OCZ DDR Booster on an Asus A8V -mini review

**xgman** · 07-09-2004, 07:10 PM

First let me caveat this test bu saying that the current asus A8V 939 board that I am using has been somewhat ddr voltage FUBAR'ed since I got it. Any setting other than 2.6 or auto in bios for ddr voltage either won't post or will freeze screen quickly in windows. I have tried 2 FX53's and 2 sets of ram, 3700EB's and Corsair XL's. Same result. So since I know that at least some of the A8V's out there can run same ram at least 2.8v, I have to say that there is a voltage problem with this board. That said, the Booster does work in the A8V, with a couple of important buts.

First off Ram MUST go in slots 2 and 4. his still provides dual channel and runs fine. Then the booster can either go in slot 3 which will more or less touch the back of the ram in slot 2 (keep in mind the heat sinks on the booster mofsets get way hot, so that may not be the best place to have heat up against. The other place and where I choose to place the booster is obviously slot 1. No at least on the A8V, there is a tall cap nearby and this results in a slight mod of the lower heatsink. Since they are only "taped on", it is no biggie, just replaced the stock sink with 2 smaller ones and moved it slightly up so that a bit of the lower right mofset is showing bare. You will most likely need a fan blowing on the booster which will help the ram anyway. Even at low voltage you can only touch the sinks for a few seconds.

So all that done, the next thing is at first boot, the booster voltage comes to rest fairly slowly, so you have to wait till it settles to make any changes,. Then turn the knob very slowly just a bit at the time like any other vmod and wait a couple seconds for a reaction. It may need to be calibrated to match the voltage set in bios, or actual reading from meter, bu a slight turn of the tiny screw under the LED readout area. It reads only to the nearest tenth of a volt.

So it does work and with a little creative replacement of the heatsinks, it probably can be fit on most boards. It probably needs anywhere form 3/8" to 1/2" clearance beyond the dimm slot for clearance, depending on the height of your ram. It will go in boards with heatspreaders removed easier than ones with however. It is laid out in the Intel and not AMD dimm slot style, but works fine with AMD as long as you can fit it.

Lastly, it is probably my wacky board, but at bios set to auto and the booster set to just below 2.7v, I get a pin one read on the open dimm slot of 2.85 or so. Anyway, I have to test this on a board that isn't voltage limited. Even at only 2.6v I can still run this A8V at 252 sync ddr400 with the 3700EB sticks, which speaks well for how the EB clock at low voltage. I know you guys want to hear what it does at 3.3v+, but at that point I'm guessing it will behave just like any other vddr mod. The point is it works and like any other mod, you can kill hardware and the only thing that is warrantied is the booster itself, so be careful with this thing. more later..

**xgman** · 07-09-2004, 07:54 PM

In slot one.

**saaya** · 07-09-2004, 08:20 PM

nice!

whats the max you tried then?

**xgman** · 07-09-2004, 08:42 PM

I can set it up around 3 v in a dos prompt, but the board is just F'ed. It has nothing at all to do with the Booster. The MB won't hold anything in bios over 2.6v for some reason. The mem can take volts in another board, so it has to be the a8v. I guess I'll try another one.

**FX Freak** · 07-09-2004, 11:47 PM

please try it on the abit av8 and on the gigabyte ga-k8nsnxp-939

**Kunaak** · 07-10-2004, 12:21 AM

it's kinda odd to me, that you would try so much different hardware, but keep the same motherboard.

especially when it comes to getting another FX 53

haha...

anyways, get a new board, and lets see what this thing can really do

**Mariachi** · 07-10-2004, 01:25 AM

nice!

**eva2000** · 07-10-2004, 02:37 AM

how hot is 'way' hot for those heatsinks on booster ? measured the heatsinks yet ?

**cowpuppy** · 07-10-2004, 04:47 AM

Originally posted by Kunaak

anyways, get a new board, and lets see what this thing can really do

I'm in the same boat, but there's not a hole lot of boards to choice from, It's bad and worse (gigabyte, Abit) as far as boards go that are avialible to us. I'm riding this A8V out until I see some thing released from Chaintech, DFI or shuttle.

Seeing that booster work in the gigabyte might be interesting thow.

**pkrew** · 07-10-2004, 05:32 AM

Personally, I'd just mod the giga. A piece of 18 gauge runs pretty cheap and it works pretty well with eb or bh-5

**xgman** · 07-10-2004, 06:33 AM

Originally posted by FX Freak
please try it on the abit av8 and on the gigabyte ga-k8nsnxp-939

I sent those boards back for now.

**xgman** · 07-10-2004, 06:36 AM

Originally posted by Kunaak
it's kinda odd to me, that you would try so much different hardware, but keep the same motherboard.

especially when it comes to getting another FX 53
haha...

anyways, get a new board, and lets see what this thing can really do

I've had 3 A8V's, one AV8, and one Gigabyte 939. All had one issue or another. I do testing for a systems builder so I can move stuff around. I'll get a new board Tues., but quite frankley, all of the new "fixed" rev's won't be out for a week or two at best.

**xgman** · 07-10-2004, 06:37 AM

Originally posted by eva2000
how hot is 'way' hot for those heatsinks on booster ? measured the heatsinks yet ?

about as hot as an overvolted mofset on a MB.

**xgman** · 07-10-2004, 06:42 AM

Originally posted by cowpuppy
I'm in the same boat, but there's not a hole lot of boards to choice from, It's bad and worse (gigabyte, Abit) as far as boards go that are avialible to us. I'm riding this A8V out until I see some thing released from Chaintech, DFI or shuttle.

Seeing that booster work in the gigabyte might be interesting thow.

Again, you guys have to remember that with a few notable exceptions, the first issue Via chipset was pretty much defective. It will work, but has limitatons and stability problems. The revised Via boards should be hitting soon and they say fix these issues. As far as Nforce 3-250-939, I had the gig and it wasn't stable. I have seen posts on the MSI one with similar problems, I don't know what if any issues are there with the NF3, but I'm thinking there may be some there too.

The thing is that the booster does work and do what is supposed to do, but the results will be the same as any vdim mod, just easier to install and control.

**pkrew** · 07-10-2004, 08:44 AM

I wouldn't call the giga unstable. In fact just the opposite. Its more like a beautiful woman. Once you figure out which buttons to push, she'll run beautifully for ya all night long. The only question I have about it is its overclockablitly and that will have to wait for someone to put a cascade on it.

**charlie** · 07-10-2004, 11:43 AM

Originally posted by pkrew
I wouldn't call the giga unstable. In fact just the opposite. Its more like a beautiful woman. Once you figure out which buttons to push, she'll run beautifully for ya all night long. The only question I have about it is its overclockablitly and that will have to wait for someone to put a cascade on it.

lol.....heheehhehehehehehe!

**Der_KHAN** · 07-10-2004, 12:28 PM

so true

**xgman** · 07-10-2004, 04:36 PM

I switched to a new A8V board and set it up with the Booster again. I noticed that my 3v rail had been set above 3.5 and my 12v was almost 13, so I turned the 3.3 to 3.4x and the 12 to 12.5 and retried raising the voltage and although now I can run at 2.8 whereas the other board was stuck at 2.6 vddr, higher voltage causes instability or freeze. Is it possible that both my 2x512 EB3700 and my Corsair XL's both can't take more than 2.8-2.9v?

Either that or it is the rare exception that a vddr mod on the A8V will work right above 2.8v. I have heard several posts stating just that on the A8V, the AV8 and even the MSI NF3 board. Maybe, but I need some more statistics on ANYONE run the A8V over 2.8v without freezes and would consider the system stable?

**saaya** · 07-10-2004, 06:06 PM

Originally posted by pkrew
I wouldn't call the giga unstable. In fact just the opposite. Its more like a beautiful woman. Once you figure out which buttons to push, she'll run beautifully for ya all night long. The only question I have about it is its overclockablitly and that will have to wait for someone to put a cascade on it.

mmmhhhh i like that comparison

**hallowen** · 07-10-2004, 06:19 PM

I almost switched from my A8V to the Gigabyte when I was testing only on stock air, but when I put it under the Cascade, It has proven so far to be a good OC'er.

I really would like to have seen what the Gigabyte would do in my system.

ATM, I'm STILL tryin' to find where to buy this OCZBooster to improve on what I've Got for Now!

**charlie** · 07-10-2004, 06:24 PM

Originally posted by xgman
I switched to a new A8V board and set it up with the Booster again. I noticed that my 3v rail had been set above 3.5 and my 12v was almost 13, so I turned the 3.3 to 3.4x and the 12 to 12.5 and retried raising the voltage and although now I can run at 2.8 whereas the other board was stuck at 2.6 vddr, higher voltage causes instability or freeze. Is it possible that both my 2x512 EB3700 and my Corsair XL's both can't take more than 2.8-2.9v?

Either that or it is the rare exception that a vddr mod on the A8V will work right above 2.8v. I have heard several posts stating just that on the A8V, the AV8 and even the MSI NF3 board. Maybe, but I need some more statistics on ANYONE run the A8V over 2.8v without freezes and would consider the system stable?

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