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Thread: ASUS A8N-VM CSM, everything about it here

  1. #1
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    ASUS A8N-VM CSM, everything about it here

    Lets begin the Thread with my history... After a lot of time waiting plus great economic effort and sacrifice, I was able to adquiere two key components in my system build. I was having this:

    Processor AMD Athlon XP 1800+ AX1800DMT3C (Palomino Rev. A5, CPUID 6-6-3)
    Motherboard ASUS A8N266-VM (Rev. ??, BIOS 1004 (104NVM.AWD probabily, never upgraded))
    (Northbridge nVidia nForce IGP (GeForce 2 MX), Rev. B2 (??))
    (Southbridge nVidia nForce MCP)
    Memory Module Advance (Unknow Model) DDR 512 MB/333 MHz Bus/2.5-3-3-6?/Single Sided (8 Chips)
    Memory Module Spektek (Unknow Model) DDR 128 MB/266 MHz Bus/2.5-3-3-6?/Single Sided (4 Chips)
    Hard Disk Seagate ST330013A (30 GB/7200 RPM/2 MB Cache?/ATA 100?)
    CD-RW LG GCE-8520b (52x52x24x) (Unknow Firmware)
    Case Kit NOGANET (Unknow Model)
    Power Supply NOGA HTFA350W (350W)
    Monitor Illusion (Unknow Model) Eight years old and more to go...

    And was able to replace the Processor and Motherboard with this:

    Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ ADA3000DAA4BW Venice Rev. E6, Stepping LBBWE, didn't fully writed it) for 165 dolars
    Motherboard ASUS A8N-VM CSM (Rev. ??, BIOS 0403)
    (Northbridge nVidia nForce 4 IGP (GeForce 6150))
    (Southbridge nVidia nForce 430) for 105 dolars

    Those are one of the best prices available where I live, don't tell me that its possible to get them cheaper As many of you may see, my computer is unbalanced. It got a nice Processor and Motherboard that is being powered by a generic Power Supply (I don't fear a suddent death because it already powered during two years the other Processor and Motherboard that should consume equal or a bit more than this), but my 266 MHz Bus Memory Module is taking down the Memory Bandwidth (Let alone the Integrated Video Card performance) and my Hard Disk is filled from start and I got no space to install any new game that I may like to test... So I don't really have anything to use the Athlon 64 with all its mighty power right now.
    From the Power Supply perspective, I will not overclock. I simply won't take risk because a bit more than two years ago, the Power Supply of the same brand that comed with the Case Kit burned in less than one month and was replaced with the model that I am using right now (Isn't the same that comed with the Case Kit first), that is running from those two years ago. That is why in some way I trust it, but I won't provoke it to explode, neither. Last time it didn't killed anything, but I won't risk my new, expensive, and unbuyable again Hardware just for a few MHz. This, along with the Hard Disk and followed by the Memory Modules, are my top priority to change.
    And here comes what gived birth to this Thread, the Motherboard. As many of you will know, the ASUS A8N-VM CSM is supposed to be the most feature rich GeForce 6150/nForce 430 Motherboard available. However, though it got many nice things, something of what it lacks is overclocking options. Sure, I sayed that I won't overclock for the time being... But the settings aren't there neither. You can set the Base Clock from 200 MHz to 240 MHz, have a nice set of Memory Timmings, but got no Processor Multiplier and Voltage settings. That means that if I wanted to reduce the Multiplier from BIOS, I won't be able to do so.
    What I found is that Central Brain Identifier seems to actually being able to reduce the Voltage and Multiplier from Windows on the fly, being able to reduce the Multiplier to 5x (At 4x it crashes) and the Voltage to a fluctuating 1.1V (Even though I got available 0.8V, but doesn't reduce it further). I don't really belive the Motherboard Sensor because the Voltages fluctuates pretty a lot even though the machine is completely stable (Hitted it with Quake 4 and it survived with all the glory), and on the other hand, in both a cold boot, while Idle, under Full Load, at 1.8 GHz with 1.4-5V (I sayed that it fluctuated!) or at 1 GHz with 1.1-2V, the temperature stays constantly in the 44C° to 46C° range. Something is wrong there... But that is not the real point.

    The deal here is collect all the BIOS, modding and overclocking data possible about this Motherboard to see if there is any way to unlock more settings in the BIOS or mod one for the joy of this interesing Motherboard users. Currently, I'm aware of four BIOS versions (See ASUS Website):
    0303 (0303csm.zip with 0303.rom)
    0403 (Comes with the Motherboard, no available to download and no further info on it)
    0506 (0506csm.zip with 0506.rom)
    0610 (0610csm.zip with 0610.rom, was available in ASUS Website to download but was removed mysteriously)

    Any futher info is welcome. Sorry for the long introduction for what was intended to be a Motherboard related only Thread, but some people should already know that I like to write a lot

  2. #2
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    Bump.

    Have just bought two of these for pcs i'm building for people, and have found they overvolt the 3200+'s i put in

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by stu_allen
    Bump.

    Have just bought two of these for pcs i'm building for people, and have found they overvolt the 3200+'s i put in
    Thanks for bumping my boring Thread CPU-Z and Central Brain Identifier usually reports a fluctuating 1.460-1.510 Volts at default settings, but when I lower it using Central Brain Identifier with the 1.1V setting, it fluctuates at 1.160-1.210 range (Lower options got no effect, and the 4x Multiplier causes a crash. Note that the 5x Multiplier and the 1.1V matches with the lowest state that Cool'n Quiet may lower the Processor to). As I sayed before, because I don't trust a lot the Power Supply I don't take them serious, neither the temperature sensor that is always in the 44C° to 46C° range under any load, Frecuency and Voltage. Should have to try a professional tool for Voltage measuring one of these days...

  4. #4
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    BIOSTAR Tforce is a better choice and is cheaper.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Haltech
    BIOSTAR Tforce is a better choice and is cheaper.
    Sure, but we're talking about this Motherboard and not that one. It was only 10 dolars cheaper and had the GeForce 6100/nForce 410 combo against GeForce 6150/nForce 430 and Azalia audio. The Benchmarks that I saw showed that both were solid options, with the exeption that the Biostar got overclocking options in BIOS and this one doesn't...

    Well, found this version of ClockGen and works properly I'm still seeking for a modded BIOS that add the Multiplier, Voltage and Base Clock settings though. Besides, I am not the only one with the overvolt problem, but I don't trust the sensor, neither...
    Last edited by zir_blazer; 01-27-2006 at 05:33 AM.

  6. #6
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    *BUMP* Thanks everyone for overall interest in this Thread... Right...

    I can't manage to get a damn modded BIOS for this Motherboard that enables more overclocking options, for god sake! Anyone with enough Assembler knowledge is willing to take the job?
    By the way, in the ASUS Forum for this Motherboard there were more that one complain about the overvolt issue (Not sure if it is because its actually overvolting or the sensor reads wrongly), but no one mentioned temperature. Furthermore, the BIOS 0610 seems to cause trouble with SATA Hard Disks in RAID because Windows refused to boot in many cases with the new BIOS. Other than that, I don't manage to get worthy enough info about it.

  7. #7
    "I eat motherboards"
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    I built my dad a really trick computer (for less than 500$) and it envolved the A8N-VM CSM.... E4 Venice, 2x512 Corsair Value Select (It works for its binned speeds...) PowerColor Theatre 550pro PCI-E 1x, Fortron Source 400w PSU, the intergrated IGP is real nice, the only problem I had was the shipping bios not having support for Rev E4 Venice... I had to use EZ flash to get the board to post (Only CPU had otherwise my old 3700+ would have been in for the flash..)they said not to use EZ flash for the new bios, but it worked successfully.
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  8. #8
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    New BIOS 0702 (0702csm.zip with 0702.rom)! Though it doesn't add the features that we (I?) are seeking, it seems to fix the booting on RAID issue of the BIOS 0610 (That is why it was removed). Some other people is also talking about temperature and Voltage changes (Maybe it doesn't overvolts now, or finally reads correctly?). It maybe is worth the try...
    Anyone got they hands on a modded BIOS for this Motherboard? On the other hand, this Thread can be useful for some people that wants to downgrade BIOS version.

  9. #9
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    Fantastic!!
    Volts still seem wrong, but ive dropped 7 degrees at idle, and more importantly Cool n Quiet now works!!
    Still think its overvolting though, but a definate improvement.

  10. #10
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    By God's sake, no one is willing to make a modded BIOS for this Motherboard? Do someone here know a guy capable of taking the job of allowing the owners of this Motherboard to overclock by BIOS?

  11. #11
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    I just got one myself for my GF's system comprising of:

    Asus A8N-VM 6150
    A64 3200 Venice
    Corsair Value Edition 2x512MB Mem

    Initial toying with the OC didn't yield too good of results; too used to my A8N32, but I'll tinker more in the coming week when the HDD gets here. Looking forward to more reports from owners..

  12. #12
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    Alright, let's see if any other VM-CSM owners experience the same thing here:

    I've been able to OC up to 2.4GHz (240fsb/htt) via the BIOS and even up to 2500Mhz on Clockgen dual prime stable, BUT anything past 210fsb/htt will cause ANY soft reboots to hang indefinitely. I played around with RAM timings to ensure they're fine, toyed with GPU settings, and even Northbridge / SOuthbridge frequency ratios, but it still hangs.

    Anyone got any ideas what's going on? Tried with several different BIOS and same thing.

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