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

[runestone]

Originally posted by: SMatson
What is the best way to update the BIOS? Is it ok to do it from windows with asus update?

Scott

I still do it with the boot floppy and dos. Instructions are in the manual, or Asus website if you need them.

 

[sreams]

Here's the latest summary of my findings with this board:

1) The magic way to ensure 1:1 memory has been found (thanks GuitarDaddy). In the BIOS... set memory to "DDR400". This setting is horribly mislabeled. A setting of "DDR400" means the memory will always run synchronously with the FSB. It does not have anything to do with memory running at 400MHz. Once this is set... you can play with the Jumperfree clock and voltage settings to your heart's desire, and it will always result in a 1:1 memory clock.

2) SATA hot swap support on this board is excellent. I'm using a Kingwin SATA drive sled, and I can add and remove drives all I want with WindowsXP running. Very nice.

3) Enabling NCQ in Device manager for SATA drives that support it is a very bad idea right now. It inevitably results in data corruption at this point. Hopefully a BIOS or driver update will remedy this in the near future.

4) CPU-Z and other apps that monitor core voltage don't appear to give accurate readings at all.

5) I'm having major troubles getting SATA drives to be detected consistently on boot. The order the drives are in and which ports are used can have a large impact on my success here. This is with the NVidia SATA2 ports. The SI3114 ports don't have this issue. Since I boot off of a Maxtor SATA drive, this is a major problem at the moment. Running BIOS 1003.05... so I'm hoping it's just a beta BIOS problem.

6) You -can- use a single drive on the SI3114 SATA controller. Just set it up as JBOD.

7) The tiny heatsink/fan on the chipset is a major annoyance. How about using a decent sized heatsink instead so that 8000+rpm fan speeds aren't required, ASUS?

8) Some of you may have already figured this out, but the "Single/Dual Video Card" selector is subtlely mislabeled. It in and of itself has nothing to do with SLI. What it really does is set the two large PCI-E slots to either x16/x1 or x8/x8. The bridge connector and drivers will determine SLI video. The card in the second slot does not have to be a video card when "Dual Video Cards" is selected. It can be any future x8 PCI-E card. In fact.... you could use two video cards and -not- enable SLI, giving yourself four video heads. With that in mind... the second (black) "x16" slot is not x16 at all. It's either x1 or x8... never more.

-S

 

[jlambvo]

1) Yep I discovered the DDR400 thing last night. Do all of the selections in that menu serve as a ratio relative to stock 200FSB?

5) I also had a problem getting my system to boot of the SATA drive connected to the nVidia controller, but only when I did a quick format to install Windows. When I did a full format the problem disappeared.

One issue I'm having is that Everest is displaying a conflicting CPU temp. My Asus and Nvidia monitors both indicate an idle of about 40, while Everest gives about 10C less. Not sure what to trust?

 

[Tanclearas]

The 166 setting (DDR333) works that way (5:6 mem:cpu). I am unable to run my memory at 1T at 200, so I started playing around with that setting. Despite the BIOS saying that the setting will ensure your memory does not go over DDR333, it will indeed continue to go up as the FSB is increased.

Right now, I'm running 10 x 220 with my memory at 183 (DDR366) at 2-3-3-10-1T. I'll probably just set the memory to 2T and run it at 1:1. The benchmarks don't seem to change one way or the other.

 

[runestone]

Originally posted by: jlambvo
1) Yep I discovered the DDR400 thing last night. Do all of the selections in that menu serve as a ratio relative to stock 200FSB?

5) I also had a problem getting my system to boot of the SATA drive connected to the nVidia controller, but only when I did a quick format to install Windows. When I did a full format the problem disappeared.

One issue I'm having is that Everest is displaying a conflicting CPU temp. My Asus and Nvidia monitors both indicate an idle of about 40, while Everest gives about 10C less. Not sure what to trust?

new beta version of Everest:
http://www.lavalys.hu/pre/ever...esthome_build_0229.zip
I sent email to the site and Tamas quickly sent me that back; supports nforce4 and A8N now.

 

[syd968]

Anyone running AI booster and Cool n Quiet successfully? I'm having no luck with cool n quiet while AI booster is installed.

 

[btpenterprises]

hey all,

anyone using GIGABYTE "GA-K8NXP-SLI" NVIDIA nForce4 SLI??? Its cheaper then the Asus.....

Any feedback on the gigabyte?

cheers.

 

[atom519]

Well, just got my memory in today and finally got it all set up. Didn't run into one problem during the entire setup. Great installation overall, specs are below. LOVE this board and hope that everyone that is having problems gets through it.

5844 3dMark05
61,123 Aquamark

3200+ AMD 939 (2ghz)
1GB Cruical Ballistix Tracer pc4000
2 eVGA 6600GT SLI
120gb 72,000rpm maxtor
500wt Ultra X-connect Titainum

very pleased and am looking foward to seeing what kind of OC i can get out of it tomorrow. A+ would buy again.

 

[ShoNuff]

For those of you using RAID on the nVidia controller have you ever received a "Raid Service Error? on start up? I didn?t get this error during my first install with this board when before I setup my RAID array. The error message goes away if I stop the execution of ?nvraidservice.exe? during startup.

Just curious.

 

[jlambvo]

AHHHHhhh... when I connected my NEC 3500A in place of my old Sony DVD-ROM, my sound stopped working. Then my computer wouldn't restart, then it wouldn't post. I take my Audigy 2 ZS out and reset the CMOS and it boots again. Putting the Audigy back in first allowed me to boot up but it hanged at the desktop launch, then it hanged during the boot, then it went back to not posting.

And I was just getting all cozy watching movies in THX-calibrated DTS. This ALC850 won't cut it for long.

Any possible speculations on how this could have happened??

EDIT:

new beta version of Everest:
http://www.lavalys.hu/pre/ever...esthome_build_0229.zip
I sent email to the site and Tamas quickly sent me that back; supports nforce4 and A8N now.

Runestone, the sensor section still displays a CPU temp more than 10C lower than AsusProbe or Nvidia monitor. However, I notice now that the temp labelled "aux" is synced with these other two monitors. What is "aux" exactly?

 

[jelliott]

Hey guys, Quick question.

I am just about to order my gear. Looking at A8N-SLI, 2 BFG 6800GTOC and A643200 .90.

The one place where im lost is RAM. I dont plan to overclock but as you guessed, a lot of gaming. I am running Corsair twinx3200LL in my old barton 3200 system. I was thinking about OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 2X512mb... or Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) Low Latency DDR PC-3200 or keeping my corsair.
I just want, running "stock", some nice quality speedy ram. With Asus and the slow to update QVL, i dont want to screw myself...

Thanks for helpin out an old guy

 

[JMag]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: ShoNuff

Originally posted by: bob661
Sho,
Did you install the drivers for the SI controller?

Yep, I installed the "RAID" drivers via the install CD. Are there others?

Thanks for jumpin' in there to help. :thumbsup:

EDIT: No conflicts or "question marks" in Device Mangaer either.

I don't think all of the bugs are worked out yet with the nforce4 raid or SI drivers, or maybe windows needs to provide an update for SP2?

I am running on a raid0 array with two sata raptors, And occasionally when rebooting I get a "boot disk failure" because Windows doesn't recognize the array. I pop in the windows CD and the raid drivers diskette, boot up hit F6 and reinstall both drivers "Nvraid driver" and "SATA controller driver" and I'm back in business. This seems to happen mostly right after I have installed new software or drivers and reboot. It has only happened a couple of times since I updated to the 1003.04, this might be because I'm not installing as much software and updating drivers as much as I was at first.

I think the window installation wizard is stepping on (corrupting) these driver files

*edit* I got so long winded there, I forgot to make my point!

Try reinstalling the SI drivers!

Do you have to reinstall the nvidia or silicon image drivers from the windows installation screen, booted form the cd? Then what? Cancel out before installation? Do I have to use the floppy created from the ASUS CD or can I just put thoose files on a USB key?

 

[pgamble]

Put in correct thread this time

Hi guys

Just installed the following :

A8N-SLi Deluxe, FX55
2xSeagate 7200.7 200GB SATA drives, 1x 250GB Deskstar SATA
EAX800XT PE

Many of the ASUS nForce drivers are not HCL as yet.

After some teething problems I got XP PRO built on a 200GB mirror (The top two black SATA ports - 3 & 4 I think on the nForce4 Sata controllers). I then proceeded to install all the other supplied stuff and a few other programs / utilities. The last thing to go on, and the focus was HL2.

Over a couple of days, I got more and more odd stability issues.

Most of these were I/O related - the machine would go to sleep for a while - no mouse response. Sometimes it would then come back to life. More often than not a subsequent reboot would show one or both plexes were in degrade.

I struggled on, installing SP2 reluctantly - required for BT mouse / kb I have.

Over time the problem got more regular. On two separate occasions I rebuilt the machine completely due to disk I/O failures resulting in an unbootable machine. So much for the mirror

Another off issue related to a Machine_Check_Exception .... which according to the MS kb only gets triggered by Pentium or Pentium Pro processors.

I had installed AI Booster but just for the UI, not to overclock. I noticed it was showing vcore of 1.62 .... setting was on auto.

I rebuilt the machine without raid (I disabled both nForce Raid and the Silicon xxx controllers and just built XP on a single 200GB drive. This time I didn't install AI Booster at all. The Bios all along has shown 1.5-1.52 vcore.

This was an XMAS project for me ..... I'm really depressed and know I've now got a lot of time to spend in the new year trying to fight the 3 suppliers for help.

The m/b and 200GB drives + the Enermax Noisetaker 600 PSU came from one supplier.

The 800XTPE came from another supplier .... shows not issues at present

The FX55 came from a third supplier .... all suppliers are big and reputable however I expect a lot of blaim-storming.

The 250GB Deskstar is fine .... it came from my other PC.

Any help / suggestions would be much appreciated.

Paul.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: JMag

Do you have to reinstall the nvidia or silicon image drivers from the windows installation screen, booted form the cd? Then what? Cancel out before installation? Do I have to use the floppy created from the ASUS CD or can I just put thoose files on a USB key?

[/quote]

Yes, when it gets to the screen where it gives you the choice of repairing windows, or install new copy, hit F3 to exit and reboot.

I think you have to use a floppy, because when you fit F6 durring windows setup it prompts "insert diskette in A:" and it doesn't give you the option to select another path.

 

[govern1]

To pgamble, make sure command queing is disabled for your Seagate hd's. Having that enabled on my Maxtor caused all sorts of problems.

Shawn

 

[atom519]

Ok, so today I started seeing what kind of OC I can get out of it, and I need some help.

I was doing baby-steps up until 225Fsb x10 = 2.25Ghz, well that's what it should be but for some reason the cpu gets downclocked and shows up as a 1.8Ghz. Anyone know why this would happen? I checked multiple times to see what was going on, and even at 230Fsb, it shows up at 1.84Ghz. ????

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!

 

[imported_DangerMouse]

Hi
I got another question
When i run Nvidia Ntune utility i get pop up warning:
"Warning. Your PCI clock is currently set to track the HT bus.
If you adjust the clock for the HT bus your PCI bus clock will change as well.
Please consult your motherboard manual to determine how to disable
this behavior before proceeding"

Someone knows how to fix this thingie?

Thanks

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: atom519
Ok, so today I started seeing what kind of OC I can get out of it, and I need some help.

I was doing baby-steps up until 225Fsb x10 = 2.25Ghz, well that's what it should be but for some reason the cpu gets downclocked and shows up as a 1.8Ghz. Anyone know why this would happen? I checked multiple times to see what was going on, and even at 230Fsb, it shows up at 1.84Ghz. ????

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!

Try going into the BIOS and selecting a multiplier of 10 instead of leaving it at AUTO. I have seen this problem a few times and it seems to be related to the Multi selection in the BIOS. You can also try resetting it in AiBooster.

 

[atom519]

Ok, thanks for the help. I see that after reading past threads that there is a problem with the mem divider.

I installed AI booster, but can't seem to find where or how to start it. The only thing I see in Nvidia startup is nTUNE and the networking utilities.

Am I stupid or where is this program at?


Thanks again guys!

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: atom519
Ok, thanks for the help. I see that after reading past threads that there is a problem with the mem divider.

I installed AI booster, but can't seem to find where or how to start it. The only thing I see in Nvidia startup is nTUNE and the networking utilities.

Am I stupid or where is this program at?


Thanks again guys!

AI booster can be installed from the Asus CD or downloaded for their website.

 

[ngray]

Just a word of encouragement to everyone that's having video distortion and other anomalies... my rig works great!

I'm running a 3500 .13nm & 2 BFG 6800GTOC's. It's not been a good clocker, as I'm running Corsair Value ram, and I haven't been able to set the dividers until reading the message on correcting that this morning.

I've also upgraded to the Arctic Cooling NV5 coolers, for a 9c drop, and much quieter operation.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...466051&STARTPAGE=1

My old monitor wouldn't do good refreshes in 1600x1200, so I've also picked up a Sun Trinitron 21" monitor, which I'm VERY eagerly awaiting! It should be interesting to try games at 2048 x 1536!
http://sunsolve.sun.com/handbo...CRT.html?wrapper=false

 

[atom519]

Ok, got the mem dividers under control but still can't get passed 2.2Ghz stable. I'm running Crucial Ballistix Tracer pc4000, and tried multiple settings. I've bumped the volts up slightly and the highest stable clock I seem to get is around 2.2Ghz.

Had the multi at 9.5 with fsb at 235Mhz and it still wasn't stable. Most of the reviews got this cpu/mobo combo up to 2.4Ghz, you guys have any suggestions for me?

Other then that, its a great setup.

6,035 3dmark05
67,832 Aquamark03

 

[atom519]

Also, I didn't try the ddr400 - then boot to AI Nos method. I just simply changed the multi in the bios to 10x and started upping the FSB.

Is the other method better, or would I max out at the same speed? (2.2Ghz) I'm just curious as to why it's not getting over a simple 200mhz OC.

Thanks guys!

 

[JMag]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: JMag

Do you have to reinstall the nvidia or silicon image drivers from the windows installation screen, booted form the cd? Then what? Cancel out before installation? Do I have to use the floppy created from the ASUS CD or can I just put thoose files on a USB key?

Yes, when it gets to the screen where it gives you the choice of repairing windows, or install new copy, hit F3 to exit and reboot.

I think you have to use a floppy, because when you fit F6 durring windows setup it prompts "insert diskette in A:" and it doesn't give you the option to select another path.[/quote]



Hey thanks for the info!

I am going to try it this evening. What's weird for me is that my other SATA drives show up fine, it is just the diamondmax10 that isn't recognized... However, my other computer sees the diamondmax 10 perfectly.

Also, one other thing I have been having random shutdown problems the whole time I have been struggling to get everything to work harmoniously. Lats night it shut down about 30minutes into a dvd (no blue screen, the computer just turned off). I also get this sometimes when I am playing a video game. ( I have a multimetere hooked up to a molex and the 12v and 5v rails are solid with ZERO fluctuation).

I do however get BSOD from a CAS setting of 2.5 (even at stock 200mhz). I don't get BSOD with a CAS of 2 or 3. Could this be my winchester's mem controller giving me issues? I am running OCZ 4200EL Platinum which is Samsung TCCD chips rated at 2.5-3-3-8 @ 263mhz, although it has no probs at 2-2-2-9 at 200mhz. I have tried coltages 2.7 through 3 with no avail.

Does anyone know any other applications that can monitor VDIMM?

 

[gixxer]

I have been following this thread for some time in preparation for getting a new system.

So when i found out some information i thought would be useful, i joined the forum so i can post what i hope will be helpful information about the memory dividers.

so here it is:

"The DRAM Configuration submenu contains all available memory options for configuration of speed and internal memory timings. The Max Memclock (MHz) option controls the operation speed of the system memory through the use of ratios based on the current value configured for the CPU Frequency setting within the JumperFree Configuration submenu. The memory ratios are set as follows, with the ratio listed as DDR FSB:CPU FSB, with all ratios assuming a based CPU clock speed of 200MHz: DDR200 is 1:2; DDR266 is 2:3; DDR333 is 5:6; DDR400 is 1:1; DDR466 is 7:6; DDR500 is 5:4; DDR533 is 4:3; DDR550 is 11:8; and 600 MHz is 3:2."

This was copied from the review that was just posted at HardOCP
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzAz

Gixxer