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

[N3cr0]

Right now I'm leaning towards the Coolmax 550W Taurus CX, any opinions/anyone have one of these?

it's reasonably priced and seems to be well above spec on what I'll need.

 

[JimKiler]

What I'm looking to put together is: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Athlon 64 3000+ Corsair Value Select CAS2.5 1GB kit thing (the two 512 modules) XFX GeForce 6600GT 128mb

I have that value select RAM and while it works, the score on the nTune app that came with the mobo shows I am under average for this mobo so I do not believe dual channel works currently with this RAM. Hopefully someone can prove me wrong or a future BIOS will fix this.

Also I use a 350 watt PSU without a hitch but make sure you get one with the additional 4 pin to plug into the mobo next to the CPU. Also a 24 pin plug instead of 20 works, however for me 20 pin works fine. I do not use SLI though.

 

[Tripp17]

I had alot of problems with this board at first.......i have flashed to the 1003.5 bios because it allows me to overclock and it doesnt screw with the hyperbus at all. I am at 250 fsb(well, look at my sig). I really want some WHQL drivers for the chipset and i want an official bios but other than that im doing decent with this board. I thought that the "final" 1003 bios was horriable. It put my hyper bus at 3x no mater what i did so i went back to the 1003.5. I want a bios that will let me go to what ever my ram/processor will allow(like maybe 277 or something). First it was stuck at 210, then 220, now between 240 and 250.....every bios is getting better, but i just want a new perfect bios now, and i dont think thats much to ask for, do you?

 

[imported_Jerminator]

Hey guys,

Well, I read through this thread (took me 2 days, lol!) and it has been very beneficial, but unfortunately it doesn't seem as if anyone shares my problem. If I install the Nvidia IDE drivers then windows constantly freezes and I have to hard boot. If I use the default windows drivers everything is fine UNTIL I install SP2, in which case the IDE controller switches to PIO mode when it should be UDMA mode 5 (I have 1 IDE ATA 100 80 Gb drive). Boy, PIO mode is really, really slow! And windows doesn't allow me the option to change to it. Any ideas? thanks!

 

[Tripp17]

This really doesnt help you, but i had a usb netgear router thing......it let me conect to my router threw alittle usb device. ANYWAY, all was fine untill i installed windows XP sp2 and then it wouldnt even boot when i had the usb device in, so id boot without it and once in windows id put it in and right then and there it would "shit the bed"......It worked great in normal windows, anyway, i ended up just buying the lan wire(50 bucks) and i dont have the problem. The reason i just brought this up was to let you know that there are obvisally bugs in the drivers and i expect that they will be dealt with over time.

 

[gorman70]

I'd still like to hear from somebody who has successfully substituted the chipset fan with a passive heatsink, Zalman for instance.

Apart from this, I'm running 4 CMX512-3200XL in Dual Channel mode (or so CPU-Z is claiming under the Channels # entry in the Memory tab). Settings are 5-2-2-2 2T. If I try to set 1T I get an error from Windows, stating that a system file has been corrupted. When I go back to 2T (Auto), Windows loads up without a glitch, not even mentioning this system file.

Is it normal that with all four memory slots taken, in Dual Channel, you can't select 1T?

CPU is AMD-64 3500+ NewCastle core. SiSoft Sandra is reporting 4,587 MB/s bandwidth, that seems a little bit low... What do you think?

 

[mofrack]

Originally posted by: gorman70
I'd still like to hear from somebody who has successfully substituted the chipset fan with a passive heatsink, Zalman for instance.

Apart from this, I'm running 4 CMX512-3200XL in Dual Channel mode (or so CPU-Z is claiming under the Channels # entry in the Memory tab). Settings are 5-2-2-2 2T. If I try to set 1T I get an error from Windows, stating that a system file has been corrupted. When I go back to 2T (Auto), Windows loads up without a glitch, not even mentioning this system file.

Is it normal that with all four memory slots taken, in Dual Channel, you can't select 1T?

CPU is AMD-64 3500+ NewCastle core. SiSoft Sandra is reporting 4,587 MB/s bandwidth, that seems a little bit low... What do you think?

I'm water cooling my chipset with a Koolance 180W block, along with my CPU and 2 6600GTs.

Running 2T is the best you'll be able to do with all 4 DIMM slots filledno matter how much you fiddle with voltage or clocks. If you want 1T, you'll have to pull 2 sticks. Doesnt really matter with this board, as the RAM will only clock to around 240mhz at 1T even if you have mondo-uber insane RAM that can do 300 1T without a sweat on other boards.

I get around 5000-5100 bandwidth, and I run what's in my sig.

 

[Fent]

Cross posting this a bit but what are you guys getting for Ram speed and what would "right" be for a none OC'd system.

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
RAM Bandwidth Int Buff'd iSSE2 : 4929 MB/s
RAM Bandwidth Float Buff'd iSSE2 : 4907 MB/s

Int Buff'd iSSE2 (Integer STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 4765MB/s
Scaling : 4779MB/s
Addition : 5085MB/s
Triad : 5089MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 77% (estimated)

Float Buff'd iSSE2 (Float STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 4774MB/s
Scaling : 4743MB/s
Addition : 5058MB/s
Triad : 5053MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 76% (estimated)

Chipset 1
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 1005MHz (2010MHz data rate)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 8040MB/s (estimated)

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.0-2-2-2CL 2CMD
Bank 1 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.0-2-2-2CL 2CMD
Channels : 1
Bank Interleave : 2-way
Speed : 2x 201MHz (402MHz data rate)
Width : 128-bit
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 6432MB/s (estimated)

 

[mrscintilla]

This thread needs to be broken up. Too many people posting unrelated stuffs. Half of the posts are from people who don't even have the board. Questions about chipset fans and others are perfectly answered by other threads. Gusy and gals, how much would it take you to do some keyboard search before posting here!!???

 

[evilmrroboto]

Originally posted by: gorman70
I'd still like to hear from somebody who has successfully substituted the chipset fan with a passive heatsink, Zalman for instance.

Apart from this, I'm running 4 CMX512-3200XL in Dual Channel mode (or so CPU-Z is claiming under the Channels # entry in the Memory tab). Settings are 5-2-2-2 2T. If I try to set 1T I get an error from Windows, stating that a system file has been corrupted. When I go back to 2T (Auto), Windows loads up without a glitch, not even mentioning this system file.

Is it normal that with all four memory slots taken, in Dual Channel, you can't select 1T?

CPU is AMD-64 3500+ NewCastle core. SiSoft Sandra is reporting 4,587 MB/s bandwidth, that seems a little bit low... What do you think?

Well gorman i've seen two specific links that show pics of them changing out that crappy chipset fan. This is the only one of 2 that I can find again: http://forums.overclockers.co.....php?threadid=17356286

Only problem might be with running dual 6800 ultra's, but I dont know for sure.

 

[gorman70]

Originally posted by: mofrack

Running 2T is the best you'll be able to do with all 4 DIMM slots filledno matter how much you fiddle with voltage or clocks. If you want 1T, you'll have to pull 2 sticks. Doesnt really matter with this board, as the RAM will only clock to around 240mhz at 1T even if you have mondo-uber insane RAM that can do 300 1T without a sweat on other boards.

But is this specific to this board or is it standard for 939 boards when all 4 slots are taken. Less than 5,000 at the memory benchmark kinda sucks, doesn't it?

 

[gorman70]

Originally posted by: evilmrroboto
Well gorman i've seen two specific links that show pics of them changing out that crappy chipset fan. This is the only one of 2 that I can find again: http://forums.overclockers.co.....php?threadid=17356286

Only problem might be with running dual 6800 ultra's, but I dont know for sure.

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for!

 

[BravePT]

I Have my A8N SLI Deluxe at 290 fsb RockSolid.....Mems at 2T Cas2,5-4-4-11 , and HT 3x

Asus Probe shows that my PSU have the 12+ line at 11.77 at idle.

I got 7000 at SandraMem

SandraMem

 

[SMatson]

I'm running the neopower 480 without OC and no problems. Not planning to OC right now. This was my first build.

Hope this helped.

Scott

 

[atom519]

Bah, ok so after putting in a simple pci fan card I'm starting to have problems with computer POSTing again. It wouldn't post the first time I tried to turn it back on, same problem I had 2 weeks ago after I re-arranged my cables. I'm using the 1003-05 beta bios, and saw that alot of people had the same problem with computer not posting after a reboot.

Well it's up and running right now, but I guarantee that if I reboot I will have problems. Sometimes it doesn't post, sometimes it freezes and BSOD at detecting devices, etc. Other times it goes through just fine, and I can run 3dmark, prime all day. WTF?

Only version I see with Asus auto-update util is 1003-06 beta dated newer then my current. Should I take the link off these forums for the 1003-final build, or go with the 06 version? I really want to iron out this problem and won't reboot untl I update. Thanks!

 

[vlad4]

I would suggest trying the 1003-007 beta BIOS since that is the only beta still avialable on ASUS web site.

 

[Shaga]

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
RAM Bandwidth Int Buff'd iSSE2 : 6407 MB/s
RAM Bandwidth Float Buff'd iSSE2 : 6337 MB/s

Int Buff'd iSSE2 (Integer STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 6529MB/s
Scaling : 6509MB/s
Addition : 6296MB/s
Triad : 6294MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 92% (estimated)

Float Buff'd iSSE2 (Float STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 6519MB/s
Scaling : 6518MB/s
Addition : 6180MB/s
Triad : 6133MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 91% (estimated)

Performance Test Status
Run ID : SANTA on 25. tammikuuta 2005 at 7:40:05
Memory Used by Test : 512MB
NUMA Support : No
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : P0
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No

Chipset 1
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 436MHz (872MHz data rate)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 3488MB/s (estimated)

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.5-3-3-3CL 2CMD
Bank 1 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.5-3-3-3CL 2CMD
Channels : 1
Bank Interleave : 2-way
Speed : 2x 218MHz (436MHz data rate)
Width : 128-bit
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 6976MB/s (estimated)

Features
(W)MMX Technology : Yes
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : No
EMMX - Extended MMX Technology : Yes
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No

Performance Tips
Notice 5008 : To change benchmarks, click Options.
Notice 5004 : Synthetic benchmark. May not tally with 'real-life' performance.
Notice 5006 : Only compare the results with ones obtained using the same version!
Tip 233 : Consider using the Win64 x64 version of SiSoftware Sandra.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

 

[iscsidude]

Well, I just plugged in my eVGA 6800 Ultra and the heatsink on the rear of the card covers about 3/8 X 1/4 inch of the NF4 Whistler fan. This card is huge.

http://img.photobucket.com/alb.../sanhacker/topview.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/alb...sanhacker/sideview.jpg

The only way I'm going to get the Zalman heatsink to work with this card is to mill off the above dimensions (reducing its effectiveness) or see if the NV Silencer 4 is smaller than the stock 6800 HSF combo. Hmm.

Also, the 6800 will be exhausting its hot air right over the chipset, rather than out the back of the case. This card takes two slot mounting brackets, so it's not like there wasn't room. Great design. :frown:

 

[michaeldorian]

System runs perfect when SLI is not enabled. When it is enabled I get random crashes, and freezes. RMA the card or wait for new more stable Nvidia Drivers?

 

[gorman70]

Originally posted by: Shaga
SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
RAM Bandwidth Int Buff'd iSSE2 : 6407 MB/s
RAM Bandwidth Float Buff'd iSSE2 : 6337 MB/s

Int Buff'd iSSE2 (Integer STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 6529MB/s
Scaling : 6509MB/s
Addition : 6296MB/s
Triad : 6294MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 92% (estimated)

Float Buff'd iSSE2 (Float STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 6519MB/s
Scaling : 6518MB/s
Addition : 6180MB/s
Triad : 6133MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 91% (estimated)

Performance Test Status
Run ID : SANTA on 25. tammikuuta 2005 at 7:40:05
Memory Used by Test : 512MB
NUMA Support : No
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : P0
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No

Chipset 1
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 436MHz (872MHz data rate)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 3488MB/s (estimated)

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.5-3-3-3CL 2CMD
Bank 1 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.5-3-3-3CL 2CMD
Channels : 1
Bank Interleave : 2-way
Speed : 2x 218MHz (436MHz data rate)
Width : 128-bit
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 6976MB/s (estimated)

Okay, I'm a newbie, I know but... could somebody explain why I'm getting this lousy bandwidth?

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
RAM Bandwidth Int Buff'd iSSE2 : 4843 MB/s
RAM Bandwidth Float Buff'd iSSE2 : 4807 MB/s

Int Buff'd iSSE2 (Integer STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 4690MB/s
Scaling : 4677MB/s
Addition : 4993MB/s
Triad : 5015MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 166% (estimated)

Float Buff'd iSSE2 (Float STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 4670MB/s
Scaling : 4638MB/s
Addition : 4970MB/s
Triad : 4950MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 165% (estimated)

Performance Test Status
Run ID : LASHER on martedì 25 gennaio 2005 at 9.23.54
Memory Used by Test : 512MB
NUMA Support : No
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : P0
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No

Chipset 1
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 455MHz (910MHz data rate)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 3640MB/s (estimated)

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.0-2-2-2CL 2CMD
Bank 1 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.0-2-2-2CL 2CMD
Bank 2 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.0-2-2-2CL 2CMD
Bank 3 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 2.0-2-2-2CL 2CMD
Channels : 1
Bank Interleave : 4-way
Speed : 2x 91MHz (182MHz data rate)
Width : 128-bit
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 2912MB/s (estimated)

If I compare these results with the ones above, I can't understand. I'm running my memory with faster timings. We both are running with 2T and still... what do you suggest?

 

[ajmiles]

For some reason your Front Side Bus isn't set to what it should be;

Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 455MHz (910MHz data rate)
Speed : 2x 91MHz (182MHz data rate)


whereas mine is:

Front Side Bus Speed : 2 x 940MHz (1880MHz data rate)
Speed : 2x 235MHz (470MHz data rate)


Now I have my memory clocked at 235MHz up from the normal 200MHz. However for some reason your is running less than half as fast as it should. Your best bet would just be to stick the BIOS settings back to DEFAULT. Once you've done this just boot and see what you get. Chances are you tweaked something in the BIOS that put the memory on an odd divider.


EDIT: Or, make sure you have Cool and Quiet turned off. If this is enabled your processor will drop from 2.0/2.2/2.4 GHz to 1.0, probably being the cause of your half bandwidth. So disable that first, then default the bios settings after you've checked.

 

[fonzi]

Originally posted by: fonzi
So, I should better use 2x512 corsair xl3200 with CL2.5 OR kingston KVR400X64C2.5???

Final:
Answers to me (about memory) from kingston and corsair:

...Kingston does not officially support the ASUS A8N-SLI DELUXE motherboard aswe are still doing some tests, therefore we will not be able to guaranteecompatibility with our modules.
The module KVR400X64C3A/512 is one of the modules our technicians think should be compatible with your motherboard. The difference between KVR400X64C3A/512 and KVR400X64C25/512 is really
thin, but the KVR400X64C25/512 would probably be unstable and Kingston would not support its use on your system. If you want to use CL 2.5, you would have to pick DDR333 KVR333X64C25/512.
MODULES MUST BE ORDERED AND INSTALLED IN PAIRS for Dual Channel mode. All modules must be identical for Dual Channel with Dynamic Mode. Kingston offers "K2" kit part numbers for Dual Channel mode. I would suggest you try : KVR400X64C3AK2/1G (2 modules of 512MB) or KVR333X64C25K2/1G

...and from corsair:

Thank you for your interest in our products. A great set of modules that would perform excellent in your system is our TWINX1024-3200C2 module set. This is a matched pair of two 512MB modules that are tested together and guaranteed to perform great in dual-channel mode. These modules run at 2-2-2-5. If you have any further questions please let me know, I hope this helps you!

...and one more from another corsair technician:

I will highly recommend for you to use our TwinX1024-3200XL modules which has a timing setting of CAS 2/2/2/5 if you are not over clocking your system; if you are over clocking I will recommend you the TwinX1024-4400C25 it is rated to run 1:1 ratio up to 275MHz which is DDR550 with a CAS latency setting of 2.5/4/4/8, since this modules are currently the fastest module that is out in the market. The 3200XL/C2/LL, 4400C25, and VS1GBKIT400 or 400C3 modules should be fully compatible and work without any problem with your ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe socket 939 motherboard, and any socket 939 desktop MB will do it and 2 pairs shouldn't be a problem as well but double check on any limitation from the MB Manufacturer.

Help please! I found out a lot of people having those RAMs but most of them are not quiet sure if they are working as dual channel pair!!!

 

[Shaga]

Originally posted by: fonzi

...Kingston does not officially support the ASUS A8N-SLI DELUXE motherboard aswe are still doing some tests, therefore we will not be able to guaranteecompatibility with our modules.
The module KVR400X64C3A/512 is one of the modules our technicians think should be compatible with your motherboard. The difference between KVR400X64C3A/512 and KVR400X64C25/512 is really
thin, but the KVR400X64C25/512 would probably be unstable and Kingston would not support its use on your system. If you want to use CL 2.5, you would have to pick DDR333 KVR333X64C25/512.
MODULES MUST BE ORDERED AND INSTALLED IN PAIRS for Dual Channel mode. All modules must be identical for Dual Channel with Dynamic Mode. Kingston offers "K2" kit part numbers for Dual Channel mode. I would suggest you try : KVR400X64C3AK2/1G (2 modules of 512MB) or KVR333X64C25K2/1G

I use it, and you can see my sisoft sandra memory benchmark from above. I've used this as a 218mhzx11 for some weeks now and none problems whatsoever. I tried even memtest98 last night and works wonders. So at least it works as it should. Kingston just haven't tested and can't quarantee as they are up for qualified statements/imago about workarounds. I'm waiting for Kingston hyperx DDR434, and they can't quarantee support for that either. Reason for traiding, is that I need to get even better cooling/speeds than these gives me.

 

[Shaga]

Originally posted by: ajmiles
For some reason your Front Side Bus isn't set to what it should be;
...
whereas mine is:

Front Side Bus Speed : 2 x 940MHz (1880MHz data rate)
Speed : 2x 235MHz (470MHz data rate)
---

Look whos speaking, 1880mhz as for data rate ain't what it should be either. Data rate should be around 1000mhz, how can you get 1880Mhz to work? I'd love to get it to work that way as well. And whats your sisoft sandra memory benchmark average(thinking of how that data rate improves)?

 

[Shaga]

Originally posted by: gorman70
[If I compare these results with the ones above, I can't understand. I'm running my memory with faster timings. We both are running with 2T and still... what do you suggest?

And I use 1T. CL2.5.