what's your memory running at and what kind of Sandra Memory bandwidth are you getting?
Below is my 560+ with my ram at 952mhz 5-5-5-15
Printable View
My board should be arriving Aug 6/7th. Can't wait to compare to the nf-m2 nview...
Ply
Biostar released a new BIOS:
Official? v802 here:
http://www.biostar.cn/supports/BIOS....D=26&Value=568
DL link:
http://www.biostar.cn/driver2005/BIO...S/N56BA802.rar
Dated: 8/2/07, v802
Official v612 here:
http://www1.biostar.cn/supports/BIOS...D=26&Value=568
DL link:
http://www.biostar.cn/bios2006/AM2/N56BA612.BST.RAR
Can anyone confirm these are truly official and will work? I'm too afraid to flash it..
But I know the BIOS is in english, since I viewed it inside a bios tool.
I know the 802 works fine. I used it
Do you even have this board?
Also, does the memory divider still work fine after bios update?
What do you mean do I even have this board? How could I have used it if I didnt have the board... You might also look back a couple pages and see a few of my posts saying I couldnt get any higher than 275 no matter what and the new bios allows me to reach 320
I am using the v612 bios right now, waiting for my 3600+ to get in this next week (hopefully)
Is anyone using a Thermalright 120 extreme heatsink on this mobo?
I realllly want to replace my stock HSF.
maybe Ill flash my bios later too, after work....provided I am not too pooped. I think my biggest limit now is that stock HSF and my being super stingy w/ voltages. I know you guys said to bump them up and I do, but only a notch or two and thats it.
anyone think the temp sensors on this are a bit wonky? Maybe I just need to get used to this new mobo, not a big deal.
I left this computer on for the last week, I have yet to see it randomly shut down like it did on me previously so I think thats a big plus.
Nice OC there. Just slightly below my Opteron 165 @ 2.9 GHz, 1.375v ;)
I just moved houses and have to setup all my PC stuff again. The new bios sounds promising and I cannot wait to test it. I have to get some VRs too. After that I will finally do the chipseet coltmod, maybe that helps to reach a higher HTT.
Cool, hope to hear good news from you :)
Have to agree with you there. My 4400 under full load fluctuates from 38-56c with my watercooling setup.
Edit: Flashed to the 718bios and lost about 1000mb/sec off sandra memory benchmark
Edit 2: Reflashed back to 612 and latency back down into the 40s about half of what 718 gave me.. not sure what they did, but not sure if a few more mhz is worth lowered memory bandwidth and latency.
718 bios?
Alright Im going to have to try 2T with a lower divider to see if I can boot at higher than 343 HTT. I can run 100% stable 320 HTT with no real mem tweaking, just 1T command rate set with DDR533 divider.
Which divider are you guys seeing the highest overclocks with?
the chipset runs pretty hot hovering around 63 C everything at default. is this OK? how is the temp on your board?
how can you tell the chipset temp? I cant find any temps on the board at all other than the CPU temps
i used a digital temp reader and also it feels very hot to touch.
like i said all voltages are set to default. i have zalman 9700 on my cpu (brisbane 4000) blowing some air on it as well but still is too hot to keep your finger on it for more than sec or two.
K i'll take note of that when my TF560 A2+ arrives in 2 days.
I ordered one because I killed my BIOSTAR NF520-A2 (flashed to latest bios, didnt like it, tried to flash it back and it died). It was still an ok board for $40, since I got the brisbane to 2.53 GHz with some tweaking (voltage still stock). I never got to see the full potential of the board, since it died before I could find out.
Also, do you guys know if the stock copper 4-piped AMD heatsink will work on the TF560 A2+? It did not fit on the NF520-A2 AM2 RM (heatpipe was stuck on the RM plastic, so I had to use the aluminum cooler that came with the X2 3600+ brisbane).
Since your 520 is dead you could take the bracket off and modify it in whatever means necessary to make it work, although I would recommend some sort of aftermarket cooling setup.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138081
Read what ppl said on newegg...
The stock heatsink doesn't fit on this board.... argh....
i got a zalman sink on it with some AS5 and lowered my temp by about 10 C. i guess it is OK now.
if you can please let me know how hot is your chipset running.
Thanks for all reply
Yup.. the Stock AMD w/ Heatpipe will not fit on this mobo. It is the hold down on the board that obstructs the heatsink from being mounted. But my Zalman works just fine :D
SAD
My only AM2 rig:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane
2x 1 GB OCZ Gold DDR2 800 5-5-5-12
Biostar NF520-A2 (RMA'd, being replaced with a TF560 A2+)
Antec TP2 550W PSU
NVIDIA GeForce MX 4000
did some OC today and i must say this board looks very good and stable over clocker using 612 BIOS. tried the 802 and it wasn't stable for me.
here is my setup
brisbane 4000 0710 RPCW
Biostar TF560 A2+ BIOS 612
2x512 XMS2 667
WD 320 SATA
500w cheap rosewill PSU
Gosh I see all these good overclocks.. my 4400 must be a runt of the group.... wish the 3600 I ordered would get in....
Official v803 is out on the official site, and it has CAS Latency and all that good stuff:
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/...s.php?S_ID=287
No v803 on chinese site:
http://www1.biostar.cn/supports/BIOS...D=26&Value=568
Does Coolermaster Hyper TX 2 heatsink fit on this motherboard?
http://www.coolermaster.com/products...cate=1&id=2535
Hmm.. i might have missed this..
But has anyone found a tool to overclock this mobo in windows? That Biostar OC utility is horrible :(
SAD
edit - Hmm.. ntunes works.. why can't I get clockgen to work :(
anyone tried the 803 yet?
The 803 should fix a couple of stability and memory timings issues discovered in the 802 that were not present in the 801 beta. At least with my current setup it appears to be the equal of the 612 with the Windsors and little better with the Brisbane cores. Still testing it... oh yeah, it supports the 6400+.. ;)
going to try 803 later on today and will report back here.
i had one other issue with 802 which i did not mention before. the fan control was very wacky. i was running some benchmark and looked through the side window and the fan on my zalman 9700 was NOT running!! nothing happened to my system it just got a little hotter than i like it to be but if it happens to someone with stock heatsink i am sure it would do some damage.
Is it possible to mod the RM of this board somehow so that the stock 4-pipe copper heatsink would fit?
Anyone having issue with usb disconnects while overclocked? Not for sure if it is the board or the new case I bought. But if I recall right the problem did not appear until I started hitting the 3.4ghz area...
Ply
Okay, looked farther into the problem and it was the connector on my new case. Mobo is not the problem...
Ply
Anyone else bought this board and got better results with latest 803 bios.
Its getting interesting and I'm thinking of getting one. :slobber:
I havent tried 803 bios, a bit lazy lately with overclocking and such, but I did tinker around this morning trying to get 340+ FSB
But I did manage to get my overclock 100% stable with tighter mem timings and 1T :D
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=231235
My board seems to wall at 340FSB, even with 1.61v vcore and 2.3 vdimm, relaxed timings, 2T and x9 as well as x8 divider :/
Im running this biostar 560 a2+ with 2/512 sticks of corsair xms
ddr2 with cas 4 settings...the bios 0612 comes in as a rar file and i dont know if you can flash with this type of file..my cpu is a a64 4200x2 windsor...Ive been playing with the o/clock all day today ang high as i can get is 2618 and that sucks to be sure.voltage dosent seem to make much difference with ram or cpu...running 11x238 now but im looking for 2700-2800...Im a bit confused as to setting up ddr2 so if there is a chart or guide line please direct me in that direction..
I run a 939 system too and its o/clocked like crazy but this ddr2 settings confuses me...I do understand that ddr2 runs at twice the fsb but it seems like the 533 divider dosent work right...I want 1 to 1 as high as i can go with that paramater.Im running bios 802 now and i have an ultra x connect 500 wt p/supply and voltages look great even under load...even 10x 260 is a no go with the 533 divider...
Any ideas guys would be wonderful.....thanks
Can somebody tell me where i can find the section in the bios where i can adjust the CPU Multiplier ??
I am running 803 latest bios. Couldnt find it in the stock BIOS either.
Just FYI Biostar is marketing 2 similar versions of the 520/560 series
I have a TF560-A2+
TF520-A2
There are A2 and A2+ versions of the 560 series.. I guess until the AM2 quads come out we wont really know if it does support some of the AM2+ features. The boards look the same other than the silkscreened Model Name..
Ok,
So I have the Biostar coming this week along with a AMD 64 x2 3600 Brisbane core and I have a few questions about the setup:
1. It sounds as though the 6.12 or 8.03 bios is the best for Brisbane cores, anyone have a prefrence or is there an advantage in using one or the other? Also, I only see the 6.11 and 8.03 on their site, any reason for this?
2. Overclocking - I haven't overclocked in awhile, but it used to be you adjusted the FSB and the multiplier to get the highest speed, although higher FSB was more favorable do to the effect it had on the whole system. With the new AMD chips it looks like there is a few other adjustments, like HT, that need to be adjusted. Besides memory timings, what do I need to adjust in the bios to move the speed up? I am shooting for 3Ghz.
3. When I read the Anandtech review, it stated they used the stock HSF to overclock the 3800 and 2350, however after reading everything here it looks like that was incorrect. Any ideas on this? Just curious.
4. Finally, anyone here use this board with either an AMD 64x2 3600 or the 3800? If so, how high have you gotten?
5. Anyone set up raid on the board? Were you able to load the OS on the raid setup? The manual really doesn't go into it and I want to be prepared if there are any special things I need to do.
Thank you in advance for any help on these questions.
Utnorris
Using raid with Vista64 here. Used a usb drive to load drivers during install...
Ply
Ok,
I re-read some of the posts and I was able to get pass my wall of 2800. I am now running at 333mhz FSB x9 multiplier. I am still working out the kinks, part of it I believe is the memory. Here is a link of my stats:
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=242769
CPU-Z Database (ID : 242769)
Submitted by utnorris
Submitted on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:39:30 +0200 with CPU-Z 1.41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU : AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (*1)
CPU Arch : 2 Cores - 2 Threads
CPU PSN : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600+
CPU EXT : MMX (+) 3DNow! (+) SSE SSE2 SSE3 x86-64
CPU Cache : L1 : 2 x 64/2 x 64 KB - L2 : 2 x 512 KB
Core : Brisbane (65 nm) / Revision : BH-G1
CPUID : F.B.1 / Extended : F.6B
Freq : 3003.14 MHz (333.68 * 9)
----------------------------------
MB Brand : BIOSTAR Group
MB Model : TF560 A2+
NB : NVIDIA nForce 560 rev A3
SB : NVIDIA nForce 560 rev A3
----------------------------------
RAM Size : 2048 MB
RAM Freq : 333.7 MHz
RAM Type : DDR2-SDRAM Dual Channel
RAM Ratio : CPU/9
RAM Timings : 4-6-6-18
----------------------------------
Slot 1 : 1024MB (PC2-6400)
Slot 1 Manufacturer : Corsair
Slot 2 : 1024MB (PC2-6400)
Slot 2 Manufacturer : Corsair
If anyone has any suggestions feel free to give them. :up: I definitely would appreciate it. Also, I am using the 803 BIOS. As of right now, Prime95 fails after 4 tests, so I have a long way to go in becoming stable. As I stated before, I believe it is a memory issue, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Utnorris
Just clock down your memory to 200MHz and re run your tests then you will be certain if its your ram or your processor.
Btw. run prime or orthos in the "small FFTs" setting to see if your proc is stable.
I adjusted my RAM to 6-6-6-18 at T2 and that seems to have stabilized the RAM issue. My core tems are 32c(idle) and 50c(under full load from Prime95). I haven't had a chance to run a long range test, however the motherboard has a built memtest program that confirmed the RAM was stable at these settings. By putting at this low of a setting am I offsetting the gains in FSB?
Thanks,
Utnorris
if anybody got phenom sample and want to test it on this board let me know... maybe i can help modding it :D
Ok, I might get back to you soon :)
Ok,
I have been playing around with the ram and I still cannot get it to stabilize. I am using Corsair XMS2 (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 with timings of 5-5-5-18. In my OC menu for memory I have selected DDR400 with T2, Cas at 6 and 179ns. This still hasn't quite stabilized the system at 333mhz. The RAM runs at 333mhz under these settings according to CPU-Z. If someone could post their settings or give me some advice on what I am adjusting wrong I would appreciate it. I know the CPU is stable since I can run Prime95 without the memory test and it is fine, but as soon as I add in memory testing it fails. I put the memory voltage up to 2.5 and that didn't stabilize it. In futher testing I backed everything down to 290mhx for the cpu, and 267mhz for the memory, but with tighter timings closer to what they are rated at and it becomes unstable. I know Corsair is supposed to be good RAM for OC'ing and so I am assuming I am doing something wrong. Please, I need some advice on this.
Thanks,
Utnorris
I am going to run Prime95 with heavy RAM testing to see if I get any error. That should tell me if I have a bad memory controller. Any other ideas let me know.
Thanks,
Utnorris
Why don't you use the full 9.5 multiplier that is default with your Brisbane chip? You won't need as high of an HTT speed to reach high clocks, and with my board/cpu most of the multis lower than 9.5 were flaky stability wise.
To use the 9.5 multiplier, just leave NPT FID Multi at Auto.
I will try it once I get back up fully. Preliminary results suggest that the memory was bad. I swapped them out and I am currently running tests to verify it. But at this point it looks like the 3600 was good. I swapped out the chip with a 5000 that I picked up locally for 80 bucks (not bad) and I was getting the same issue of reboots and power resets. I swapped the memory out and the issue seems to have gone away. At least so far, in about 4 hours I should know for sure. If that did fix the issue, then the question becomes do I keep the 5000 or the 3600? Decisions, decisions.... Anyway, thank you everyone for the help. I will post my results later.
Utnorris
It was bad memory. Anyway, after playing with the 5000 for a little bit, I ran some more conversion tests. I got roughly the same results, so video conversion is not AMD's strongpoint, at least not with these chips. Anyway, I abandoned the AMD platform and have switched over to a Intel platform. The 2160 with a Gigabyte P35DS3R board. I will say that I liked the Biostar MB better overall, but I got about a 35% better conversion rate (MPEG to DIVX) with the Intel platform.
Anyway, good luck everyone. Hopefully AMD will strike back this fall.
Utnorris
I have had this board about 1 day, along with a 6400+ i was able to run 3dmark03 at 3.5 on air. the bios has a few bugs i hope they get out soon. all in all i like this board
I must say the Biostar Board is the best for the money.
http://<a href="http://xs.to/xs.php?...ar1.JPG.xs.jpg[/IMG]
bypolar, have you done any overclocking yet or just running stock
Just stock, but it has been 3 days o solid performance I will do some overclocking here soon want to make sure everything is stable.The 6400X2 has limited overclocking potential but I am sure to squeze a few MHz out of it.When the 5000x2BE arives I will switch to it to see what the board can do.
i think this board and 6400 will keep me busy. now i can sit back and wait for the new stuff to come out.
thermalright ultra 120 extreme will fit this board
Bingo13,
if you get a new bios for this board let us know. My 6400+ has the multiplier locked and i can not change it. Any help or news would be great
Rebels Haven posted a Mod 803 BIOS that adds:
Idle Cycle Limit
Tref
Async Latency
R/W Queue Bypass
DRAM Drive Strength
Mod BIOS Thread
Thanks for the info and link. Just flashed the mod bios so far so good. I am now able to change the multiplier on my 6400+. downward only, will try other options
when i have the time
I see yesterday Rebels Haven posted the same mod to every TF560 A2+ BIOS available. Mod BIOS Thread
What is everyone using to monitor temps on the Northbridge chip or no temp available on this board?
I saw 120 fan blowing on it in the first picture.
I flashed my tf560 a2+ board and everything went well so i thought.
after loading defaults and booting into windows I rebooted and went in to increase fsb just a small amount and saved and exit..apon rebooting it post beeped and went to the first screen and that was it..press f1 to continue....press f9 for boot options....delete to enter setup...any option goes to a blank screen and a blinking cursor...will not boot at all....
I contacted biostar and they scrounged up a bios chip and it should arrive on friday...ive flashed many bios'es and never had one do this..juat be aware and biostar does not stock this chip and badflash.com does not support it...the biostar techs were very nice and went out of their way to pull a chip and flash a bios on it for me...Ill have to give kudos to biostar usa support for their help...
One thing i did notice flashing the modded bios was it was very slow to do..I almost thought it had froze but left it be and it finally finished...
I have used a couple of them flashing with the utility in the bios and have no problems so far. I will get a screen like you have at times that says reset the cpu, now in safe mode. I power off or re enter bios and change settings and that works. Let us know how the new chip works
:::
Quote:
Note that when flashing either the mod BIOS or the Official BIOS, the process goes very slow. This is due to the nature of the Serial Flash Chip Biostar is using. Just have patience wait for it to start and finish.
I bought a small fan.
As it turns out 2300 is all I can get but I believe I'm having a memory problem. I don't think the board likes the OCZ platium sticks with ProMos & I can't get them to boot 4-4-4-15 1t, or 2t for nothing. There are memory settings that I simply don't understand. If I leave the settings on Auto they work somewhat. I can boot into windows @ 2450 but its not real stable.
I have some D9 stuff I'll try tonight.
Anyone have a guide for memory settings besides the basics?
The rebels haven flash went bad and thanks to biostar usa support they flashed a new bios chip with 803 bios and all is well now..
something went wrong with the flash and its kinda wierd..after flashing the bios using the awardflash program that came with the download from rebels haven I flashed the bios just like 100 times before...1 thing i did notice was this flash took a long while to complete and at 1 point I thought it had stalled it sat so long before doing anything...Ive flashed this bios twice before using the flash utility in the bios and it was alot faster..well finally after the flash completed it rebooted and post beep was fine, went and booted into windows at default settings,everything seemed normal and fine...I shut down cleared cmos and rebooted default settings again and all seemed good...now i reboot and enter bios and change fsb from 200 to 220,disable c & q and reboot..
well now a normal post beep and the first screen with cpu ,detecting hard drives and press f9 for boot options f1 to continue and delete for setup...I choose f1 to continue and thats all she wrote, just a blinking cursor and nothing else...thats all it did no matter what i choose...tryed all kinds of things ..battery out,clear cmos ,nothing works...so I call biostar for a new bios chip...15.00 but dont stock them yet...badflash.com not a supported chip....
called biostar again and they will reflash my old chip...but faster if i just buy a new one but no stock....well Paco in customer support pulled one off a 520 motherboard and flashed the 560 bios on it and overnighted the chip to me ...well all is good now and many thanks to Paco and Clement in biostar usa support for going out of their way to get me up and running as fast as possible...I was very impressed with their concern and many calls placed to me discussing the problem and how we could solve it fast....
So I think ill stay away from the modded bios and just live with 803 or what ever new one biostar puts out...At least for now...Ive got a bad taste in my mouth rite now for using a modded bios.....
Im a system builder and ive flashed bios'es so many times ive lost count but this failed flash is the first one ive ever had go bad...
well everyone just my experience and i see some good flashes with this modded bios but i used the bios utility from rebels haven and not the one in the biostar bios so maybe thats the problem....I just love computers and these kinds of problems are just part of being a geek i guess...anyone having to talk to biostar usa ask for Paco in customer support,he was the one that went the extra mile for me...
If you look at the date on the flasher in the Official download and the date on the RH flasher, they are both 6/19/07 which is the awd883 flasher. Older Official downloads had the awd882 flasher in the rar. That was dated 5/23/07.
I've used both without issue, but they are slow regardless of which is used.
Also, if you don't need or want the added memory settings, by all means, don't flash these modded BIOS or any modded BIOS.
glad to see your up and running again. are you going to try to hot flash the old chip
Yea I think I will do the hot flash..Ill sleep better knowing i have a spare bios though ive never needed 1 before...I have a poor cpu and im still trying to get to 2600 stable...Its a 4200 x2 am2 windsor and 2550 is all I get stable..fsb is limited to 236 x 11 and even 10x260 is impossible...I need a brisbane 3600 x2 or a 5000 black or a 6000 x2.
this is the worst cpu ive ever had from amd and 1 of the best o/clocking motherboards.....My favorite rig is the asus a8n_ewith a 3800 x2 and 2 gigs of xms corsair...runs like a dream and o/clocks like 1 too..2550......10x255 1to 1 @ 1T 2.70v...I really like my 939 system.....Ill probubly give this am2 system to my son and go for the nv790 chip set or nv780 motherboards and a fast am2+ cpu.Dual core is all i need...hopefully biostar will put out a full am2+ board that is a kick butt o/clocking motherboard....there much more affordable than asus or dfi lanparty boards.......
wesleys_dad,
I just had the same thing happen to me. Just as you wrote not able to boot, enter the bios setup screen or change boot order. This lasted about 1 hour of trying everything. finally using F1 i was able to boot vista and after that all seems ok. I did flash to 803 just to play it safe for now. Not shure what is going on but i hope they fix this in the next bios . Before you hot flash your chip, just install and see if it will boot with out doing any thing. I was using the 612rxx bios but i think some thing else may be going on with the built in safe guards, etc.
I too have followed the steps and it seems that clearing of the cmos starts the issue. Right now I can't get out of the problem without changing the BIOS chip. I'm not sure whether it's the mod bios or just any TF560-A2+ bios. Certainly a mod would be the 1st suspect.
I spoke with the admin of Rebels Haven and he has pulled the mod bios for now. Also he asked me to convey his apologies for any problems the mods may have caused the users of this board. I'll report back any findings.
Ive been playing with this bios 611, 612 802, 803 and all work perfect except for this modded bios..Im going to hotflash it this week and Ill stay away from rebels modded bios...maybe biostar will come out with a new bios and have the added settings...Id like to have them as im pretty fair setting up ram and with this dog of a cpu I have i need all the help i can get...In a way im glad its not something stupid I did in flashing but im sorry you guys had to go through the upset stomach of not being able to boot like me ..I was really depressed over the whole situation...
If anyone has a dead board and has to have a bios chip to recover good luck finding one...Ill send you my spare with 803 on it and you can hot flash yours and send me mine back ,course i dont think you will find one...biostar dosent stock them and they dont know how long it will take to get them in....
Im really disappointed with rebels haven, I know its not intentional but a little more testing would have saved me 40 bucks in shipping and buying a bios chip...next time ill wait a good long while before trusting their modded bios'es...I accept the appology but im still out 40 bucks......Pm me if anyone is down and needs my chip to get up again...all i ask is you pay shipping both ways...after 40 bucks im tired of shipping costs....UPS is rite down the street from me so overnite is possible.....
The RH admin tells me there was a bug in the added code. Clearing the cmos triggered the issue. An odd-ball bug for sure.
Its hard to believe that clearing cmos sets up the no boot condition, and all of us who have installed it have run into it..how could something so basic not have been caught in QC'ing the file...someone had to try it on some boards before releasing it for public consumtion...maybe it just shows that QC'ing isnt as thorough as I thought it was and like some guys say we as end users are the beta testers.....clearing cmos is a basic step in flashing any bios so this file was'nt tested ....It just lets me know that RH bios'es are very risky...A hidden bug i could understand one so basic leaves me shaking my head...Shame on RH ....What this has cost me in time and money is crazy...another 25 dollars and i could have bought another board...Oh well its time to get over it and learn from your mistakes...one I learned is that ill never use their bios'es again....
I had a spare bios chip, so it wasn't a problem. I just finished trying the 5 new versions and the cmos clear works just fine now.
Great to hear. I will try soon
new bios out today supports AMD G2 cpu. I wonder what a G2 is
Yes and Rebels has posted a mod version of it already here.
I get this board tomorow or perhaps today, does anyone know how 6000+ runs on it?
Wich bios version does latest boards have?
im using a TA690 Biostar and a BE-2300 chip
kingston ddr667 valuerams
cant get it beyond 2.7ghz. max htt ive reached is 280....are my rams the limiting factor? possible to reach 3ghz wid this setup? btw my oc setup is totally cool. wid my delta squad fans, cpu temp reached up to 23c on speedfan and t-utility haha
scafT
Actually I reached 360HTT with TA690G
My X2 4000+ Brisbane stable @2.85GHz v1.35
Try Set voltage @1.35
Set HTT Multiplier @600
Set Dram @533
Set Dram voltage @2.0
Don't forget to update the bios , I use version 913 .
Edit ; forget , it's hard to reach 3.0ghz stable with Brisbane Rev.G1 .