* ASUS A8N-SLI experiences/results/issues

[tretneo]

Originally posted by: googles
if you removed the jumpers for the front panel audio on the mobo, you need to put them back else you wont get any sound frm the rear audio jack

I completely overlooked this, thanks for reminding me.

tret

 

[pudds]

One good thing with ocz is their support is amazing theyve RMA'd 2 PSU's for me , 1st one i blew up by selecting the wrong input voltage and their about to RMA my memory , cross shipping so i get it quicker. Always no questions asked. They rushed my 2nd PSU so id get it for xmas. arrived xmas EVE.

 

[gixxer]

I have been following this thread for some time in preparation for getting a new system.

So when i found out some information i thought would be useful, i joined the forum so i can post what i hope will be helpful information about the memory dividers.

so here it is:

"The DRAM Configuration submenu contains all available memory options for configuration of speed and internal memory timings. The Max Memclock (MHz) option controls the operation speed of the system memory through the use of ratios based on the current value configured for the CPU Frequency setting within the JumperFree Configuration submenu. The memory ratios are set as follows, with the ratio listed as DDR FSB:CPU FSB, with all ratios assuming a based CPU clock speed of 200MHz: DDR200 is 1:2; DDR266 is 2:3; DDR333 is 5:6; DDR400 is 1:1; DDR466 is 7:6; DDR500 is 5:4; DDR533 is 4:3; DDR550 is 11:8; and 600 MHz is 3:2."

This was copied from the review that was just posted at HardOCP
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzAz

Gixxer

 

[JMag]

Originally posted by: 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!

Well that will make it easier now won't it?

I still need to use the DAMN floppy for the SATA drivers.

I HATE floppies :|

 

[pudds]

You could burn a copy of xp with the sata drivers streamlined into it. Can't remember exact instructions but theres info on the net

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I have some interesting results to post. I got the the following OC last night, and let Prime95 run all night with no errors. I have also run many games and benches today with no problems, 3dmark05, SuperPI, PCMark04 etc... etc....

279x9=2507mhz ram@ 228mhz.


The odd thing is I realized today that in my overly tired state last night, I forgot to drop the HTT multi to 3x before I raised the FSB! I checked it, and sure enough I'm running 279x4=1112fsb!! How is this possible?

Has anyone heard of 1100+fsb running stable? I thought anything over 1050 was a no no?

 

[user1234]

Look, the HTT does not matter, so finally you're getting close to what AT article did a couple of months ago, which is 290x9, and since you finally figured out the divider issue, you should be able to get to 290x9 with mem clock at 241 (5/6 divider). That is why a 3000+ is the best value for overclocking, as for $150 you can overclock it to 9x290=2610 just like what you got with more expensive cpu. So this board is a good overcloker after all, but there are still issues remaining regarding its price and performance compared to the competition, especially the radeon xpress chipsets. According to some articles the nvidia onboard sound is a huge burden on the cpu, significantly reducing performance in gaming with advanced sounds effects. So I will continue to wait to see how the market shapes up, before choosing the absolute best board for the cheapest price. Of course I thank you for your experimentation results, however amateurishly conducted, they are still useful. But I'm waiting for a few professional comparative reviews before deciding.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Your wisdom inspires me! Oh sage one!
But my small infidel brain can no longer absorb your massive offerings!
You need to find a more worthy student. Please

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: user1234
Of course I thank you for your experimentation results, however amateurishly conducted, they are still useful. But I'm waiting for a few professional comparative reviews before deciding.

In other words: "Thanks for the help, here's a kick in the nuts for your trouble."

 

[bob661]

so there must be something else going on that causes so many PSUs not to be able to cope with SLI.

Do you think it could be line noise from the fans? Do the OCZ PS's isolate the fans? Thanks.

 

[googles]

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo

Originally posted by: user1234
Of course I thank you for your experimentation results, however amateurishly conducted, they are still useful. But I'm waiting for a few professional comparative reviews before deciding.

In other words: "Thanks for the help, here's a kick in the nuts for your trouble."

LOL

 

[user1234]

Originally posted by: gixxer

I have been following this thread for some time in preparation for getting a new system.

So when i found out some information i thought would be useful, i joined the forum so i can post what i hope will be helpful information about the memory dividers.

so here it is:

"The DRAM Configuration submenu contains all available memory options for configuration of speed and internal memory timings. The Max Memclock (MHz) option controls the operation speed of the system memory through the use of ratios based on the current value configured for the CPU Frequency setting within the JumperFree Configuration submenu. The memory ratios are set as follows, with the ratio listed as DDR FSB:CPU FSB, with all ratios assuming a based CPU clock speed of 200MHz: DDR200 is 1:2; DDR266 is 2:3; DDR333 is 5:6; DDR400 is 1:1; DDR466 is 7:6; DDR500 is 5:4; DDR533 is 4:3; DDR550 is 11:8; and 600 MHz is 3:2."

This was copied from the review that was just posted at HardOCP
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzAz

Gixxer

This article is alarming as it shows the A8N-SLI trailing the K8T800P based A8V by 10-15% in gaming benchmarks. And this is with a 3800+ in the A8V compared to a 4000+ in the A8N-SLI (stock speeds). Also they report on the performance hit when onboard audio is used. While it looks like a good board overall, there are definetely some serious performance issues here, maybe due to the chipset itself. The name of the game here is performance, and results like that make it questionable about the value of such a board.

 

[glorfy]

Just for the record, I've had this running at 270X9 1:1 (up to 278 not stable) not bad for hynix. Yes HTT will go way above 1100, The highest I had was when I thought there were no working locks and I was having trouble with changing the HTT multiplier. I had to run with it at X5, at 228 for 1140. As user1234 kindly pointed out, it has little or no impact on perfrmance though Highest HTT achieved with a 266 divider is 315X7 - anything above that it doesn't want to know, experiencing random crashes.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: googles

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo

Originally posted by: user1234
Of course I thank you for your experimentation results, however amateurishly conducted, they are still useful. But I'm waiting for a few professional comparative reviews before deciding.

In other words: "Thanks for the help, here's a kick in the nuts for your trouble."

LOL

Yeah, reminds me of some of the teenagers that hang around my house.

"No respect", "No respect at all, I tell ya" "You buy your kid a bow and arrow for Christmas and he gives you a T-shirt with a bullseye on it" Rodney Dangerfield (RIP!!!)

 

[glorfy]

Originally posted by: user1234

Originally posted by: gixxer

I have been following this thread for some time in preparation for getting a new system.

So when i found out some information i thought would be useful, i joined the forum so i can post what i hope will be helpful information about the memory dividers.

so here it is:

"The DRAM Configuration submenu contains all available memory options for configuration of speed and internal memory timings. The Max Memclock (MHz) option controls the operation speed of the system memory through the use of ratios based on the current value configured for the CPU Frequency setting within the JumperFree Configuration submenu. The memory ratios are set as follows, with the ratio listed as DDR FSB:CPU FSB, with all ratios assuming a based CPU clock speed of 200MHz: DDR200 is 1:2; DDR266 is 2:3; DDR333 is 5:6; DDR400 is 1:1; DDR466 is 7:6; DDR500 is 5:4; DDR533 is 4:3; DDR550 is 11:8; and 600 MHz is 3:2."

This was copied from the review that was just posted at HardOCP
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzAz

Gixxer

This article is alarming as it shows the A8N-SLI trailing the K8T800P based A8V by 10-15% in gaming benchmarks. And this is with a 3800+ in the A8V compared to a 4000+ in the A8N-SLI (stock speeds). Also they report on the performance hit when onboard audio is used. While it looks like a good board overall, there are definetely some serious performance issues here, maybe due to the chipset itself. The name of the game here is performance, and results like that make it questionable about the value of such a board.

Just read the review, and was enjoying, very proffesional, well done, informative. Then we get to the testing part, and I find it 'alarming'. Alarming that they tested with old games and benchmarks. Did they check Nvidias list of compatible programs and choose the benchmarks accordingly? Running a game at a resolution of 640X480 isn't going to work out an SLI system! If thats their standard set of benchmarks, then they need updating!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: glorfy

Just read the review, and was enjoying, very proffesional, well done, informative. Then we get to the testing part, and I find it 'alarming'. Alarming that they tested with old games and benchmarks. Did they check Nvidias list of compatible programs and choose the benchmarks accordingly? Running a game at a resolution of 640X480 isn't going to work out an SLI system! If thats their standard set of benchmarks, then they need updating!

I also noticed they mentioned the the A8N-SLI bested all of the other boards in all bench's except these outdated game bench's. And here are a few noteable quotes from this review user1234 obviously overlooked

"ASUS continues to prove why its one of the big boys on the block. The A8N-SLI is a masterpiece, with very few problems encountered overall."

"Keep in mind .... that both the nForce4 chipset and the SLI configuration are new technologies with very green drivers while the VIA solution is well season with very mature driver support to boot."

"From the experiences I had with the ASUS A8N-SLI, the motherboard seemed to already be very mature as it showed itself as a pinnacle of stability under all of our stress testing. Simply put, the ASUS A8N-SLI is a damn good motherboard"

" the A8N-SLI lead the pack when it came to application benchmarks. On the app side of things, we can say that NVIDIA?s RAID controllers give it a solid performance gain over competing chipsets."

"With two PCI-Express video cards installed and running overclocked system specifications, the ASUS A8N-SLI showed to be the heart and soul of a rock solid dream system that many of us would be overjoyed to own. Asus is first to market with a SLI motherboard and from the looks of things; it is going to be very hard to outpace them."

"ASUS A8N-SLI is certainly HardOCP Must Have Hardware"


Now let's see Hmmm? who should we beleive ?

 

[runestone]

I believe I'll stick with what's purring away in my case-A8N-E deluxe.

 

[user1234]

Originally posted by: runestone
I believe I'll stick with what's purring away in my case-A8N-E deluxe.

More like you're stuck with it.....

but seriously though, I am looking at this board from an objective point of view, and evaluating its potential value relative to other alternatives (although I'm sure I want a pci express platform). From what I've read so far, I have to agree it seems like a very stable and mature board, with very good overclocking potential. Combined with the fact it's coming from one of the quality brand names in the industry means that it's really a good nforce4 sli board. But there are still concerns in the important area of performance and price. Leaving price aside, as it i\has still not stabilized, performance is a ligitimate concern - as we don't really have enough data to show it is better then the alternatives. And by that I don't mean to deny that sli is much faster then a single video card - that is obvious - the real question is how it compares to other motherboards in non-sli configuration, and how it compares to sli boards in sli configuration. I have seen a few disturbing (=alarming) benchmarks which compare this other 939 boards (nForce3, K8T800, radeon xpress, K8T890). But some of these reviews used a reference board and not retail products, so there are no conclusive results yet. But I am concerned about the onboard audio implementation in nforce4 (this problem seems to inflict other nforce4 boards - see this article).

And for your information, testing at 640x480 is the best way to test non-gpu components, as it makes sure that the test is not gpu limited, but rather the performance depends a lot more on the cpu and motherboard. And as for theit gaming benchmarks, it is a little sparse, but still how would you explain the a8n-sli w/4000+ trailing the a8v w/3800+ by almost 10% in Doom 3 (with Nvidia 6800 series cards) ?? To me it looks alarming, why in hell would anyone pay a premium for a board which delivers less performance ???

 

[F4810]

GuitatDaddy or anyone for that matter please help.

I have read all the posts and cant seem to overclock my board at all above 2150.

My specs:
A8N-SLI (of course)
AMD 64 3200+
Corsair Twinx-512 3200LL
Gigabyte 6600GT
Antec Neopower 480
2 x 74gb Raptors
1 x 160gb Diamond max 10

Benched and prime 95'ed at standard auto settings and all fine. Checked memory with memtest 86 and fine. I then tried all below with bios versions 1002 and 1003.005.

First I tried to see how high my memory would clock. So set DDR 400 6-2-3-2 1t @ 2.7volts and HT to x3and4 and multiplier to x7and8. Then I upped the FSB and tested with memtest 86. Could not go above 210 without getting errors. I then tried 10-3-3-2.5 2t and found the same then upped the volts to 2.85 and same. So i thought stange as most people seem to be able to clock this kind of memory higher but maybe my set is not as good.

So I then thought well I will use dividers and keep my memory below 200mhz at good timings. So I set to DDR 333 6-2-3-2 1t @ 2.7volts and HT to x3and4. I then set my FSB to 201mhz, multiplier to x10 and CPU voltage I tried all of the settings between 1.6 and 1.65. I booted and rebooted and then tried to OC with AiBooster. Managed to up the FSB to 219 and things were still working. Checked with Clockgen and all the values were fine. PCI was 33.49 CPU was 2190 and memory was below 200 (around 180) I cant remember exactly. Temps were also low to mid 40's. As soon as I tried FSB 220 the computer hung. I then tried this with memory at 2T and still the same.

Now as far as I can see I have followed all the posts recomendations but still cant get a decent OC. Any more ideas or am I doing something wrong. Failing that do you want to come round my house and do it for me guitardaddy I will buy you a drink. hahaha

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Tanclearas]

Originally posted by: runestone
And for your information, testing at 640x480 is the best way to test non-gpu components, as it makes sure that the test is not gpu limited, but rather the performance depends a lot more on the cpu and motherboard. And as for theit gaming benchmarks, it is a little sparse, but still how would you explain the a8n-sli w/4000+ trailing the a8v w/3800+ by almost 10% in Doom 3 (with Nvidia 6800 series cards) ?? To me it looks alarming, why in hell would anyone pay a premium for a board which delivers less performance ???

The problem with testing only at low resolutions is that you aren't telling the whole story. If the performance difference remains the same throughout all resolutions, then I would think there is an issue with the hardware implementation. The results from HardOCP could be from just about damn near anything. In fact, if there is a huge difference at low resolutions, but no difference at high resolutions, then it is most likely a driver issue.

If I was trying to interpret the results from HardOCP, I would look at the application benches as well. Those benches depend much more on the CPU and motherboard as well, and there are no problems there. If anything, I would guess nVidia needs to tweak the PCIe chipset driver a little.

Remember that HardOCP isn't the only site that has reviewed the board. In fact, PC Perspective's results don't really match up with HardOCP.

PC Perspective A8N-SLI Review

 

[GuitarDaddy]

F4810

Sounds like you are trying all the right moves. It doesn,t sound like a problem with your ram.
Maybe CPU overheating? What are your temps? What type of heatsink/thermal paste?

I have a buddy who had a similar problem several months ago, and it turned out the heat sink wasn't properly seated, and he used too much thermal paste. On thermal paste like most instructions that I have read say, one dot 3/4 the size of a BB is the right amount. Most people have a hard time believing this is enough, and adopt the philosophy that more is better. (not in the case of thermal paste).

And about that drink? If you send me a R/T ticket from DFW intl to where you live, I might have to take you up on that! LOL

 

[bap4201]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: glorfy

Just read the review, and was enjoying, very proffesional, well done, informative. Then we get to the testing part, and I find it 'alarming'. Alarming that they tested with old games and benchmarks. Did they check Nvidias list of compatible programs and choose the benchmarks accordingly? Running a game at a resolution of 640X480 isn't going to work out an SLI system! If thats their standard set of benchmarks, then they need updating!

I also noticed they mentioned the the A8N-SLI bested all of the other boards in all bench's except these outdated game bench's. And here are a few noteable quotes from this review user1234 obviously overlooked

"ASUS continues to prove why its one of the big boys on the block. The A8N-SLI is a masterpiece, with very few problems encountered overall."

"Keep in mind .... that both the nForce4 chipset and the SLI configuration are new technologies with very green drivers while the VIA solution is well season with very mature driver support to boot."

"From the experiences I had with the ASUS A8N-SLI, the motherboard seemed to already be very mature as it showed itself as a pinnacle of stability under all of our stress testing. Simply put, the ASUS A8N-SLI is a damn good motherboard"

" the A8N-SLI lead the pack when it came to application benchmarks. On the app side of things, we can say that NVIDIA?s RAID controllers give it a solid performance gain over competing chipsets."

"With two PCI-Express video cards installed and running overclocked system specifications, the ASUS A8N-SLI showed to be the heart and soul of a rock solid dream system that many of us would be overjoyed to own. Asus is first to market with a SLI motherboard and from the looks of things; it is going to be very hard to outpace them."

"ASUS A8N-SLI is certainly HardOCP Must Have Hardware"


Now let's see Hmmm? who should we beleive ?

Yes, very well put. I'd say "masterpiece" sums it up for me!

 

[glorfy]

Originally posted by: bap4201

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: glorfy

Just read the review, and was enjoying, very proffesional, well done, informative. Then we get to the testing part, and I find it 'alarming'. Alarming that they tested with old games and benchmarks. Did they check Nvidias list of compatible programs and choose the benchmarks accordingly? Running a game at a resolution of 640X480 isn't going to work out an SLI system! If thats their standard set of benchmarks, then they need updating!

I also noticed they mentioned the the A8N-SLI bested all of the other boards in all bench's except these outdated game bench's. And here are a few noteable quotes from this review user1234 obviously overlooked

"ASUS continues to prove why its one of the big boys on the block. The A8N-SLI is a masterpiece, with very few problems encountered overall."

"Keep in mind .... that both the nForce4 chipset and the SLI configuration are new technologies with very green drivers while the VIA solution is well season with very mature driver support to boot."

"From the experiences I had with the ASUS A8N-SLI, the motherboard seemed to already be very mature as it showed itself as a pinnacle of stability under all of our stress testing. Simply put, the ASUS A8N-SLI is a damn good motherboard"

" the A8N-SLI lead the pack when it came to application benchmarks. On the app side of things, we can say that NVIDIA?s RAID controllers give it a solid performance gain over competing chipsets."

"With two PCI-Express video cards installed and running overclocked system specifications, the ASUS A8N-SLI showed to be the heart and soul of a rock solid dream system that many of us would be overjoyed to own. Asus is first to market with a SLI motherboard and from the looks of things; it is going to be very hard to outpace them."

"ASUS A8N-SLI is certainly HardOCP Must Have Hardware"


Now let's see Hmmm? who should we beleive ?

Yes, very well put. I'd say "masterpiece" sums it up for me!

Well put the both of you! Early on in the piece, when I was having all sorts of issues, I didn't know if this board was a work of genius or an idiot. I'm still not sure, but now I think it has potential to be a classic. The reliability of Asus, intelligent placement of the PCI-e slots (with a gap!), and what looks like good overclockability when its all sorted. Oh and User1234 - if I want to see CPU benchmarks, then I would run CPU benchmarks, not GPU benchmarks at low resolution - that makes no sense.

 

[Arcuivie]

Do any of your boards run a bit hot too? Mine is running at about 37C, 40-41C load; this seems a bit high.

Also, does Asus Probe read the CPU Socket temp or the die?

 

[bap4201]

Originally posted by: Arcuivie
Do any of your boards run a bit hot too? Mine is running at about 37C, 40-41C load; this seems a bit high.

Also, does Asus Probe read the CPU Socket temp or the die?

if your using air, that't not bad at all! If you're using water, then that seems high. What are you using to determine temps?