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

ben805 · 11-18-2005, 05:47 PM

I just received my Asus A8N32-SLI mobo from newegg today, I checked every single inch of this mobo for that rumor's "Rev 2.0 sticker" but it is no where to be found....I"d called Asus tech support and he denied such revision so I really don't know what that ebay seller is smoking but Rev 2.0 doesn't exist!!

The package came with loads of cable, optional fan, SLI link and other stuff that I don't really care for

Alright, so let's get down to the business, for those who wonder what kind of heatsink is compatible with this mobo, well...let's just say it has plenty of room and clearance for the TT Big Typhoon!! I love the layout of this mobo, all cables are out of the way, installed was painless, and definitely can fit a soundcard perfectly on PCI slot# 2 and still leave plenty of room for the first video card to breath, though PCI slot #1 and 3 are kinda close to the gpu fan but nevertheless they still fit ok.

to be continue.....

ben805 · 11-18-2005, 05:49 PM

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.

For those who couldn't get the vcore to over 1.58v, your mobo have to be either defective or it need bios update? I set the vcore to 1.40v and enable the v-core boost(200mv) and gets 1.61v instantly!! setting it to 1.5v with the vcore boost also gave me around 1.78v....not that I would ever use more than 1.70v but it's nice to know I can get close to 1.80v of vcore if ever needed.

Moving my raid from DFI Ultra-D to this Asus A8N32 is painless, don't need to delete the array though Windows XP need to be wipe and reinstall, I'm doing it now as I type on my laptop

how well does this mobo overclock? I'll find out soon enough and will post back result as soon as I'm done loading all my apps back on.

Psyche911 · 11-18-2005, 05:55 PM

Looks great so far, keep us updated.

P.S. Is it really smart to have it on your carpet? lol

trza2k · 11-18-2005, 06:00 PM

What bios are you running? Also what version of motherboard is it.

PuNiShEr · 11-18-2005, 06:01 PM

Beautifull Indeed

Now let's go for the tests

Please, when you can, check out the maximum vcore and vdimm...
Did your board came with wifi card?
Which revision your board has written in the PCB?

Thanks

ben805 · 11-18-2005, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyche911

Looks great so far, keep us updated.

P.S. Is it really smart to have it on your carpet? lol

look closer...I'm using the DFI mobo's white color foam pad under the Asus mobo

sometime I also use static bag

The bios is relatively easy to setup, memory timing tweak is comparible to my DFI Ultra-D and most of those value looks familiar except a few that I've never seen or heard, I'll have to play around with it and keep you guys updated. By the way, I'm using my 148 CABNE opty on this mobo and it has absolutely no problem picking up the stepping, the bios recognized it properly

DAK1640 · 11-18-2005, 06:06 PM

Very nice indeed, nice pix too...I want that mobo

Supertim0r · 11-18-2005, 06:39 PM

that's a real nice board

waiting results

Herbal · 11-18-2005, 06:42 PM

You might want to check the mosfets are making good contact with the heatsink.

On my A8N32-SLI I've found the mosfets on the outer edge are slightly 'lower' than the others and thus make poor contact....I need try and sort that on my board.

Major · 11-18-2005, 06:46 PM

@Ben805

I'm glad to see someone that I know and trust with this board !!

I'm going with one after the first of the year, maybe sooner !! lol

Good to know that 1.7v is a go too, that was a major concern of mine. What memory bios settings are missing ? any ?

chunkylover77 · 11-18-2005, 07:02 PM

It's too bad that this is not compatible with my LL v2000 or I would jump all over this. Maybe I will get it and just remove the heatpipe. Show us some good oc's Ben and I will have to.

Would love to pair this with an Opty 175 and call it a day for a year.

[XC] moddolicous · 11-18-2005, 07:10 PM

Nice to see asus made a nice 939 mobo. Cant wait for the oc results. What was there under the copper pipe thing for the northbridge & southbridge?? Thermal tape or Thermal paste? Only 3.2 to the ddr?

lowdog · 11-18-2005, 07:14 PM

You must be using the bios 502 that shipped with the board, can you confirm this please.

Bios 703 and beta 805 WON'T give 1.77vcore using the overvolt cpu option. Max with these two bioses is 1.58vcore.

You can flash to these newer bioses and confirm that for all of us if you like. If correct it looks like only bios 502 gives 1.77vcore.

I'm running 805, 703 was ify for me. I don't want to flash back to 502 atm.

trza2k · 11-18-2005, 07:15 PM

Well after seeing this thread i decided to go try and get my a8n32 to give me more vcore(trying every combination of settings). Still doesnt give more then 1.58volt as per the other thread. Will be interesting to know what version of the motherboard and bios you are using.

trza2k · 11-18-2005, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowdog

You must be using the bios 502 that shipped with the board, can you confirm this please.

Bios 703 and beta 805 WON'T give 1.77vcore using the overvolt cpu option. Max with these two bioses is 1.58vcore.

You can flash to these newer bioses and confirm that for all of us if you like. If correct it looks like only bios 502 gives 1.77vcore.

I'm running 805, 703 was ify for me. I don't want to flash back to 502 atm.

I tried 502 lowdog. Still no go... I think it might be something on the mobo stopping it.

lowdog · 11-18-2005, 07:36 PM

Yeah well I'll be phucked then because there's no way my board will go over 1.58vcore. Not that I'd use over that anyway but non the less tis a strange issue this one.

ben805 · 11-18-2005, 07:39 PM

OMG....This motherboard overclock like dream

I have NOT encounter a single hiccup so far and you guys are going to be in for a very nice surprise when I finish running the SPI 32M!! more screenie coming in 20min....stay tune

by the way this motherboard is rev 1 and I'm using the default BIOS 0703 build date 10/27/05

Supertim0r · 11-18-2005, 07:44 PM

finally, there's no rev2 board ?

trza2k · 11-18-2005, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben805

OMG....This motherboard overclock like dream

I have NOT encounter a single hiccup so far and you guys are going to be in for a very nice surprise when I finish running the SPI 32M!! more screenie coming in 20min....stay tune

by the way this motherboard is rev 1 and I'm using the default BIOS 0703 build date 10/27/05

Is that 1.00 revision? Because mine is 1.01.

Supertim0r · 11-18-2005, 07:52 PM

man

this board is my next purchase

arctic-k20 · 11-18-2005, 07:52 PM

sweet

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben805

OMG....This motherboard overclock like dream

I have NOT encounter a single hiccup so far and you guys are going to be in for a very nice surprise when I finish running the SPI 32M!! more screenie coming in 20min....stay tune

by the way this motherboard is rev 1 and I'm using the default BIOS 0703 build date 10/27/05

fareastgq · 11-18-2005, 07:53 PM

It's been six minutes Ben, why haven't you updated us???? Hehe, anyway, that freaking rocks, I'm glad the v-core issue has been fixed, With the 8 phase power+ 1.7+ v-core, I think this board will smoke the ultra-d and SLI in sales now. Mine will be here monday, I'm SOOOO.... wanting it to get here, I was almost going to have it overnighted because I'm DYING to get my damn opty under a real board. Good to know it will be doing some real H2O clocks. Keep it coming

~~cronic~~ · 11-18-2005, 08:14 PM

looks great so far. Can't wait to get mine.

ben805 · 11-18-2005, 08:26 PM

This is the most painless mobo I've ever overclock, yes the print out on the board said rev 1.01 which is the same as everyone else, vcore 1.78v is a confirm as I test it out really quick but since I do not have my phase change hook up I do not want to keep it there for any more than 20 sec incase I fry my opty, I really do not understand why some of you can't get more than 1.6v as I and my colleague do not have any problem with our opty running it over 1.75v, maybe it's cpu related? I'll try to answer as many question as I can but let's get down to business for now, how well does it overclock??

here....

no problem hitting a rock solid 334 HTT, the anandtech's review of this mobo had theirs up to only 310 but I think they didn't push the board hard enough

It appears to have more memory tweaking options than my ultra-d as well, but I'm not familiar with some of them but I'll have to mess around with those values to see what kind of impact they have on performance and stability.

ben805 · 11-18-2005, 08:30 PM

Here's a few more bios screenie, I'll have to tweak more and run other benchmarks, will post more results later on, but so far I'm loving this mobo!!