Asus a8n-e mobo question

[Bobberrific]

Hello, my name is Bob and I'm new here.

I just received everything in the mail on friday to build my new computer. Antec Sonata, AMD 64 3000+ Venice, Asus a8n-e mobo, Seagate barracuda 120 gb.

This is my first build and I'm curious about hooking the PSU to the mobo. I notice that there are connectors for the 20 pin and the 4 pin psu connectors. The PSU has both of those connectors as well. In the manual for the a8n-e it shows where the two connections are on the mobo but doesn't say if both are required. I asked a few of my friends and most say just the 20 pin. Any suggestions about which connectors I should hook up? Thanks

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Bobberrific
Hello, my name is Bob and I'm new here.

I just received everything in the mail on friday to build my new computer. Antec Sonata, AMD 64 3000+ Venice, Asus a8n-e mobo, Seagate barracuda 120 gb.

This is my first build and I'm curious about hooking the PSU to the mobo. I notice that there are connectors for the 20 pin and the 4 pin psu connectors. The PSU has both of those connectors as well. In the manual for the a8n-e it shows where the two connections are on the mobo but doesn't say if both are required. I asked a few of my friends and most say just the 20 pin. Any suggestions about which connectors I should hook up? Thanks

All of the power connectors on the motherboard should be connected to ensure maximum stability. BTW, I thought the A8N-E had a 24 pin PSU connector...

 

[Bobberrific]

Oops, I'm sorry, you're right. It was the PSU that I thought had a 20 pin, turns out it's the 24 pin. Too bad since I bought the 20 pin-24 pin adapter. I think newegg pulled the ol switcharoo with the PSU's because the reviews for the Sonata say that they need the adapter. Thanks for your help.

 

[mechBgon]

So the Sonatas come with a 24-pin PSU now? Nice!

Yeah, hook up all the power plugs. How's the noise level on your chipset fan, is it tolerable? Mine was a bit whiny, I wish they'd had the SLI Premium out when I was buying (passive chipset cooling).

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
So the Sonatas come with a 24-pin PSU now? Nice!

Yeah, hook up all the power plugs. How's the noise level on your chipset fan, is it tolerable? Mine was a bit whiny, I wish they'd had the SLI Premium out when I was buying (passive chipset cooling).

I'm planning to mod mine with the blue passive Zalman heatsink if the fan noise from the NB fan is noticeable at all.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: ProviaFan

Originally posted by: mechBgon
So the Sonatas come with a 24-pin PSU now? Nice!

Yeah, hook up all the power plugs. How's the noise level on your chipset fan, is it tolerable? Mine was a bit whiny, I wish they'd had the SLI Premium out when I was buying (passive chipset cooling).

I'm planning to mod mine with the blue passive Zalman heatsink if the fan noise from the NB fan is noticeable at all.

FYI, that may not be enough cooling. Guess how I know that

 

[Bobberrific]

I'll let you know about the noise level up my setup soon. Everything is plugged in, but since it's my first install, I want to go over everything again. I wouldn't be too thrilled if I have to buy more things because I fried it all, lol. Maybe the sonata can silence the frying sound. ^^ Maybe the Sonata will silence that NB fan a bit.

The FBI would have a field day with this Sonata. There's fingerprints...EVERYWHERE. I won't clean it until it's sitting where it will be for awhile. At least I can see myself in it.

 

[Bobberrific]

So I just started it up and everything's working. Maybe a few of you have seen my thread about stuff not working, well it's working now. The cd-rom drive or the floppy wasn't working. That little fan on the motherboard is a whiner alright. It wasn't at first but it got louder. This is with my case laying on it's side with the side off. The LED's aren't lit right now, but ill work on that later. I'm going to play with the BIOS some.

Now the LED's are lit. They look really spiffy. They weren't lit before because I unplugged them in my frantic troubleshooting.

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

wait, the zalman northbridge heatsink isn't powerful enough to cool the a8n-e northbridge? dang. is there anything quieter that can?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: scrawnypaleguy
wait, the zalman northbridge heatsink isn't powerful enough to cool the a8n-e northbridge? dang. is there anything quieter that can?

I had heard some success stories, but I can't remember if those were with the A8N-E or A8N-SLI... If they were with the A8N-SLI, then I had assumed that such information would apply to the A8N-E as well; is there a possible reason why it wouldn't/doesn't? With that said, there's no way I'm leaving the default screamer on there, so if I need to order something else, I want to know now so I can get it here ASAP (so I won't have to take the system apart again to install it).

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

i heard in the customer reviews at newegg (when they still had it) that someone called asus about that fan and they sent them a newer, slightly larger diameter fan/heatsink combo that runs at a lower rpm.

 

[Bobberrific]

my fan doesn't sound as loud as they are saying. maybe some had defects in the fan which made them really loud, maybe?

 

[WJR]

Originally posted by: scrawnypaleguy
wait, the zalman northbridge heatsink isn't powerful enough to cool the a8n-e northbridge? dang. is there anything quieter that can?

I installed the Zalman nb47j passive heatsink on my A8N-E only a few days ago, on the first boot after installing i felt the zalman with my fingertip and it was VERY hot so i scrounged up a vantec spectrum pci fan card that i had laying around and got some decent airflow blowing nearly directly onto the zalman and now it is only warm to the touch.

So the zalman appears to be fine for the job but only with good airflow over it, my machine is also overclocked with no stability issues.

 

[ProviaFan]

Quality thermal paste may make a difference as well. Mine was installed with the stuff Zalman supplies since I forgot that I'd thrown out my several-year-old almost-empty tube of AS3 late last year. If you all think it might be worthwhile, I'll get some AS5 and try it instead. This combined with very good airflow should make the Zalman HS a viable alternative (I hope).