Abit AX8 Motherboard, Its nice.

[Nickel020]

The BIOS is here on the UK site, couldn't find it on the US site either...

I'll try out more with the RAM settings later, as well as higher CPU speeds (didn't have time to try higher than 250x10, will do later today though). And thanks for your advice! I'm a newb concerning A64 overclocking, gotta read that sticky again...

 

[renethx]

Another AX8 board and a Venice 3200+ arrived today and I ran SuperPI 8M to see how good Venice is. (As I am using the stock HSF, CPU temperature rises up to 70 degree C at full load and I cannot do longer stabliliy tests right now.) The following is a summary of results. Venice is much better than Winchester!

BIOS: 1.1
VCore: 1.5500, VDDR: 2.60, VNB: 1.65, VSB: 2.65, VHT: 1.35, VDDRRef: 0mv
Memory Timing: 2.5-3-3-8-1T

CPU = FSB x 10, mem = FSB x 266/400, LDT = FSB x 4
FSB 280 (CPU 2800 MHz): Passed
FSB 283 (CPU 2830 MHz): Passed
FSB 285 (CPU 2850 MHz): Error

CPU = FSB x 10, mem = FSB x 200/400, LDT = FSB x 3
FSB 280 (CPU 2800 MHz): Passed
FSB 283 (CPU 2830 MHz): Passed
FSB 285 (CPU 2850 MHz): Error

CPU = FSB x 9, mem = FSB x 266/400, LDT = FSB x 3
FSB 280 (CPU 2520 MHz): Passed
FSB 285 (CPU 2565 MHz): Passed
FSB 290 (CPU 2610 MHz): Freezed
(The same results as Winchester; apparently the value RAM is the bottleneck here.)

CPU = FSB x 9, mem = FSB x 200/400, LDT = FSB x 3
FSB 310 (CPU 2790 MHz): Passed
FSB 315 (CPU 2835 MHz): Passed
FSB 320 (CPU 2880 MHz): Error

BTW Venice works with BIOS 1.0 but Cool'n'Quiet does not work. BIOS 1.1 fixed this problem.

 

[furballi]

I can hit 262 MHz FSB (2358 MHz core speed) with the 3000 Winchester, DDR333/LDT 4x, and Corsair Value RAM. System is Prime95 stable. All other voltages are @ default, except for VCore, which was raised to 1.500 V.

 

[vladomir]

Hello renethx,
very nice results, it is interesting, when reacheng limit on 285*9 and 266/400 that the ram must be underclocked,
have you tried if any worse memory timing can help to run maybe 300*9 and 266/400 so the
the ram would not be underclocked...?, the cpu would run on 2700 MHz maybe only on default VCore?

 

[renethx]

vladomir,

I ran SuperPI 8M with FSB 311 MHz and CPU multiplier 9 (= 2800MHz) in various settings of memory frequency and timing to determine the best combination of freq and timing, because with high freq (DDR266) + low latency (2.5-3-3-8-1T) the system was not stable in the previous test. Curiously this time the system became stable in this combination. (Maybe memory has been burning in?) So the test became meaningless (use this combination!) However, as I have done the test, I will give the results just for reference anyway.

BIOS: 1.1
OS: Windows 2000 Professional (roughly x 1.25 slower than Windows XP in SuperPI)
VCore: 1.5500, VDDR: 2.60, VNB: 1.65, VSB: 2.65, VHT: 1.35, VDDRRef: 0mv

CPU Multiplier 10

FSB = 280 MHz, CPU = FSB x 10 = 2800 MHz, LDT = FSB x 4 = 1120 MHz

DDR266 = CPU/15 = 186.7 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-1T: 06m 35s


CPU Multiplier 9

FSB = 311 MHz, CPU = FSB x 9 = 2800 MHz, LDT = FSB x 3 = 933 MHz

DDR200 = CPU/18 = 155.6 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-1T: 07m 02s
DDR200 = CPU/18 = 155.6 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-2T: 07m 19s
DDR200 = CPU/18 = 155.6 MHz, 3-4-4-9-1T: 07m 14s
DDR200 = CPU/18 = 155.6 MHz, 3-4-4-9-2T: 07m 24s

DDR266 = CPU/14 = 200.0 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-1T: 06m 32s
DDR266 = CPU/14 = 200.0 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-2T: 06m 47s
DDR266 = CPU/14 = 200.0 MHz, 3-4-4-9-1T: 06m 40s
DDR266 = CPU/14 = 200.0 MHz, 3-4-4-9-2T: 07m 05s

The system also passed SuperPI with

FSB = 312 MHz, CPU = FSB x 9 = 2808 MHz, LDT = FSB x 3 = 936 MHz, DDR266 = 200.6 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-1T, 06m 27s

This is the best result in my Venice, faster than

FSB = 283 MHz, CPU = FSB x 10 = 2830 MHz, LDT = FSB x 4 = 1132 MHz, DDR266 = 188.7 MHz, 2.5-3-3-8-1T, 06m 34s

But the system freezed with FSB 313 MHz, DDR266.

Acutally I bought two Venice 3200+. The second Venice is of almost the same overclockability as my Winchester (max freq 2650 MHz). This is not bad, but not so good as the first Venice. Venice core is clearly hit-or-miss just as the previous cores.

 

[vladomir]

renethx,
thanks for information,
you have reached very good overclocking results on ax8,
As I am going to build a silent system, there is also another interesting board for me: abit an8 v2.0 , which will probably have more fan connectors with fan control available...,
version 2.0 has passive heat pipe chipset cooler....
http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherbo...ODEL_NAME=AN8+V2.0&fMTYPE=Socket%20939
I have found some cable reduction, which anables to put two 12cm fans in one fan connector with fan control , but I dont want to risk overheating of motherboard near this connector....

 

[renethx]

vladomir,

I agree, AN8 series is surely more capable of controlling fans. There are six fan headers on the board (CPU, NB, OTES1, OTES2, SYS, AUX) and fan speeds of all of them can be controlled by FanEQ in BIOS or Windows. Among them only SYS and AUX are available for case fans, but that is still better than AX8 where only SYS can be controlled. If NB fan control is not disabled in AN8 V2.0, then three controllable headers would be available for case fans. That would be very nice. But the board still uses the same flaky nForce4 chipset and there is a good chance of encountering all sort of weird problems, though perhaps less than 10% of chance. I wrote my experience in ABIT USA forum. Please don't get me wrong, I am not discouraging you from buying AN8. AN8 V2.0 should be a very good board.

 

[vladomir]

I was never a fan of the nf4 sli marketing boom...., via doesnt have so many features but have more experiences with chipset building and doesnt heat so much, but finally I am thinking of buying abit an8 v2.0 because of more fan control and nvidia has maybe better linux support..,( on abit av8 there were problems with onboard lancard on linux...) I hope that problems with usb and sata are already solved or will be solved soon with new drivers. Now I have nf3 board, where sometimes usb mouse didnt start, yesterday I have installed the latest nvidia drivers 5.03 and the problem didnt appear till now...

 

[renethx]

Hardware compatibility with Linux is also my great concern. Right now Fedora Core 4 Test 2 x86_64 (kernel 2.6.11) is running in my AX8 box and all the integrated peripherals are working (aside from performance).

SATA controllers (VT8237/VT6421L): supported (I haven't tested RAID and hot swap, though).
Audio (ALC658): supported
LAN (IP1000A): supported through driver 2.08
USB (VT8237): supported
Firewire (VT6306): supported

Installing LAN driver should be easy. For those AX8 owners who want to install it but are linux newbies (like me), I would like to write a short instruction (as readme.txt is too simplified). Suppose that the unzipped driver folder is in a FAT32 partition that is mounted, say /windows/ipg. To compile the driver, open the terminal (as root) and run the command

# cd /windows/ipg

Then run

# make all

The module (driver) ipg.ko will be created in the same directory. Copy it to a subdirectory of /lib/modules/2.6.11-1.1226_FC4/, say,

# cp ipg.ko /lib/modules/2.6.11-1.1226_FC4/kernel/drivers/net

Then run

# depmod

(The line /lib/module/2.6.11-1.1226_FC4/kernel/drivers/net/ipg.ko: will be added in the file /lib/module/2.6.11-1.1226_FC4/modules.dep.) To load the module manually, run

# modprobe ipg

To automatically load the module at each boot, add the line "alias eth0 ipg" in the file /etc/modprobe.conf. To see whether the driver is loaded correctly, run

# dmesg

If you see the lines:

IC PLUS IP1000 1000/100/10 based NIC found.
Bus 0 Slot e
Ethernet device registered as: eth0

then loading the driver is successful. Finally you need to configure the device eth0. First create a new file, named ifcfg-eth0, in the directory etc/sysconfig/network-scripts and add the line DEVICE=eth0. Then run Network Configuration tool in a graphical interface, configure the device eth0 and activate it. Done.

 

[Make]

Hi i've had the AX8 a couple of months now and I have couple of questions of it and overclocking.

First of all: I've oc:ed my 3000+ Winnie to 250x9 with pci-bus locked to 33mhz and memory dropped to 333mhz (kingston 512mb 400mhz 3.0 3-3-8) and command rate changed from auto to t1. Ht multiplier is now x4. Vcore is 1.45V other voltages are untouched. PCI-e is 110(can i raise this? what does this effect to?) System is stable and runs with c'n'q enabled idle 40c and load 55-63c. Are these settings ok? If i raise fsb to 256, my speakers starts to snap strangely and Prime95 fails torturetest after 1minute.

Second: If those settings are OK and I can keep it that way, how healthy is it to change from OC Gurus default settings (204x9) straight to these(user3 250x9) settings and back and forth in Windows? I'd like to use the user3-settings for gaming and default settings to about everything else.

And for last, I have a majortrouble starting my machine up. i push the powerbutton and fans start to roll and then they shutdown, starts to roll again and shutdown again. This thing keeps on repeating, until at somepoint the computer starts, posts and boots to windows. While the machine is on, I have'nt got any trouble at all and all voltages look fine, except SB, wich is 2.34 instead of 2.5. Is the PSU the problem?

My computers specs are:

Abit AX8
AMD athlon 64 3000+ (Winchester)
512mb 400mhz kingston (valueram?)
XFX GF6600 256mb
Seagate Barracuda 80Gb S-ata
NEC ND 2510A DVD-dl burner
(legendary) Antec Sonata Piano and Antec 380w truepower PSU
1x120mm casefan
Thermaltake Fanless 103 cpu cooling

BTW. This is my first build, first AMD64, first OC and first post to any forum ever, so yes, I am a n00b.

 

[furballi]

1).It is possible to run the Kingston at 2.5-3-3-8. I would not overclock the PCI-E bus unless you have a high-end video card. Vcore of 1.425 is good up to about 251 FSB. You can bump the Vcore up to 1.55 for 262 FSB, which is the nominal limit for the 3000 winchester. Note that the CPU temp will hit 60C at these elevated settings.

With a Vcore of 1.425, 251 FSB, and CnQ enabled, the idle temp is 31C. At full load, the temp will hit 49C (37C for SYS and 34 for PWM). Have no noise issue with the speakers and Prime95 at the higher FSB and Vcore settings. I use the Zalman 7000Cu CPU cooler.

Make sure you have good thermal paste. Also verify that the heat sink is firmly attached to the CPU.

2).You can swap settings in windows without harming the system. It would be best to keep the FSB around 250 and let CnQ step down the speed. Most of the time, the system will be running at 5x multiplier.

3).Reset the CMOS and retest at stock configuration. I would also disable ALL the alarms and alerts. Did you connect the molex power connector to the bottom connector at the base of the motherboard. This provide extra juice for the PCI video card.

In summary, you need to connect the 20 pin power plug, 4 pin power plug, and molex connector to power this MB.

 

[Breadly]

hey guys,

Just wondering if you can help me, I've just bought a new machine and built it up my self however am having problens getting my system prime stable over 2.45 Ghz.

My new thing is:

Athlon 64 3500+ clawhammer
Zalman cnps7000b fhs
AX8 3rd-eye with bios 1.1
Seagate 80 Gb barracuda in sata mode
Corsair twinX1024-3200XLPRO
Asus X850XT-PE
Thermaltake butterfly 480W p/s

I have my Ltd set to 4X, my ram running at DDR333 2-2-2-5 1t and my core voltage at 1.6V (any lower and my computer wont boot into windows), VDDR 2.9V, VSB 2.6V, VNB 1.65V and VHT at 1.3V. I have fixed my PCI clock to 33 Mhz with PCI-E clock of 100.

Even having these settings while priming, I get a CPU temp at 63 deg, which is quite high. I have tried different thermal compounds and doesnt make a difference. I also notice that the temp will change very quickly, one second will be reading 50 deg and next second will be reading 60 deg.

At idle the temp is usually around 40 - 42 deg, and reads the room temp at 22 deg.

Also when i try to drop the CPU multiplier to 10x instead of 11x, say im running a FSB of 220 Mhz, at post it shows that CPU speed is 2.2Ghz and my Guru clock shows that too but when I get in to windows and run CPU-Z or the OCGuru it only shows CPU speed as 1.1 Ghz with a multiplier of 5.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Holy Smoke]

Originally posted by: Breadly
Snip.

I see the same exact trend on my board, albeit at a lower speed and Vcore, and thus lower temps. I'm not entirely sure how precise the temps reported are, but I get the feeling they're quite a bit off. Under full load (using Folding@Home) gives me a temp of 54C, but upon opening Abit's EQ it jumps up to 56C in a couple of seconds. Simply opening the window increases the temp reported. Not only that, but upon pausing F@H it immediately drops the temp to 48C, which then gradually falls to a temp of ca. 40C(ish).

That's at 2.25ghz @ Vcore of 1.425v. Such a variation in reported temps is too sharp to be accurate (I think). Also, even during those high reported temps, the heatsink is still cooler than I'd imagine a 56C one to be. It only feels a little bit above body temperature (maybe 42-44C if I had to guess).

 

[Make]

Thanks for the info, Furballi. Going to change the memory timing.

The speakersnapping is gone. I tried the 9x256 before I changed the HT multiplier. Now after it was changed, I tried it again and I can go to 260 with vcore at 1.55, but I'm going to keep it in 250, 1.425. Thats enough for me. I'm going to buy another 120mm casefan to keep things cool. Temps actually dropped about 2c when I re-organized my cables.
I used the thermal paste, wich came with the cooler and I was pretty careful when I installed it.

Has anyone else noticed that the 3rd-eye panel is showing the room temperature wrong?
Mine is showing 28-29c when the correct temp is about 25c. Three other meters are showing 25c, so I think thats correct. Could the other temps on the 3rd-eye and AbitEq be wrong too?

The startup problem remains. I had all the powerplugs connected correctly. I disabled all alarms, after i reset the CMOS. No effect. This problem has been there sense the first time I tried to power the machine up. I bought the case and psu from my friend, they are about 10 months old. My friend had no problems with them(I saw it with my own eyes), but I thin that I have components that need more power, than his did. All other parts are new.

 

[furballi]

It's normal to see temp spike when you overclock Vcore. That's why it's prudent to use a very good CPU cooler. The Zalman 7000Cu and 7700Cu are quiet and powerful. I set the AX8 to run at 12V when the CPU temp hits 55C (HIGH), and 8V @ 45C (LOW). Now connect the Zalman fanmate and run the CPU at full load for about 5 min. Adjust the pot on the fanmate to achieve the desired noise level and cooling effect.

Cool n Quiet will downshift your multiplier/CPU speed when the PC is not under heavy load. If you want to see full speed all the time, then go into Power Schemes and select Home/Office instead of Minimal Power Management.

The Clawhammer will probably not overclock as well as the Venice. It also runs hotter.

My system reports CPU of 27C, SYS of 23C, and PWM of 23C after a cold start. SYS and PWM are accurate. Perhaps CPU is higher by about 4C. It's normal to see peak CPU temp of 55C on an overclocked machine when the CPU is running at 100% load. If you don't overclock, then the peak CPU load should remain below 50C.

Per my previous post, I could crank up to about 3800 speed with higher Vcore. However, the CPU temp will also rise above 60C. Turning up the CPU cooler will generate more noise. 3600 is plenty fast.

Definitely run with one RAM module and recheck for startup problem. Try the other stick. Did you check the RAMs using MEMTEST86+ and Prime95?

If the RAMs are okay, then I suspect your problem is with a hardware detection (operating system issue) or power supply. Wipe the hard drive and reload the OS. Don't add any PCI device to the motherboard when your reload windows. Just the PCI-E video card. This will install the BASIC windows drivers. Recheck for boot problem.

If you still encounter boot issue, then dump the Antec. I'm a big fan of the new Enermax Noisetaker 2.0, Seasonic, and Fortron. I would shoot for a 425 unit. A good 350 should also work. I hear there is a silent recall with some Antec power supplies. Check the Abit user forum.

 

[Mysteryozo]

I'm currently planning and saving for my next system. An upgrade to Athlon64 3000+ venice core and MSI 6600XT PCIe. I'm aiming to make purchase sometime this August or September. I'm also expecting to get my 2 x 512Mb Corsair DDR400 value ram next week.

Before AT's current buyer's guide for mid-high range system, I was set on targeting MSI's Neo4 for approximately $80+. Since I've read that MSI's NF4s MB has current issues with 90nm Athlons - I started looking for alternatives. Thanks to this forum, I think I've found my substitute. That's the Abit AX8. I'm currently looking at the Abit-USA website and there are 3 variation to this MB.

The AX8-3rd eye, AX8 and the AX8-V. I also noticed that Abit's comparison chart regarding this matter is not up to date. What's the difference(s) between the 3 'flavors?'

 

[Holy Smoke]

The AX8-V is missing Firewire and the extra disk controllers that the others have. The other two are the exact same, except for the gadget called "3rd Eye".

 

[Make]

Okay, there has to be something seriously wrong with my power supply. The startup problem happened first time when tried to power up my computer for the very first time. Brand new, empty, unformatted harddrive.. And I have reloaded Windows once allready and it didn't help. I have only one stick of RAM (gonna try memtest86). I tried to powerup with my friends kingston 512 333-something. Did no help. So I guess I have to buy a new PSU.

 

[Mysteryozo]

Thanks Holy Smoke. Any idea on the price range and or price difference on the 3 AX8 variants?

 

[Lukozer]

Does anyone have any idea if there are any WinXP x64 drivers for the IC Plus IP1000 onboard LAN? I've been searching for them but found nothing...

 

[renethx]

Windows XP 64bit driver for IP1000A

 

[Lukozer]

Cheers, it's appreciated...

 

[Zebo]

Good work donnelly. This board really can't be beat. Abit high quality, loads of bios options, good on board options, and cheap!

good thread too

 

[ackelind]

Are all the SATA-ports on this board locked? Just want to make sure i can use all four ports and still overclock like a maniac before i go out and buy this board

 

[timecop67]

I have a brand new system with the AX8 installed motherboard. Can I use the floppy from the get go to flash my bios? Cannot get it to recognize a system disk at all to flash the bios. Tried everything in the bios to get it recognized. Same problem I had with the Soltek motherboard. Disk is good and brand new floppy disk drive..cable in the right spot and light coming on. I don't need any Via drivers at this early stage do I? What about playing good with the PCI express card and the new Venice Chip. Everything is enabled such as floppy seek and boot priority and such.