and topped out on air with memtest.

I need to run some memory benches to see if there is an improvement there.

Switched from XE to 570J, with some coldness it might go far.

[JNav89GT]

good to hear, I hope they fix up the AA8XE too as I can't afford these damm $300 mobo :O

[batboycaver]

Here's a couple of screenshots from my system.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/batboybain/3800-cpuz-300FSB.JPG

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/batboybain/KHX5400-cpuz-max.JPG

LGA775 3.8 @ 4.4 stable (4.737 max), Abit AA8XE (version 18 BIOS), XP-120 heatsink/Enermax 120mm adjustable fan, modded Apex case, 2X512 Kingston HyperX PC2-5400, Antec 550w 24-pin PSU, Connect 3D X800 XT

[death metal]

I got my replacement Fatal1ty today and it can hit a decent FSB.

FSB termination voltage on the bios that came on it is labled as VTT chipset voltage (IIRC). Im not near it now.

This option was present on other bios and didnt do anything.

At default termination voltage I was able to get to 290FSB, 1.45v I was able to get to 330FSB and topped out on air with memtest.

I need to run some memory benches to see if there is an improvement there.

Switched from XE to 570J, with some coldness it might go far.


fugger, do you mean to say that your older Fatal1ty isn't a "retail" one? I just want to know to check if VTT Chipset voltage is a flaw in the beta board, and gone in the retail one.

And thanks for sharing that the FSB OC was done on air =)....

[JNav89GT]

Here's a couple of screenshots from my system.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/batboybain/3800-cpuz-300FSB.JPG

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/batboybain/KHX5400-cpuz-max.JPG

LGA775 3.8 @ 4.4 stable (4.737 max), Abit AA8XE (version 18 BIOS), XP-120 heatsink/Enermax 120mm adjustable fan, modded Apex case, 2X512 Kingston HyperX PC2-5400, Antec 550w 24-pin PSU, Connect 3D X800 XT
I can take screenies too at much higher fsb and system is apparently stable, however if I watch the cpuz during heavy stress I see my fsb speeds freak out and downclock themselves

[batboycaver]

Before I improved cooling, mine acted a little goofy too. I figured it was thermal throttling.

I must confess, 300 FSB is not 100% stable. I'm not Prime stable until I drop down to about 291 FSB.

[JNav89GT]

still that's pretty good :)
I must just have a bum board or you got a really good one :p

[althes]

These boards are just not ready for prime time I guess.

[Bulldog20]

I can take screenies too at much higher fsb and system is apparently stable, however if I watch the cpuz during heavy stress I see my fsb speeds freak out and downclock themselves

Lo, same problem with mine, but it will do 330 1:1 1.35v FSBVTT, if I raise to 1.40v the OS doesn't load. It gets the wobbles in CPZ over 300FSb I think, I must test it to see when it starts.
I do find the board very fast out the box, I am getting a small increase in PCmark 04 old score 7500

Also whats this special bios, my board seems to have loads of options, can't see there would be many more if I register.

Cheers :)

[Bulldog20]

Lo, got to 342 1:1 Cas4-4-4-8 so far, with no CPUZ weirdness. I was at 335 and it was doing it, upped to 1.35v FSBVTT and it stopped, that i smy max before it crashes.
I got some shots, will post later.

Cheers

[nCrusader]

How can most reviewers reach way over 300FSB stability while some of you guys cant? Different memorydividers? Different bioses? What'g going on? I got a fatal1ty board on the way (won it). Would be good with some clearence.. :)

[Bulldog20]

My board nearly died running 345 fsb, the display just showed 90. I reset the cmos, battery removed etc countless times, still 90 :(. I then powered up with the cmos in reset and changed the jumper live, it booted :D
Still stuck around 334 stable.
Cheers

[FUGGER]

LOL, nice bus speed Bulldog! 1337

Full retail on my boards.

[OneyedK]

Indeed, amazing bus speed that is ;-)

But isn't a cycle time of 8 clocks a bit too short for Cas4 settings? (could cause memory re-reads)
I don't know what kind of memory you are using, but I wouldn't be surprised if you get higher memory bandwidth with a cycle time of 10 or 11. Did you try those settinngs???

[Bulldog20]

Indeed, amazing bus speed that is ;-)

But isn't a cycle time of 8 clocks a bit too short for Cas4 settings? (could cause memory re-reads)
I don't know what kind of memory you are using, but I wouldn't be surprised if you get higher memory bandwidth with a cycle time of 10 or 11. Did you try those settinngs???

Not sure, I really not tested the ram to much, I am waiting for my PC5400 to come tomorrow. I do get weird problems around 338, so this could be the cause. I do find 7 will not boot in the bios even, 8 seems to be stable, but we know that doesn't mean it is. I also get the odd reboot, so this could be the problem. This is my first taste of DDR2 so finding my feet, use to BH-5 doing Cas2-2-2-5-7-0 272mhz, so Cas4-4-4-8 is hard to take :(
I will test it over the next few days and see :)

Cheers

[JNav89GT]

bulldog do you have the Fatality version. B/C I didn't see a VTT option in the bios of the regular AA8XE, maybe I should recheck hugh!

oh wait, nm you have fatality.

I'm talking about my vanilla AA8XE :O

[Bulldog20]

bulldog do you have the Fatality version. B/C I didn't see a VTT option in the bios of the regular AA8XE, maybe I should recheck hugh!

oh wait, nm you have fatality.

I'm talking about my vanilla AA8XE :O

Should be the same board really, just no fancy bits. Would like to see if there is a difference in the PCB.
Sorry I really didn't give it much thought about the Fatality bit. Sorry to crash your thread then dude.

Cheers :)

[JNav89GT]

well there are minor variations in pcb if you pull up the pics on abits site.

I have a spare bios chip. I might try to flash the fatality bios so I can get vtt option :O

[death metal]

jnav, any update after the flashing? tnx...

[JNav89GT]

no post after flash. Goes through part of post sequence, but stalls then. Good thing I took out good bios and used a spare chip to do the flash lol. Works as before once old bios installed. I'm RMA'ing board as the vtt measures low in uGuru and the board is really a disappointment.

[death metal]

hahaha...good thinking :)...tnx for the update...

[FUGGER]

dejavu!

Hopefully the next board you get will be ok.

[JNav89GT]

yeah I hope :)

[althes]

good luck boys, i will stick with my ag8.

[Adasi]

I'm just about getting this board for me but i'm slightly dissapointed after reading your posts. I'm not gonna spend so much money on Asus board.
I think i will give AA8 a try and see what happens. Hopefully i'll be able to reach >300FSB...

[JNav89GT]

2nd aa8xe is worst than 1st :(

[death metal]

ok....am not buying that board :(...