A8N-SLi premium

[Dragon41673]

LOL that's one of the reasons I didn't go with a DFI in the first place. Everyone I knew that had them swore they would never buy one again. Then I build my rig and notice everyone doing OC'ing (which I thought I wouldn't do) was using them and swore by them...

Oh well live and learn I guess.

Does anyone know of a way OTHER then modifying the board to get the voltage to run correctly? Asus isn't very helpful...almost as if they KNOW this is a problem and refuses to do anything about it

 

[DoobieOnline]

I just set my board up this week and it has been great (knock on wood). I flashed to 1006 right away and have not seen the vcore problems others are reporting. I set mine to 1.48 in bios (think that's right) and cpu-z and probe both show it at 1.488 with occasional jumps to 1.502 but those are very infrequent. This is running a Sandy 3700+ with a Tagan 480W (see rig in sig). I verified this chip would run 2.6GHz stable in a MSI Neo4-F, so that's all I've tried so far with the Asus. Will see if I can get it higher this weekend.

edit: Forgot to mention that my 12V rail shows to be running 11.71V by probe and bios, dipping down to 11.648V while Priming. 5V and 3V are right where they should be. I have a DMM on the way to check how accurate the readings are. Weird because my Neo4-F only dipped down to 11.91 under load and stayed right at 11.97 idle. No biggie - my Seasonic 600W will be here on Tuesday!

 

[solofly]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: solofly
I have an isses with this board and I'm not happy. The main issue I have is running 4 x 1GB at 400Mhz. The board crashes everytime unless I drop it down to 333MHz. These are Crucial's PC3200 tested by me (stick at a time and in pairs) all the way upto 220MHz at default voltage of 2.6 volts.
I know I know the memory controller is on chip therefore you can't blame the mobo. Wrong. I have a brand new 4400 Toledo which should be capable of running 4 double sided stick with no sweat, right?
But you say its the user's fault (meaning me) and I say watch...
When take these same memory sticks over to my other box, I got zero problems. So I have a Winchester and a A8N-SLI Deluxe that can run 4 sticks of 1GB at 440MHZ at 2.6 volts fully stable and my A8N-SLI Premium + Toledo won't do anything above 333Mhz. I know for a FACT this board has isses with RAM configurations (including memory-dividers) and will be replaced as soon as the new SLI x16 chipset hits the stores. (next month i'm hoping) I'm on the latest Bios and everything...

Have you tried installing your Winchester on the Premium to see what happens?

No I didn't and I'm not going to. I've been testing this mobo for over a month now. I am 100% sure this mobo can't handle my Micron/Crucial 4GB at 400MHz using Toledo.
I don't know if this is repairable via Bios or what but I'm hoping it is.
Another point I forgot to mention. This system runs beautifully with 2 sticks and it's 100% stable. It's only when I insert the other pair computer becomes fully unstable at full speed of 400Mhz and swapping them doesn't make any difference, like I stated before.

Here are my specs...

SYSTEM 1 - Gamer 1
Asus A8N-SLI Premium (nForce4 SLI)
AMD Athlon 64 4400+ x2 (Toledo) @ 216 x 11 @ 1.3V (54CFM) @ 12V
1024MB Micron/Crucial PC3200 @ 432MHz @ 3-3-3-7-1T @ 2.6V [x2] (or 4 @ 333MHz @2T)
eVGA 7800GTX @ 480/1300 [x2]
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
36GB Western Digital Raptor [x2] (RAID 0)
80GB Maxtor 7200RPM (SATA) [x2] (RAID 0)
Pioneer DVD 16x Writer (DL 4x)
LG DVD 16x [x2]
Floppy Drive
Thermaltake VA8000BWS
120x38MM Panaflo (87CFM) @ 12V / 120MM Vantec (53CFM) @ 12V [x2] / 92MM Sunon (44CFM) @ 7V
Zalman Fan Controller
Enermax 600W
ViewSonic 20" (LCD)

 

[DoobieOnline]

Here's a snippet from the manual regarding 4x1GB...

Due to chipset resource allocation, the system may detect less than 4GB of system memory when you install four 1GB DDR memory modules.

Probably what's causing your instability.

 

[RoosterKooster]

I have the same problem. Mine is 1.39v if I set it to 1.45v.
I have to set it to 1.375v to make it change and it jumps to 1.49v.

What's going on? Any word from Asus yet?

 

[RoosterKooster]

Have everyone with the vcore problem used AIBooster to adjust vcore at least once?

 

[doc2345]

Originally posted by: DoobieOnline
I just set my board up this week and it has been great (knock on wood). I flashed to 1006 right away and have not seen the vcore problems others are reporting. I set mine to 1.48 in bios (think that's right) and cpu-z and probe both show it at 1.488 with occasional jumps to 1.502 but those are very infrequent. This is running a Sandy 3700+ with a Tagan 480W (see rig in sig). I verified this chip would run 2.6GHz stable in a MSI Neo4-F, so that's all I've tried so far with the Asus. Will see if I can get it higher this weekend.

edit: Forgot to mention that my 12V rail shows to be running 11.71V by probe and bios, dipping down to 11.648V while Priming. 5V and 3V are right where they should be. I have a DMM on the way to check how accurate the readings are. Weird because my Neo4-F only dipped down to 11.91 under load and stayed right at 11.97 idle. No biggie - my Seasonic 600W will be here on Tuesday!

Setting the bios to 1.48 is why you think you don't have the problem..... Set the bios to 1.55 and cpuz and probe will still show it's running at 1.488.........

 

[ElTorrente]

I'm thinking that it is simply a software thing that is not showing the proper voltage.

When I was messing around with overclocking, the effects of stepping up voltages by .125 (or whatever the increments are) worked as I expected - although ASUS probe would only show 1.388, or 1.4.

In other words, I would increase speed and fail Prime95. I would then increase voltage by .125, and Prime95 would pass and I'd be stable at that given speed. The whole time, though, the voltage reading in Asus Probe would read the exact same thing. No big deal- I know what I set in bios, and those settings had real effects in my setup and I knew they were/are working.

 

[Murd0ck]

Looks like I should have waited and bought this board (premium) instead of the deluxe..

At the time I bought this mobo I also bought 2x512 corsair xms 4400c25pt with the intent of ocing the winchester 3200 for a gaming rig to play BF2 on.

Here it is months later and I'm just now finishing this project. Another lesson learned, that is- BUY ALL HARDWARE AT THE SAME TIME AND START USING IT IMMEDIATELY!!
Will the A8n- sli-premium run 2 gigs in a 4x512 configuration and see it as dual channel? This is only my second build and my first AMD system so I'm pretty green here.

I know there are 2x1024 xms kits out now for about $300.00. Do these OC to the full potential of this A8n- premium ? That is past 250 at 1T or something like that?

At the time I was reading up on this the 2x512 kits were better for ocing. Problem now is to get the best performance from BF2 it looks like I need to be running 2x1024 in DC.

What to do for BF2? 2 gigs with slower timings or 1 gig with faster timings? Some of these 2 gig kits look to have pretty fast timings anyway so I'm kind of leaning toward the 2 gig setup.

Any advice here?

 

[Dragon41673]

@Rooster...Yeah I tried that, and the AIbooster goes upto 1.6 something when my bios doesn't. I went all the way upto 1.6 for sh*ts and giggles and it was STILL at 1.48

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
I'm thinking that it is simply a software thing that is not showing the proper voltage.

When I was messing around with overclocking, the effects of stepping up voltages by .125 (or whatever the increments are) worked as I expected - although ASUS probe would only show 1.388, or 1.4.

In other words, I would increase speed and fail Prime95. I would then increase voltage by .125, and Prime95 would pass and I'd be stable at that given speed. The whole time, though, the voltage reading in Asus Probe would read the exact same thing. No big deal- I know what I set in bios, and those settings had real effects in my setup and I knew they were/are working.

I thought you were right about this. I too noticed some stability improvements as I made my way up the vcore increments. However, there is definitely a problem. Take a look at this chart:

First is the vcore setting in the BIOS. Next is the vcore reported by the hardware monitor in the BIOS after a restart. The next data entry is which reading is favored where the reading fluctuates (or, in other words, if the reading fluctuates between 1.40 and 1.42, which one is more prevalent). Finally, any comments or notes from me.

1.3625 = 1.37 (Solid)
1.3750 = 1.39 (Solid)
1.3875 = 1.39 (Solid)
1.4000 = 1.39-1.40 (1.40 heavily favored)
1.4125 = 1.40-1.42 (1.40 mildly favored)
1.4250 = 1.39-1.40 (1.40 heavily favored Note that this is a move downward.)
1.4375 = 1.40-1.42 (Evenly split)
1.4500 = 1.40 (Solid)
1.4625 = 1.40-1.42 (Evenly Split)
1.4750 = 1.50-1.52 (1.5 heavily favored) (JUMP FROM 1.42 to 1.5!) (6c increase in load temps!)
1.4875 = 1.52 (Solid)
1.5000 = 1.52-1.53 (152 mildly favored)

Now, we could still think that the big jump there from 1.42 reported ot 1.5 reported was just a measurement abberation. But, that jump also coincides with a two degree increase (c) idle temperatures as well as a six degree increase in load temperatures. So, the the voltage is drastically increasing out of step with the small increment indicated. Which is a shame because I had worked my way up to just that point, and only need one or two more increments to get my OC stable. But, when I go from 1.4625 to 1.4750, I get a lot more of a vcore increase than I wanted, and an unacceptable spike in temperatures.

By the way, it seems (so far) that this only affects X2 processors. Yet, oddly, while many are reporting the bug, a few are saying they are totally unaffected. I used to think I was unaffected. But, after going through each vcore settings to make that chart, I realize that I am.

Anyways, here's my specs:

X2 4400+ Toledo @ 2.5GHz (1.4375v) (250x10) | Thermalright XP-90C w/ Panaflo 92mm FBA09A12M1A (48cfm 2450rpm) w/ AS5 - Load Temp: 47c @ 75f ambient | Asus A8N-SLI Premium (rev 1.02) (BIOS 1005) (HT-Bus 4x250) | 2GB Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 2-3-3-6-1T 416DDR 5:6 divider @ 2.7v | NVIDIA 7800GTX (MSI)

I also just updated to the final release 1007 BIOS. It had absolutely no effect.

H

 

[ElTorrente]

I agree with you.

I realized this in the last few days when installed water cooling and was able to turn vcore up. No matter what my vcore sticks at 1.5 even if I put 1.55 in bios. My processer should easily take increased voltage now with my water cooling I have running. In fact, I removed the heat-pipe and replaced it with a water-block, so my whole system is just ready and waiting for some more voltage to play with.

I'm looking at the DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR, and this thing looks pretty nice and exactly what I need. I wish I had listened to advice and bought the DFI in the first place. I'll probably just order it tonight, next day air it, and get it over with.

 

[RoosterKooster]

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
I'm looking at the DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR, and this thing looks pretty nice and exactly what I need. I wish I had listened to advice and bought the DFI in the first place. I'll probably just order it tonight, next day air it, and get it over with.

I wish I had done the same. The Asus has so much potential. Now I am noticing a terrible defect that causes the system to just become labotomized. I have a HP PSC 2410 printer (USB). It is connected to one of the A8N's usb ports. When I power the printer down, the system becomes completely unusable. All input ceases (video, mouse, KB). Requires a manual reset to play some more!

Asus support is on hiatus.

Did i say i wish I had gone DFI?

 

[McPudd]

The only USB/USB2 devices I plug into motherboard ports are D-Link powered hubs.
I never have any of the occasional wierdness with USB that many others do.

 

[virtualrain]

Originally posted by: Hurin Thalion

Originally posted by: ElTorrente

By the way, it seems (so far) that this only affects X2 processors. Yet, oddly, while many are reporting the bug, a few are saying they are totally unaffected. I used to think I was unaffected. But, after going through each vcore settings to make that chart, I realize that I am.

You definitely have a wider range of Vcore choices than I have. Mine is as follows

BIOS = Auto... Vcore = 1.3V
BIOS <1.475... Vcore = 1.36V
BIOS >= 1.475... Vcore = 1.475V

I have therefore been overclocking my system at 1.475V and I've obtained pretty good results (4400+ at 2.6GHz: 260x10). I may be able to go higher if I had more Vcore but to be honest, I'm not sure I would want to run my system at higher Vcore's to achieve perhaps another 100MHz... It's not worth it. I suspect most Premium board owners can find a good Vcore they can work with. The board has a lot of bonuses otherwise and is very simple to tweak and setup.

One thing that kills me about most DFI owners is that they just post and copy bios settings without having a clue what any of them mean or what the impact is. I've seen some DFI bios postings (by so-called guru's) which are absolute sh!t. So if you are going to buy a DFI board, either learn what you are doing or don't bother. If you just blindly copy in settings you will end up with instability or sh!tty performance. At least with ASUS a lot of those settings are being optimized by the BIOS for you rather than you entering some crappy settings or timings you saw posted on a board somewhere. Yikes!

 

[virtualrain]

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
I'm thinking that it is simply a software thing that is not showing the proper voltage.

When I was messing around with overclocking, the effects of stepping up voltages by .125 (or whatever the increments are) worked as I expected - although ASUS probe would only show 1.388, or 1.4.

In other words, I would increase speed and fail Prime95. I would then increase voltage by .125, and Prime95 would pass and I'd be stable at that given speed. The whole time, though, the voltage reading in Asus Probe would read the exact same thing. No big deal- I know what I set in bios, and those settings had real effects in my setup and I knew they were/are working.

Can anyone else confirm this?! If this is the case, the problem is actually very insignificant.

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Originally posted by: virtualrain

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
I'm thinking that it is simply a software thing that is not showing the proper voltage.

When I was messing around with overclocking, the effects of stepping up voltages by .125 (or whatever the increments are) worked as I expected - although ASUS probe would only show 1.388, or 1.4.

In other words, I would increase speed and fail Prime95. I would then increase voltage by .125, and Prime95 would pass and I'd be stable at that given speed. The whole time, though, the voltage reading in Asus Probe would read the exact same thing. No big deal- I know what I set in bios, and those settings had real effects in my setup and I knew they were/are working.

Can anyone else confirm this?! If this is the case, the problem is actually very insignificant.

Hi,

about three posts later, Eltorrente (who wrote that), posted again to say that he's now run head-on into the vcore problem and that it is signifigant.

H

 

[virtualrain]

Originally posted by: Hurin Thalion

Originally posted by: virtualrain

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
I'm thinking that it is simply a software thing that is not showing the proper voltage.

When I was messing around with overclocking, the effects of stepping up voltages by .125 (or whatever the increments are) worked as I expected - although ASUS probe would only show 1.388, or 1.4.

In other words, I would increase speed and fail Prime95. I would then increase voltage by .125, and Prime95 would pass and I'd be stable at that given speed. The whole time, though, the voltage reading in Asus Probe would read the exact same thing. No big deal- I know what I set in bios, and those settings had real effects in my setup and I knew they were/are working.

Can anyone else confirm this?! If this is the case, the problem is actually very insignificant.

Hi,

about three posts later, Eltorrente (who wrote that), posted again to say that he's now run head-on into the vcore problem and that it is signifigant.

H

In fact, I have found a new dimension to this problem. I just started using Suspend to RAM (S3) on my PC and when it comes out of S3 my Vcore is 1.425V even though it was at 1.475V before going into S3. The bottom line... There are serious Vcore problems and I hope ASUS can do something about it.

 

[oajr]

for what it's worth, i have the same vcore voltage issue (1.36 or ignore are my choices)

 

[virtualrain]

If you use bios 1006 you might be able to get 1.475v to work by selecting this setting (or higher) in bios.

 

[Pl0p]

I guess there's two problems:
1. Voltages
2. Memmory (due to voltages I dunno)

A friend of mine insalled my machine: no probs at all, one big difference... he used me old no brand nothing special 1024Mb 2x512 at default settings: detected by SPD ok.
Back home and finally arrived my 2Gb Corsair 2225 with the leds (4X0.5Gb): Super! Yeah NOT. At first it seemd to be going ok, (the first hour or so) but then the problems started: BSOD / Reboot / no boot...
Re-install os: all ok untill in OS itself: installation of drivers gave problems. At a certain point I though I had a virus or some spy-ware or was hijacked because I could execute a file only ONCE!! The second time it would error by saying that the package (.msi, .exe) is defect and that I should download it again. All very weird.
What the hell. I happen to remember that I had changed the speed of the cooler on the TrueControl 550W... Set down the speed of the fan and re-install. This time it was working but I wanted to make sure that all works well and I therefore installed some of the monitoring tools: asus probe and others. My voltages showed up way off what they need to be and even drop from time to time, though chaning the fan on the TrueControl was of no meaning to what Asus Probe was showing me.
The next step was to up the voltages with the TrueControl, but I've never strusted the BIOS nor any other monitoring tool and RTFM: it says DO NOT RELY ON software voltage monitoring tools. I connected my mulimeter on the +5 and +12.. and yeah AsusProbe is way off what their actually is coming out of my MolexConnectors (tried 2 different ones to make sure).
I Tweaked the voltages with the TrueControl to 11.99 and 4.99, there is a control for the 3.3, but since there is no means of measuring that one on the fly I guessed with what AsusProbe showed me, still I'm a bit under spec there with 3.280. From this and another post in this thread I have to suspect that there is something with the voltage regulators on this board..

Bios 1007

 

[Deadalus]

Is there any kind of official response from ASUS on this? If all the boards have a fault that cannot be cured by a BIOS update, then ASUS should fix the boards or start giving refunds!

 

[Pl0p]

Originally posted by: Deadalus
Is there any kind of official response from ASUS on this? If all the boards have a fault that cannot be cured by a BIOS update, then ASUS should fix the boards or start giving refunds!

I very much doubt, what you are suggesting will really happen. They'll probably work around it with some sort of fix, but they better hurry with it because I'm loosing my patience with what has been my favourite mobo maker. My latest two boards Asus P4C-800 e Deluxe and this A8N-SLI Premium were problem boards... both of the P4C800-E's I owned had problems, eventually a third was ok.... But still this is unacceptable.

 

[phillyman36]

Hey any of you using Sata drive without a raid on this board? If so what type of Sata drive ie Sata I or Sata II. How did you install them ie did you have to load drivers(remember non raid)

 

[Vegito]

I'm getting this weird boot disk failure insert system disk failure on post..

Basically im running off a lsi u320 scsi raid and a pair of ide dvd rom. All sata are disable and only channel 0/1 on the pata are active.

boot order
disk -> cd -> hdd
cd -> hdd
disk -> hdd
hdd (disable everything)

I thought i was going crazy.. I install server 2003 on it and i pop out the windows cd. When it rebooted the boot disk error keep coming up.. It would not go into windows or go through the boot order. It'll only work when i put the server 2003 cd into the drive.

I search a few sites and some people have similar problem but no solution.. any of you guys know ?