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

[CannonFodder]

Well I'm pretty sure that I tried the latest Realtek drivers at the time and the latest Nvidia audio drivers which actually made it worse. I could never fix the light crackling so I had to go with a sound card no matter what to fix that. At the time I don't think I had any PCI cards so I don't think there was some kind of interference. I also think the crackling was there in the headphones when the system was booting up so I don't think drivers can fix that. Maybe a bios setting can help or trying any of the latest bios versions after 1303.

[antsh]

I have a few quick questions for those with this board. I am running Vista x64, and even after loading the nVidia drivers, I cannot find an option for turning NCQ on or off anywhere. Also, even though smart is enabled in bios, neither everst, hdtune, nor speedfan can read the SMART info off my drives. Now, I am using the beta 1405 bios, so can that be an issue with the SMART information? Anyone at all know how to control NCQ in vista?

[antsh]

No one else is having smart issues with 1405 bios?

[freakBYnature]

No one else is having smart issues with 1405 bios?

What is that issue? Don't understand.

I'm having trouble from time to time with vdroop I think.

[antsh]

I am saying that I cannot get any program to display the SMART information from the hard drives.

[CannonFodder]

I can't speak for that bios but in the 1303 version SMART works fine for me with a handful of Seagate drives (IDE and SATA) using Speedfan and Everst. I haven't seen where to turn on or off NCQ. Everst says it's supported but it doesn't say it's enabled. This is with XP and MS drivers.

[jcniest5]

When using Vista, SMART info is also not available on an Intel side of it when I use SpeedFan or other reporting programs, so I think it's a Vista problem. Without changing any setting, Speedfan shows SMART info just fine when I switch over back to XP.

[freakBYnature]

I am saying that I cannot get any program to display the SMART information from the hard drives.

Ah, ok... simply forgot what that was I checked here right now, and S.M.A.R.T. works just fine here when checking with both speedfan and everest ultimate edition.

[nick2crete]

Hi ,
i face some problems and i need any possible help..

On my system (see sig) when i turn it on after the night over for example it runs fine...i listen to the single beep and windows load without problem...
Then if i restart....problem...no beep no signal on the monitor...i must press the reset button 2-3 times to restart again and post...so the reset doesnt work always as well...or i must take the psu cable out for some minutes,then it runs fine again until the next restart....

Ive tried until now..
first bring clocks to default..reset 2-3 times,i made the trick also with the reverse of the battery...change the ram to the blue slots..downdrade to 1303 bios from 1405...problem remains the same...is the mobo rma ready???
The system was running fine for monthes...

Any ideas would be very helpfull..

[freakBYnature]

Hi ,
i face some problems and i need any possible help..

On my system (see sig) when i turn it on after the night over for example it runs fine...i listen to the single beep and windows load without problem...
Then if i restart....problem...no beep no signal on the monitor...i must press the reset button 2-3 times to restart again and post...so the reset doesnt work always as well...or i must take the psu cable out for some minutes,then it runs fine again until the next restart....

Ive tried until now..
first bring clocks to default..reset 2-3 times,i made the trick also with the reverse of the battery...change the ram to the blue slots..downdrade to 1303 bios from 1405...problem remains the same...is the mobo rma ready???
The system was running fine for monthes...

Any ideas would be very helpfull..

I have some problems like this when running HTT OVER, not below, 270-280ish, that this would happen, so it's not RMA ready, just a fking bug, may be a bios bug (which I believe it to be).

When I set it over 280mhz and not boots I have to turn off my PSU, then on again, then it boots, and clearly is both orthos stable and overall stable aswell, so every time now I tweak a new setting in bios I use to doublecheck
that it boots properly every time by saving to bios twice, you do it like this.

1. Delete (enter bios)
2. Tweak
3. F10 + enter (save & exit)
4. Delete (enter bios)
5. F10 + enter (save & exit)

[nick2crete]

Thanks man ,
The thing is that this happens to me also in defaults clocks/settings..
..strange is also that some times in bios ,i try to change an option...F10 and..freeze...no response...must switch off again ..wait and then it turns on ..
I think that the mobo is faulty after all..

[freakBYnature]

Thanks man ,
The thing is that this happens to me also in defaults clocks/settings..
..strange is also that some times in bios ,i try to change an option...F10 and..freeze...no response...must switch off again ..wait and then it turns on ..
I think that the mobo is faulty after all..

Some issues are there also when changing some options on ram-timings from auto to manual, so your don't have to be faulty, it can be a faulty bios, a corrupt bios flash or at worst a corrupt bios chip. When flashing bios I always flash atleast twice... sometimes even thrice... With DFI this is a must, but I tend to do it with any other board aswell

[nick2crete]

...ive tried already 3 bios...1303,1403 & 1405 ...the same..i dont know any more...and the worst ..i dont have the time to try..
anyway ..ill wait and see..
Thanks again..

[freakBYnature]

I did and saw maybe a degree or two of difference, but it still ran consistently hotter than any of the other boards I have used, especially CPU wise.

I've discovered why!!! Yeah I truly did! If you set 1.35 from BIOS it will pump out an approx. 0.05~0.1V EXTRA! So the bios settings regarding vcore is wrong! If you want 1.35V you have to set 1.3 or EVEN LOWER! That's why the higher temps, cause it overvolts it on every single setting!

Enable overvolt: ON (which give 0.205V extra)
VCORE: 1.125

Reboot............ ........... ..........

Windows reads: 1.39V!! Which aint logic, cause it should say like 1.33V!!!

I've figured it out... and by doing this, the temps are NORMAL! Like they should be... idle 30c and load like 44~46C!! And I even oc'd my Opteron 170 to 2.6GHz on this volt I just wrote... 1.33V from bios SICK!

[QuietIce]

I agree, the A8N32 has a problem under-volting and the "stock" voltage it puts out on Auto is 1.4-1.45v. I think Auto is that way to make the "easy over-clock" options work for a novice. As to why the manual settings work out that way I'm not sure - though you should also notice a 0.04v drop under load on a dual-core chip, so maybe that's the reason ...

[stealth]

I've discovered why!!! Yeah I truly did! If you set 1.35 from BIOS it will pump out an approx. 0.05~0.1V EXTRA!

Enable overvolt: ON (which give 0.205V extra)
VCORE: 1.125

Reboot............ ........... ..........

Windows reads: 1.39V!! Which aint logic, cause it should say like 1.33V!!!

You are correct.I was wrong,instead of 0.05-0.07v that the mobo adds at defaults settings to reach the 10% overclock with the automatic overclocking utilities i said 0.005v which is not correct.

So the correct calculation with OverVoltage CPU VCore enabled is the value in BIOS plus 0.2v that OverVoltage CPU VCore adds plus 0.05-0.07v which adds at defaults=the correct voltage in windows.

Now the calculation must be correct

Thanks.

stealth

[safan80]

wow people still look at this thread.

[stealth]

wow people still look at this thread.

Well,the correct expression should be,wow people still use this board

stealth

[freakBYnature]

I think this board rocks, for the others still using it also it is nice info

[lazy]

what is the difference from the SPP version of this mb compared to the previous version.

and also is it recommended to update the bios to the newest one?

[freakBYnature]

what is the difference from the SPP version of this mb compared to the previous version.

and also is it recommended to update the bios to the newest one?

I use 1405 bios. I don't know what's recommendable. And I don't know the difference between the SPP and regular deluxe board.

[QuietIce]

If I understand the article correctly, all A8N32's have an SPP 100 Northbridge ...

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...us_a8n32-sli/1

[drunkcarlos]

I've discovered why!!! Yeah I truly did! If you set 1.35 from BIOS it will pump out an approx. 0.05~0.1V EXTRA! So the bios settings regarding vcore is wrong! If you want 1.35V you have to set 1.3 or EVEN LOWER! That's why the higher temps, cause it overvolts it on every single setting!

Enable overvolt: ON (which give 0.205V extra)
VCORE: 1.125

Reboot............ ........... ..........

Windows reads: 1.39V!! Which aint logic, cause it should say like 1.33V!!!

I've figured it out... and by doing this, the temps are NORMAL! Like they should be... idle 30c and load like 44~46C!! And I even oc'd my Opteron 170 to 2.6GHz on this volt I just wrote... 1.33V from bios SICK!

hmmm... I've been helping a friend put together a rather troublesome new pc over the last couple weeks. He's using this motherboard with a 4400x2 at stock settings (No OC) and his idle temps are still in the mid to high 40's is this normal? He's using some thermaltake ...think its a Thermaltake CL-P0075 which seems to be an ok heatsink. Anyways I reapplied AS5 several times and still no change in temps. Is this because of the overvolting that the board does? I set the volts manually to 1.35 but reading the above posts I can see its doing a small overvolt over what I'm trying to set. so should I set the .2v overvolt setting to on and drop the volts down to 1.10 so it runs at 1.35v? or just drop the volt down to 1.30 without turning on the 0.2v overvolt function?

[freakBYnature]

hmmm... I've been helping a friend put together a rather troublesome new pc over the last couple weeks. He's using this motherboard with a 4400x2 at stock settings (No OC) and his idle temps are still in the mid to high 40's is this normal? He's using some thermaltake ...think its a Thermaltake CL-P0075 which seems to be an ok heatsink. Anyways I reapplied AS5 several times and still no change in temps. Is this because of the overvolting that the board does? I set the volts manually to 1.35 but reading the above posts I can see its doing a small overvolt over what I'm trying to set. so should I set the .2v overvolt setting to on and drop the volts down to 1.10 so it runs at 1.35v? or just drop the volt down to 1.30 without turning on the 0.2v overvolt function?

Without question, just drop it down to 1.275 or 1.2825 without enabling overvolt, try my lowest option first. Overvolt makes it more stable when overclocking. When setting to 1.275 the real volt output should be somewhere around 1.32~1.35... and any of these dual cores can run with a little less than stock volt when run at stock speed, so try 1.275 first my friend 5~10c lower temps...

[drunkcarlos]

cool, thanks for the info. I'll try 1.275 and see what happens. I'm gonna take another stab at the PC tonight so appreciate the info.

I hope I can get the pc to run cooler... running 45C+ on stock clock sucks.