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

[pelikan]

The best way to monitor temps is to download MBM5. There is a page on their website that shows what to set the sensors to so you can read the on die cpu temp. That's a more accurate temp reading and you'll find it about 10C hotter than in bios.
Your memory should run at their spec timings and voltage at 200 FSB. If not then you should RMA it. It says 195MHz memory frequency because it is running in sync with your FSB which is good.
I set video memory at 128.

 

[RaymondY]

Here is the website for setting up MBM5

Link

 

[AMDBarton2500]

Thanks for the good info!!!

If anyone has anything to add please do

 

[aamsel]

I have decided on an A7N8X Deluxe.
Anyhow, I have been running a Gigabyte 7VAXP-Ultra for awhile with a Barton 2500+ CPU and 1GB (2-512M modules) of Crucial memory. They are model# CT6464Z335 and are 512MV DDR PC2700. My questions on the memory are:
1.) How good is Crucial memory? I know a lot of people like it, but, would it be good for the A7N8X ?? It is the easiest to buy.
2.) Should I use the PC2700 that I have in the A7N8X, or go to PC3200 ?? How much difference would it make, in memory speed percentage, etc ?? Would this difference be "real world" or just numbers in benchmarks ??
Also, if I do need to upgrade to PC3200, Newegg has about a million different modules. There really is too much different memory out there!! Which would be the best "bang for the buck" for this setup ?? Please advise.
3.) Would a CPU upgrade from the Barton 2500+ be worth it for the A7N8X ??
Thanks a lot (in advance) for your help and input.
Andrew
Austin, Texas

 

[SoSolid]

Originally posted by: aamsel
I have decided on an A7N8X Deluxe.
Anyhow, I have been running a Gigabyte 7VAXP-Ultra for awhile with a Barton 2500+ CPU and 1GB (2-512M modules) of Crucial memory. They are model# CT6464Z335 and are 512MV DDR PC2700. My questions on the memory are:
1.) How good is Crucial memory? I know a lot of people like it, but, would it be good for the A7N8X ?? It is the easiest to buy.
2.) Should I use the PC2700 that I have in the A7N8X, or go to PC3200 ?? How much difference would it make, in memory speed percentage, etc ?? Would this difference be "real world" or just numbers in benchmarks ??
Also, if I do need to upgrade to PC3200, Newegg has about a million different modules. There really is too much different memory out there!! Which would be the best "bang for the buck" for this setup ?? Please advise.
3.) Would a CPU upgrade from the Barton 2500+ be worth it for the A7N8X ??
Thanks a lot (in advance) for your help and input.
Andrew
Austin, Texas

Crucial memory is indeed a good choice. It's hard to tell wether it's better than for example Corsair by how much percent. But that's not so important. Crucial memory is a good choice, you won't regret it. It's very stable memory and some of the series manufactured by Crucial allow you to run the memory at very low latency speeds such as 2-3-2-6.

Well you could stay using you pc2700 memory. Only you will have a bit less bandwidth. PC3200 memory in dual channel make 6,4Gb/s of bandwidth available for data transfer. PC2700 of course less plus the fact PC2700 can't be used in dual channel mode. But if your CPU runs @ 400MHz FSB than dual channel becomes very interesting.

If you are planning to use 400MHz FSB CPU's and dual channel memory than I advise you to make sure you obtain a rev 2.0 or later version of the A7N8X Deluxe since these versions are the only one that support the FSB and Dual Channel. All the versions below don't support 400MHz FSB. So be aware of that.

 

[Conor026]

I have two sticks of TwinMos PC2700 256MB on the A7N8X Deluxe running in Dual Channel mode

 

[aamsel]

Two quesitons, then:
1. Which exact Crucial PC3200 modules do I want (if I get Crucial memory) ??
2. I have a Barton 2500+ CPU. Is an upgrade from this worth the extra money, if so, which CPU to get ??
Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

 

[SoSolid]

Originally posted by: aamsel
Two quesitons, then:
1. Which exact Crucial PC3200 modules do I want (if I get Crucial memory) ??
2. I have a Barton 2500+ CPU. Is an upgrade from this worth the extra money, if so, which CPU to get ??
Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

On this site (Crucial) http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule.asp?module=DDR+PC3200&Attrib=Package&cat=RAM you see their overview of available pc 3200 modules. It's up to you to decide which one you are willing to buy. The modules deviate in latencies, ECC (or not) and the amount of memory per chip (and thus the amount of chips).
As for your CPU it's completely up to you. If you are planning to use heavy software such Autocad or other visual/audio software than a 400MHz FSB CPU (such as an Athlon XP 3200+) becomes very interesting. The same for gaming by the way. But if you stick to normal tasks like work, word, excel and that kind of stuff than there is no need and a athlon xp 2500+ will do.

But don't forget you can only use 400MHz FSB CPU's with rev 2.0 and later A7N8X Deluxe boards.

 

[chorner]

quick question : how good is the Nforce 2 MCP network controller -using Nvidias logic, and not the built in 3com-?

The reason I ask is that I have a 3COM 3C905B -tx 1/100 card with Parallel Tasking II technology ... and as you can imagine its quite a good network card. Performance of this card has always been awesome.

Atlast, I don't need 2 network cards in my system .... how is this Nvidia ethernet controller built into my A7N8X in comparison?

 

[SoSolid]

Looking at the options nVidia networkcontrollers offer in comparization with 3com lan networkcontrollers I would certainly use the 3com. You can configure the networkcontroller more custom. The nVidia offers less options you can change.

 

[pelikan]

The nvidia one uses less resources.

 

[aamsel]

Why would I want ECC memory, when the ASUS USA website says that the motherboard only supports "non-ECC" ??
Andrew
Austin, TX

Originally posted by: SoSolid
On this site (Crucial) http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule.asp?module=DDR+PC3200&Attrib=Package&cat=RAM you see their overview of available pc 3200 modules. It's up to you to decide which one you are willing to buy. The modules deviate in latencies, ECC (or not) and the amount of memory per chip (and thus the amount of chips).

 

[SoSolid]

Originally posted by: aamsel
Why would I want ECC memory, when the ASUS USA website says that the motherboard only supports "non-ECC" ??
Andrew
Austin, TX

Originally posted by: SoSolid
On this site (Crucial) http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule.asp?module=DDR+PC3200&Attrib=Package&cat=RAM you see their overview of available pc 3200 modules. It's up to you to decide which one you are willing to buy. The modules deviate in latencies, ECC (or not) and the amount of memory per chip (and thus the amount of chips).

Sorry, my mistake on that ECC stuff.

 

[AMDBarton2500]

I still cant go to 200FSB....Im not sure whats wrong. Seems like everyone is doing that these days with this set up.

I get blue screens and it freezes before it gets to XP.

When I set it to 195x11 it gets to xp and I can log in but it locks 10 min later.

I have it running at 190x11 at 2.09mhz and it runs good. I had it like that for a week.

What should I do next. Someone suggested I should up the voltage. Can I do that on Deluxe Rev 2 and where do I do it? Bios Advenced settings?

TIA

 

[Captante]

I know this won't fully answer your question, but I am running the my hard drives in a dual-boot system with Win XP Home & 98se (some of my kids games just won't run in XP no matter what), the memory is set at 330mhz & I have an Athlon 2400+ @ 2100mhz stable a a rock in both OS's & I use the same Promise PCI drive controller... I'm not using the "SATA" controller at all & I have BIOS v1006...when I look at the boot options, I see 3 hard drives as choices... have you tried all three?
Also, are you using the latest driver & BIOS for the promise card?... might be worth a try if not... good luck!

 

[Captante]

I use the 3Comm only & for some reason I've never been able to get the Nvidia NIC to work properly with my Netgear router... no idea as to why, I just know its the case... everything I've read says the Nvidia NIC works fine & its doesn't rely in the PCI bus, so I would think it should be faster if anything, so it may just be my board, but as of now I'm sticking with the 3comm.
Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Captante]

I assume you have tried lowering the latancy settings odf the RAM to a slower speed already, but if not then try that first, otherwise you may well have a power supply problem... Antec makes a good product, but Athlon boards in general (& in particular the NForce 2) require a strong 3.3v rail, so you might want to try swapping it out with an Enermax 400 watt or better still (but expensive) a "PC Power & cooling"
400 watt + model & see if that fix's your problem... Antec power supplys have a weak 3.3v rail & 350 watts is a little weak for an Athlon of any kind.
Hope this helps & good luck.... KB

 

[Captante]

If you are one of the unfortunate few with a a non-overclockable 2500 + then you could consider an upgrade to a 3000/3200+ as you will see asignificant performance boost in things like Photoshop, or certain other programs, but if you plan on doing a lot of gaming, you would be better served by upgrading your graphics board, because at anything over 1024x768x32, the grapiics card is the bottleneck, not the CPU & you would be throwing your money away.
However, if you already have a 9800Pro or similar, I would resist "upgrade fever" & sit tight till prices drop a bit.. it'll only be a few months before the bottom falls out of the 32 bit Athlon market & you will save like $100... your call though.

 

[Captante]

How do you figure PC 2700 won't run in dual-channel mode on an N-Force 2? ... I can state for a fact that you don't know what you are talking about, because I'm running PC 2700 IN dual channel on an N-Force 2 right now, & although there is no doubt its slower the PC3200 in dual channel, it works just fine at 333 fsb, with no issues whatsoever. (Corsair XMS 2 x 512mb), not only that, it runs at 2-2-2-5 1T, and the systen is stable as a rock, despite being a dual-boot with win 98se & XP home.

 

[Captante]

" PC2700 of course less plus the fact PC2700 can't be used in dual channel mode. But if your CPU runs @ 400MHz FSB than dual channel becomes very interesting.

Just flat out wrong... just goes to show you that just because somone wrote it, doesnt make it true.... PC1600 throuugh PC4200 (non-JEDEC) can ALL be run in dual channel mode... might want to do a little reading BEFORE talking dude.

 

[AMDBarton2500]

Ok here is a little update.

I went into bios last night and started playing with the Vcore.

I set the FSB to 200x11 and as the Vcore went up more stable it got. It was still crashing though. Til I got to 1.775. Now it seems stable.

Now the question is.....what does the Vcore do. Is it safe to run it at the Vcore with stock cooling. I also have 2x 112mm case fans that help too. But I just dont want to mess up my PC. Should I be ok running at that Vcore? Would you say Im safe? or change it back to stock?

My temps after running 3dmark 2001....and reboot.....were CPU 40-41 and MG at 24.

I noticed after running 3d mark 2001 the score only went up 300-500 points.

Also some of you say to change the memory settings. I looked at the Geil website and it says 2.5 4, 8, 4 .....what does each one of these numbers mean? from 1st to 4th and what would they be called in Bios.

THANKS alot!!!!

 

[AMDBarton2500]

Im sorry guys.....can mods delete the double posts please...there is no option to delete

 

[AMDBarton2500]

 

[AMDBarton2500]

 

[AMDBarton2500]