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

[newuser]

unable to resolve display issues, removing 2.78

Which drivers and BIOS should I put in (please post a link to dl site) Also, should Install Direct X9?

computer:
8RDA+, Win XP, GEFORCE4 TI 4200 video, AMD 2600+

I will be starting from scratch (formatting C) and a clean install of windows. (again )

I was thinking:
2.03 Drivers directly form epox usa site + Windows driver update
which bios?

Originally posted by: newuser

Originally posted by: Megatomic
I haven't done it yet newuser, and actually I might hold off for a week or so. I am buying a Barton tonight so when I get the chip I'll do the install then.

installed these drivers today
did not see any improvements, if anything the system seems to lag more than before but this could be from something else.
I will be reverting back to the last drivers

*edit, problem solved 2.03 drivers and the 8RDA3609 BIOS

 

[paladiin]

Bad news.

Still unstable about 20-30 minutes into 3DMark2001SE, even at non-overclocked speed. Crashing to desktop.

Any suggestions? Might this be a driver issue?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: newuser
unable to resolve display issues, removing 2.78

Which drivers and BIOS should I put in (please post a link to dl site) Also, should Install Direct X9?

computer:
8RDA+, Win XP, GEFORCE4 TI 4200 video, AMD 2600+

I will be starting from scratch (formatting C) and a clean install of windows. (again )

I was thinking:
2.03 Drivers directly form epox usa site + Windows driver update
which bios?

Drivers
BIOS. You'll get the 6/9/03 BIOS which is great for me.

As for DX9, since you have a DX8 video card it is not required but it won't break anything either. DX9 runs fine on my systems with DX8 gear.

Good luck.

 

[Megatomic]

paladiin, what memory timings/voltage have you selected for your system? Maybe your memory is set too aggressively? And which drivers came on your motherboard driver CD? You might have inappropriate drivers. Download the drivers I linked to in the post above this one (if you are running WinXP), they have worked great for me in the past. The 2.42 drivers that got pulled worked great too so if you can find them go for it.

More questions:
Have you tried running Prime95 yet to see if you could rule out your CPU/memory as the culprit? 3DMark2001 will certainly fail due to flaky CPU/memory, But bad video card configurations will make it fail too. Try Prime95 and see what happens. Just install it and run the torture test. You'll know soon enough if your CPU/RAM are causing your problems or not.

What Detonator drivers are you running? Detonator 43.45 have proven to be good drivers but Det. 30.82 were the all-time best for my GF4 Ti 4200. The 3DMark2001 scores were lower with it but my UT2003 and Comanche4 scores were the best. I'd recommend either driver set for you to use if you are using something else.

Which OS are you using? I have seen many reports of people running Win9x OSes and having major troubles. I'd heartily recommend upgrading to WinXP, or Win2K at the least. And make sure that whichever OS you are using that you update it fully.

I hope one of those tips helps you out paladiin. Let us know how it goes and maybe we can offer more suggestions (if need be).

 

[paladiin]

Figured out the problem I've been having (ie crashing/freezing 20 minutes into 3DMark)

It's a bad stick of XMS3200.

I ran Prime95 Torture Test and was getting a Hardware Failure error about 10 seconds into the test. A little bit of research showed it was likely one of three possible problems. CPU Heat, bad RAM, Voltage problem.

Since I new it wasn't CPU head (I wasn't breaking 41C under load), and the Power Supply was brand new and giving good voltage, it had to be the RAM.

Tested 1 stick at a time. First stick booted into Windows. Ran Prime95 Torture Test, and got the Hardware Failure in less than 3 seconds. Repeated 3 times, exactly the same results. Took that stick out, put in the other stick, booted and tested. Prime95 Torture Test ran flawlessly for 15 minutes - not long enough for a true stress test, but long enough to prove the other stick was bad. Turned off Prime95, started up 3DMark2001SE. Looped the benchmark and let it go. Nearly 2 hours later was still going strong. Proof enough for me.

Kind of frustrating to have what's supposed to be great RAM from a great company crap out, but guess it happens. Newegg RMA here I come.

 

[Megatomic]

Excellent news paladiin. It does suck to get bad parts but at least you know what the problem was. Have fun.

 

[alpha366i]

where can i get the driver for the ethnet controller??
everytime xp starts, it says hardware detect, cant find driver, blah blah...

 

[Megatomic]

Are you sure it is the ethernet controller that it can't find drivers for? When I load up WinXP for the first time (after a clean install) I get the same prompt but it's looking for USB 2.0 drivers. And windows will find those drivers after you install the UDAs. If not, just do a manual driver update for the device with a yellow ! and it'll install then.

But maybe it truly is looking for an ethernet controller driver. Which board did you buy? The + model?

 

[paladiin]

Thanks Megatomic.

Even though I found the problem last night, your advice would have been dead on!

 

[alpha366i]

I have +odel from newegg
anyways i insall the drivers that come with the cd. maybe its out od date.
i wann get new new drivers.
Shold i download the one from epox site or from nvidia.com
and what version is best?

 

[alpha366i]

i check device manager and USB dont have drivers either cuz i didnt install them.
I Need to get service pack first.
Weird thing is I dont get the driver install prompt for USB only ethnet.
WTF??

 

[alpha366i]

ok the ethnet driver issue is solved.
i had to tell xp where to look manually.
they couldnt find it by themselves.lol

 

[Megatomic]

Get the 2.03 drivers from NVidia directly. And then do windows update to get the latest audio driver update. And you won't get the prompt to install USB drivers if you have USB 2.0 disabled in the BIOS. WinXP has native drivers for USB 1.1 so there are already drivers loaded for it.

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: jyjjy
Hey all,
I'm currently in the process of building my first system on a fairly tight budget. After a fair bit of research I've decided to go with the 8RGA+.
I plan on ordering an Antec SLK3700AMB case(67.35 shipped from ETW) and an Athlon XP 1700+ tbred processor($41 shipped from newegg, anyone know if this'll be an A or B?) to go along with the 8RGA+. I've already got a decent monitor and HD(Maxtor Diamondmax+ 120 gig.)
The only trepidations I have come from all the ram issues I've been seeing in forums such as this.
I plan on getting one stick of 512mb ram at the moment(and another shortly, along with a decent video card, when I have the funds.) I plan on doing some modest overclocking hopefully, nothing too intensive.
So, all need is to decide what ram to order. I was hoping to use this $25 off offer from crucial (from this link) but I've read crucial might not be the best for this board.
If anyone here can give me a recommendation for what ram to get and where at a decent price that would be great. Something that will go well with this setup, hopefully not too much more than $50 or so if possible.
Thanks.

I wouldn't use Crucial on this board....many many reported problems with the nForce2 chipset and Crucial RAM. I would go with proven performers...Twinmos or HyperX. Both are reasonably priced.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: paladiin
Thanks Megatomic.

Even though I found the problem last night, your advice would have been dead on!

I'm glad you fixed it by yourself actually, that's a feather in your cap there. But it's nice to know I was on the right track anyways.

 

[omega99]

ahh godamm so frusting
spend whole day tryign to fix this problem
I download the latest epox drivers from the link above.
uninstalled old verion, restart, install new one, restart again.
then xp loads with the logo and when it finishes loading the screen goes blank.I use radeon 9500
I tried a different video card, voodoo3, and still get dark blank
so , How do I get XP into safe mod so i can install the old drivers from the cd back??
thanks

 

[Megatomic]

Hold down on Shift-F8 right after BIOS POST is complete. You should be able to get a dialog where you can select various ways to boot up including Safe Mode. Good luck.

 

[pspada]

Shift-F8? I've always used just plain ole F8. Seriously, I'm not shifting you.....:evil:

 

[alpha366i]

ok fix it
anyone else having problems with the above, latest epox nvidia drivers??

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: pspada
Shift-F8? I've always used just plain ole F8. Seriously, I'm not shifting you.....:evil:

Hehe, nice play on words . And you are probably right, the Shift doesn't seem right today. Must be just F8...

 

[SpideyCU]

Yup, just F8. I spam it sometimes to make sure it gets in.

 

[newuser]

Does anyone else expeience a slight "clipping" of thier audio when playing audio (music) while stressing the CPU (100% usage) like when playing a game.

(downloaded audio driver update and NVidia 2.03XP drivers)

 

[spikemike]

it seems there are compatibility issues with memory and this motherboard. The corsair is more expensive, then this one by geil http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=20-144-512 but this would be dual channel. Can you give me any advice if this Geil RAM is any good. Or perhaps a 3rd brand that will be less then corsair, I don't think i need a lot of overclocking head room since i don't want to push things to far.

 

[paladiin]

Well didn't get around to messing around with the north bridge, but did my overclock/stress test and here's what I came up with:

12x195FSB = 2.340Ghz @ 1.75v

Yummy!

Rock solid at this setting. 1 hour Prime95 Torture test with a max CPU temp of 44C. 2 hour 3DMark2001 SE with no problems. Then I got wild and did the Prime95 Torture test and UT2k3 benchmark at the same time! Passed with no problem. Yesterday did 14 hours of Everquest without any issues. Still, will probably pick up a HSF for the north bridge anyway - can never have too much cooling.

Anyway, I do have a quick question though regarding the chipset:

What's the latest chipset version for the 1.x mobo?

I've read that C1 was the most recent. Then I heard that A1 was the most recent. And, do I have to read it from the northbridge chip, or does WCPUID pick it up correctly?

 

[Megatomic]

AFAIK, the C1 and A1 refer to the same nForce2 400 Ultra chipset but I'm not 100% certain. I am stuck with the A3/A3 which WCPUID detects as A2.

I too have a nice overclock going now on my 8RDA+. I have a Barton 2500+ that is running at 12.5 x 175MHz for 2.19GHz. Everything detects this chip as a Barton 3200+ but due to the lower FSB it is not as fast as a real 3200+. But it kills the 3000+. :heart: