* ASUS A8N-SLI experiences/results/issues

[GuitarDaddy]

bump

 

[bap4201]

interesting I thought I have read about win server 2003 being used. I have not done this although I have a home network and the server runs win 2003.

 

[bap4201]

does anyone know if there is a way to get a sense of the temperature of the n4 chipset?

 

[canislupy]

Originally posted by: buckZor
Curious if anyone has tried installing Windows Server 2003 on their AN8-SLI board yet? We all know Win2K3 is the fastest gaming O/S, right? Just curious about NForce4 support and Nvidia SLI driver support.

Thanks!

Man, where have I been, 2k3 is the fastest gaming OS? Link(s)?

Almost on topic... I just got my 2x BFG GT's, now if I could only get a motherboard for them... sigh.

 

[chexi]

Gobucks,

I'd assume that the red stripe is OPPOSITE the white!

 

[nubreed000]

Ok, so help me out with this guys:

Before I got this mobo, I had the MSI K8T Neo2, which was giving me some RAM problems and I decided to give it back. Now, I have the new Mobo, and tomorrow, when my new Video Card arrives will be starting up my new machine once again. BUT, my SATA Disc hasn't been formatted, so it has drivers from the old mobo & the old video card.

Will this pose a problem when I boot up tomorrow? Also, the MSI board came with a floppy disc for the SATA drivers, but this one didnt? Are they on the CD?

Thanks

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Not sure if it will work? I did a fresh install on new hard drives.

I can tell you that there is a utility on the mobo CD to make "raid disk". It makes a floppy with two drivers on it "SATA CONTROLLER" and "NVRAID CONTROLLER"

If you have problems, try booting from the windows disk and hitting F6 "install third party raid drivers"

Windows will prompt for the diskette you made from the CD. Each of the two files must be selected seperately (ie.. if you are installing both drivers you have to hit S and enter, then S and enter again)

If you aren't running a raid array, you should be able to just load the first file.

 

[glorfy]

Switching from an A8V caused huge problems for me. The best I could manage in the end was for it to hang going into safe mode! Still it might be worth trying! I had to reformat in the end.

With the CD - just boot with it and it gives you the create driver disk menu.

 

[Nyati13]

Originally posted by: nubreed000
O

Will this pose a problem when I boot up tomorrow? Also, the MSI board came with a floppy disc for the SATA drivers, but this one didnt? Are they on the CD?

Thanks

If you set it to boot from CD only, it won't matter that the HD has stuff on it. Also, if you aren't RAIDing, the motherboard fools windows installer into seeing the SATA drives without needing to use an SATA driver floppy disk. RAID might still need the floppy disk, but I dunno.
So you can boot off the CD, and then just format (don't use quick format though) the drive and go on from there.

 

[nubreed000]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
If you aren't running a raid array, you should be able to just load the first file.

Oh, and one other thing; wtf is this RAID stuff? Just recenlty when I was hooking up my HD; I noticed 8 different SATA plugs; 4 SATA, and 4 SATA_RAID connectors. What does this RAID stuff mean? What is the difference between these 2 types of connectors?

On my last board (the MSI K8T), at boot-up, I always got this message:

Raid: None Define
None Raid
Serial Ch0 Master Maxtor 6Y080MO (thats my HD)

...and then when I hit a specified button to go into a menu, I get this:

The number of disks is not adequate to create a RAID.

I...is...confused

Originally posted by: Nyati13
If you set it to boot from CD only, it won't matter that the HD has stuff on it.

Good point.

 

[imported_billy]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: gobucks
Anyways, though, i'm still looking for that PCI lock. It's gotta be there somewhere, after all, it's listed in Asus's specs, and Asus is a pretty reputable company, so i'd imagine they aren't lying about it. I'm just afraid to use ntune until i can lock the PCI bus.

The PCI express clock is set independently in the Jumper free section of the bios. It comes set at default
100mhz and stays right there as you increase the FSB. I've run the FSB up to 290 (apparently the max for this board) and the PCIe clock stays at 100mhz. I think the nTune message is bogus, the nTune software was obviouly not written for boards with an independent PCIe bus.

One thing I've found about the overclocking options of this board that I don't like is the manual RAM options, or lack of. As you raise the FSB the board automatically applies a memory divider and forces the ram to run async. The maximum FSB that I've been able to run with RAM 1:1 is 246mhz. To get 246 I changed the memory clock option from auto to DDR466 and rebooted, the system comes up with FSB @ 233. Increase the FSB to 246 and it stays 1:1, raise to 247 and it applies the memory divider. I have heard mention of an A64 divider table? Do all A64 boards work this way? Are manual divider settings a thing of the past?

I think my next try will be to drop the multi, loosen the timings and set the mem clock to DDR500, boot to 250mhz and raise it from there.


I did the following test to show the difference running memory 1:1 vs async

prior to running the test I ran Prime95 1-2 hours with both settings


281 x 9.0 = 2529mhz
RAM 181 @ 2-2-2-5
3dmark05 2776

240 x 10.0 = 2400mhz
RAM 240 @ 2.5-3-3-10
3dmark05 3056

As you can see 3dmark05 which most consider mainly a GPU test loves memory speed.

Very interessting info.. I have the same problem with the memory: when I go over 220fsb my memory divider gets active... when I configure the Memoryclock to like DDR466/500/550, it automaticly clocks my cpu back! So I can only overclock my memory OR my cpu... What I can read from your reply is...that you have found a way to just clock the mem to DDR500 and then in windows change the CPU Multiplier? Can you tell me how to do that? I hope there will be a manual memory divider setting soon in the asus bios !!

Again I have a cpu which doesnt clock far... I get a max of about 2360mhz on a 3500+ NC...(which is standard 2200mhz) what the hell am I doing wrong..

I fitted a XP120 on with a PAPST fan. Oh about the XP120...I put the heatpipes facing the back of my pc and the 'overhanging coolblock' hangs over my ddr-memory... How did others place it? The same or just the other way arround?"

 

[penelopeb]

anyone running xp 64 bit beta on this board yet?

the xp-120 fits! yay! *buys*

 

[r00tcause]

Originally posted by: nubreed000
What does this RAID stuff mean?

The simple explanation is that RAID is an array of multiple disks acting as one. It will notably increase your disk access time with 2 drives running in parallel. (RAID 0).

 

[JerkyBoyz0]

This is a question that was most like already answered but i am wondering if the a8n-sli supported the Winchester 90nm core without having to update the BIOS. I dont have a 939 processor laying around and i didnt want any trouble gettin it. Any help would be cool. Thanks!

 

[Nyati13]

Originally posted by: JerkyBoyz0
This is a question that was most like already answered but i am wondering if the a8n-sli supported the Winchester 90nm core without having to update the BIOS. I dont have a 939 processor laying around and i didnt want any trouble gettin it. Any help would be cool. Thanks!

The A8N-SLI does fully support the Winchester core right out of the box, it even gives it the correct vcore voltage of 1.4v unlike some boards that "support" the Winnie, but volt it at 1.5v.

I have to say, with the exception of the Nvidia Firewall software (which I gave up on, and uninstalled), the A8N-SLI has been the easiest build I have ever done.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: billy

Very interessting info.. I have the same problem with the memory: when I go over 220fsb my memory divider gets active... when I configure the Memoryclock to like DDR466/500/550, it automaticly clocks my cpu back! So I can only overclock my memory OR my cpu... What I can read from your reply is...that you have found a way to just clock the mem to DDR500 and then in windows change the CPU Multiplier? Can you tell me how to do that? I hope there will be a manual memory divider setting soon in the asus bios !!

Again I have a cpu which doesnt clock far... I get a max of about 2360mhz on a 3500+ NC...(which is standard 2200mhz) what the hell am I doing wrong..

[/quote]

Set the memory clock to DDR466 and the machine will boot with 233FSB, then use the AI booster utility that came on the mobo CD, to increase the FSB in windows up to as much as 246. When you get the O/C that you want, reboot and your memory will be running 1:1.

And make sure you drop the HTT multi from 5x to 4x or 3x in the CPU configuration screen. This must be done before you can raise the FSB past 220.

 

[gobucks]

okay, so apparently my floppy decided to work now.... I guess it wasn't making a good connection with the cable or something. Anyways, i'm gonna try loading both the silicon image drivers and the nvidia ones. I don't hold up much hope though. I think that the floppy might have caused some feedback and damaged the mobo. Otherwise, i can't understand why the controller would sporadically work the other day, and now not work at all. Anyways, for some reason i can't get the raid drivers from the mobo disk. It keeps asking for me to put something in B: rather than A:. Anyways, if i can get the silicon image to work i'll probably use it for the time being until i can get out of my house to RMA the board. We've got like a foot of snow here in cincinnati and i don't want to be stuck in my house sans PC.

 

[runestone]

[/quote]



I fitted a XP120 on with a PAPST fan. Oh about the XP120...I put the heatpipes facing the back of my pc and the 'overhanging coolblock' hangs over my ddr-memory... How did others place it? The same or just the other way arround?"[/quote]

How are your temps? I have only dry fitted my xp120-looked like it should go the other way around than yours, but then there is barely room to get the ram in first slot.
Hope to build in 2 days-time off.

 

[nubreed000]

Oh ya...did you guys have any problems running the RAM in Dual-Channel? I remember with my MSI K8T, a BIOS update was needed for it to run properly...is the same required with this one? Or are the BIOS up-to-date and recognize the Daul Channel sticks right away?

Also, how high of an overclock can I do with the stock heatsink+fan? Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, but I'm a n00b on a lot of these topics.

 

[gobucks]

F*CK it. I just bought the VNF4/Ultra from Chaintech for $119 at newegg. 5 days sure beats the 3 weeks Asus estimates it will take to RMA it. Plus i save $80. I'll probably never use the SLI, extra SATA or extra LAN connections, so i'll just keep it simple and return the A8N-SLI to novapcs. I found out my floppy does work, btw, i guess the connections were just loose or something. Anyways, i'll keep you guys posted.

 

[JerkyBoyz0]

hey gobucks hows the 6600GT video card i got a 9800 pro 256MB now, its AGP i gotta goto PCIe is 6600GT as good as the 9800 pro? I heard it is better, and i plan to eventually have 2 6600gt's in my asus rig but i dont have extra money layin around. Lata

 

[gobucks]

jerkyboyz0, i love the 6600GT. Before my mobo died, i was playing Farcry at 1280x1024x32 w 2xAA/8xAF with a 3000+ and it was nice and smooth. Definitely faster than a 9800 Pro. While it might seem on par now, the 6600GT is really pulling ahead in newer games, and will do so even more in future games. I totally recommend it, especially the XFX for $180 and dual DVI. The GT is also a lot faster than the X700 Pro, which is the same price. Since ATI cancelled the X700XT, you won't have much good competition from them until the X800 vanilla comes out in "January," meaning march, and even then it might not hit sub-$200 for quite a while.

 

[Minotar]

If you are having trouble with your ATI card on the SLI board, try switching to a different DVI connector. I believe only the top right connector will work in a single monitor setup, so try that. Also, go into the bios and make sure you set the SLI mode to "normal". If you do not do this, it will not work correctly. Good luck!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

New beta bios 1003.03 and 1003.04 posted on the asus site.

I flashed 1003.04 and no problems.

 

[vmsein]

I have been monitoring this thread closely to see if anyone has been having the same problem I'm getting with my SLI setup. I have the rev. 1.02 A8N SLI board and 2 eVGA 6800GTs configured to run in multi gpu mode. The 2 graphics cards are the same bios revision and I am not overclocking at the moment. I am able to run 3D Mark 2003,2005, and Aquamark with no problems and am getting results consistent with those that I have seen with a setup similar to mine. I can also play Far Cry without any problems. But as soon as I try to run Doom 3 in any resolution above 640x480, the game freezes after the initial screen and won't run at all. I have to reset the computer to pull it out of this hard lock. Now if I disable SLI mode in the control panel, I can change the resolution as high as I want and the game runs fine. If I re-enable SLI mode, the game freezes again. Anyone experience this? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for your input.