*** Official ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce4) Thread ***

[SpedeRacer]

ZZF also has both MSI nF4 boards up but not for sale yet:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=241158
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=241159

 

[Acanthus]

I have the cash in hand, if they dont get SLI out the door by the time i order NVIDIA and AMD just lost a customer... ill go AG8 + P4 3.0E @ 3.8ish... Ive been waiting for over a month and no gaming PC is driving me nuts.

 

[Thermalrock]

the msi sli is pretty crappy with not a single 1x slot. not that i would buy one if they had ten or twenty it would still be just an msi but this should turn off even ppl who like that silly brand.

 

[gobucks]

I agree, the MSI SLI board sux ass. The Ultra isn't too bad, but if it's gonna be that close to $200, I'm just gonna get the Asus SLI board for another $35. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and preorder the Asus or if I should wait a bit....prices seem a bit high, but if demand is really that high (and it probably will be) prices could easily go up even more.

 

[Thermalrock]

a) the msi ultra has only two 1x slots when asus and gigabyte both have 3.

b) why on earth would someone go p4/agp if a64/pcie isnt available by the time he orders? p4/pcie id understand but p4/agp!? i dont get it.

 

[signde]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Damn! Looks like no AN8 for Christmas

AMD article on A8N delayed til late Dec or early Jan

we've been saved

NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Mainboards in Mass Production Now ? NVIDIA ... First PCI Express Mainboards for AMD64 May Emerge in Days, Contrary to Reports

 

[stickybytes]

First review of the asus a8n-e sli at pc perspective.

 

[dklingen]

Good link stickybytes. I had not read anything from pc perspective before.

 

[spearsd]

Damn, The Asus and DFI SLI boards really look sweet, but it seems such a pitty to block slots in a SLI configuration (say, dual 6800GT Ultras). So, I did a little digging and found this...

PE-FLEX1, PE-FLEX4, PE-FLEX8and PE-FLEX16 are flexible extenders for PCI Express X1, X4, X8 and X16 buses. The Minimum cable length is 1". User can can order any cable length up to 18". If not specified, the standard cable length defaults to 3". The overall extender length with a 3" cable is about 4.25".

http://www.adexelec.com/pciexp.htm

I wonder if PCI-e is robost enough to run such extender cables (say 8 - 16 inches) to a different spot in an ATX case such as an unused 5.25 bay or some other creative location without introducing problems related to interference, signal attenuation, etc.

Can anyone point me to specifications on PCI-e bus limitations, maximum extender cable lengths, shielding, etc?

Frankly, I doubt very much that PCI-e would be tolerant of extender cables at high-bandwidth, especially in an environment like a typical 2+GHz ATX cased computer, but the idea does seem entertaining.

What are YOUR thoughts?

-spearsd

 

[imported_Digitalis]

The thing I don't like about the Gigabyte boards is where they've put the power riser card slot. It's the blue slot along the top of the board as shown here:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Gigabyte1.html

If you use the card it'll be blocking the lower intake fan of most power supplies.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Thermalrock
a) the msi ultra has only two 1x slots when asus and gigabyte both have 3.

b) why on earth would someone go p4/agp if a64/pcie isnt available by the time he orders? p4/pcie id understand but p4/agp!? i dont get it.

The AG8 is PCI-E.

 

[Thermalrock]

Originally posted by: Acanthus


The AG8 is PCI-E.

whoops youre right, i gotta read more carefully i read that as agp....

 

[Compddd]

Whens the A8N Premium coming out? Any known ETAs?

 

[bobalong]

Wat about these?

 

[alien42]

asus has release more detailed information:

http://event.asus.com/sli/index.htm

and a memory qvl

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/qvl/A8N-QVL.pdf

 

[runestone]

Good info, thanks alien.

 

[imported_Digitalis]

Originally posted by: pudds
the link for the graphics card is http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki...sku=305437&cks=PRL Check the model number with msi www.msi.com.tw
Its a 6800gt.

It's not a GT, it's a plain vanilla PCIe 6800. I guess the price was too good to be true after all.

It looks like it's using the new NV41 revision, so you won't even be able to soft mod it to a GT. It's natively PCIe and they've removed the extra pipeines etc to make the chip smaller and cheaper to manufacture.

There's a review of it here: posted today.

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/vie...msi6800pcie&page=1

Despite what is says there, this chip is probably made on a .11 process like the NV43 in the 6600/GT.

Loking at the performance, I think I'll save £100 and get a 6600GT instead.

 

[tretneo]

I have 2 PCI-E EVGA 6800GT cards that I picked up a couple weeks ago. Is there any way to tell what revision the chip is? and wether or not it is native PCI-E. I would prefer not to take the HSF off the card BTW.

tret

 

[Caveman]

So... in the memory FAQ from ASUS... I'd planned on getting the OCZ rev 2... Is this included int heat list under another more basic name?

 

[alien42]

caveman

i would imagine that more memory will be added to that list with time as well as manufacturers having their own list of compatible mbs on their websites. so far none of the major memory manufacturers have the a8n listed. that list that asus provides is also just memory they have tested and there is plenty of memory out there that will work with the a8n that is not listed. someone please correct me if this is not accurate.

 

[Caveman]

I thought what they might have been doing there was "type-classing" the memory... I know there are many Dimms that use Samsung chips, etc... I was just wondering if the OCZ might have fallen into theose categoriies... but perhaps they were listing memory sticks, not types...

 

[GuitarDaddy]

The OCZ platinum rev2 is manufactered by samsung it's one of the TCCC chips, I,m not sure which one.
I looked at the memory list for the A8V which has been out for a while and it doesn't list OCZ either. it has the same samsung chips that are listed on the A8N. And I have read a lot of posts where the OCZ rev2 works well on the A8V. So I'm assuming it will work with A8N.

If it doesn't I'll be PO'd cause I got the 1gb kit sittin in a box waiting for this mobo!

 

[Rebel Nugget]

I've been reading reviews and whatnot about the A8N, but there is something I can't figure out. Is there some special sort of adapter or molex connector that you have to use with PCI-E to conenct a video card?

I remember reading a post somewhere about a guy that burned out a bunch of 6800's from not using the right connector. Does anyone know the name of what you need to connect a psu to pci-e card and if that connector will come with the mobo or graphics card?

Thanks

 

[Commando8]

Did anyone notice that Xtreme Gear has 4 avaliable right now!! Pretty expensive though...

http://www.buyxg.com/store/item.asp?key=MB-303-101

 

[imported_Digitalis]

Originally posted by: tretneo
I have 2 PCI-E EVGA 6800GT cards that I picked up a couple weeks ago. Is there any way to tell what revision the chip is? and wether or not it is native PCI-E. I would prefer not to take the HSF off the card BTW.

tret

Yours will be the NV45. The GPU used on your cards doesnt have support for PCIe in its' core. Instead they have a small HSI bridge chip added alongside on the die. So NV40 + PCIe bridge chip = NV45

As seen here:

http://graphics.tomshardware.c...te/20040617/index.html