* ASUS A8N-SLI experiences/results/issues

[Kovie]

Originally posted by: BigHurt

Now is it worth the extra money to get the antec true550 with the 24pin connector, or just stay with the 20 pin adapter?
ZZF 24-pin $113
ZZF 20-pin $99

Thanks.

If you already have a 20 pin, then Id just keep it. If you are purchasing one anyways, get a 24 pin as you will probably need it if you ever want to run SLI.

 

[bob661]

If you already have a 20 pin, then Id just keep it. If you are purchasing one anyways, get a 24 pin as you will probably need it if you ever want to run SLI.

So you need to 24 pin to run SLI? Thanks.

 

[user1234]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Sorry to sound like a noob, but I don't think I could read through all the pages in this thread, so I ask you people who have this board.

Would it be reasonable for me to think that I could get 2.5Ghz on this board using my HyperX DDR500 at a 1:1 ratio on a 3000+? If thats not unrealistic, how about getting 2.7 on air?

I really like all the features this board has, but I kinda don't want to end up doing what I did with my current system. I bought the K8N-E Deluxe early on but it turned out to be not a good overclocker (probably at least partially my fault though) so I got the DFI board and it of course is great.

I think it will depend on the 3000+ chip that you get if you can run 2.5ghz 1:1. IMO its not very likely, from what I've read it seems a small % of these chips seem to be able to run 2.5-2.6, the majority seem to top out around 2.4 (And most of the people reporting 2.5-2.6 aren't running 1:1. My 3200 won't run 2.5 with ram 1:1.

2.7 on air? I don't think so! You "MAY" be able to boot at that speed long enough to take a screenshot to show your buddies. But running this kind of speed stable is most likely out of the question with a 3000+. I know the 3000+ is a great overclocker, but 50% over rated speed? I have seen posts from people reporting to get in the neighborhood of 2.7 with a 3000+ but I have to question the stability.

Well, Anandtech article specifically mentioned they got to 290x9 = 2610 MHz with both 3000+ and 3500+ winchesters. The memory timings seemed to be 1:1 probably, but they don't mention it specifically. This was done on nForce3 939 board (msi k8n I believe). So, I would expect to get at least 2.6GHz on a 3000+, and probably use a divider for the memory (5:6 or 4:5) so it runs at about 240-250 MHz. I still don't understand why the A8N can't do that, and hope that it will be fixed soon ?

 

[spearsd]

bob661,
No, you don't need a 24pin PS connector with the Asus A8N SLI motherboard. It strictly depends on the motherboard manufacturer's implementation. I'm running BFG 6800GT OC SLI with an Antec True430W (20pin connector). Why don't you try a search for "20pin SLI" on this forum; there should be more than enough info to answer your questions if you only look ;-)

BigHurt,
Yes, you should get the 24pin PS if your a system builder and/or plan to upgrade motherboards later on. I believe the 24pin connector will be found more frequently on future motherboards. you can always adapt it back to 20pin if necessary.

-spearsd

 

[BigHurt]

Originally posted by: spearsd
No, you don't need a 24pin PS connector with the Asus A8N SLI motherboard. It strictly depends on the motherboard manufacturer's implementation. I'm running BFG 6800GT OC SLI with an Antec True430W (20pin connector). Why don't you try a search for "20pin SLI" on this forum; there should be more than enough info to answer your questions if you only look ;-)

-spearsd

I know you dont need the 24 pin connector for the a8n sli-deluxe. thats the mobo ive got purchased. What i was asking is it worth paying the extra 14 dollars for the 24 pin version?
Are future boards going to be supporting 24 pin or is this just for the sli mobos?

 

[jmas]

Hi everybody.

I've been reading the forums for some time now and finally I decided to register and explain myt Asus A8N-SLI experiences. But first of all I want to say that I'm Spanish so don't pay a lot of attention to my english .

My new rig:

Newcastle AMD64 Athlon 3500 939
Thermalright XP-90
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
2x512 OCZ EL PC4000 Rev.2 (2.5,3,3,8)
OCZ Powerstream 520W
Coolermaster Stacker
Raptor 74GB
2xSeagate SATA 120GB (RAID 0)
2x6600GT Club3D SLI

My experiences so far:

- With BIOS 004 (beta) I was unable to set my memory to 250Mhz (default speed). Everything was fine till I tried to play a game or run 3dmark, then the computer will freeze. No matter which drivers or what I tried, the computer will freeze. At first I thought that my cheap Club3D 6600GT where not happy in SLI mode. But then I tried and run everything in auto mode in the BIOS (memory at 200, etc...) and then the computer will not freeze. Another interesting fact is that everything was fine if I take out one of the 6600 then no freezing ¿¿??

-With BIOS 005 (beta) I was able (for the moment) to run 3dmark03 and 3dmark05 (I just tried one time each) at 250Mhz memory speed (1:1 for 250x9=2250Mhz with default timmings 2.5,3,3,8). Now I'll try Half Life 2 and some other games.

So the conclusion could be that new BIOS has solved my problems ¿?¿?¿? or do you think that it's the memory that's not 100% compatible with the motherboard?

See you

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Welcome Jmas.

It sounds like you have a couple of problems.

1. Don't set memory to DDR500 in bios! The bios on this board confuses almost everybody.
If you set memory to DDR500 in bios, the board resets all of the other settings to AUTO, and tries to boot up 250x11=2750mhz with stock voltage (won,t work) Instead set memory to DDR400 and drop the HTT multi to 4x. This way the board will boot up at 200x11=2200mhz at stock voltage, then use the AI booster utility that came on the mobo CD to increase FSB, this method will keep you ram 1:1 with FSB, so as you increase the FSB the memory speed increases. Then once you reboot, you can now change FSB and voltages either in bios or with AI booster and it will not reset them to AUTO (just don't change the DDR400 setting)

2. You need to increase CPU voltage as you increase past 2200mhz. the voltage settings are still kind of flaky on this board. The setting that provides the most voltage at this point is 1.6375 (which shows a real voltage of 1.5 in CPU-Z)

You should also increase the DDR voltage, as it's set to default 2.6 on this board and the OCZ that you have is spec'd stock at 2.75

Using this method you should be able to reach 250x10=2500mhz or higher with no problem, and your ram will be running DDR500+ speeds, even though it shows DDR400! Confusing huh!

I hope this helps

 

[sreams]

> 1. Don't set memory to DDR500 in bios! The bios on this board confuses almost everybody.
> If you set memory to DDR500 in bios, the board resets all of the other settings to AUTO, and tries to
> boot up 250x11=2750mhz with stock voltage (won,t work) Instead set memory to DDR400 and drop
> the HTT multi to 4x. This way the board will boot up at 200x11=2200mhz at stock voltage, then use the
> AI booster utility that came on the mobo CD to increase FSB, this method will keep you ram 1:1 with
> FSB, so as you increase the FSB the memory speed increases. Then once you reboot, you can now
> change FSB and voltages either in bios or with AI booster and it will not reset them to AUTO (just don't
> change the DDR400 setting)

It actually appears that you don't have to use the AI util at all (if you don't want to). Simply setting DDR to 400 in the BIOS will insure a 1:1 memory ratio... and you can go directly from there to the Jumperfree section to set everything else up.

-S

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Thanks, I hadn't noticed that.

I also just read in the Official A8N-SLI thread that someone has discovered that you can, set manual memory dividers on this board by using the lower mem settings ie... DDR333 = 5/6 mem divider!

I will definately be testing this, because if true a 5/6 divider may provide the best combined CPU and RAM overclock for those of us using a 3000 or 3200 with high end PC3200 ram.

 

[dworley]

Guitar Daddy - you are the A8N-SLI Master! Definitely the most informative posts - thanks for all the outstanding research and information you have passd along.

I have a few Q's for you about overclocking my new setup:

I have a pair of Kingston HyperX PC4000 500mhz Ram - what is the best way to take advantage of this and would I see any real gains?

My FX-55 is water cooled, so at some point I might want to overclock it - can you recommend the settings to get the safest overclock? The first time I tried adjusting settings with the AI booster up to 110% I got a BSOD and the system would not reboot regardless of setting all Bios settings back to defaults until I finally tried clearing the CMOS!

Also I have two 6800GT's in SLI and the first time I tried changing the core and memory speed I got a BSOD, then when booting back up to windows I got a purple flash and no screen. Booted to safe mode and re-installed the Foreceware drivers and crossed my fingers - that did the trick but haven't tried adjusting ANYTHING since!!! LOL

Thanks for any overclocking NOOB advice! ;-)

----------------------------------------------
AMD64 Athlon FX-55
Thermaltake Big Water cooling kit
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
2x512 Kingston HyperX PC4000 (3,4,4,8)
OCZ Modstream 520W
Thermaltake Tsuanmi
Samsung 160gb SATA
2x6800GT BFG OC - SLI

 

[user1234]

OMG, you misinformed so many people about the dividers! and you didn't even realize something that was mentioned in many articles about the nforce4 chipset. Man, that is not cool. But at least it seems like good news about the board, plus the fact that the price is coming down, so maybe it's worth considering after all. But of course, we'll have to see how it compares to the msi board.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

User1234

If it were so well known, why didn't you post something about it!
If my posts bother you quit reading them!
You haven't posted one useful thing in this tread! Just childish ranting! Thats not cool!
Go Away!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Dworley

With the FX55 you are on the cutting edge already, overclocking will likely be tricky with that chip.

I would start out by setting ram to DDR400, then dropping the CPU multi to 11x, and the HTT multi to 4x and gradually increasing FSB until you get around 250mhz with some icrease in CPU voltage. 250x11=2750mhz w/ram at 250mhz (DDR500) , you may be able to get more out of it. Personally I don't have much experience overclocking highend chips.

Good Luck

*edit* As you have already found out, overclocking is a gambling mans game!

I locked mine up so hard last night trying to run over 2.6ghz, that I couldn't even boot up with the windows disk. I had to reset the CMOS, repair windows on my secondary hard drive, reformat my dual raptors, rebuild the raid array and reload windows. Several hours of recovery time, not to mention reloading all my games and apps on the raid array(did that this morning). And on top of that I will have to call microsoft to reactivate windowsXP sometime in the next 30 days. The price we pay for speed!!!

 

[sreams]

Dworley...

With your setup, my main priority would be getting the memory up to it's rated speed with a 1:1 ratio. Set your memory to DDR400 in BIOS (this really means 1:1). Set your CPU multiplier to 10.5. Set your FSB to 250. This will start you out with your CPU running very close to its stock clock speed at 2625MHz (2600 is stock). Boot up, run some benchmarks, and be sure everything is working well. After that, you might start playing with multipliers. 11X will give you 2750MHz. In order for this to work, you may need a really nice heatsink/fan, and you may need to increase your core voltage.

You could also try boosting your FSB beyond 250MHz. just do it slowly and test the system each time.

-S

 

[sreams]

Originally posted by: user1234
OMG, you misinformed so many people about the dividers! and you didn't even realize something that was mentioned in many articles about the nforce4 chipset. Man, that is not cool.

ASUS deserves most of the blame for any confusion surrounding this board. The memory clock settings in the BIOS are completely meaningless as labeled. They are divider settings... but are labeled as absolute clockspeeds. GuitarDaddy and others have gone to great pains to work through the confusion, and I thank them for that. You might want to try contributing before criticizing the contributions of others.

-S

 

[bob661]

Actually FX-55's are excellent OCers. See here for some tips. There are folks running 2.8 to 2.9GHz with Thermalright XP120/XP90's. There are people running 3GHz and over but they are using water cooled setups or extreme cooling.

EDIT: Good ram is the key and it seems the one's using Samsung TCCD chips are doing very well.

 

[SRoode]

It actually appears that you don't have to use the AI util at all (if you don't want to). Simply setting DDR to 400 in the BIOS will insure a 1:1 memory ratio... and you can go directly from there to the Jumperfree section to set everything else up.

Thanks sreams!!! That's what I needed to get my PC3700 working right. It's 2.8V rated, but the SPD sets it for 2.7V (and it was always unstable). Now, I have my bus set to 233, with an 11 multiplier for the FX-53. Everything runs stable now.

I would like to thank both you and GuitarDaddy... You've really helped me with this board (my 1st AMD). It's been a little frustrating.

One thing I did notice however... If I set the multiplier to an integer (10, 11, 12,...), the memory speed matches the bus speed in Everest. If I set the multiplier to a half (10.5, 11.5, 12.5,...), the memory speed is always slightly less in Everest.

Is the speed being reported in Everest incorrect? I'd like to use a 10.5 multiplier rather than an 11 (2,447 vs. 2563) because the FX-53 is only rated for 2400, and I don't want to push it. If I set it at 10.5, my memory seems to drop from 233 to 221. Is this a glitch?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Now that makes a little more sense. The memory values are actually dividers.

So how high can you guys get your FSBs with a lower memory divider?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: SRoode

It actually appears that you don't have to use the AI util at all (if you don't want to). Simply setting DDR to 400 in the BIOS will insure a 1:1 memory ratio... and you can go directly from there to the Jumperfree section to set everything else up.

Thanks sreams!!! That's what I needed to get my PC3700 working right. It's 2.8V rated, but the SPD sets it for 2.7V (and it was always unstable). Now, I have my bus set to 233, with an 11 multiplier for the FX-53. Everything runs stable now.

I would like to thank both you and GuitarDaddy... You've really helped me with this board (my 1st AMD). It's been a little frustrating.

One thing I did notice however... If I set the multiplier to an integer (10, 11, 12,...), the memory speed matches the bus speed in Everest. If I set the multiplier to a half (10.5, 11.5, 12.5,...), the memory speed is always slightly less in Everest.

Is the speed being reported in Everest incorrect? I'd like to use a 10.5 multiplier rather than an 11 (2,447 vs. 2563) because the FX-53 is only rated for 2400, and I don't want to push it. If I set it at 10.5, my memory seems to drop from 233 to 221. Is this a glitch?

244x10.5 = 2563
2563/11 = 233

and

2447/11 = 222 --> I think many programs have trouble with half multipliers, so it's probably reporting your CPU as x10

 

[SRoode]

Thanks Deth,


Just to be clear...

If I set the bus to 233, and the multiplier to 10.5, my CPU will be running at 2447 and my memory at 466 (233 x 2), even though the program says 444 (222 x 2)?

 

[glorfy]

Dworley - about the problems O/Cing the graphics card, you would be the 3rd person I know that has had this problem with an OCZ520 - me being one of them. I didn't have another PSU capable of running the system, so used a dual PSU setup to prove the problem was with the PSU, and not the motherboard or graphics cards. Another guy swapped the OCZ 520 for a Tagan 480, and the problems disappeared - strange as both PSUs are made by the same manufacturer.... If the problem turns out to be the OCZ520, then they should sort you out an RMA.

 

[glorfy]

Originally posted by: JMag

Originally posted by: figfiddle
I have a question about flashing the bios. Are you guys using the Windows utility or a floppy? I want to flash mine but need the best option. Just completed my rig today and seems to be running stable after a second Windows install. I lost the first one after I installed CA EZArmor. The computer kept restarting in an endless loop.

I have used ASUS update in windows (but it won't let you go to previous versions). So I have been forced to use floppies or USB drives. The USB drive is a little better cause you can put all the BIOSes on one drive.

.

To go back to a previous version with Asus update, go to the bottom of the list, click 'options', then next. You now have a tick box for 'bios downgradeable'. Click on it and press next. You can now flash to an older bios!

 

[ShoNuff]

Originally posted by: glorfy
Dworley - about the problems O/Cing the graphics card, you would be the 3rd person I know that has had this problem with an OCZ520 - me being one of them. I didn't have another PSU capable of running the system, so used a dual PSU setup to prove the problem was with the PSU, and not the motherboard or graphics cards. Another guy swapped the OCZ 520 for a Tagan 480, and the problems disappeared - strange as both PSUs are made by the same manufacturer.... If the problem turns out to be the OCZ520, then they should sort you out an RMA.

Maximum PC published a PSU comparison in the January issue. Strangely enough the PCP&C was finally dethroned. What surprised me most was that the Antec NeoPower 480 was crowed the new king. As the previous owner of an OCZ 520 and a current owner of a PCP&C 510 SLI I was surprised by the results. More importantly I was a little surprised to see that the Powerstream was knocked for a lack of PFC and voltage accuracy.

It's a good read. Check it out.

 

[user1234]

The PC&C unit was dethrowned by the Antec mostly because it's much more expensive and louder. They also mentioned the fact that it doesn't have detachable cables like the Antec. But its performance is still the best (slightly better then the Antec). The OCZ is definetely not in the same league as the PC&C/Antec, it failed their voltage test, and anyway OCZ is not exactly a company who specializes in power suppies, nor do they have a long track record of producing them. They're just another OEM operation, albeit they do aim for the high end of the market, but still it's not really the same as the proven quality brands.

 

[glorfy]

One thing I can tell you is the the voltage accurancy on my OCZ520 is superb, as is stability. Why it's not up to O/Cing the graphics cards I don't know! As for the 'winner' of that test, I take that with a hole ocean full of salt. Based on such good reviews (we had them in the UK as well!), I purchased a Neopower 480. The voltages were reading low (11.58), and it just couldn't cope with an SLI system, crashing would occur seconds into 3D. I used the Neopower and the OCZ together to prove it was a power issue, and with the two of them managed to O/C to 420/1140 - whereas 375/`040 wasn't possible before with the OCZ. The good thing with OCZ is their support is absolutely second to none.

The other unit that gets real good reviews is the Tagan 480, and as Its made by the same company, I assume that the OCZ should just be a version of it with a pumped up +12v rail (33a vs 28a).

I carried out a little experiment the other day, and ran my system in SLI mode with a plug in Mains power and energy monitor - it peaked at 300w, so even if we assume thats all +12v (which its not), thats only 25a, so there must be something else going on that causes so many PSUs not to be able to cope with SLI .

As for PFC - its useful if you want to help the environment, or if you are a commercial customer, or if you run a 'farm', but lets dispel myths.
1) PFC won't save you money on your home electric bill.
2) PFC by itself doesn't make for a more stable PSU.

I would prefer a PFC PSU, for the same reason that I don't use CFCS. There are some good articles out there on PFC, I think some people who should know better shouldgo out and read them!

EDIT Recommending a PSU because it has detachable cables, a lower price, and less noise, isn't the sort of recommendation I want to follow, and just FYI, my case install was tidier, with the twisted wires, and some sleeving, of the OCZ, than with the 'rats nest' that the Antec becomes when you have to use all connectors.