*** Official EPoX 8RDA/+ (nForce2) Thread ***

[helloguy]

did u misplaced the jumper of resetting cmos? check the jumper make sure it is in default location,I had this prob b4 last time when I misplaced the jumper until somebody told me to check it

 

[bootoo]

Thanks, I checked that like 5 times but a really good thought - it's something I would do!

I also cleared the cmos. Now flashed the bios; we'll see

 

[clarkkent333]

Anyone having problems with their ethernet jack? No matter what I try I can't get the damn thing to work. Any ideas?

 

[bootoo]

Have you checked motherboardfaqs.com? There's a fix involving a partial assignment of a mac address. That seems to work for most.

Hey Clark I was one of your first customers on that other forum! Welcome

 

[bupkus]

I have an epox 8rda+ for a while now but recently swapped out the cpu for a retail Barton 2500+ oc'd using the fsb to 200 or 2.2GHz. Everytime I play Unreal XMP it eventually reboots. I had the overheat shutdown on at 60C but my cpu never goes over 38C. I upped it to 70C (I suppose I should disable it) but I can't help but wonder why?
Oh, I should add that I had the last cpu at 200fsb with my OCZ EL PC3500 at Optimal, same as I have now.

 

[helloguy]

Originally posted by: bupkus
I have an epox 8rda+ for a while now but recently swapped out the cpu for a retail Barton 2500+ oc'd using the fsb to 200 or 2.2GHz. Everytime I play Unreal XMP it eventually reboots. I had the overheat shutdown on at 60C but my cpu never goes over 38C. I upped it to 70C (I suppose I should disable it) but I can't help but wonder why?
Oh, I should add that I had the last cpu at 200fsb with my OCZ EL PC3500 at Optimal, same as I have now.

probably ur cpu gets not enuf voltage,add .025 or 0.05 to it n see..might be psu problem?

 

[Mattlock]

I'm having a hard time with determining my Vcore

Sisoft Sandra has the following readings:

CPU Core Voltage: 1.58
Auxillary Volage: 1.79

Its rather strange but Sandra's readings are the opposite of my bios.
Bios is set with AGP at 1.60 and CPU Core at 1.775.

How is that?

CPU-Z reads "voltage" at 1.58......
Speedfan reads VCore A: 1.58 and Vcore B: 1.82

Is it possible that the Bios settings are backwards? I did notice my temps increased each time i raised my Core voltage which leads me to believe the motherboard is correct.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: screw3d
Has anyone here got leaking capacitors like this? Notice that only 3 are leaking about a few weeks ago when I took this picture. Now all four are leaking.

Anyone has experience dealing with Epox/Newegg with this problem?

Edit: Link corrected.
Edit2: Pic with all caps leaking

I recall people reporting the differnt rev's of the this board have come with more than one brand of capacitor... could you tell us what your leaking capacitors are? This could be of concern!

 

[MoFunk]

Originally posted by: screw3d
Has anyone here got leaking capacitors like this? Notice that only 3 are leaking about a few weeks ago when I took this picture. Now all four are leaking.

Anyone has experience dealing with Epox/Newegg with this problem?

Edit: Link corrected.
Edit2: Pic with all caps leaking

I have not seen that on my 8RDA+ yet, but I have 2 8K7A's that have this is a bad way. One keeps locking up and the other started to sizzle out the top of one and then died. I contacted Epox and even though my boards are out of warranty they are going to fix the capacitors. I would contact epox tech support soon before your warranty runs out. Kinda wierd about Epox warranty, must only be a year because they insist these boards are our of warranty but I bought them a little over a year ago. I have had a couple of MSI boards do this same thing here at work and they are at least 2 years old and MSI is RMAing them. Plus with epox you have to pay return shipping as well.

 

[joepa99]

What is the fastest stock chip the 8rda+ will take?

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: joepa99
What is the fastest stock chip the 8rda+ will take?

I believe the fastest XP AMD makes. 3200+ Currently I'm using that mobo with a locked 2500+ Barton OC'd to 2.2GHz by upping the fsb to 200. If you've go good enough memory you should be able to as well.

 

[joepa99]

Unfortunately I only have pc2700 (samsung) in there right now, but I may move up soon to 3200

 

[bupkus]

Consider, what you'd save ($110) overclocking a 2500+ you could invest in new memory... especially if you can sell the memory you have.

 

[kulprit1657]

hey all this is my first post i've just recently installed a new epox nforce2 motherboard (the 8rda+ one) i wiped both my drives and installed xp pro. installed service pack one (had it on cd) then installed my drivers from the cd. after that i noticed i didn't have sound. so i checked the bios yep its enabled. so then i tried installing the newest drivers i installed the nforce 3.13 drivers. and now i still have no sound. i check the audio prefs in control panel and it says no audio device dectected. has anyone had this problem before? its really got me stumped. thanks

 

[pspada]

Try clearing the bios, and then enter it, turn the sound off, exit and save, reboot, enter the bios and turn the sound back on.

 

[Boobers]

Refurbs for $40 Shipped...

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: Boobers
Refurbs for $40 Shipped...

I wish I knew that these were indeed worked back to specs. The quarantee on refurbs is very short, but maybe not too short to find out what one needs to know.

 

[Pilsnerpete]

I wish I knew that these were indeed worked back to specs. The quarantee on refurbs is very short, but maybe not too short to find out what one needs to know.

Excuse me, sir. Did you just volunteer to be Anandtech's unofficial non-profit 8rda+ refurb tester?

Here's to you!:beer::beer:

 

[KiltedFool]

I did a quick scan of this thread and couldn't locate it, but I confess I didn't exhaustively search.

I'm looking to upgrade the memory and possibly the processor I'm running in my 8RDA+.

Right now I have two sticks of 256 MB PC2100 Crucial, I'd like to get to two sticks of 512 running dual channel, 2700 or 3200, but cheap counts.

Kingston RAM is regularly going on sale at the major retailers, but I've heard that this board doesn't like Kingston much. I also notice the packaging won't guarantee dual channel, though most people apparently can get it working just fine.

Also will likely get a Barton and change my 2100 Palomino out to put in a mother-in-law surfing computer.

I don't overclock currently, but I might fiddle a little if I do both of these changes.

KF

 

[Boobers]

I just got a 512Mb PC3200 Dual Channel Kit of Kingston ValueRam (256Mb sticks X 2) at Best Buy for $65 AR (Part # KVR400AK2/512R)

I'm running it @ 200Mhz Dual Channel Mode with 7-3-3-3 timings. Runs just fine at that speed.

I've also used this Samsung Original PC3200 with my 8RDA+, and it ran exactly the same as the Kingston.

Get a Barton 2500+, but you already know that... :beer:

Also, make sure you have a quality power supply that is at least 300-350 watts. This really helps with the OC.

EDIT: BTW, I did get one of those "$40 Referbs". It looked like someone had been using it for a while (dust around the back panel ports on the motherboard). It was v1.1 (C1 NB and A3 SB) and came with everything the regular retail package comes with, all sealed in bags (usb & firewire brackets, IDE cables, everything, and never used, apparantly). It had the latest BIOS and runs very well, indeed. So, I ended up with 512MB PC3200, referb 8RDA+ and a 2500+ Barton for ~$190. I've never had a better (or cheaper!) upgrade in my life. I also got a 9700 Pro w/ heat-pipe cooling for $179, but that belongs in another forum...



EDIT 1-10-05: Well, after one year the referb bit the dust. I looked at Newegg and they still have 8RDA+ referbs, but they are now $60 shipped. I contacted Epox and they said they would RMA the board for free (they did NOT request any money for return shipping). I searched the web and found that there has been a rash of bad motherboard capacitors. So I examined my board and I discovered several swollen ("puffed-up") and leaking capacitors on the board, especially the three caps to the right of the AGP slot and below the DIMM slots (the caps are green with gold stripe and lettering, and are marked "GSC"). I decided to replace all the caps 1000uf and above. I got my caps (Rubycon brand 105oC Low-ESR) from Computek. I ordered on Monday afternoon and was installing them Wednesday afternoon. Sweet service.

Here's the list for the 8RDA+:
1000ufd 10v w/ 8mm dia. 9pcs.
1500ufd 10v w/ 8mm dia. 5pcs.
2200ufd 10v w/ 10mm dia. 4pcs.
3300ufd 6.3v w/ 10mm dia. 6pcs.

I got 60 caps for $37.35 shipped (I've got a couple of 8RDA+'s with this problem). I replaced all the caps (click HERE for instructions) and now my board works perfectly again. I would have sent it to Epox for free replacement, but they replace the caps with the same junky caps that were there in the first place (GSC brand). The Rubycons are much better, in fact that's what is on my Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe MB.

On a side note, my Sapphire Atlantis 9700 Pro Ultimate Edition has started showing actifacts, even during the BIOS POST screen. I'm trying to RMA it right now... So much for referbs from Newegg! So far I'm 0-3! (I also had a GeFroce 4200 referb die because of bad caps. I replaced those myself and it once again works like new).

 

[tallest1]

bump for easy reference. Just got a 8RDA+ Rev 2.1 (or 2.2) today

 

[EPoXTech]

Lets bump this back up.

 

[Boobers]

Anyone using the latest 8RDA4212 BIOS (dated 2-12-04)?

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: Boobers
Anyone using the latest 8RDA4212 BIOS (dated 2-12-04)?

Yep, in 2 of my 8rda+ rigs. My main one is running fine @ 211 x 11 ( 2.33ghz) 5-3-2-2 timings.

 

[scrubman]

WATCHOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just downloaded the new 4212 bios and got SCREWED! luckily im geek enough to ba able to save myself.. they included the wrong version of AWDFLASH!!! it will not work to update your BIOS... i had to get the previous release and get the AWDFLASHE.EXE file from it and copy it to the floppy disk where i had the 4212 bios... and then i had to run the utility alone and type in the exact name of the new bios .bin file...

Also, how come this thread is not a sticky at the top of the Motherboard forum?

so anyway, im using the 4212 bios now and things seem pretty smooth so far...