** Official EPoX 9NDA3+ Thread ** S939

[hectorsm]

My 9NDA3j doesn not like fast Writes. It worked fine on my previous Epox 8RDA board. When ever I turn on fast writes my BFG 6800 OC starts stuttering very bad. The lags can be as long as 5 seconds. If I turned WR off everything is smooth.

Anyone had this problem?

 

[arswihart]

heard of it, but don't have the problem myself

but I'm dealing with a very different situation too, using a ti4400 and playing no game more graphic intensive than Soldier of Fortune II and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, for me, fast writes are enabled and I'm not having any problems

 

[pantner]

oh no....heaven forbid i would want to use an unlocked SATA port!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I have fastwrites on, works GREEAATT!!!

 

[alexandreBR]

I've noticed something strange since yesterday morning... when I build the system, on tuesday, up to thursday, system temp was always around 35, 36°c in idle.... CPU was around 37° in idle and 41° in full... I've decided to install my SB Live! 5.1... I really like it and I think, at least for me, the sound quality is greater than the onboard Realtek... since then, everytime I check the temps system is hotter than the CPU... System is around 38, 39° in idle and CPU 37, 38°... how odd that is!!!

WoW... you've to consider that I live in Brazil, and here the temperature, at least in my city, is always between 28° and 36°.:sun:

 

[pantner]

it sounds like the SB Live is restricting air-flow in the case, and not letting hot air be exhausted easilly...

on idle, my CPU is almost always cooler then the system... CPU around 33C and System around 35C...when i have my air-con on, my CPU goes to 24C and my System goes to 27C (i think)


that is with Cool'N'Quiet Enabled.

 

[alexandreBR]

Originally posted by: pantner
it sounds like the SB Live is restricting air-flow in the case, and not letting hot air be exhausted easilly...

on idle, my CPU is almost always cooler then the system... CPU around 33C and System around 35C...when i have my air-con on, my CPU goes to 24C and my System goes to 27C (i think)


that is with Cool'N'Quiet Enabled.

yeah, maybe it can be... It can be also due to some cables (I need to buy a sleeving kit)... in fact, my pci card is on the bottom of the case, just above firewire cable... considering the temps in Brazil I think my temps aren't that bad... do you know where the system sensor is located?

 

[hectorsm]

Originally posted by: pantner
oh no....heaven forbid i would want to use an unlocked SATA port!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I have fastwrites on, works GREEAATT!!!

I thought the built in NF3 SATA port was locked. Anyway...I am still having the problem with my older 200GB Maxtor PATA. So it is probably not overclocked port issue.

 

[MDE]

Running mine at 280HTT (x3), and it's perfectly stable with a Winchester 3000+ @ 2.5 and the chipset fan unplugged. The only problem I'v had was with the unlocked SATA ports, and the locked ones being too close to the AGP slot which forced me to ditch the NV5 Silencer on my 6800GT for a Zalman VF700-Cu.

 

[pantner]

Originally posted by: MDE
The only problem I'v had was with the unlocked SATA ports, and the locked ones being too close to the AGP slot which forced me to ditch the NV5 Silencer on my 6800GT for a Zalman VF700-Cu.

ROFL...me too!!!

 

[arswihart]

any way you can put up a picture of your 6800gt with the vf700 on it?

I think I'll be in the market for a vf700 soon, either for a 6800gt or an x800xl agp

 

[pantner]

u mean me??

i don't have the Zalman yet...ordering it tomorrow...


BTW, i've had her up to 240x10 @5x HTT, Mem 1:1.....so far

gonna get some good OCZ RAM soon, that'll let me get higher on 1:1...

 

[arswihart]

what a waste of money! You aren't gonna get that much faster with better RAM pantner. How much is that gonna cost you, like >$200? Are you using the Gigabyte in your sig or your 9nda3+?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: arswihart
any way you can put up a picture of your 6800gt with the vf700 on it?

I think I'll be in the market for a vf700 soon, either for a 6800gt or an x800xl agp

I'll try to post some when I get home.

 

[morkys]

Update on stability/reliability of the 9nda3+ platforms?
How many hours are people able to run their system at stock settings with memtest86 without errors?

Would OCZ4001024PCD-K memory work ok in it? I don't plan to overclock. Running an MSI Neo2 and can't run for more than a few hours without errors on memtest86 using totally stock BIOS and memory settings and stock voltage settings (or 2.7 volts, tried both).

I you can run memtest86 for hours with 1GB of dual channel (2 x 512), what memory are you using and what are your settings?

thanx for any feedback,

 

[pantner]

Originally posted by: arswihart
what a waste of money! You aren't gonna get that much faster with better RAM pantner. How much is that gonna cost you, like >$200? Are you using the Gigabyte in your sig or your 9nda3+?

im using the Epox...sorry, have to change my sig

it depends what currency you are talking about...i live in australia, it is gonna cost me $469 (thats a good price through a friend), American, i THINK (don't know for sure) it'll be $350...

and yes, i will be able to get higher...i think my RAM is almost at its limits...and the timings are CRAP!!!


I haven't really tried memtest on my comp...or Prime95...i don't have time, when i have my computer turned on i use it

maybe when i have my next day off i'll give it a run...

 

[alexandreBR]

Originally posted by: alexandreBR

Originally posted by: arswihart
alexandreBR - syncronous mode doesn't increased performance on nforce3, just get RAM with good timings. Did you check out the RAM I linked to in my last post?

Yeah, I've checked those sticks... but unfortunately Newegg doens't deliver in Brazil... I think my only 2 options are Kyngston Hyper X or PQI Ultra. I've gotta choose one of them

sorry... but I really need an opinion on which of these sticks to buy... in addition, you can consider CORSAIR XMS too...

so, my only options are:

- Kingston Hyper X LL
- PQI Ultra
- Corsair XMS

could you, guys, please tell me which of them "fits" better in 9NDA3+?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: morkys
Update on stability/reliability of the 9nda3+ platforms?
How many hours are people able to run their system at stock settings with memtest86 without errors?

Would OCZ4001024PCD-K memory work ok in it? I don't plan to overclock. Running an MSI Neo2 and can't run for more than a few hours without errors on memtest86 using totally stock BIOS and memory settings and stock voltage settings (or 2.7 volts, tried both).

I you can run memtest86 for hours with 1GB of dual channel (2 x 512), what memory are you using and what are your settings?

thanx for any feedback,

I'm using some cheap Mushkin PC3200 that's running about 230MHz (8-3-3-3, 1T, 2.8V) and my PC is on 24\7 with no crashes or funny stuff.

 

[morkys]

Fair enough. I changed my Tras to 10 and was able to go 6 hours and 17 passes on memtest86 without errors. I stopped it. I think that Tras made a difference. Interestingly enough I saw in a review of the Epox 9nda3+ they prefered to run the memory at Tras=10 as it was more stable. Anyways.....glad your rig is doing ok Now that I've found error free memory settings I'll give it a chance.

 

[AndyBogard]

I just got system built yesterday and I'm using the 9NDA3+.

I'm having an issue with mine though, I can't get any video to appear on my monitor, my monitor just sits in standby even when I have the computer on. The computer starts up and everything runs, just no video.

Also my PORT 80 is keeps showing FF post code.

I did notice something that could be causing the issue though. It doesn't look like my AGP card is seating all the way. When I go to put the card in it locks and seats the top 2 sections, but the large section shows a little bit of the prong pieces (don't know there actual name) still visible upon close inspection with a flashlight. The card also doesn't want to reach the expansion slot completely and is a pain to try and get screwed in, even if I can it screwed in it doesn't catch the whole bracket.

I wonder if this could be a manufacturing defect with my board. Could it be that my AGP slot is placed a little further in than it should be (aka defect)?

I am really upset and angry, I've been wanting to get back into pc gaming and I was waiting expecting to be playing this weekend, but something just had to stop me.

Any body offer any advice?

 

[pantner]

There can be MANY MANY things that can cause a computer not to post...

PSU, Motherboard, CPU, Graphics Card, RAM, Hard Drives, etc , etc...

we need (well, i do anyway) MORE information before we can help...

 

[AndyBogard]

What about not using the proper screws to go into the motherboard standoffs?

I just realized I did that. Instead of using the necessary screws to screw into the standoffs, I stupidly used more motherboard standoffs to screw into the standoffs.

Since I used "standoff to standoff" instead of "screw to standoff", could it be that its not grounding all the way like it should? Could this be causing my problem?

I already tried swapping the video card, so thats ruled out. I swapped the ram, so I can rule that out. Cleared the CMOS, nothing still.

I got the video card seated better. I'm thinking its the standoffs.

Any opinions?

 

[pantner]

the standoffs won't matter...

if the standoffs didn't conduct properly, they you wouldn't be able use them at all...

i know its a stupid question, but did you plug in the 4-pin power connector to the motherboard, the one right near the 20-Pin ATX connector...

and again....MORE INFORMATION....

 

[Goldenboy]

Hi everyone,

Just got my system build with the epox 9nda3J. My question is that when it is posting the board takes a long time to detect the ide drives. Does anybody have this situation with their board.

Specs are below:

Epox 9nda3J rev. 2.1 Bio ver. 11/01/04
Retail winnie A64 3200+ with retail HSF
corsair value 2x512mb dual ddr pc3200
WD 200gig
Bfg 6800gt oc
Afreey 56x cd-rom
Fortron blue storm ax500-a

 

[pantner]

it sounds like you may have the hard drives/cd drives on Cable Select or something...

try making one drive a master and one drive a slave...be careful with that Western Digital, they have weird jumper settings, one is "Master/Alone" and the other is "Master W/ Slave", make sure you put it on the correct one!!!

 

[Goldenboy]

I have the hd on ide 0 channel as master with slave jumper setting and cd drive on ide 1 channel as master. Both devices I am using the 40-pin connectors, and I believe the connectors are backward compatible with ATA 33, 66, 100, 133. It just takes over one minute to detect the two devices during the post screen. Is this normal?

Thanks for the help pantner.