OCZ DDR Booster on an Asus A8V -mini review

[cowpuppy]

Originally posted by stevenmh
So does this mean that the booster is essentially useless on a non-modded A8V?

I don't think it' s a over volt protection that is causing the lock ups on the A8V. It's more like something is on the same voltage line as the mem and after a certain point it's taken out of speck and then we get our window freezes. The S.bridge is on fire on my board, I put a sink on it but it didn't help.

[GomerPyle]

Did the 3.3V direct to DIMM which gave me around 3.44V but no post
System runs but no screeny...

[stevenmh]

Originally posted by cowpuppy
I don't think it' s a over volt protection that is causing the lock ups on the A8V. It's more like something is on the same voltage line as the mem and after a certain point it's taken out of speck and then we get our window freezes. The S.bridge is on fire on my board, I put a sink on it but it didn't help.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it sounds like I should scrub my plans to get the booster. I'm not having any trouble at 2.8v, and was hoping to push 3.0v with the device, but from what I'm reading here 2.8v is probably all the board will do anyway. I gave up on hardware voltage mods after I toasted my last board, so I'll just have to be content with what I'm getting now. I can't whine too much about 250 x 10.5, 10-2-3-3.

[xgman]

Originally posted by charlie
Me again, xgman.......
You have to do the cap-lift mod for the A8V Vddr mod to work. Mines solid as a rock to 3.15v. Unfortunately I wish it'd do 3.5 or so..... what we really need is a Vddr mod like the GB mod, where you connect the 3.3v rail direct to the DIMM power..........

C

I am really starting to think that the A8V has some ddr over voltage protection after 3v. Maybe after 2.9 or so. I put my EB's back in slots 1 & 3 and took the booster off and now finally can run at 2.857 vddr (meter with a 3.48v 3.3 line) at 3-2-2-7-1T 252/252. I noticed that when the screen froze when the booster was set to 2.9, the booster would freeze at 3.0, so maybe there is some protection. In any case something doesn't like high voltage, but I can be happy with these numbers now. I'll still go for board rev. 2.0 though when it comes out.

[xgman]

Originally posted by stevenmh
So does this mean that the booster is essentially useless on a non-modded A8V?

I think before we can say that a couple others might have to try. I've tried it on 2 so far.

[xgman]

Pushing the 3.3v line to 3.48v results in 2.8v in bios = 2.857 in meter read, so mayube the thrick here is to just boost the 3.3 line as far as you think is safe and use some ddr like the EB that runs well at 2.8-2.9v.

In any case, this Booster is so easy to use, I can see it coming in very handy down the line as long as the boards don't have these sort of issues.


COWPUPPY: My SB sink is cool to the touch , but I have all onboard sound and sata's turned off in bios. But mofsets NEED sinks. They are fire breathing suckers!

[stevenmh]

Originally posted by xgman
mayube the thrick here is to just boost the 3.3 line as far as you think is safe

I realize there's no simple answer here, but what would you consider safe? I think I'm around 3.45 right now on my 3.3 line, according to Asus Probe. Is 3.6 too far? I would be happy to keep my 250 FSB and just gain the ability to run 10-2-2-3.

Also, what do you guys recommend for reading voltages? The 5 and 12 rails on Asus Probe aren't even close to what I get on my Digital Doc...the 12v rail is almost a half volt lower than the Digital Doc, while the 5v rail reads higher.

What are you using to measure DDR voltage? The OCZ Booster? Is there somewhere I can stick a multimeter? Any software monitors that will read it?

[xgman]

Originally posted by stevenmh
I realize there's no simple answer here, but what would you consider safe? I think I'm around 3.45 right now on my 3.3 line, according to Asus Probe. Is 3.6 too far? I would be happy to keep my 250 FSB and just gain the ability to run 10-2-2-3.

Also, what do you guys recommend for reading voltages? The 5 and 12 rails on Asus Probe aren't even close to what I get on my Digital Doc...the 12v rail is almost a half volt lower than the Digital Doc, while the 5v rail reads higher.

What are you using to measure DDR voltage? The OCZ Booster? Is there somewhere I can stick a multimeter? Any software monitors that will read it?

You can measure DDR voltage Pin one of any ddr slot (1st pin on the left) to ground on a multi meter.

I personally don't feel confortable setting 3.3 higher than 3.5v 24/7.

2.86v seems more or less ok to get 3-2-2-7-1T on the EB's.

[stevenmh]

What do you use to determine your 3.3 rail? With AP being so far off on 5 and 12, I can't really trust it on 3.3. I guess I haven't compared the BIOS monitor to Digital Doc, so I can try that and see if it's any better.

[charlie]

Originally posted by stevenmh
What do you use to determine your 3.3 rail? With AP being so far off on 5 and 12, I can't really trust it on 3.3. I guess I haven't compared the BIOS monitor to Digital Doc, so I can try that and see if it's any better.

Measure your Vddr straight off of the mosfet. Also you can get a measurement from the molex.
Now about this issue, let me repeat AGAIN, if you guys lit the resistor and put in a VR, you will get 3.13v +/-...........
Not the method of soldering to the pins, but remove the resistor and solder to the pads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3.13V!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xgman]

Originally posted by stevenmh
What do you use to determine your 3.3 rail?

Bios, sandra, Asus Probe, all say the same. I have external pots for all 3 rails so I can watch them in real time and know from previous boards about where the real voltages are. My bios readings seem correct.

[stevenmh]

Originally posted by xgman
Bios, sandra, Asus Probe, all say the same. I have external pots for all 3 rails so I can watch them in real time and know from previous boards about where the real voltages are. My bios readings seem correct.

Hmm. Maybe my digital doc sucks. I'll have to compare Sandra, BIOS, and Asus Probe and see how it looks.

[STEvil]

Use a digital multimeter....

[stevenmh]

I gave the booster a try for myself last night, and it made my system unstable just having it installed, even with the voltage pot turned all the way down. I emailed OCZ, and they confirmed that it's not compatible with the A8V.

However, I emailed OCZ last night, and today they responded to say they will work with ExcaliburPC to get me a refund. Can't ask for better customer service than that.