ASUS A8N-E Build question

[BigWookie]

I'm building a new machine this weekend built on the ASUS A8N-E board. Having read many forum threads it is evident that the NB fan has been giving folks a lot of trouble. So .. I already requested and recieved a new NB fan from ASUS .. the bigger fan.

Question - Should I put this new fan on before I start my build under the pretense that it is likely that the original NB fan would fail or do I wait to install it when it eventually fail .. doing so I have to take the board out and replace the fan? My paranoia is that the board won't post for whatever reason and I have to return the board and putting the new fan on it would nullify my return/warranty. The dealer will give me 30 days to return then it's ASUS time. I think the best and safest method to take off the NB fan is to just clip off the bottem plug jobbies with some nailclippers ... and that pretty much does that fan in .. it's never going back on a board again.

The other quesion I had is which BIOS to use? I see some bad vibes about 105 and some people are OK with it.

ASUS A8N-E
OCZ PC3500 Plats - 2x512
PSU - PC Power & Cooling 470 Watt
Seagate SATA 300 Gig
WD 200 Gig - IDE
Sapphire X800XL - Ultimate
Antec 3000B case
DVD - LG 4163
CPU Cooler - XP-90 with Panaflo 92 mm fan (Medium)
SoundBlaster - Audigy Value
Floppy - Mitsumi
Windoze Pro - (SP2)

 

[Madness101]

I got an A8N-E today and it has the new northbridge fan. You can tell if it's the new one by it's orientation. Hold the board square, and it's diamond shaped. Apparently it's quieter and better. I've got a Zalman NB47 heatsink ready to replace it should it be as crappy as the old ones or fail.

 

[BigWookie]

I have the old one NB fan. I'm just wondering if I risk screwing up the warranty putting the replacement on before the install or just go with the old one and make sure the board is worthy.

 

[jr9k]

I would make sure that everything is working fine before touching that fan.

 

[MazerRackham]

Originally posted by: Madness101
I got an A8N-E today and it has the new northbridge fan. You can tell if it's the new one by it's orientation. Hold the board square, and it's diamond shaped. Apparently it's quieter and better. I've got a Zalman NB47 heatsink ready to replace it should it be as crappy as the old ones or fail.

Mind if I ask where you bought your board from? Is there anything on the box that shows you got the Rev 2?

 

[ytsejam1138]

I bought my A8N-E from ZipZoomFly on 6/7/05 and it has REV 2.00 on the motherboard. I could not find any indication on the box itself. However, my board came with the old square Northbridge Fan. So I guess not all REV 2.00 are shipping with the new fan. Maybe my board was one of the first REV 2.00 I have been running it for about two weeks with no problems, but I have the new diamond shaped one coming from Asus that I will install instead.

 

[Gerbil333]

My rev. 2.00 came with the updated hsf. However, I have a Zalman NB47J installed on my A8N-E because I found the new hsf to still be too loud. Take a look at it. The revised hsf is a piece of metal with the word "ASUS" on all four sides, and then a fan bolted down in the center. That's a TERRIBLE design. The NB47J outperforms either of Asus's hsfs. I highly recommend buying a Zalman NB47J and installing it instead.

I'm using BIOS 1005 and I've had no problems. I've had my computer on 24x7 since I first powered it up on June 17th (with the exception of two 5 minute shut downs to make minor adjustments to cabling). I haven't rebooted it in over 7 days now and I haven't had a single problem. Click the link in my sig for pictures and system specs.

 

[BigWookie]

Nice rigs Gerbil. I think I'll have to take some pictures of my build too. This will make my 4th board as well, we gott'em all over our house. I told somebody today this will be my fourth computer and they kind of looked at me like I was from the planet GEEK.

I think I'll just try the stock fan out and see if it all posts first before hacking on the board.

FRY's has the Zalman NB47J, but I will play it conservative here, in case I need to return it.

I had an ABIT A7V133 that the NB fan lasted over a year .. so maybe i'll get lucky.

I helped put together 3 different A8N-SLI boards for my friends and 1 out of 3 of the fan died the next day. The only bummer part is having to take the MB out of the case.

I guess I'll try BIOS 105, not too sure what the board will come with.

 

[ProviaFan]

It's probably best to make sure that it works before replacing the chipset fan, but when I put my A8N-E based system together, I tested the MB+CPU+RAM+Video outside on my desk with no case. It saves time by not needing an extra removal and insertion for the installation of the updated chipset HSF.

 

[Viperoni]

Bought my A8N-E about a week and a half ago, old fan. Noisy too

 

[BigWookie]

My install went great. The NB fan is quiet and works fine. I guess that can always change .. but for now it works great and I can't hear it.

 

[kevinf2090]

what number should i call if i get an old fan and will asus replace it for free

 

[cabroker]

what number should i call if i get an old fan and will asus replace it for free

Call RMA support at (510) 739-3777 (select option 3). Just tell them that you have the older NB hs/f and it's quite loud. They will take your info and send you the new one. It took one week to get mine.

 

[kevinf2090]

is it free

 

[cabroker]

is it free

Yes, it is free.

 

[evaD]

With this motherboard, is there any point in installing a network card?

 

[crazycat]

I am new here and I need some help please, anyone. I am getting an A8N-E mobo which should accomodate up to 4 GB of RAM. On the Kingston web site, I made a search for RAM compatibility for the A8N-E mobo and came across this:

System Memory Configuration:
Maximum Memory: 2GB using 400MHz DDR modules
4GB using 333MHz or 266MHz DDR modules

This is the link:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configu...therboard&distributor=0&submit1=Search

Does this mean that the motherboard can only take up to 2Gb then if I use 400MHz DDR modules? Can't quite understand this! Please help. Thanks

 

[johnnqq]

running 4 sticks forces you to go from 1t to 2t...slower memory. from pc3200 to pc2700.

stop bringing back this old thread!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: crazycat
I am new here and I need some help please, anyone. I am getting an A8N-E mobo which should accomodate up to 4 GB of RAM. On the Kingston web site, I made a search for RAM compatibility for the A8N-E mobo and came across this:

System Memory Configuration:
Maximum Memory: 2GB using 400MHz DDR modules
4GB using 333MHz or 266MHz DDR modules

This is the link:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configu...therboard&distributor=0&submit1=Search

Does this mean that the motherboard can only take up to 2Gb then if I use 400MHz DDR modules? Can't quite understand this! Please help. Thanks

What Kingston probably should say is that if you use four 1GB DDR400 modules, it is going to want to run them at a lower speed than DDR400, which is not necessarily a big deal in the real world. If you need that much RAM then the extra 2GB should be worth the mild reduction in performance of dropping to DDR333.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

I just finished my build...completely oblivious to the NB fan issue....that is until Friday, when I rebooted and got a bios alert telling me the fan was dead. I sent and email and will call on Monday, when they're open. My advice would be for any rev 1.0 users to place the call early to get the new fan. I'm running with no fan for now. I hope it don't burn up...oh well. If is does I'll return for the rev 2 board. Seems fine now though. I'm not killing it...just setting up apps. I have a P180 with lots and lots of air. Speaking of heat...does anyone know of a program that will track heat in the A8N-E? I have the probe app, but I was looking for somethign better. I checked MBM5, but it doesn't support this board.

 

[Rcoplien]

Big Wookie. I would run the machine on the original fan for now. Keep an eye on that fan and make sure its working. Mine went bad in 4 months and I had to get a new one from ASus. Keep your new one I have a feeling your will need it. Also the new one is bigger and quieter. I like it. Pretty easy to install too. If you feel like just putting it in though do it before you install the MOBO on the case so you don't have to unscrew everything again.

 

[irev210]

wow, 100% hassle free.

Called, was on hold for about 2 minutes, explained the situation and they are mailing the fan out for me, free of charge.


Two thumbs up for asus. This isnt my main board, just used as a backup, but I am going to be selling it soon, so having a better fan is always a plus.