*** Official ASUS A7N8X/Deluxe (nForce2) Thread ***

[Cadaver]

tc17,
I just bought one to replace a Giagbyte 7VRXP.
I'll let you know how it goes. Should be here Wed. from NewEgg.

 

[Psychosylph]

It's a nice board, it's just very finicky; I would say not for a newbie. I love/hate mine. It kicks ass when it's set up and running, and has all kinds of tweakability.

Then again, I just had to hotflash the BIOS after a bad BIOS flash that shouldn't have happened...

 

[squidman]

Originally posted by: gael
Hey all,
Just got my A7N8X a couple days ago. Very stable, and very easy to oc. Nice product.

2100+
A7N8X rev 2.0
Corsair XMS Platinum LL PC 3200

200/200
11 X 200 = 2198 Mhz
Vcore = 1.87
CPU temp = 41 C
Mobo temp = 19 C

Stable as can be at those specs with only air cooling ( Coolmaster X-Dream CPU fan, 4 case fans). Posts as a 2800+ but clock speed is actually equal to that of the barton 3200+ and with the same FSB!!!!

Something odd is happening to my mobo's temp sensor too. It shows 15 degrees sometimes. Then, its usually stuck on 25, which is still kinda low...how did u get 19 - thats lower than the room temp?

 

[squidman]

Originally posted by: Psychosylph
It's a nice board, it's just very finicky; I would say not for a newbie. I love/hate mine. It kicks ass when it's set up and running, and has all kinds of tweakability.

Then again, I just had to hotflash the BIOS after a bad BIOS flash that shouldn't have happened...

Flashing BIOS is bad, m'kay?

 

[Texter]

Hi this is my first post.
I've got a A7n8x pcb 1.04 with bios 1.004 and since I installed SP-1 for XP I've had 0 problems.
I'm planning on throwing in a 3200+ or switching to a P4 system with HT.
Sorry for being lame, BTW.

 

[Psychosylph]

Originally posted by: squidman

Originally posted by: Psychosylph
It's a nice board, it's just very finicky; I would say not for a newbie. I love/hate mine. It kicks ass when it's set up and running, and has all kinds of tweakability.

Then again, I just had to hotflash the BIOS after a bad BIOS flash that shouldn't have happened...

Flashing BIOS is bad, m'kay?

No, it's not, as long as you are doing it for a reason. I had a perfectly stable system and wanted to get the SATA RAID working - something that is supposed to have been fixed with the latest BIOS and drivers. Anyway, I did what looked to be a sucessful flash, but when I rebooted, nothing... Rather annoying, but luckily I had a friend that had a board I could hotflash with. I always say, do it if you need to fix something; if not, leave well enough alone...

 

[gordy33]

I've had a few problems with my board since I got it last week. When I save changes in the CMOS, it usually takes about 15 seconds to save and reboot, which I can live with. However, twice nothing has happened, even after 5-10 minutes. So, I've had to clear the CMOS and start again. These aren't major bios changes, just upping the fsb by a mhz or two, no major ocing at all. From what I've heard I'm lucky that I can just reset the CMOS and continue. Is this a common problem with the board? Anything I can do about it?

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: gordy33
I've had a few problems with my board since I got it last week. When I save changes in the CMOS, it usually takes about 15 seconds to save and reboot, which I can live with. However, twice nothing has happened, even after 5-10 minutes. So, I've had to clear the CMOS and start again. These aren't major bios changes, just upping the fsb by a mhz or two, no major ocing at all. From what I've heard I'm lucky that I can just reset the CMOS and continue. Is this a common problem with the board? Anything I can do about it?

Sounds like the battery to me. Mine got kind of dirty or just covered with fingerprints on the bottom from taking it out to clear cmos so many times when I was establishing my ideal overclock. Then save and reboot got really slow. After cleaning it off saving and rebooting was no longer slow. Many people actually have gotten these boards with bad batteries. Since you've had times when nothing happened for 10-15 minutes, maybe you should replace the battery and see if that fixes it. Or you could test your battery first to see if it puts out its rated voltage.

 

[gordy33]

When I've cleared the CMOS, I've never even touched the battery, just changed the jumper. Anyone have an easy way to remove the battery?

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: gordy33
When I've cleared the CMOS, I've never even touched the battery, just changed the jumper. Anyone have an easy way to remove the battery?

There's a little metal clasp there that you push to the side and the battery pops out. When you clear cmos you should pull the battery, move the jumper over and back, and then replace the battery.

 

[FingerDemon]

Hi,

I posted here before, but this time I actually own one of these boards. hehe

Here's what I ended up getting:

A7N8X Deluxe (I got a Version 2.0 from NewEgg..whoo hooo)
AthlonXP 2500 Barton
WD HD 120 GB
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro
LiteOn CDRW
2 sticks of 512M Corsair XMS 2700PC
Antec Sonata Case with 380 TruePower Supply
WinXP

Almost all of it was on sale one day on NewEgg except the HD and Video card which I got on sale earlier from other stores.

So, I took my time. Lots of it. And I have been slowly either putting things together or reading up on stuff to figure out what to do for the past couple of weeks. I know you Tech heads are probably laughing that it took me so long, but I would rather be safe than sorry and I also had other stuff to do.

Anyway today was the day I finished it and booted up. I needed a defribrilator when I got a POST error, but it was my own simple mistake of not reconnecting the AGP card power supply.

The one thing I had trouble with was the front panel audio connections on the Sonata. The Sonata cables are labelled differently than the motherboard manual, but in most cases I could still figure it out.

But the audio cable part still has me stumped. I will try to summarize the motherboard info below and then describe the cables I have. This really isn't a critical thing, but it would be nice to be able to plug my headset and microphone in from the front of the machine.

Motherboard book shows ten pins labelled

AGND +SVA BLINE_OUT_R NoPin BLINE_OUT_L
. . . o .
MIC2 MICPWR LineOUT_R Not connected LineOUT_L
. . . . .

This is listed under FPAUDIO1

Okay, I hope that looks halfway understandable. The confusing thing is that there are two jumpers connecting the third set (BLINE_OUT_R and LineOUT_R) and the last set (BLINE_OUT_L and LineOUT_L).

The Sonata cables have an unlabelled connector with ten holes and one of them is filled with a plastic plug. But the plug doesn't match the missing pin, so I'm pretty sure this is not the connection. On the same cable are seven single pin connections.

They are labelled:

MIC
FPOUT_L
AUDGND
MICBIAS
RET_R
RET_L
FPOUT_R

So, I can guess where the Ground cable goes according to the motherboard instructions, but what about the rest of them? And do I just yank those jumpers off? What is the deal with them? Is this cable the right one for these front panel connections? Is there some difference in standards or something? I would appreciate any enlightenment that anyone can offer me on this. I also am not getting the full speed of the CPU showing up, but I know Chizow gave someone instructions on that in this thread earlier, so I will look for that and try and fix it myself.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

FingerDemon

 

[Jim123]

Hi, I would not remove any jumpers, If it has jumpers its not a connector. I think the manual is very specific about being an IBM something connector. Boy I wish I could see your post from here. Sorry I'm not seeing that IBM thing, so never mind that.

The seven loss connectors attach to the motherboard the other end to your front panel thing, your front panel thing may not support all the functions that the connector gives you.

Yes, your going to need to know what those connectors go to on your front panel item. Can you contact the vender for some insite.

On your CPU speed, From mechBgon - Sure, go into the BIOS > Advanced > Advanced Chipset Features and change the top item (CPU External Freq.) to 166MHz (since you've got a 333MHz-based CPU). Save & exit, and your CPU should be reported as a 2500+ now.

 

[DantheMan2000]

does anyone know where i can get the back faceplate that goes to this motherboard? you know, the one that replaces the metal cover you can pull out of the back of the case, where all the connectors are (ps2 usb... etc) ?

 

[Jim123]

I am having a small problem, every now and then. The lady in the PC posts a message ( System failed memory test ), and then posts a message ( Computer now booting from operating system ), once it opens windows I reboot, and most likely she'll post ( System completed Power-On Shelf Test ) with no more problem.

The ram is not oc, its set at default settings.

I'm using two modules of Corsair XMS CMX256A-2700C2 C2 256MB PC2700 DDR RAM Single-size 333MHz stuff (it on Asus tested list)

I have them in sockets 2 and 3

It does go thur boot up very fast?

The mb is ver. 2, Bios is 1003

Any idea whats going on, it always works. I was planning on adding another matching module? would that help, anyone else having this thing happening to them.

Thanks
Jim

 

[MDoug15918]

I have a memory question. I apologize if it has been answered before but I scrolled through the majority of the post, went to the nforcersHQ forum, and e-mailed ASUS tech support (who suggested I make a long distance call to get help), but still have not found the answer.

Maybe it is very elementary and I just do not know. I am not really a tech guy. I just love gaming and know enough to really screw things up. My brother is a moderator here and he helps me a lot but he hasn't had to deal with this one yet, I think you spell his screen-name "Ufwald".

Anyway, I have the A7N8X-Deluxe with an XP-2200. I purchased 3 sticks of 512 Corsair PC3200 400mhz RAM for my system but when the BIOS posts it says memory speed is 200mhz. Is this right? Is there some trig equation I am supposed to do to know my memory is running at the advertised speed, like you have to do for all the BIOS settings, or am I only geting half the performance out of my memory that I mortgaged my house for. I did try to bump up the setting to 200% as the FAQ section of ASUS's site suggests but it only bumped the speed to 266mhz. I currently have memory speed in the BIOS set for "SPD". Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

[selfbuilt]

Originally posted by: MDoug15918
Anyway, I have the A7N8X-Deluxe with an XP-2200. I purchased 3 sticks of 512 Corsair PC3200 400mhz RAM for my system but when the BIOS posts it says memory speed is 200mhz. Is this right?

Sounds like you are running at the default 100Mhz external frequency (2x100 = 200 Mhz FSB) ... it should be increased to match your processor (2x133 = 266 FSB). Under Advanced Chipset features in the BIOS, set the CPU External Freq to 133 MHz. The CPU multiple should be left at default, unless you are o/cing (which I wouldn't recommend until you get everything sorted out). Then set the System Performance to User Defined to open up the memory controls. Set Mem Freq to 150%, which should display the resulting freq of 200 Mhz, which is appropriate for your PC3200 DDR Ram (2x200 = 400 MHz). You can also set the Mem Timings to Agressive or User Defined if you want to try tweaking them, but I would make sure everything else was working well before playing around there.

You might want to run some system or mem benchmarks (SiSoftware Sandra is a great choice, but even PCMark would do for a rough estimate) to see how your system is doing before and after the modifications. In particular, I would be curious to see the difference between running your mem sync with the processor (100%, for an effective freq of 133 MHz, versus 150% for 200MHz).

I'm not sure how much of a performance gain you will see with PC3200 memory running at 150%, when the PC2100 at 100% would run sync with your processor (under default non-o/c conditions). I'm afraid I can't advise there since I run a XP2500+ (default 166 Mhz external freq) sync with PC2700 (defaul 166Mhz mem freq) ... but I would be curious to hear the outcome.

 

[Sideswipe001]

Look in the BIOS and tell us what speed it claims there.

When you go into the settings (where you set it to 200%) it SHOULD list the speed your RAM is running at. If it says 200 there, you are getting the 400 Mhz that you're expecting.

Take the speed it's listed at - multiply it by 2 - and you have the "Marketing" speed that you paid for.

 

[tc17]

Originally posted by: DantheMan2000
does anyone know where i can get the back faceplate that goes to this motherboard? you know, the one that replaces the metal cover you can pull out of the back of the case, where all the connectors are (ps2 usb... etc) ?

I don't own this board yet, but read that people have asked Asus for a back I/O plate and they have mailed it for free. Or they also supposedly sell all the cables and accesories for $20 shipped.

There was also someone on Ebay selling the back I/O plates for this board.

But thats all I know about it.

 

[Jim123]

Hi, I just had a different problem, I have nothing oc, when I started the pc today I got a post message system failed due to CPU oc, and had the IEEE-1394 device not working in Device Manager, strange nothing is connected to it?

The only thing I changed last night, was to add a case fan, so after getting the post message, I changed the power connector the fan was attached to, it looks like that fixed it, however I have an Antex True Power 430Watt PS, I should not have power issues. Also after connecting this (Antex Led fan) the CPU temp has gone up a degree or two. But I'm unsure if its the fan or a failing PS?

This also may have an effect on the occational Memory fail Post.

Anyone, ever had this happen, is it the PS?

Thanks
Jim

 

[flyboyait]

Originally posted by: Jim123
I am having a small problem, every now and then. The lady in the PC posts a message ( System failed memory test ), and then posts a message ( Computer now booting from operating system ), once it opens windows I reboot, and most likely she'll post ( System completed Power-On Shelf Test ) with no more problem.

The ram is not oc, its set at default settings.

I'm using two modules of Corsair XMS CMX256A-2700C2 C2 256MB PC2700 DDR RAM Single-size 333MHz stuff (it on Asus tested list)

I have them in sockets 2 and 3

It does go thur boot up very fast?

The mb is ver. 2, Bios is 1003

Any idea whats going on, it always works. I was planning on adding another matching module? would that help, anyone else having this thing happening to them.

Thanks
Jim

Hey Jim, same thing happens to me occasionally I have mine OCed from 2100+ to 2700+(2.16ghz i think) and then my mem and fsb are at 166 i think, anyway mine does sometimes say "system failed memory test.... computer now booting from operating system" but then ill go on to run it for days afterwards without any problems, and then a lot of times it will say "system completed POST computer now booting from operatins system" doenst seem to matter whether it says it passes the POST or whether it "failed the memory test" computer works either way. My guess would be that there is some bug in the bios that asus has yet to address... let me know if anyone knows anything else...

-FBA

 

[LastRide]

I am asking this for a friend of mine.With his Asus A7N8X mobo and 1700+ DLTC CPU the 1.5V version he can only set the vcore on his Asus mobo up to only 1.75V.The DUTC chip he had with the default vcore of 1.6V he can can go past 1.75V.Anyone with this board know why he can't apply more than 1.75V with the DLTC ?.

 

[Kdiver58]

I need help with a Graphics card for my machine. It has become a crashing machine . I get the BSOD in XP all of the time. 99% of the time it has something to do with the graphics card . I took out the AGP Riva TNT2 with 32 megs and put a Geforce 440 8x with 64 megs and I'm still having problems . If somone could give me the name of a card that works well with this board and XP I would be greatful. It runs Linux with no problems at all .
Asus A7N8X AMD 2500+ barton core 512 L2 cache
1 gig of samsung pc3200 momory a 256 meg chip in each of the blue slots and a 512 in the black slot.
1 40 gig and 1 80 gig WD hard drive
Mad Dog Predator mx 440 agp graphics card with 64 megs of ram
latest bios and no overclocking

 

[Jim123]

Thank you flyboyait, I saw a post about the same thing over at nForcerHQ and there was a lot of speculating with no answers I think. I guess we'll have to wait. It's good to know its not just me.

Thank you
Jim

 

[Jim123]

Hi, Kdiver58 I have a Gainward, Geforce3 Ti 200 w/64MB vid ram, and I'm using NVIDIA Det. drivers 44.03, and I'm also using Asus nForce2 drivers 1.16.

My system been up and running for a week and a half now, and have had no Vid. card problems.

In the Bios there is a setting for PCI or AGP vid card something, I had to set it to AGP, by default its set to PCI.
The only other thing I can think of is what drivers are you using, you'll need the Asus nForce2 drivers installed before the Vid. Drivers, and I would suggest the drivers from NVIDIA rather then the drivers from your Vid Manu.

Good luck
Jim

 

[Jim123]

Hello all, just a little info, about led fans (the ones with led lights in them).

All the problems I had last night was caused by one of these fans, and another odd thing about it is the better the fan, the more likely the problem will occur. This is the second time this has happened to me, but with different fans and different MB, and it persented different odd problems.

To fix the problem all I had to do was change the power connector from the PS. It can be on the same branch from the PS, there's just something about the combination, that creates (I guess) some kind of gost signal or harmonics back to the PS and then to the MB where it reeks havic.

Hope this helps someone with this problem

Jim