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

First of all I want to say thanks to Ben805 for all the great information!!!!!!

I got mine at Frys got tired of waiting.($250)
I just built a machine with the GB K8N Pro Sli/3800+, very little overclocking 210 was max from bios 235 from windows and many random problems. The install on the A8N32 was great no problems at all it even found my Raid0. Was up and running in 15 min. The only thing I had to do was back down the Vcore, default it was showing 1.42 with Probe and Speedfan. I set it at 1.34 and it seems to be fine. After reading some more posts it seems that the Vcore reading might not be correct.

cpuz reports what you set in the bios. i too would really like to know which is the correct reading

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cronic

under jumperfree configuration set ai overclocking to manuel, that will allow you to change the cpu fsb frequency. set fsb/vid change to manuel and that will allow you to change the cpu voltage and cpu frequency multiplier. as to how you set the hypertransport speed i am not sure and was wondering that myself...

i think you selet the memory ratio under memory configuration set memclock mode to limit and then adjust the memclock value.

---

Thanks Cronic. I had already done the CPU part to get 11 X 220 (X2-4400)

The memory thing is what I had mentioned before... I guess they express the memory as actual MHz instead of dividers.

Just kicked it up a notch to CPU @ 225 X 11 and memory (OCZ platinum 2GB) @ 225 2.5, 3, 2, 5 and all seems well @ 1T. (CPUz reports it as "CPU/11")

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by brschmid

cpuz reports what you set in the bios. i too would really like to know which is the correct reading

---

This is what I've found so far with the 502 BIOS, mabey one of the newer BIOS's will act differently?

Board detects my x2-3800+ default voltage at 1.4, when it's for sure 1.35. I then measure at the MOSFET with a DMM and it's actually overvolting to 1.425 But the BIOS reading is 1.396

So I set FSB/VID to manual, to gain access to voltage control, set the voltage to 1.35 and reboot, DMM still reads about the same 1.415 volts BIOS stills says 1.396v.

Next stop set BIOS to 1.3v reboot, and DMM reads 1.415 BIOS reads 1.396. So I go for broke figuring a no POST would happen and set the BIOS to 1.2v reboot, DMM reads 1.415 BIOS reads 1.396:wall:

At this point I'm starting to think the 502 BIOS don't allow voltage changes, so I set BIOS to 1.425 and reboot, DMM reads 1.478v BIOS reads 1.412v

VDIMM haven't messed with much yet, but if you leave it to auto, the board sends 2.75v to the DIMM slot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Blue078

This is what I've found so far with the 502 BIOS, mabey one of the newer BIOS's will act differently?

Board detects my x2-3800+ default voltage at 1.4, when it's for sure 1.35. I then measure at the MOSFET with a DMM and it's actually overvolting to 1.425 But the BIOS reading is 1.396

So I set FSB/VID to manual, to gain access to voltage control, set the voltage to 1.35 and reboot, DMM still reads about the same 1.415 volts BIOS stills says 1.396v.

Next stop set BIOS to 1.3v reboot, and DMM reads 1.415 BIOS reads 1.396. So I go for broke figuring a no POST would happen and set the BIOS to 1.2v reboot, DMM reads 1.415 BIOS reads 1.396:wall:

At this point I'm starting to think the 502 BIOS don't allow voltage changes, so I set BIOS to 1.425 and reboot, DMM reads 1.478v BIOS reads 1.412v

VDIMM haven't messed with much yet, but if you leave it to auto, the board sends 2.75v to the DIMM slot.

---

same here with 703 :(

I had to set mine to 1.30v to get 1.34v.
What is the default vcore for a 4400+ i'm seeing 1.35 or 1.40...
Thanks...

what bios?

Guys...

I don't think you'll ever get any motherboard to give an exact measurement of the vCore or vDIMM for that matter, usually if you can get it within 10% or so it really doesn't matter.

that is true, i think the issue here is the fact that some of us can't set lower than 1.4 when default on our cpu's is 1.35

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cisco

Where the heck is the memory ratio setting? All I see is a few choices for RAM speed settings... on the plus side, nothing I've done to the CPU yet seems to affect RAM frequency.

Why am I adjusting "FSB" when these things don't even have one? Where are the HTT frequency and multiplier settings?

My apologies again for inserting my noobness into this very interesting thread, but any hints, clues or links would be greatly appreciated.

---

no problem....if you have any questions just feel free to ask and we'll try our best to answer you. As for the memory divider...take a look at the following bios screen:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...chmentid=40068

If you set the HTT to 300mhz and x10 multiplier, and if your memory can handle 300mhz then set the Memclock Value to 200 Mhz, it means 1:1 memclock. If your ram can only do about 250~260 then your best option is to set the Memclock Value down to 166 Mhz and that should give you memclock of 250 Mhz while keeping your cpu at 300mhz x10.

Please check the AMD64 Overclocking Guide wrote by eva2000 :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrashOv3r1De

Okay my expert is going back to newegg for a refund when I get it monday. I added the board to my auto notify list and as soon as excaliber or the egg gets it ill be the first to order.

Ben get ready to see benchies at 3.6+ ghz i hope :P -40c loaded LS baby w000t. I just opened it up its beautiful.

---

hehe....can't wait to see your rig in action :D :D

By the way, this is just an FYI.....microns, UTT, and Infineon sticks worked well on this Asus, Infineon is a bit tricky but I can get them to clock slightly higher on this board than the ultra-d, I don't have any TCCD to test with but it shouldn't have any problem either. ;)

ben so you've had no issue with the board under single stage???

very tempted to get this mobo for my 148 opteron and under the Vapo LS just for the stability over the sli-d.

also a bit tired of the cold boots etc with the dfi board.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mouawad

ben so you've had no issue with the board under single stage???

very tempted to get this mobo for my 148 opteron and under the Vapo LS just for the stability over the sli-d.

also a bit tired of the cold boots etc with the dfi board.

---

The only issue I had with mine was using the beta 804 and 805 bios, for whatever reason they were a bit whacky under subzeo, but the Official bios 703 works perfectly fine ;)

thnx mate ....the expert or the asus .....don't know whether i can handle anymore dfi quirks to be honest and by your results and web reviews this board looks both strong and fast from the get-go.

I'm not so happy with the wacked out vcore, but the board can run pretty well at it's max 400htt.

http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/2...lend9eb.th.jpg

http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/2...dm058lt.th.jpg

I can only get 370 HTT; at 375 and above, Windaz doesn't completely boot.

I found your RAM timings interesting, Blue078. I'm using the same RAM (Z503), but get 3-3-3-8 with everything on Auto and can't push it to 2.5-3-3-7 like yours. The SPD says it's rated at 3-4-4-10 at 250, while I thought it was specced at 3-3-3-8 at 250.

I'm SPi stable at 3-3-3-8 1T 282; it was no go at 280 without a fan though, module temps were 33C and 39C before fan cooling and both 29C after.

Judging by the other entries in the list (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=67762) it's about average.

Interestingly, the Auto settings are quite conservative. With all on auto, 275 runs 3-5-5-10. There seems to be a "margin of error" which I suppose applies to all Auto settings, so presumably all of them can be tweaked upwards to some degree.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stone_cold_Jimi

I can only get 370 HTT; at 375 and above, Windaz doesn't completely boot.

I found your RAM timings interesting, Blue078. I'm using the same RAM (Z503), but get 3-3-3-8 with everything on Auto and can't push it to 2.5-3-3-7 like yours. The SPD says it's rated at 3-4-4-10 at 250, while I thought it was specced at 3-3-3-8 at 250.

I'm SPi stable at 3-3-3-8 1T 282; it was no go at 280 without a fan though, module temps were 33C and 39C before fan cooling and both 29C after.

Judging by the other entries in the list (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=67762) it's about average.

Interestingly, the Auto settings are quite conservative. With all on auto, 275 runs 3-5-5-10. There seems to be a "margin of error" which I suppose applies to all Auto settings, so presumably all of them can be tweaked upwards to some degree.

---

Sorry to confuse, I'm not using the Ballistix in my sig:) I'm just testing the A8N32 laid out on my work bench, and am using a X2 3800+ and Mushkin L2v2 TCCD. And plan on also testing 4x512 of old school Twinmos BH-5

The rig in my sig is my gamer I try not to rob parts from it :D

I was fixing someones computer with an a8n32-sli, and flashed it to 804 since the was the first bios I could find quickly and it seems like it needs a lot of work. The board was rev 1.01 so that might have been part of the problem, I don't know why asus shipped the first batch of boards with problems everytime. But the main problem was windows would take forever to bootup at the splash screen. I finally got it to bootup quickly with 2x512kingstons with the timings on manuel then the owner decided he wanted 2x1gig, and it was pretty much impossible to get it to consistently bootup quickly. I bought my expert and was kinda of thinking maybe I got the wrong board, since speedfan made it shutdown instantly, and it seems to be restarting, but that stopped with the bios update. I don't know why Asus always has so much trouble running 1t and overvolts by default. Asus probably should have put the 8pin power connector liek dfi since they were sing 8phase and it could have helped abit.I recommend everyone wait a good month to get a new revision of the board so you don't end up with some pos.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ben805

The aluminum mosfet heatsink looks kinda out of place, should of been copper to match the SB and NB heatpipe thing, and I was surprised that there were absolutely no thermal compound or sticky pad whatsoever to aid heat transfer either, so I popped off the mosfet sink and apply a thin layer of AS5 on all those little mosfets then slapped the aluminum sink back on.

---

Strange, I just got my board, and there WAS a thin layer of TIM. Should have taken a picture of it at the time, but I didn't. Sorry.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alucard-

I was fixing someones computer with an a8n32-sli, and flashed it to 804 since the was the first bios I could find quickly and it seems like it needs a lot of work. The board was rev 1.01 so that might have been part of the problem, I don't know why asus shipped the first batch of boards with problems everytime. But the main problem was windows would take forever to bootup at the splash screen. I finally got it to bootup quickly with 2x512kingstons with the timings on manuel then the owner decided he wanted 2x1gig, and it was pretty much impossible to get it to consistently bootup quickly. I bought my expert and was kinda of thinking maybe I got the wrong board, since speedfan made it shutdown instantly, and it seems to be restarting, but that stopped with the bios update. I don't know why Asus always has so much trouble running 1t and overvolts by default. Asus probably should have put the 8pin power connector liek dfi since they were sing 8phase and it could have helped abit.I recommend everyone wait a good month to get a new revision of the board so you don't end up with some pos.

---

There is nothing wrong with rev 1.01 as far as I know. Did you try the 703 bios?

anybody had any luck with motherboard monitor 5 on this board. I tried the nf4 data file that i used on my dfi sli-dr and none of the results are correct. all temps show -1c.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Blue078

I'm not so happy with the wacked out vcore, but the board can run pretty well at it's max 400htt.

http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/2...lend9eb.th.jpg

http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/2...dm058lt.th.jpg

---

based on that post, i am wondering if the baord defaults to certain vcore based on the multiplier, because you must have been running with less than 1.4v for that or not?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by brschmid

that is true, i think the issue here is the fact that some of us can't set lower than 1.4 when default on our cpu's is 1.35

---

Try setting your vcore to 1.15v manually and using teh "Over-voltage CPU Vcore" (by +0.2v) option.

That was the only way I could set the vcore on my Opty 148 past 1.5v (ie: set Vcore manually to 1.3v then enable over-voltage on CPU). It seems to me that you can only set vcore correctly if you use these two things in conjunction with each other.

Ben805, thanks for an interesting read and excellent detail with great feeback.

I have a few questions on the running configuration when under sub temps.

You indicated that 345 was the max it could boot up at, was this using a lower CPU multi and have you tried to see if the board will do more?

The 1T setting has been stable up to what speed?

I would like to see if TCCD modules are good at DDR600+ 1T on these motherboards.

Where I am coming from is that I currently have my Opteron 146 stable at 3.4 on a DFI but for some reason the MB, CPU, Mem combination just will not allow the modules to run at DDR600, with a 3000+ the same MB, mem would do 300x9 (air) and 8x375 (sub-zero)

So I am looking for a new MB ... obvious choice is the Expert but came across your thread which has opened the options up - this is always a good thing :)

Thanks again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ncsa

Ben805, thanks for an interesting read and excellent detail with great feeback.

I have a few questions on the running configuration when under sub temps.

You indicated that 345 was the max it could boot up at, was this using a lower CPU multi and have you tried to see if the board will do more?

The 1T setting has been stable up to what speed?

I would like to see if TCCD modules are good at DDR600+ 1T on these motherboards.

Where I am coming from is that I currently have my Opteron 146 stable at 3.4 on a DFI but for some reason the MB, CPU, Mem combination just will not allow the modules to run at DDR600, with a 3000+ the same MB, mem would do 300x9 (air) and 8x375 (sub-zero)

So I am looking for a new MB ... obvious choice is the Expert but came across your thread which has opened the options up - this is always a good thing :)

Thanks again.

---

no problem ;) 345 was the highest stable HTT with 9x multiplier when I was using air cooling, I didn't try lower multiplier but it shouldn't have any problem ;) As mentioned by Tony(aka BigToe) you'll need to use slightly weaker Dram Drive strength under subzero so give that a try first and see what happen, also try to juice up your LDT and chipset voltage....they might help stabilized your overclock.