a8n-sli "premium" edition

[ShoNuff]

Originally posted by: abysmal
WOW.
What a great thread!

I am in the process of building up 3 identicle gaming boxes and want to base them on the new A8N-SLI Premium board.

Question.
Which is the best memory to get for this board to acheive a stable +20% OC with 2GB RAM using the AMD FX-57??

I was thinking of using this, but am not sure if this is the route to go or not...

G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB)
Model #: F1-3200DSU2-1GBLA
184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Samsung TCCD Dual Channel Kit System Memory
with a timing of 2.5-4-4-8 2T

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231008

What is the BEST possible solution??
This is for 3 pure gaming machines running dual GeForce 7800GTXs in SLI mode.

Welcome!!!

The combination you put together will be awesome. The only thing I would do differently is the mem timing(s). You will want to run at 1T. If you are going to run everything at default speeds you could probably run your memory with tighter timings. I would try 2-2--2-5-1T at 2.65v and work your way up from there.

 

[abysmal]

SHONUFF:

Thanks for the reply.

Not knowing nearly enough about memory timing, will the chips that I am looking at support the 2-2-2-5-1T ??

As they are not listed at that on the site...

And if not, is there a different memory chip I should be considering??

 

[BroadbandGamer]

Just built my system yesterday. Everything seems to be running great so far.

Are you guys using the nForce4 drivers from ASUS or the 6.53's from NVIDIA?

 

[BroadbandGamer]

Have you guys seen this:

"Warning: Your PCI clock is currently set to track the HT bus. If you adjust the clock for the HT bus, the PCI bus clock will change as well. Please consult your motherboard manual to determine how to disable this behavior before proceeding."

I get this when I start nTune.


I'm thinking this means I have to lock my PCI bus but I'm not sure what speed it's suppose to be set at.

Thanks,

 

[Micha]

Not knowing nearly enough about memory timing, will the chips that I am looking at support the 2-2-2-5-1T ??

Yes, in combination 1 GB (2 sticks) at 400 MHz it will run 2-2-2-5-1T, if You want 2GB (4 sticks), You will be forced to run at 2T.
Timings 2,5-4-4-8 are for 600 MHz (300 MHz fsb!!!)
Anyway - very expensive RAM IMO, if You only want to OC ~20%, You can find much cheaper one . For 2GB setup I suggest 2*1GB combination (for ~260$ You can buy 2*1GB at 2-3-2-5-1T - for example)
Nice setup FX-57

I'm thinking this means I have to lock my PCI bus but I'm not sure what speed it's suppose to be set at.

You can just lock it in BIOS and it will automatically lock at 33.33 MHz (works for DeLuxe at least)

 

[BroadbandGamer]

How do I lock it? I can't find the option in the BIOS.

Thanks,

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: BroadbandGamer
How do I lock it? I can't find the option in the BIOS.

Thanks,

You just need to select 33.33 to lock it.

 

[lopri]

First time trying to boot to SATA. I only have the original Windows XP CD (No Service Pack included), do I need to install the SATA driver during Windows setup? If so, exactly which drivers are needed, and where are the best places to find them? I tried to look into the CD that came with the mobo, but wasn't sure what the drivers are.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kman79]

If you install it on the nvidia sata connections, install is like the same with IDE drive. They're the black ones

 

[abysmal]

Originally posted by: Micha

Not knowing nearly enough about memory timing, will the chips that I am looking at support the 2-2-2-5-1T ??

Yes, in combination 1 GB (2 sticks) at 400 MHz it will run 2-2-2-5-1T, if You want 2GB (4 sticks), You will be forced to run at 2T.
Timings 2,5-4-4-8 are for 600 MHz (300 MHz fsb!!!)
Anyway - very expensive RAM IMO, if You only want to OC ~20%, You can find much cheaper one . For 2GB setup I suggest 2*1GB combination (for ~260$ You can buy 2*1GB at 2-3-2-5-1T - for example)
Nice setup FX-57

Displaying my FULL lack of understanding about memory.
I want to make sure I am getting the best memory that will allow me the most opportunity to "tweak" this machine as time goes by.
The cost of the memory is NOT the major concern for me, but I have no desire to waste money either.

Would I be better off going with 2 1GB modules rather than 4 512K Modules?
Would this get me back into the better memory performance zone?
Is the issue using the 4 memory slots vs. 2 memory slots?

As i said earlier, the goal is to build up a dedicated game box, and I want to get as much performance out of it as is reasonably possible without going overboard on the cooling to begin with.

Once everything is up and running smoothly, then I will look into water cooling and possibly pushing the limits of all of the components a bit higher. But it looked like I should be able to get to the +20% mark without too much pain and suffering....

The plan is to build 3 identical games boxes running
AMD FX-57
Dual Raptors
Dual Nvidia 7800GTX in SLI mode (just as soon as the 512MB versions are released)
All inside of a Frozen CPU Hypercube

And right now I am just buying all the bits and peices to be ready to begin assembly.

 

[ShoNuff]

abysmal If you are interested in a memory primer that will help you get up to speed quickly I would suggest you read Wesley Fink's article here. He has done his homework and made it easier for the rest of us to pick the best memory for whatever it is we are tying to accomplish. You will find many other reviews on the front page (of Anandtech.com) under the memory section. Hope that helps.

Has anyone else tried the new bios? It was labeled 1006-004.bin? I took the plunge and did not see much of a difference. X2 tops out at 2800 or 12x233. I was able to run this at 1.4v in the bios whereas before it took 1.45 to make prime stable.

 

[abysmal]

Many Thanks!
Off to go get an education.

 

[abysmal]

Well, that memory "primer" raised LOTS of questions in my head.
Looks like there might be several viable alternatives that I need to look into.

And this 1T vs. 2T seems to be a significant performance issue on the AMD.

I think I am going to have to start from the bottom and learn all the ins and out of memory before I commit to the modules.

I was really hopping someone else had already done this legwork and had a BULLET proof solution that was tried and true and could save me from all the research.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: ShoNuff
abysmal

Has anyone else tried the new bios? It was labeled 1006-004.bin? I took the plunge and did not see much of a difference. X2 tops out at 2800 or 12x233. I was able to run this at 1.4v in the bios whereas before it took 1.45 to make prime stable.

fyi - I flashed my bios to 1006-04 today and had all sorts of problems; system locking-up and Windows not shutting down. I flashed back to 1006-02 and no problems.

 

[Tip Top]

Abysmal,
You asked:
"Is the issue using 4 memory slots vs. 2 memory slots"

Yes it is the issue. And there is also an issue of the stick of memory and its internal
construction (cannot just tell by the chips on the outside of it). To get internal construction
you must contact company that made it. What you ask for is if it is "single ranked" stick of memory
or not.

But onto you specific question. And the answer is according to an amd tech document, "BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide for AMD Athlon 64 and Opteron Processors" , the fastest you could get 4 sticks of memory to run at 1T is DDR333. And those sticks would all have to be "Single Ranked" sticks. If you use 2T then those 4 single ranked sticks should go at DDR400. Of course you could get even slower rate the memory runs according to the chart with non-single ranked sticks occupying all 4 slots. Actually at 2T setting if you had 4 dual ranked sticks occupying all 4 slots it would only run at DDR333, and at 1T it would run at DDR200.

Also according to the chart if you just have 2 sticks of memory , you better be certain you put them in the correct 2 slots, otherwise you will get the slow max settings! But of course if you follow directions and put them in the correct 2 slots, that is the best and the system will run as fast as it can!

The only way I see from the the chart in that guide to get 2GB of memory to run at the fastest settings is to purchase 2 sticks, each of a 1GB size. And it does not matter that those sticks are each dual ranked sticks (also dual ranked 1 GB sticks is about all you will find for a competive price). The system will run 1T at DDR400 with 2 sticks of memory, each stick being dual ranked. Just make certain you put them in the correct 2 slots!

Let me know it this helps you out Abysmal.

 

[kman79]

Hey guys, I'm back with another noob question.

How do I work with dividers? It's in the Bios right? Dividers are like 266, 333, 400, 433 etc. right? Or am I wrong? Where in the bios menu can I get to the dividers? I see people saying they're running 189 divider? How do you do that? I thought they were preset to certain values?

Guys, I'm really sorry for asking questions that alot of you probably think are stupid. Just trying to get up to speed with computers and trying to get my money's worh with this build

 

[ShoNuff]

Thanks for the input Capt Caveman. I simply updated the bios from a previous intstall and noticed that I couldn't shut down either. It was random and I am working off of an install of XPSP2 that is several months old. I just blamed that. Reinstalling with 1006-002 now.


EDIT
BIOS 1006-004.BIN is NOT ready for prime time. When I went to reinstall (want to try RAID with the X2) I noticed it would hang at the initial reboot screen when installing XPSP2. When I manually shut down and re-booted it would hang consistently. There are many, many problems with 1006-004.

 

[AntiStatic]

i ordered this mobo without taking into consideration my LianLi V series case. I don't know how well the nb heat pipe is going to work upside down

 

[Lockout]

Originally posted by: AntiStatic
i ordered this mobo without taking into consideration my LianLi V series case. I don't know how well the nb heat pipe is going to work upside down

Well you can be the one to test it, then.

There's a thread about it over at the Asus support forum... one or two people have reported having trouble with it, but a few others have said they've had no problems. I'm not sure who to believe, so I'll wait to see what your results are.

 

[AntiStatic]

Originally posted by: Lockout

Originally posted by: AntiStatic
i ordered this mobo without taking into consideration my LianLi V series case. I don't know how well the nb heat pipe is going to work upside down

Well you can be the one to test it, then.

There's a thread about it over at the Asus support forum... one or two people have reported having trouble with it, but a few others have said they've had no problems. I'm not sure who to believe, so I'll wait to see what your results are.

ugh. i'm not much of a guinea pig especially with a 7800GTX sharing the box. I'll probably try it but if there are any issues at all i will send it back and go with the DFI.

 

[AndyD2k]

Originally posted by: Deinonych

Originally posted by: nippyjun
Quick question:

If i'm going to use a sata drive as my boot drive (no raid), do i need to install any SATA drivers when installing windows?

If you're not using RAID, you don't need a driver disk for SATA.

xp setup will recognize the drive then? i thought we needed a disk during the "f6" option just so it recognizes the drive as a possible "boot" drive option. so when it asks for drivers during the text setup thats just for raid? Just want to make sure as im getting ready to create a unattended setup xp cd in order to install windows when I'm finally done building my new pc this week.

 

[kman79]

Originally posted by: AndyD2k

Originally posted by: Deinonych

Originally posted by: nippyjun
Quick question:

If i'm going to use a sata drive as my boot drive (no raid), do i need to install any SATA drivers when installing windows?

If you're not using RAID, you don't need a driver disk for SATA.

xp setup will recognize the drive then? i thought we needed a disk during the "f6" option just so it recognizes the drive as a possible "boot" drive option. so when it asks for drivers during the text setup thats just for raid? Just want to make sure as im getting ready to create a unattended setup xp cd in order to install windows when I'm finally done building my new pc this week.

I didn't press F6 on my install. It installs just like regular drive, I think the F6
is for Raid or if the SATA is an addin.

 

[AndyD2k]

ah ok...so i bought a floppy drive for nothign a couple of months back when i switched to sata for the boot drive. silly me

 

[xl80325]

Does it support boot from usb driver? I didn't see this option in bios.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: kman79
If you install it on the nvidia sata connections, install is like the same with IDE drive. They're the black ones

Thanks kman79. I just finished installing Windows.

lop