Asus M2N-E

[jessieqwert]

Title says it all.
Lowest of the M2N boards and no SLI support. I can't seem to find any reviews from newegg or enthusiast sites. Help please!

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I have been looking for reviews of this board and the ASUS M2N-SLI (570, not 590) myself. Actually, I would like to see more reviews of any of the 570 boards (SLI/Ultra) than yet another Foxconn C51XEM2AA/ASUS M2N32-SLI review.

Also got some questions about AM2 in general.
What's up with 'most' of the AM2 motherboards using 2T Command Rate at DDR2-800? I hear some RAM will do fine at 1T in one board but will have to use a 2T Command Rate in other motherboards. Apparently, it's a motherboard issue?
And do I REALLY need a nforce 590 motherboard to hit 300HTT? ;-) This is the one question I REALLY need answered!

 

[Ramzie]

Actualy id love to find a review on either of these 2 boards as well.

My big question right now is a set of DDR2 800 RAM (2x 1GB sticks) that will run well on these boards and is KNOWN to run well. Any info appreciated.

 

[opmike]

I should have mine in by Monday; and I may post something about it then.

 

[Brahmzy]

This is the board I want if I go AM2. Affordable and I'll never go SLi. Let us know how it OC's!

 

[Boze]

Yeah unfortunately I have this motherboard and I'm using it right now. I chose it to assemble a cheap computer to run WOW and I've had nothing but headaches from it since I assembled it today. I'm running it with a Socket AM2 3500+ and a dual channel kit of OCZ S.O.E. DDR2 6400 RAM. I'm ready to pull my hair out. The system locks up, it hangs, it randomly reboots. I've never been more disappointed with a motherboard in my life, and I've owned quite a few motherboards. I'll have to keep posting / editing since I might get hit with a random restart at any time...

Well there we go... there was another random restart... anyway, apparently the drivers that Nvidia released just today are causing massive instability, in addition to the RAM problems I'm having... and I'm not entirely convinced that the RAM is bad, I think it has something to do with this motherboard. At any rate... I've had to fall back from the 91.xx drivers to the 84.21 drivers. Here's a rundown of the Mini Behemoth:

Asus M2N-E motherboard
OCZ S.O.E. 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR 800 dual channel memory kit (OCZ2SOE8001GK)
XFX PV-T71G-UCE7 GeForce 7900GT PCI-e video card
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Orleans Socket AM2 processor
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB 7200rpm SATA150 HD
NEX ND-3550A DVD/R/RW drive
ThermalTake W0093RU 500W ATX12V power supply
Logitech G5 mouse
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Cooler Master Centurion 5 case
BenQ FP202W 20.1" widescreen LCD

There's a chance that I just got unlucky with RAM and one of the OCZ DIMMs is just fubar'ed... at any rate when I hit the sack tonight / this morning I'm going to run Memtestx86+ on this single DIMM here that appears to be working since when I use the 84.21 drivers and a single DIMM the system stability seems to be okay. Needless to say though, these kinds of problems are about the last thing I expect to see from ASUS and I'm pretty ticked off, especially since I got the A8N-SLI Deluxe the day it was released and assembled an SLI system from the get-go and it worked fairly flawlessly... I'm pretty disappointed, frustrated, and pissed off. I expect to see a LOT of improvement via BIOS and driver updates and I expect it with a quickness...

 

[FishnChip]

Friend has the M2N-E with OCZ DDR2-800 2x1GBsticks and it wouldn't post at first until I got some ddr2-533 memory to put in it and boot it then he was able to manually select ddr2-533 and it will run like that. From his research so far it appears that it is related to the memory not being officially supported ie it doesn't like the SPD timings. Seems as if the Corsair is the only stuff that is working right now. For now he is just running DDR2-533 with no stability issues. Might try downclocking yours to ddr2-533 just to see if the stability issues go away.

 

[Boze]

Well after a few hours of experimentation, I came to discover that one of my OCZ S.O.E. sticks was faulty... in a serious way... a test using Memtest86+ ended up with 78,000 errors. Gotta love that. At any rate, Newegg's RMA process is as about as painless as it gets so I've shipped the faulty chips back. Not being one to just give up on a company, I picked up another OCZ S.O.E. kit and it works flawlessly right now. The system is finally up and stable but I'm leary of upgrading to the lastest NVidia drivers for my card although I guess I'll bite the bullet and try them soon.

 

[cisco kidd]

Can you give more feedback on what you are able to run the chip at. I was told to avoid OCZ with this board but seems you are having no issues. I have to build a system for friend and planned on this board but I want to make sure we buy the right parts to jive with it.

He will be using a 3800+ in it that I found for $125US. want to also use a 2x1GB kit in it as well

CK

 

[acegazda]

I posted this exact thread... but I see you posted it b4 me, I should have checked. here's the link if you want to check the responses.

 

[cisco kidd]

I am wondering how the Patriot 2GB DDR2 667 kit would do as the reviews on the ram are very good htting high 800-900.

It appears peeps are recomending the Corsair DDR2 800 kit, but I think we are gonna give the Patriot or OCZ a go cause it is cheaper. I think a good overclocking 667 kit will be fine

 

[imported_inspire]

I have this board and I have serious issues. I will be running memtest86 tonight. What I've been able to find is that most of the faster DDR2 requires 2.1v and this board maxes at 1.95v. Now, there's a new BIOS revision out, and that may fix the problem on its own, or it may increase the headroom on the memory voltage so you can do it yourself. If neither is the case, I suppose you're stuck RMA'ing your board and getting another or underclocking and undervolting your memory until a BIOS revision comes out that raises the maximum memory voltage threshold. Just letting you guys know what I found.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16813131022

 

[Talcite]

I have this board. It's really picky about the memory. You're best off taking one of the certified capable memories, because it looks like it doesn't accept much else.

 

[imported_inspire]

I know this has been said, but the 'certified' memories are hard to find.

I've updated the BIOS and haven't had any problems yet.... I've passed three complete passes of memtest86+ and 9 hours of SP2004 running on both cores of my 3800 X2 on blend mode.

It makes sense - the AM2 socket is still fairly new, so the BIOS probably needed some work. I really think a BIOS update has fixed my problem, but if it comes back, I will let you guys know.

Sidenote - you shouldn't use the windows-based utility to implement the latest BIOS update (says so on the Asus website, but I figured I'd remind you guys).

EDIT: Btw, I'm running a matched 2x512 set of PC6400 Corsair XMS memory (1.9v)

 

[Smartazz]

I just got this board up and running, it runs pretty well, but I haven't overclocked it yet.

 

[Captante]

After initial good results with this board in a system I built for a friend (who happily is out of town till 9/1!) I have to suggest that this board be avoided.

My problems began when I decided to upgrade the on-board sound with a Audigy 2 ZS I had sitting around. The card installed fine, machine booted right up & drivers went in without a hiccup too... problems began when I shut the PC down. A few hours later when I tried to power up, it simply refused to POST... power light blinked on & then it immediatly shut down, like it would do if the CPU were not being recognized. No beeps, no chance to enter BIOS.. nothing. I changed every setting in the BIOS with the card removed, tried all 3 available PCI slots, tried the X-Fi in my computer but had the same problems, other non-creative PCI cards work fine & these same cards work fine in other motherboards.

Maybe when this board matures a lot, or a second better revision is released it'll be a good choice.. for now unless you want a headache, stay away.