Asus A8N32-SLI initial impression....WOW!

Guys my room ambient is 30C and the chipset temp is around 47C. Will there be any problems getting watercooling for chipset this is too damn hot. I am considering getting the wc for my xfx 7800gtx 512 as well. i got a modded ls comming in during next week i hope, if not the week after and this is about 15-20C colder than a norm vapo.

Any suggestions for me. case is pc65b cant really fit custom wc in this, got 2x74gb raptors and a floppy and a bunch of cables which are in my ide drive rack. i think i need koolance exos or some crap

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thinkingbear

Dude, where do you live and can't you open the window? To have your MB still be only 32° your case must be a wind tunnel!

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Sydney Australia and it summer atm and it's hot!

MB was 32C this morning and it's now 38C. No my case isn't a wind tunnel, I just have a small desktop fan blowing onto the mobo with the side off the case.......it's summer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowdog

No my case isn't a wind tunnel, I just have a small desktop fan blowing onto the mobo with the side off the case.......it's summer.

---

LOL, I have to do the same thing when it is summer here because my home "office" is upstairs and catches the setting sun on two walls. Plus having 4 computers running Einstein@Home 24/7 adds bit o' heat. With the rest of the house kept about 23° C by the AC it easily gets over 27° C in here in summertime with the AC on. So yeah, side off, fan on m8!

I saw a previous post of mine to check my temps and I had 29/39 degrees Celsius under load and overclocked.
Ambient room temp was 22 degrees.
1.36 vcore.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=770

This was with a totally open case, with no extra fans at all.
CPU fan was a panaflo on an XP120 working at full speed (and noisy).

Now, with w/c CPU, I have 33/37 degrees C idle temp (usual Internet activity) and 33/42 under stress.
1.50 vcore.
249Χ11=2740 MHz, PCMark05 6538.

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mloupos/spi32S.png

The case (see my sig) is closed and my PC is working 24/7.
Four 120 mm case fans run at 1200 rpm and the special ASUS fan for cooling the chipset in installed (because of w/c).
I did remove the heatsink from the mosfets north to the CPU, to replace the stock paste with Arctic silver.
The pins were not glued in my case and I removed them easily.
I saw something really strange there.
The paste was a piece of textile glued on the aluminium heatsink.
It was very hard to remove all the glue from the heatsink.
I was a bit afraid to replace the textile.
I thought it might work as an electrical insulator.
Any way, I have no problems at all with Arctic silver.

This is my mobo here (click for a full size pic).

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mloupos/S170.JPG

The full load temps are not the actual full load temps, since the screen shots were taken a few seconds after the end of the benchmarks .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Titus

under the Memory Configuration settings in the BIOS there is an option called "Hardware Memory Hole"...set that to Disabled

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I knew where that setting was...at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Problem is, it won't do any good unless you're running a 64-bit operating system.

But hey...wtf do I know? Here's a company with more credibility than a cat with a melon on its head and their PDF explaining it all:

http://techfiles.de/dmelanchthon/pre...emory_hole.pdf

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cisco

I knew where that setting was...at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Problem is, it won't do any good unless you're running a 64-bit operating system.

But hey...wtf do I know? Here's a company with more credibility than a cat with a melon on its head and their PDF explaining it all:

http://techfiles.de/dmelanchthon/pre...emory_hole.pdf

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That PDF says that a memory hole may be a thing of the past soon and it was written in May 04..........looks like the hole still exists and is going strong. :slapass:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marios

I did remove the heatsink from the mosfets north to the CPU, to replace the stock paste with Arctic silver.
The pins were not glued in my case and I removed them easily.
I saw something really strange there.
The paste was a piece of textile glued on the aluminium heatsink.
It was very hard to remove all the glue from the heatsink.
I was a bit afraid to replace the textile.
I thought it might work as an electrical insulator.
Any way, I have no problems at all with Arctic silver.

---

Marios, exactly the same here - it was like a strip of fabric tape with phase-change pad on it. Like you, I replaced it with AS5.

Can someone please answer if it is possible to watercool the motherbord chipset on the a8n32-sli dlx. I heard somewhere that it is very difficult on this mb. Let me know.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

Can someone please answer if it is possible to watercool the motherbord chipset on the a8n32-sli dlx. I heard somewhere that it is very difficult on this mb. Let me know.

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It is very difficult due to the CPU and northbridge proximity. I was going to install active cooling (crystal orb x 2)to the northbridge and southbridge because of my Lian-Li v2000 and it doesn't fit with a waterblock. My maze 4 makes contact with the northbridge cooler. Plus there is a cap very close to the northbridge that limits space also. Also the spacing between the attachment pins is rather tight. I ended up putting the stock heatpipe back on and placed 2 80mm fans blowing on the northbridge and soutbridge as well as the small asus mofset cooler to bring temps back in line. They got very hot under load without and air blowing on them.

Long story short, aside from a small custom made chipset block you'll have to find something very small to cool the northbridge.

That sux. Best bet would be to get my vapo installed on cpu asap and then i can use the optional fan that came with the mb and put it on the heatpipe cant do it now or else it will disrupt cpu hsf airflow

I think this can work

http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-blc-208.html

Will that go for the SB and NB or just NB or what

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowdog

That PDF says that a memory hole may be a thing of the past soon and it was written in May 04..........looks like the hole still exists and is going strong. :slapass:

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Yup...and it'll keep going strong until we all transition to 64-bit OS's. Once that happens the BIOS won't have to play it safe any longer by assigning memory addresses below the 4GB boundary for graphics cards, SATA RAID, network cards, and so on.

If you're running XP 32-bit and the BIOS has settings that allow you to move all the hardware addresses above the 4GB boundary so there's no conflct with physical RAM and the OS uses a hack like the /PAE switch... well, then you run into this:

Quote:

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PAE availability doesn’t eliminate 4 GB limitation. On the contrary, it raises other 32-bit problems. The largest is that all software must explicitly program for and use the PAE extensions. This will affect applications, operating systems, hardware device drivers and hardware itself. Software is still running in 32-bit mode, not 36/40 bit mode and registers and native data types are still 32 bits.

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And this...

Quote:

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The next thought might be: Doesn’t a 64-bit CPU with 64-bits of address space solve this? Well, unfortunately, the answer is no. Despite that Opteron™ can address up to 1TB of memory and can run in 64-bit mode, it doesn’t solve the problem since the BIOS does not know which Operating System the machine will boot and must map all devices below 4GB for compatibility reasons.
As long as the BIOS must support 32-bit Operating Systems, the missing memory will still be an issue.

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Almost makes you want to run XP-64, doesn't it? Well not quite for me yet...64-bit drivers are still a problem for a lot of HW and only one "real game" so far--HL2 (and only a few days ago at that) has an XP-64-native version.

Our HW is just getting ahead of the OS and apps at the moment. Only when a 64-bit OS becomes the standard that everything--HW & apps--must run on (August 1, 2006 is the latest rumoured date for that to happen) will all this transitional crap go away. Even then, you'll still probably see some legacy stuff that won't like addressing HW above the 4GB boundary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

I think this can work

http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-blc-208.html

Will that go for the SB and NB or just NB or what

---

I would get the dimentions of it first before purchasing. You really won't be able to go with anything that has a bigger footprint than the stock block that is on the northbridge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

I think this can work

http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-blc-208.html

Will that go for the SB and NB or just NB or what

---

it was designed to work with the a8n-sli series of motherboard if the chipsets are the same size I wouldn't see why not.

Hi guys. After reading two many issues with the Expert it looks like I am ready to take on this one maybe.

If it´s available somewhere???

But how many PCI slots can you use? I am probably getting silencers on both my 7800 GT cards. I need minimum 1 slot free preferrable two? Maybe I can squeeze one in the middle of the SLI cards?

Also do you think there will be any problems fitting an Vappo evaporator head on it (A64 for XE)...

As for power connectors I should be able to use my 510 deluxe right even not the SLI version... But for testing purposes since it doesn´t have the 8-pin connector right? Just one standard 4 pin or do I need two 4 pin apart from the 24-pin?

And is there much issues with this? Is it a better overclocker than the old version?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cisco

It's a Windows 32-bit thing...you won't get that with XP 64-bit or Vista. It has to do with the video ram occupying, the same address space as the MB ram.

With 4GB of ram installed and 2X 7800 256's Windows will only report 2.75 GB...in your case it would report 2.25GB.

But yours is the first case I've seen of the video RAM eating into space below 2GB. Didn't think that could happen.

Look in the ASUS site under the A8N32 FAQ...it's the first item.

Just out of curiosity, add the /3GB switch to your boot.ini...Widows addresses 4GB of virtual ram...by default it keeps 2GB to itself and releases 2GB for use. The /3GB switch changes that so it will release up to 3GB. Just curious if that will force it to manage the RAM differently and give you back your 2GB.

Microsoft KB article about /3GB

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First off, hello all!,

This does not seem to be anything to do with the OS at all. I have exactly the same problem, 2gig ram with 2 512mb gfx cards. the *BIOS* (not the os) reports only 1264MB ram available. The OS then simply mirrors what the BIOS is telling it. I have win64 installed as well as win32 and it makes no diff. You could have any OS or even no OS at all and would still see the same problem. It defo seems to be a BIOS issue, a really wierd one at that.

Paul.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ditchy

First off, hello all!,

This does not seem to be anything to do with the OS at all. I have exactly the same problem, 2gig ram with 2 512mb gfx cards. the *BIOS* (not the os) reports only 1264MB ram available. The OS then simply mirrors what the BIOS is telling it. I have win64 installed as well as win32 and it makes no diff. You could have any OS or even no OS at all and would still see the same problem. It defo seems to be a BIOS issue, a really wierd one at that.

Paul.

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Yeah, it seems to be a "BIOS + two 512 cards issue" 2 X 256 cards reports 2 GB as 2GB...both BIOS and OS. Add that extra 1/2 Gig of video memory and all of a sudden the BIOS seems to map some of it down at the lower 2 GB of memory address space. I find it hard to believe that the MB resources, sound card, etc. take up 1.5 GB of address space - two 256 cards + all the BIOS stuff = no problem below 2GB. Now add just 512MB more and all of that extra 512 seems to be below 2GB...doesn't make sense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ditchy

First off, hello all!,

This does not seem to be anything to do with the OS at all. I have exactly the same problem, 2gig ram with 2 512mb gfx cards. the *BIOS* (not the os) reports only 1264MB ram available. The OS then simply mirrors what the BIOS is telling it. I have win64 installed as well as win32 and it makes no diff. You could have any OS or even no OS at all and would still see the same problem. It defo seems to be a BIOS issue, a really wierd one at that.

Paul.

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My bios reports 2gig installed and 1.5gig usable. Wonder if Asus is aware of this issue with 2x512mb cards and 2gig ram installed???

Using bis 1009 here. :stick:

i've got my orders in on this board...i think i might grab one out of my stock..LOL...

it's a FANTASTIC board.

dave

DID YOU KNOW?

The latest 1009 BIOS supports the 500/400 divider. :cool:
I have double checked it and it works.
Now I can set my CPU at 200X11=2200MHz and the dimms at DDR500 (250MHz). :banana:

CPUz, Sandra and CBId report a frequency of 130MHz :nono:
But when I run Sandra's Memory Bandwidth I get a real boost compared to a 200MHz (DDR400) BIOS setting.
I need to increase the CPU vcore to 1.4 to be stable with the 500/400 divider though.

One more trick.
We can enable 2 burst beats in BIOS. :toast:
This only works with a rev E CPU, unbuffered DIMMS and memory in dual channels (128 bit interface enabled).
We need to dissable 2T and enable 32-Byte Granularity for 2 beats bursts to work.

EDIT
I have calculated my DRAM speed to be
244.44MHz Dram speed at 200MHz HTT
245.67MHz Dram speed at 201MHz HTT
246.89MHz Dram speed at 202MHz HTT
...................................
250MHz Dram speed at 205MHz HTT
and so on.

We may also use the 466/400 divider
This one gives
220MHz Dram speed at 200
....................
250.8MHz Dram speed at 228 (228x11=2508MHz CPU speed for a 4400+)

We may well use this trick along with AiNOS.
AiNOS works like Cool n Quiet.
We set a base CPU speed and the OCing X% we want
This way we work at a base CPU speed and on load we get up to an X% boost
Example
We may set the base speed at 2280Mhz with a 10%=2508MHz AiNOS OC. The CPU works at 2280MHz and goes up to 2508MHz according to the CPU load. The memory with a 466/400 divider gets up to 250.8MHz max.
AINOS works seamlessly and instantly.

And the last one
It is better to enable the L2 cache and the DCACHE (L1) scrub function in BIOS.
This way the memory controller scrubs the memory to prevent the build up of soft errors.
Each scrub event corresponds to:
• 64 bytes for the DRAM scrubber.
• 64 bits for the data cache scrubber.
• One single L2 cache line tag address for the L2 scrubber.
With an Athlon 64 4400+ we have 64KbX2 L1 cache and 1024KbX2 L2 cache ECC.
Both have 64bytes on each line.
Now this memory is scrubed from errors in time intervals we set in BIOS.
For example, if we set the L1 Data Cache BG Scrub to 40ns this means that the whole L1 cache is scrubbed every 40us.
This is too often I think.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ditchy

First off, hello all!,

This does not seem to be anything to do with the OS at all. I have exactly the same problem, 2gig ram with 2 512mb gfx cards. the *BIOS* (not the os) reports only 1264MB ram available. The OS then simply mirrors what the BIOS is telling it. I have win64 installed as well as win32 and it makes no diff. You could have any OS or even no OS at all and would still see the same problem. It defo seems to be a BIOS issue, a really wierd one at that.

Paul.

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Hey Paul, your 2 x 512mb card wouldn't happen to be Leadtek cards would they.....because mine are.

I just came across a thread where someone else had the same issues with the A8N32 and two Leadtek 512mb cards....seems the bios on the Leadtek cards was the culprit, he flashed to the Evga bios and the problem was solved.

Can confirm it's a bios issue with the Leadtek card's bioses, just flashed the card's bioses to the Nvidia reference bios and now the mobo is showing 2gig installed and 2gig useable and windows is showing 2gig as well.

All Fixed. Jeeeeez the things we have to go through, eh! :slap:

hello

somebody has a complete tutorial and help about overclocking of this mobo ?

hi all
i have this mobo and all it is all right so far except this problem :
when i boot up a system with a dvd player on board i saw the first screen that starting windows and the windows never start cz i got a blue screen and the system automatically restarts.
when i boot without any dvd or dvd-r player on board everythink is fine and i have no problem at all .
i had try everything like memory changes and memory slots, different dvd players ,4 ide cables , 2 psus 480w and 550w each , 2 graphic cards one ati and one nvidia , and the problem still here :mad:
what can i do to solve this problem? it is the bios flashing?? or something like bios settings??
plz helppp

here is my system
x2 3800+
a8n32 sli deluxe bios 1009
2x1g mushkin xp 4000 (try also kingston hyperx and a geil memory stick at all slots separate and pair)
leadek 6800gt 256mb (try also x800gto 256mb)
2x 74g wd raptors raid0 nvidia raid
plextor dvdr( try also pioneer dvd player ang lg dvd player)
os winxp + sp2
psu: tagan 480w easycon series (and try also antec true power 550w)


:slapass:

Oh crap. Just the other day you could at least preorder for 200$ but now it´s 240 and backorder everywhere...

But I have heard rumours that you can put an X Fi Card in there somewhere with a SLI setup? But I guess with two vga silencers that is just impossible? Maybe I has to go expert anyway :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowdog

Can confirm it's a bios issue with the Leadtek card's bioses, just flashed the card's bioses to the Nvidia reference bios and now the mobo is showing 2gig installed and 2gig useable and windows is showing 2gig as well.

All Fixed. Jeeeeez the things we have to go through, eh! :slap:

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Well wrap me up in newspaper and call me fish and chips! I do have the leadtek cards, will try to update the BIOS on em when I get a chance....any links to the BIOS and or a guide to flashing GFX cards...never had to do it before! :).

Good work Lowdog!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wifi

hi all
i have this mobo and all it is all right so far except this problem :
when i boot up a system with a dvd player on board i saw the first screen that starting windows and the windows never start cz i got a blue screen and the system automatically restarts.
when i boot without any dvd or dvd-r player on board everythink is fine and i have no problem at all .
i had try everything like memory changes and memory slots, different dvd players ,4 ide cables , 2 psus 480w and 550w each , 2 graphic cards one ati and one nvidia , and the problem still here :mad:
what can i do to solve this problem? it is the bios flashing?? or something like bios settings??
plz helppp

here is my system
x2 3800+
a8n32 sli deluxe bios 1009
2x1g mushkin xp 4000 (try also kingston hyperx and a geil memory stick at all slots separate and pair)
leadek 6800gt 256mb (try also x800gto 256mb)
2x 74g wd raptors raid0 nvidia raid
plextor dvdr( try also pioneer dvd player ang lg dvd player)
os winxp + sp2
psu: tagan 480w easycon series (and try also antec true power 550w)


:slapass:

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Check your memory timings with BIOS.
Do you get DDR500?
Then lmit your speed at DDR400 (200MHz) or ...
Give more power to your dimms and your CPU.

[QUOTE=Marios]Check your memory timings with BIOS.
Do you get DDR500?
Then lmit your speed at DDR400 (200MHz) or ...
Give more power to your dimms and your CPU.[/QUO

marios thank you very much , at least the problem is the ddr voltage . my system dont like ddr voltage set to auto , and when i set to 2.65 everything is rock stable and i have no problem :toast: :banana:

Hey guys got a question how hot can the MB chipset run without degrading itself or hurting performace. Mine is 40-50 depending on room temp.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ditchy

Well wrap me up in newspaper and call me fish and chips! I do have the leadtek cards, will try to update the BIOS on em when I get a chance....any links to the BIOS and or a guide to flashing GFX cards...never had to do it before! :).

Good work Lowdog!

---

Everything you need is on this site, guides, flash utilities, bios files. I used the Nvidia bios for the 7800GTX 512MB and nvflash v5.25. Flash 1 card at a time in the top pci slot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

Hey guys got a question how hot can the MB chipset run without degrading itself or hurting performace. Mine is 40-50 depending on room temp.

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Stick a fan blowing on the mobo....will knock 10C off of your mobo temps. And put the fan that came with the mobo on the copper fins at the end of the heatpipe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowdog

Stick a fan blowing on the mobo....will knock 10C off of your mobo temps. And put the fan that came with the mobo on the copper fins at the end of the heatpipe.

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I'll second that. The heatpipes work really well, even the slightest air movement across the board gives good improvement in MB temp. I read somewhere round here the best temps someone got were with their XP-90 with the include heat pipe fan, but I just thought I should point out for those that don't read manuals Asus says: "Installing the optional fan with an active CPU cooler will interfere with internal CPU cooler air flow and endanger system stability." Sounds like mostly BS to cover their asses, but something to keep in mind when placing it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lionel57000

somebody has a complete tutorial and help about overclocking of this mobo ?

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I am looking for similar. Well, not so much a complete tutorial but a Award BIOS to AMI BIOS translator would be handy.

And Marios, what is 2 burst beats and what does it do?

The memory is read - written in bursts.
This is done in one burst for every X clock beats, where x is 2-4-8.
So we may have

8-beat bursts of 64 bytes or
4-beat bursts of 64 bytes or
4-beat bursts of 32 bytes or
2-beat bursts of 32 bytes

32-Byte Granularity:
Auto =enabled
In single channel (64-bit interface to DRAM): 4-beat bursts of 32 bytes
In dual channel (128-bit interface to DRAM): 4-beat bursts of 64 bytes or 2-beat busts of 32 bytes
When we set 8 beats then auto=dissabled

So the best should be 64 bytes bursts every 4-beats or 32 bytes bursts every 2-beats (optimized data bus bandwidth for 32-byte accesses)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oqvist

Oh crap. Just the other day you could at least preorder for 200$ but now it´s 240 and backorder everywhere...

But I have heard rumours that you can put an X Fi Card in there somewhere with a SLI setup? But I guess with two vga silencers that is just impossible? Maybe I has to go expert anyway :(

---

I just got my a8n32-sli deluxe today.. and my X-fi FPS with X-ram fits just fine above the 2nd pci-e slot. Also it detected my old raid 0 array from my a8n-sli deluxe which is interesting. anyways I did a repair of my xp install and just for kicks I'm testing it out.

Okay guys I am havinng a problem on my DFI Expert i ran completly stock settings and my FX57 @ 200*14 and evga 7800gtx 512 @ stock scored 9060.

On the a8n32sli dlx im running 250x12 and i have a xfx gtx512 clocked at 600/1800 and it scores LOWER than my stock setup on the expert. what am i missing here

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/4871/again9yt.th.jpg

Chipset settings:
k8 to nb freq -4x
sb to nb freq - 4x

Ram:
Memlock mode - limit
memlock freq - 200
everything else can be seen in a64 booster in screesnhot and the tref is set to 7.8

I left the sb to nb freq in the jumper free config at 200

thats wierd. i'm running POV 7800gtx 512, Asus A8N32SLI and A64 3700+SanDiego@2750MHz (250*11) and i got 10366 in 3dmark05

http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/9...2750mhz5bm.jpg

Hmm did you touch the NB frequency in the jumper free configuation section>

what are your bios settings

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

Okay guys I am havinng a problem on my DFI Expert i ran completly stock settings and my FX57 @ 200*14 and evga 7800gtx 512 @ stock scored 9060.

On the a8n32sli dlx im running 250x12 and i have a xfx gtx512 clocked at 600/1800 and it scores LOWER than my stock setup on the expert. what am i missing here

---

Is the performance gap also show up on SuperPi? If so lets look at a bandwidth shot. If not, you can focus on the card and its set-up, possible video related bios options and drivers. Just swinging wildly here. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

Hey guys got a question how hot can the MB chipset run without degrading itself or hurting performace. Mine is 40-50 depending on room temp.

---

try the optional fan on the heatpipe....I wouldn't worry about it unless they go above 60'C underload.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gundamit

Is the performance gap also show up on SuperPi? If so lets look at a bandwidth shot. If not, you can focus on the card and its set-up, possible video related bios options and drivers. Just swinging wildly here. ;)

---

Only problem is i didnt run spi on the expert. will have to ask stephen for a favor lol

Leave the SB to NB at 5x, it's only the K8 to NB you need to adjust for the HT bus.

Right. However when everything is set to auto the k8 to nb must be fx but my score is still much lower on a8n32 stock than on expert.

Do you touch the nb overclock freq in the jumper free settings or no?

Something is weird here. I think this board has a problem or something. When settings are in "auto" maybe they are not hte right settings for my rig or something

why is fsb 800?

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2...dhuh4mb.th.jpg

In stock at Newegg for $235. I am getting 1 for myself now.

Wow with setup defaults on newest bios my mem is set to 133mhz wtf is happeneing here. auto settins BLOW

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mocha272

In stock at Newegg for $235. I am getting 1 for myself now.

---

they upped the price.. just last week I it brought for $230 shipped from newegg.com

A long and interesting review from xbitlabs:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...li-deluxe.html

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

Okay guys I am havinng a problem on my DFI Expert i ran completly stock settings and my FX57 @ 200*14 and evga 7800gtx 512 @ stock scored 9060.

On the a8n32sli dlx im running 250x12 and i have a xfx gtx512 clocked at 600/1800 and it scores LOWER than my stock setup on the expert. what am i missing here

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/4871/again9yt.th.jpg

Chipset settings:
k8 to nb freq -4x
sb to nb freq - 4x

Ram:
Memlock mode - limit
memlock freq - 200
everything else can be seen in a64 booster in screesnhot and the tref is set to 7.8

I left the sb to nb freq in the jumper free config at 200

---

I get around 10600 in 3dmark05 with these settings
Leadtek 512mb gtx7800 @ 600/1800
Opty 165 @2.61 (290x9)
k8-nb 3x
memlock 166
Corsair 3500ll @ 2-3-2-5
Everything else auto

Defaults on this board edge on the side of safety/stability.

Make sure you have no applications running in the background when running 3d mark as this can affect score, although in your case I doubt it is affecting it that much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Capt_Caveman

A long and interesting review from xbitlabs:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...li-deluxe.html

---

yeah seems depressing when I just brought the a8n32.. but you have to remember how crappy the early bioses were on the a8n-sli deluxe so in a year the a8n32 bios problems should be fixed.

In a year you'll be probably wanting something else...

How come there are no board available in the US. I have one but I still don't see them available anywhere.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chunkylover77

It's too bad that this is not compatible with my LL v2000

---

i have the v2000 also... awesome case but the upside-down thing does cause problems sometimes........ by not compatible I guess you mean the heatpipe would not flow properly?

I think this is the first time ever to compare DDR500 DDR400 timings on the same system, at the same CPU and Northbridge speed.
This was possible by implementing the hidden 5/4 divider on Athlon 64 Rev E CPUs.

Comparing DDR500 - DDR400
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775
DDR500 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5775
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
DDR500 is faster by 260 points.

Comparing 1T - 2T DDR500
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775
DDR500 2T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5274
1T is faster by 300 points.

Comparing 1T - 2T DDR400
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
DDR400 2T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=4654
1T is faster by 860 points.

Comparing different timings with the same tCL at DDR400
DDR400 1T, 2-2-2-6-9-14-2-2 Sandra=5614
DDR400 1T, 2-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5574
Difference 40 points. (almost nothing)

Comparing different timings with the same tCL at DDR500
DDR500 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5775
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775
Difference 0 points.

Comparing tCL2 - tCL3
DDR400 1T, 2-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5574
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
Difference 60 points. (small)

Comparing different timings
DDR400 1T, 2-2-2-6-9-14-2-2 Sandra=5614
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
Difference 100 points.

Comparing DDR500 1Τ - DDR400 2Τ (BIOS Default)
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775, PCMark05=5759
DDR400 2T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=4654, PCMark05=5621
DDR500 1T is faster by 1121 points.
In this case we have a 25% Sandra boost and a better PCMark05 score by 138 (2,45%).

Conclusions
The most important DDR speed factors in my case were 1T and memory frequency in this order.
Should I dissable 2T at DDR400 or leave it as is and raise the memory frequency at DDR500?
At DDR400 1T I got a 5514 score while by just raising the frequency to DDR500 2T I got 5214 points.

ASUS did a great job with 1009 BIOS.
Auto memory settings gave me the best stable speed as long as I enabled 1T manually.
My Ballistix are DDR500, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4.
With default BIOS settings on earlier than 1009 BIOS I would lose a quarter of my DIMM's speed and 2.5% of my PC speed.

This is how I checked.
Athlon 64 4400+ A8N32-SLI Deluxe BIOS 1009.
All tests run at the same BIOS default settings (CPU 201X11=2211MHz).
I used the latest Sandra 2005-10-10-69 version dlded from extremeoverclocking.com
My timings are: tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-tRFC-tRRD-TWRT

DDR400 was 201MHz
DDR500 was 244.44MHz
(manually calculated, since no program understands a 5/4 divider)
Sandra's 2005 Memory bandwidth Benchmark scores were taken as an average of 5 checks.

I've decided to flash my BIOS from 803 to 1009 by CD as it said in the motherboard manual that you could do it by doing the ALT + F2 method. So I made an empty disc with A8N32SLI.ROM on it and press ALT + F2 during the bootup, flashed fine and after that it keeps saying bad BIOS sum error :mad:. It then proceeds to BIOS backup and it still says the same problem when it flashes even after redownloading the BIOS.

I also tried using the Asus support CD which has the original BIOS on and it still says the same thing :(

Hopefully a floppy drive (which I didn't have in the first place) will fix this problem as I'm getting on from a friend today :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lowdog

Everything you need is on this site, guides, flash utilities, bios files. I used the Nvidia bios for the 7800GTX 512MB and nvflash v5.25. Flash 1 card at a time in the top pci slot.

---

Decided not to be lazy right after posting that request and googled it. I used NVflash and the same Nvidia ref BIOS as you. BTW NVflash allowed me to flash both cards 'in situ' you dont have to remove them and only use the top slot. It detected one, flashed it, then detected then next and allowed me to flash that too, all went very smoothly.

I can also confirm it works, can see the whole 2048MB of ram now, it also seems to have fixed a problem I was having with COD2, it used to crash when I selected dx9 renderer, it runs just fine now. So far I have not noticed any detrimental effects, thanks again,

Paul.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cybertronic

I've decided to flash my BIOS from 803 to 1009 by CD as it said in the motherboard manual that you could do it by doing the ALT + F2 method. So I made an empty disc with A8N32SLI.ROM on it and press ALT + F2 during the bootup, flashed fine and after that it keeps saying bad BIOS sum error :mad:. It then proceeds to BIOS backup and it still says the same problem when it flashes even after redownloading the BIOS.

I also tried using the Asus support CD which has the original BIOS on and it still says the same thing :(

Hopefully a floppy drive (which I didn't have in the first place) will fix this problem as I'm getting on from a friend today :(

---

This is not a problem.
The first time you may get a Bad checksum error but you should enter the BIOS and load setup defaults.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marios

This is not a problem.
The first time you may get a Bad checksum error but you should enter the BIOS and load setup defaults.

---

Someone on another forum said you always get the checksum error when you change the name of the BIOS file to A8N32SLI.ROM from whatever it was distributed as. It seems the file name is included in the checksum.

I got it also due to the name change but all was well after loading defaults.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ReelMonza

In a year you'll be probably wanting something else...

---

like M2 aka AM2? yes lol

just curious - what is the max people are able to set their K8>NB multi and also the NB>SB ?

i have k8>nb set to auto and it sets itself to 3x for my 275fsb but after i flashed to 1009 bios the nb>sb setting is 2x now??

just wondering if anybody can take this board over the 1000 freq for k8>nb and also can the sb>nb be = the k8>nb setting?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cisco

Someone on another forum said you always get the checksum error when you change the name of the BIOS file to A8N32SLI.ROM from whatever it was distributed as. It seems the file name is included in the checksum.

I got it also due to the name change but all was well after loading defaults.

---

I've fixed my BIOS issue by flashing to version 903 (probably was caused by 1009 flash) :stick:

I don't want to flash to 1009 again incase I get the same problem :stick:

I wouldn't mind trying to flash using the Asus update but I'm getting a problem:

Unable to create NT driver service for BS_DEF.DLL

and after that:

Setup program detect no ASUS motherboard.
Installation will be aborted now.

Does anyone know the solution to this please?:(

i dont have the a8n32 but I have the a8n-sli which is similar, and I have run 270HTTx4 without issues while testing ram (memtest). Which would be 1080, not much over spec but still, seems ok.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LuckMan212

i dont have the a8n32 but I have the a8n-sli which is similar, and I have run 270HTTx4 without issues while testing ram (memtest). Which would be 1080, not much over spec but still, seems ok.

---

I'm having trouble OCing this board.. are you using the ram in your sig?

I flashed my bios from 903 1009 under dos with no problems

well my rigs are in serious flux right now........ no, when I tested the 270htt I was using 2 sticks of Patriot TCCD at 2.5-3-3-7 1T cpu at a 9x multi and used Memtest86+ 1.65 for 5 passes each test#5 and #8. How is your cooling? might be a good idea to lift your NF4 chipset fan and apply some good AS5 and re-seat...... 270htt is no big deal at all lots of DFI guys are hitting 350-400 HTT without much effort

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cybertronic

Unable to create NT driver service for BS_DEF.DLL

and after that:

Setup program detect no ASUS motherboard.
Installation will be aborted now.

Does anyone know the solution to this please?:(

---

Yup...I've gotten the same message the 2 times I tried installing it...I haven't bothered trying to troubleshoot it but knowing how poor a lot of ASUS instalers have been in the past...they'll probably get around to putting out another version soon.

In the meantime think of it as a "feature"...that windows updater is a dangerous piece of software. I wanted it for an easy way to change the boot logo but I would never use it for flashing the BIOS.

EDIT: Just realized in another thread someone already had the melon-head cat as their avatar...so I switched to one i know no one else has since i took the shot myself :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cybertronic

I've fixed my BIOS issue by flashing to version 903 (probably was caused by 1009 flash) :stick:

I don't want to flash to 1009 again incase I get the same problem :stick:

I wouldn't mind trying to flash using the Asus update but I'm getting a problem:

Unable to create NT driver service for BS_DEF.DLL

and after that:

Setup program detect no ASUS motherboard.
Installation will be aborted now.

Does anyone know the solution to this please?:(

---

I've gotten this message a number of times w/ my old Premium board. The only thing I found to fix the problem was a complete new Windows install. It's probably a registry issue or something.

Well Folks, I finally got my A8N32 this week. And only started overclocking today. I'm impressed. I may have been blessed w/ a good cpu but I reached 2.75ghz on my X2 4400+ w. hardly any tweaking. Most everything is still at default. Now, I set my vcore to 1.4v w/ cpu overvoltage enabled. Thru AiBooster, it shows 1.54v.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../A8N32SLI2.jpg

I flashed to the 1009 bios from the perfectly working 1008 except i wanted raid to work. Shouldn't have done that. Infinite BSOD just when the Windows loading bar is about to show up during boot. Hopefully it's only the OS install that got doomed. This is really a pita.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Capt_Caveman

Now, I set my vcore to 1.4v w/ cpu overvoltage enabled. Thru AiBooster, it shows 1.54v.

---

Just so long as you understand that it is probably 1.6v real. Add 0.06v to AiBooster every time, you'll be about right. DMM test points are either of the two capacitor holes bottom left (connector panel on your left) of the CPU.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mackanz

I flashed to the 1009 bios from the perfectly working 1008 except i wanted raid to work. Shouldn't have done that. Infinite BSOD just when the Windows loading bar is about to show up during boot. Hopefully it's only the OS install that got doomed. This is really a pita.

---

I'm using 1009 and raid is working fine for me. do you see your array before going into windows?

Yay!

Finally got the raid to work. New files needed to the floppy together with the 1009 bios.

Super Pi Mod 1.4 at 2Mb

PHP Code:

---

DDR       T    CL   RCD  RP   RAS   RC    RFC  RRD   RW    Average
DDR500    1    3    3    3    07    10    14    3    3    01:25,862
DDR500    1    3    3    3    07    09    14    3    3    01:25,868
DDR500    1    3    3    3    07    09    14    3    2    01:25,897
DDR500    1    3    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:25,946
DDR400    1    2    2    2    06    09    14    3    1    01:26,338
DDR500    1    3    4    4    10    14    18    3    4    01:26,856
DDR400    1    2    3    3    08    12    16    3    1    01:27,328
DDR400    1    2    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:27,601
DDR400    1    3    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:27,896
DDR400    2    2    2    2    06    09    14    3    1    01:28,149
DDR400    2    3    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:30,324 


---

CPU was at 201x11 in all cases. This was done with the 5/4 divider (250 limit) to get 250MHz of mem frequency.
All other BIOS settings were identical.
Average was extracted from 4 measures.
There are pictures for every measure available.
Here is an example.

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mloupos/125797.png

There was a of 0,150" deviation between the upper and lower score of the four measures.
So there is no actual difference between the average scores of the first four lines.
Notice that no program reports the correct mem frequency.

Hi everyone! I need some advice: I just received my new X2 4400+ CPU (CCBWE 0529) and in a couple of days I'll get my hands on a brand new A8N32-SLI Dlx (they sent me the P5N32-SLI board due to a shipment error, dammit!). I am shifting from a DFI SLI-DR with a venice 3500+@2,65ghz(265x10)/1,47v.

I am experienced in overclocking, but I am just a bit scared about this CPU voltage madness with this Asus board. I do not want to pass the 1,5v limit even if I have a Zalman 9500 cooler, so how should I set the bios (1009) to get the REAL value of 1,5v? I am a bit confused...:stick:
thanx in advance

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arrarro

Hi everyone! I need some advice: I just received my new X2 4400+ CPU (CCBWE 0529) and in a couple of days I'll get my hands on a brand new A8N32-SLI Dlx (they sent me the P5N32-SLI board due to a shipment error, dammit!). I am shifting from a DFI SLI-DR with a venice 3500+@2,65ghz(265x10)/1,47v.

I am experienced in overclocking, but I am just a bit scared about this CPU voltage madness with this Asus board. I do not want to pass the 1,5v limit even if I have a Zalman 9500 cooler, so how should I set the bios (1009) to get the REAL value of 1,5v? I am a bit confused...:stick:
thanx in advance

---

Just don't enable the cpu overvolt option in bios and it should stick fairly closely to what you set the vcore to.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marios

I think this is the first time ever to compare DDR500 DDR400 timings on the same system, at the same CPU and Northbridge speed.
This was possible by implementing the hidden 5/4 divider on Athlon 64 Rev E CPUs.

Comparing DDR500 - DDR400
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775
DDR500 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5775
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
DDR500 is faster by 260 points.

Comparing 1T - 2T DDR500
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775
DDR500 2T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5274
1T is faster by 300 points.

Comparing 1T - 2T DDR400
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
DDR400 2T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=4654
1T is faster by 860 points.

Comparing different timings with the same tCL at DDR400
DDR400 1T, 2-2-2-6-9-14-2-2 Sandra=5614
DDR400 1T, 2-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5574
Difference 40 points. (almost nothing)

Comparing different timings with the same tCL at DDR500
DDR500 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5775
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775
Difference 0 points.

Comparing tCL2 - tCL3
DDR400 1T, 2-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5574
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
Difference 60 points. (small)

Comparing different timings
DDR400 1T, 2-2-2-6-9-14-2-2 Sandra=5614
DDR400 1T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=5514
Difference 100 points.

Comparing DDR500 1Τ - DDR400 2Τ (BIOS Default)
DDR500 1T, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4 Sandra=5775, PCMark05=5759
DDR400 2T, 3-3-3-8-12-16-3-3 Sandra=4654, PCMark05=5621
DDR500 1T is faster by 1121 points.
In this case we have a 25% Sandra boost and a better PCMark05 score by 138 (2,45%).

Conclusions
The most important DDR speed factors in my case were 1T and memory frequency in this order.
Should I dissable 2T at DDR400 or leave it as is and raise the memory frequency at DDR500?
At DDR400 1T I got a 5514 score while by just raising the frequency to DDR500 2T I got 5214 points.

ASUS did a great job with 1009 BIOS.
Auto memory settings gave me the best stable speed as long as I enabled 1T manually.
My Ballistix are DDR500, 3-4-4-10-14-18-3-4.
With default BIOS settings on earlier than 1009 BIOS I would lose a quarter of my DIMM's speed and 2.5% of my PC speed.

This is how I checked.
Athlon 64 4400+ A8N32-SLI Deluxe BIOS 1009.
All tests run at the same BIOS default settings (CPU 201X11=2211MHz).
I used the latest Sandra 2005-10-10-69 version dlded from extremeoverclocking.com
My timings are: tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-tRFC-tRRD-TWRT

DDR400 was 201MHz
DDR500 was 244.44MHz
(manually calculated, since no program understands a 5/4 divider)
Sandra's 2005 Memory bandwidth Benchmark scores were taken as an average of 5 checks.

---

very nice comparison, thanks for sharing ;) :toast:

Hi i just bought this mobo and updated from the 903 to the 1009 bios. I cant seem to change my ECC setting(its grayed out). I want to overclock
can som1 give me a basic list of things i need to change in the bios?
I have a opty 144
-2gb ocz platinum el 3200

And i was wondering if the new bios (1009) has the same problems with reading the voltage as the older bios's?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cybertronic

I've fixed my BIOS issue by flashing to version 903 (probably was caused by 1009 flash) :stick:

I don't want to flash to 1009 again incase I get the same problem :stick:

I wouldn't mind trying to flash using the Asus update but I'm getting a problem:

Unable to create NT driver service for BS_DEF.DLL

and after that:

Setup program detect no ASUS motherboard.
Installation will be aborted now.

Does anyone know the solution to this please?:(

---

AFAIK this is caused by a conflict with the ASUS Update program and Creative drivers/audio console. I get the exact same messages. Hopefully Asus/Creative will provide an update that will solve this. The only way you will be able to use asus update is to re-install windows as uninstalling the creative drivers and console makes no difference due to a registry entry. Make sure you update the bios using the update utility BEFORE you install creative stuff.

Pretty drastic tbh and its much easier to create a floppy and update via the Alt+F2 method imo.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arrarro

Hi everyone! I need some advice: I just received my new X2 4400+ CPU (CCBWE 0529) and in a couple of days I'll get my hands on a brand new A8N32-SLI Dlx (they sent me the P5N32-SLI board due to a shipment error, dammit!). I am shifting from a DFI SLI-DR with a venice 3500+@2,65ghz(265x10)/1,47v.

I am experienced in overclocking, but I am just a bit scared about this CPU voltage madness with this Asus board. I do not want to pass the 1,5v limit even if I have a Zalman 9500 cooler, so how should I set the bios (1009) to get the REAL value of 1,5v? I am a bit confused...:stick:
thanx in advance

---

To get a vlaue of 1.5v you need to set the Vcore to 1.3v and enable the Vcore overvolt option (0.2v). I personally couldn't get past 1.4v regardless of what vcore I set without using the overvolt option.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ic3man

AFAIK this is caused by a conflict with the ASUS Update program and Creative drivers/audio console. I get the exact same messages. Hopefully Asus/Creative will provide an update that will solve this. The only way you will be able to use asus update is to re-install windows as uninstalling the creative drivers and console makes no difference due to a registry entry. Make sure you update the bios using the update utility BEFORE you install creative stuff.

Pretty drastic tbh and its much easier to create a floppy and update via the Alt+F2 method imo.

---

Hmm.. I do indeed own a Audigy 2 ZS and use the Audio Control. I guess I'll try again later using floppy method :)

has anybody been able to boot from usb key with this motherboard yet? i have a usb key that boots fine off my dfi board but i can not get it to boot with this mobo...

if anybody has had any luck pls let me know what you did!!

For those who are using this motherboard and a X1800 XT, could you please tell me what overclocks you are getting from the X1800 XT please? :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arctic-k20

has anybody been able to boot from usb key with this motherboard yet? i have a usb key that boots fine off my dfi board but i can not get it to boot with this mobo...

if anybody has had any luck pls let me know what you did!!

---

I can boot fine from usb key with my a8n32.

Ive began overclocking and can reach 2790mhz(310x9) in opty 144 pretty stable at stock volts(says 1.47 under hardware moniter and 1.425 in bios and 1.47 speedfan) Ive stressprimed(only cpu stress) it for an hour, finished superpi 32m with 27min and 51sec(good?) and have been running 3dmark 2001se and 2005 along with chronicles of riddick all day without a hickup. My OCZ Platinum EL ddr400 3200 is running at 266mhz(cpu-z)...is that good? its rated 400mhz, now i kno i cant reach this but shouldnt i be getting higher? The settings are on auto in bios 1009. Well now to the problem...I wanted to see if i could reach 3ghz but needed to up the vcore in order to do this. So i used the +.2 option in the bios and set the vcore to 1.3375 so im guessing this equals is around 1.55v. So i save changes and exit and now i dont get a boot up...not even the bios. And without the overvolt function it stays stuck at 1.5(hardware monitor) I dont understand whats going on here? Can someone gimme a hand here i wanna get up to 1.55-1.6.

Does AILife logo plate on top of NB HSF is removeable? I am thinking about remove it and install an active cooling like my existing Cooler Master Blue Ice on top of NB HSF/Pipe so this board can work in lian li case. TYA.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tdntx

Does AILife logo plate on top of NB HSF is removeable? I am thinking about remove it and install an active cooling like my existing Cooler Master Blue Ice on top of NB HSF/Pipe so this board can work in lian li case. TYA.

---

Yes it's just a metal foil sticker. Comes right off.

I placed a fan blowing on mine after I took it off.

Can NCQ be disabled on this motherboard? :confused:

How can I get Asus PC Probe to work with OCCT?

Whenever I click on Asus PC Probe in OCCT it just stops responding :confused:

Hi guys,
a little question.
Where can I see the revision number on A8N32SLI motherboard ?
Is it visible on PCB board or during the post of bios ?

Thankyou

Gigi

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pincopalla

Hi guys,
a little question.
Where can I see the revision number on A8N32SLI motherboard ?
Is it visible on PCB board or during the post of bios ?

Thankyou

Gigi

---

ciao!! :)

....near slots dimm/cpu socket!!

Is this anything to consider while upgrading ?

xbitlabs.com

"The explanation of the newer platform being slower comes from one architectural feature of the nForce4 SLI X16. To ensure high-speed communication between the chipset’s North and South bridges, NVIDIA had to reduce the width of the HyperTransport bus the chipset connects to the CPU with and to use two 8-bit channels instead of the ordinary nForce4’s two 16-bit channels there."

One step forward and two steps back... :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by -X-hellfire

Is this anything to consider while upgrading ?

xbitlabs.com

"The explanation of the newer platform being slower comes from one architectural feature of the nForce4 SLI X16. To ensure high-speed communication between the chipset’s North and South bridges, NVIDIA had to reduce the width of the HyperTransport bus the chipset connects to the CPU with and to use two 8-bit channels instead of the ordinary nForce4’s two 16-bit channels there."

One step forward and two steps back... :rolleyes:

---

I don't think so, that review is flawed. In BIOS, you can choose 16bit or 8bit for both the CPU to NB, and NB to SB.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HKPolice

I don't think so, that review is flawed. In BIOS, you can choose 16bit or 8bit for both the CPU to NB, and NB to SB.

---

I'm glad to hear you say that. I thought the same thing when I read that review but figured I must be missing something :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HKPolice

I don't think so, that review is flawed. In BIOS, you can choose 16bit or 8bit for both the CPU to NB, and NB to SB.

---

Do a comparison. NB to SB-16up/16down and CPU to NB-auto gains you an extra 1500 3DM05 points compared to NB to SB-16up/16down and CPU to NB-16up/16down..........for whatever it's worth :fact:

Wonder what the "auto" setting is doing to give a higher score :confused:

Super Pi Mod 1.4 2Mb on A8N32-SLI Deluxe

PHP Code:

---

"DDR      T    CL   RCD  RP   RAS   RC    RFC  RRD  RTW    Average"
!DDR500   1    3    3    3    07    10    14    3    3    01:25.862
!DDR500   1    3    3    3    07    09    14    3    3    01:25.868
!DDR500   1    3    3    3    07    09    14    3    2    01:25,897
!DDR500   1    3    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:25.946
*DDR400   1    2    2    2    05    07    11    2    1    01:26.116
*DDR400   1    2    2    2    06    09    14    3    1    01:26.338
*DDR400   1    2    2    2    06    09    14    3    3    01:26.456
!DDR500   1    3    4    4    10    14    18    3    4    01:26.856
*DDR400   1    2    3    3    08    12    16    3    1    01:27.328
!DDR500   2    3    3    3    07    09    14    3    3    01:27.453
*DDR400   1    2    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:27.601
*DDR400   1    3    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:27.896
*DDR400   2    2    2    2    06    09    14    3    1    01:28.149
*DDR400   2    3    3    3    08    12    16    3    3    01:30.324 


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CPU at 201x11.
DDR500 (250MHz limit BIOS setting) was with a 5/4 divider at 201 MHz.
DDR400 (200MHz limit BIOS setting) was with a 1/1 divider at 201 MHz.
All BIOS settings were identical except for the metioned timings.
Average was retrieved from 4 measures.
The deviation (difference between the highest and the lowest score) for each average was about 0,150".
Score differences greater than 0,150" are statistical significant .
So there is no real difference between the first four results.
I have kept one screenshot from each measure like the following one in case someone needs it.

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mloupos/125797.png

Super Pi results at 2Mb are different compared to memory bandwidth from Sandra.
Timing settings are more importand here.
I think DRAM frequency, tcl and TRTW proved to be significant.
Though I did not compare these results yet.
Any suggestions?

Marios,

Have you noticed any problems changing the Max Assync latency or Read Preamble? On 4 different memorykits, ANY change of those 2 nets a total freeze.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by $JG Money$

Ive began overclocking and can reach 2790mhz(310x9) in opty 144 pretty stable at stock volts(says 1.47 under hardware moniter and 1.425 in bios and 1.47 speedfan) Ive stressprimed(only cpu stress) it for an hour, finished superpi 32m with 27min and 51sec(good?) and have been running 3dmark 2001se and 2005 along with chronicles of riddick all day without a hickup. My OCZ Platinum EL ddr400 3200 is running at 266mhz(cpu-z)...is that good? its rated 400mhz, now i kno i cant reach this but shouldnt i be getting higher? The settings are on auto in bios 1009. Well now to the problem...I wanted to see if i could reach 3ghz but needed to up the vcore in order to do this. So i used the +.2 option in the bios and set the vcore to 1.3375 so im guessing this equals is around 1.55v. So i save changes and exit and now i dont get a boot up...not even the bios. And without the overvolt function it stays stuck at 1.5(hardware monitor) I dont understand whats going on here? Can someone gimme a hand here i wanna get up to 1.55-1.6.

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266 is slow. You either set a divider manually or you left your controller speed in auto (DRAM limit option in BIOS or something like this).
There are a few programs that report the actual speed based on the divider you set.
I made one myself. It will help you in overclocking. It also supports DDR500 setting.
Open Office Calc or Μ$ Excell
I am going to post again about this one separately.
I think 1009 BIOS reads the tcaseMax value on your CPU and adjusts the maximum voltage your CPU can handle accordingly, for safety reasons.
So your CPU may not be able to O/C more.
Anyway, try to use a X3 multiplier on both Hypertransports and every o/c voltage setting enabled.
Start from 1.3 + 0.2v and raise the CPU votage step by step.
Notice the CPU frequency on your BIOS.
In case this is not what you gave, do not enter Windows.
Try different BIOS settings.
For example, you gave 1.3v +0.2=1.5v, 251X11=2761 and the BIOS reports 2755MHz.
This is not what you expected to get.
So try different BIOS settings until the BIOS reported CPU frequency is correct. This means that you can try a 1.32+0.2=1.52v now and check the CPU frequency again. You have to move step by step.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mackanz

Marios,

Have you noticed any problems changing the Max Assync latency or Read Preamble? On 4 different memorykits, ANY change of those 2 nets a total freeze.

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I never changed these values. They are calculated from DRAM's SPD and I think they are optimal.
I did change my Crucial Ballistix Z503 spd though without problems.

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mloupos/spd.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arctic-k20

has anybody been able to boot from usb key with this motherboard yet? i have a usb key that boots fine off my dfi board but i can not get it to boot with this mobo...

if anybody has had any luck pls let me know what you did!!

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Yes, I can boot from my USB key.
Copy all files from a bootable floppy to your USB key.
Reboot with the USB key connected.
Enter BIOS and set it to boot from a removable device first.
At the removable devices tab, you have both the floppy and the USB key as options.
Press the + key to move the USB key first.
This way you can flash a new BIOS from the USB key, since a windows made bootable floppy has not enough space as is (though we may remove certain files to make room).
Another option to flash a new BIOS is to press Alt - F2 during post, with a floppy or a cd with the ROM file renamed to A8N32SLI.ROM.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by -X-hellfire

Is this anything to consider while upgrading ?

xbitlabs.com

"The explanation of the newer platform being slower comes from one architectural feature of the nForce4 SLI X16. To ensure high-speed communication between the chipset’s North and South bridges, NVIDIA had to reduce the width of the HyperTransport bus the chipset connects to the CPU with and to use two 8-bit channels instead of the ordinary nForce4’s two 16-bit channels there."

One step forward and two steps back... :rolleyes:

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There is no difference in games' FPS speed between X8 and X16 PCI Express Lanes.
At this moment no games can use all this bandwidth.
This is well known and happens with for Nforce4 based mobos (like A8N-SLI Premiun).
But try to use four cores (2X2)...
Each core needs at least 8 PCI express lanes.

The authors of that article say there will be no benefit from two X16 PCI Express Lanes in the future ???
It was the same with AGPx1 AGPx2 AGPx4 and AGPx8 the last few years.
I recall so many articles saying that AGPX2 bus would give no performance benefits in games compared to AGPx1.
Ha Ha Ha.
The future is near...

I saw so many false statements on that article ...

"The HyperTransport frequency range is very wide, but setting it to above 1000MHz makes the system hang up. This is probably some kind of reserve for the future, for upcoming cores from AMD, but so far these high frequencies are practically useless."

I am stable at 1350MHz CPU to Northbridge HyperTransport frequency.

For the rest, just check your Bios settings (NB to SB-16up/16down) and the following.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowdog

Do a comparison. NB to SB-16up/16down and CPU to NB-auto gains you an extra 1500 3DM05 points compared to NB to SB-16up/16down and CPU to NB-16up/16down..........for whatever it's worth :fact:

Wonder what the "auto" setting is doing to give a higher score :confused:

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This is a nice remark we need to test.
I only have one vga card though.
Do you have two cards in SLI?
Did you also try CPU to NB-8up/8down?
Did you check with SuperPi or PCMark05?
Cause what you wrote does not confirm the above mentioned article.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pincopalla

Hi guys,
a little question.
Where can I see the revision number on A8N32SLI motherboard ?
Is it visible on PCB board or during the post of bios ?

Thankyou

Gigi

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It is written on your board.
You may also check it with programs like CPUz, Sandra, Everest and so on.
You do not have to check it though.
We all have the same board revision.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by $JG Money$

Hi i just bought this mobo and updated from the 903 to the 1009 bios. I cant seem to change my ECC setting(its grayed out). I want to overclock
can som1 give me a basic list of things i need to change in the bios?
I have a opty 144
-2gb ocz platinum el 3200

And i was wondering if the new bios (1009) has the same problems with reading the voltage as the older bios's?

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Your BIOS knows better.
Your memory does not support Dram ECC.

Did you try Ai NOS to overclock?
It is great. Your PC works at default speed and whenever you need more power you get it, up to the percentage you set (ie. 10%).

It is impossible to write here how to set every single setting.
We might have answers though to more simple questions.

This program is an Open Office Calc or a Μ$ Excell file.
It helps to calculate the optimal O/C settings for Athlon 64 CPUs.
You may open the excell file or save either.
You give the limits of each subsystem and you get all the O/C combinations you can use.
This is a unique program.

Here is a screenshot.

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mloupos/Calc.png

Enjoy! :T:
Marios

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marios

This way you can flash a new BIOS from the USB key, since a floppy has not enough space.

---

First of all... you're doing great work here. Your posts about memory tests are very, very good and i thank you for your efforts.

I just wanted to correct that one statement I quoted above. The floppy does have enough space...barely. The problem is that when you make a boot floppy in Win-XP with the "Create and MS_DOS Start-up disk" option, it puts a bunch of unnecessary files in the floppy that take-up room. You can safely delete all the language.sys, display.sys, etc. files. Only 3 files have to be there:

command.com
io.sys, and
msdos.sys

You can even ditch autoexec.bat amd config.sys but they're empty, 0-byte files anyways.

If you do that then there's room for the BIOS file and AFUDOS with about 145K to spare...it's how I flash mine.

Mind you, USB keys are tres cool...a modern day fashionable nerd should not be caught without one around his neck...ever :)

hi all . I have a boot problem with this board when i use my pc 24/7 nothing happens. If the pc shutdown after many working hours and then i try to startup again no boot at all . beeps once like when it is ok and ready to post then beeps short twice still working but no post. when i keep it off for a long time ( three hours ) everything is ok boot smoothly like nothing happens.
can anyome help??
thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wifi

hi all . I have a boot problem with this board when i use my pc 24/7 nothing happens. If the pc shutdown after many working hours and then i try to startup again no boot at all . beeps once like when it is ok and ready to post then beeps short twice still working but no post. when i keep it off for a long time ( three hours ) everything is ok boot smoothly like nothing happens.
can anyome help??
thanks

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It sounds like a memory problem.
Try 2.8v for your memory, or loosen your timings.
Also check your IDE devices (I think you have only one dvdr).
Connect your DVDR at the primary IDE slot and set it to master. Use the IDE cable that came with your mobo and plug your DVDR at the master adapter.

Aite here the deal i just got my a8n32-sli deluxe.. match with amd 3800+ x2 .. 1gb ram "amp" brand , 3 drivers, 1 36gb rapture| 300Gb WD SATA , Gigabyte Watercooling System, XFX 7800GT .. x-infity 600W | BIos is 1009 latest...

Ok installing windows , booting up no problems... then i start to overclock it .. i got some question..

1. How come my voltage wont go above 1.45 unless overvoltage is on?

2. How come my temperature is so high.. right now i have it clock at 2.5 at 1.44V .. it 40IDE ... 45 full load.. isnt watercooling suppose tolower temp really good? btw my cpu is a naked 3800 x2

3. How come my system wont boot up with overvoltage on.... meaning it just a black screen everytime i save in bios and restart pc...? The vdmi is at 1.45V and overvoltage is on giving me total of 1.6V clock at 2.8ghz.... Everytime i want to restart i must shut down pc.. then turn it bak on to restart... same goes in saving in bios..

If i have it on like 1.45V w/o overvolt and clock at 2.5 it restart and reboot fine.. please help T_T