Unofficial ASUS K8N-E thread

[Kador]

Originally posted by: Ricericebaby
Hey Kandor,

You might want to test your ram.
I have ballistix too and I never got any mem test errors at 2.7v 400mhz 2-2-2-10-1T.

Didn't get any at 2.7v 420Mhz 2-2-2-10 1T

Although it's spec'ced at 2.8v, it runs fine at 2.5v for stock speeds, but if you wanna hit anything above 440mhz with aggressive timings, I think it needs the full 2.8v. which sucks on this mb

Thanx, I'll chack again with memtest, and request a RMA if it's confirmed. How should I get replacement parts without sending the current ones first, so that I'm not blocked in the meantime ?

 

[gechu]

how come my max HTT is 258? isn´t that poor? What have you got? (lowered HT multi, ram dividers and cpu multi)
Would like to try to set a higher HTT and lower multi, and then scale the mem, but make sure it´s running at 250Mhz (cuq I know it works)

And I thought that raising the vcore would give me more stability, and the ability to get my cpu working at a higher speed? but I wounder why it´s keeping me back, cpu temp isn´t above 50 at full load.

Currently using the latest BETA bios, and it sure is BETA! Because I get video corruption if I try to reboot my comp. Have to cold boot to get it working @ 250 HTT mem ratio 1:1 freakn buggy!

 

[Ricericebaby]

Originally posted by: Kador

Originally posted by: Ricericebaby
Hey Kandor,

You might want to test your ram.
I have ballistix too and I never got any mem test errors at 2.7v 400mhz 2-2-2-10-1T.

Didn't get any at 2.7v 420Mhz 2-2-2-10 1T

Although it's spec'ced at 2.8v, it runs fine at 2.5v for stock speeds, but if you wanna hit anything above 440mhz with aggressive timings, I think it needs the full 2.8v. which sucks on this mb

Thanx, I'll chack again with memtest, and request a RMA if it's confirmed. How should I get replacement parts without sending the current ones first, so that I'm not blocked in the meantime ?

Crucial can do a cross ship. They'll ship you a part first, charge your credit card, and then remove the charge once they receive your shipment.
It might not tbe both dimms that are messed up. Test them individually and you should be able to get by on 1 dimm till the replacement arrives.

 

[vinodv]

Hey guys,

My NewCastle 3200+ rig (running on the k8n-e mobo) is showing some seriously high temperatures. I reside in India and ambient temperature according to a case mounted temperature is around 34-36C. The mobo temp ranges from 42-46C and the proccy from 46-53C. A 13min run of Prime95/3dmark'05/Aquamark demo all take the proccy temp to around 63C. All readings using the NV system utility.

I'm trying to pinpoint the cause here. From the case/mobo temps, do you think the proccy temps are acceptable? I removed the thermal pad from the heatsink and applied AS5. Do you think this was a mistake?

Please advise.
vv

 

[LocutusX]

what is the temp of the room you are in, vinod? use a thermometer.

when you removed the thermal pad/grease from the heatsink, did you use isopropyl rubbing alcohol (or something similar) - 99%? something like that is necessary to ensure it was completely removed, and the surface was clean. also removes dust and other particles from the mating surfaces. i know india is dusty, heh.

perhaps you need to look into improving case cooling, or swapping out the stock heatsink for a better aftermarket cooler... too many variables to take care of when considering keeping a computer cool in india. i know someone who used to run a P4 there, it would routinely lock up during regular use, especially when he left the AC off.

for the most part, the temp indicators on the K8N-E are accurate. i've never heard of anyone getting "odd" temp readings, like many people do with MSI's assorted crap.. i mean motherboards.

 

[Fab1an]

Does anyone have a good tool to show the cpu speed with cool&quiet enabled? the one from asus works but if I put my fsb at 224 it still reports 1000-2200MHZ instead of 1120-2464

 

[LocutusX]

google CPU-Z

 

[imported_ST]

it has been what, ~3 months or so since Asus released this board, and although we've complained, whined and pasted up the K8Ne for its overclocking capabilities (or lack thereof), after reading this thread on AT: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...8538&enterthread=y regarding the DFI boards (although its an older 1), I must applaud Asus for their continual support to address user complaints with what, 5 different BIOS since then! I'd love to see a review with the updated mobo vs. others...

 

[gechu]

That is one way of seeing it, another might be that the DFI BIOS is better from the beginning and doesn´t need all this bios fixxes to get it working properly. Well I donno, havn´t owned a DFI yet, but I´ve had a buggy Asus A7V earlier which required alot of updates to get it perfect.

 

[LocutusX]

well, i for one am happy with this board, although i wish they would allocate more resources to finalizing the 1006 BIOS.

they (asus) need better communications and PR with their customers, and incorporate their customers suggestions into their BIOS/products.

it's true that they've slipped lately, but it's not like they've become MSI or PCChips. to be honest, most mobo companies have "slipped" lately, and seem to be delivering lower quality products than they used to. not sure why that is the case...

 

[viiranth]

Specs:
Asus K8N-E Deluxe
A64 3400+
PowerColor x800pro Vivo
74GB Raptor
2x 160GB Seagate
Pioneer A05 DVD-R
Soundblaster Audigy

Problem:
When I first got all my new hardware a few months back the motherboard worked fine until I got read to go online, the LAN function on the card didn´t work.. I couldn´t get online. Tried everything and installed new BIOSes and all that, had to take the motherboard back and got a new one.

The new motherboard worked perfectly until yesterday. I turned on the computer like any other day, started surfing the web and were online for a few hours, then suddenly the screen goes black but the computer continued to run.

I then turned it off and then back on and then I couldn´t even get into BIOS. I tried to disconnect hardware I thought might be causing the problem with no luck. After a while I tried to reset the CMOS (by changing the jumper back and forth), this helped me to get some error messages like "Time wrong" and some other "Wrong information", it told me I had to press F1 to enter BIOS and change this or F2 to continue with default values.

If I press F1 I enter BIOS and everything seems fine, tried just about any possible changes in there, but as soon as I press "Exit and save" it reboots and just shows me a dark screen. Seems like it´s rebooting over and over. If I press F2 nothing happens.

I managed to get it booting from the Windows XP cd and installed windows again, whenever it had to reboot (twice during windows install) I would have to reset CMOS to get it to boot again, or else it would just give me a dark monitor and nothing happen.

I upgraded my BIOS from 1004 to 1005 in hope that would do anything but it didn´t help me at all, still same problem.

I´ve tried three different graphics cards, two different RAMs. With and without my DVD-r and hardrives connected. Same thing happens every time.

Anyone know what this problem might be? It worked perfectly for a few months until yesterday, I haven´t overclocked, the temperatures are low (30-40 on cpu, 35 on system, 40ish on graphics card).

If anyone have seen anything like this before I´d appreciate if you´d reply so I can show this thread to the store to add weight to my "case". Thanks.

 

[Zuke]

Can someone tell me about the RAID features on this board. I realize that it uses Nvidia RAID and Silicon Images. Are they both hot-plugable? Do they both automatically rebuild a failed drive in RAID 1 or 5 configuration?

 

[LocutusX]

Originally posted by: Zuke
Can someone tell me about the RAID features on this board. I realize that it uses Nvidia RAID and Silicon Images. Are they both hot-plugable? Do they both automatically rebuild a failed drive in RAID 1 or 5 configuration?

Zuke,

I don't think they have any of those advanced features. Your first question -- no, they are not hot-pluggable, according to the mobo manual.
Second question -- don't know, but if none of the other NF3 mobos have that feature, then this one probably won't either.

 

[Zuke]

Hmmm. The anandtech article on the nforce3 250 chipset infers that the chipset can do it, which is why I asked.

 

[LocutusX]

to be honest, i've heard complaints regarding various aspects of the RAID functionality on the K8N-E.

i do not think i would set up a RAID array on this board.

Since i'm not interested in RAID, it's fortunately not a problem for me.

For more info, check out the Asus forum @ pcper.com. There are a non-trivial number of "RAID complaints" regarding this board.

 

[vinodv]

I creamed my K8n-e somehow. The last I remember I was resetting some OCing I'd done that was causing aquamark to crash. I reboot, the mobo goes 'BIOS checksum error' and asks me to insert the mobo cd with the 1003 bios. I do so. It flasheth merrily. Asks me to power cycle the system and kaboom. Nothing after that. No display. No beep. Harddisk spins a little, fans all running along etc. Tried clearing the CMOS. No use. Was afraid I'd fried the proccy somehow. Took both back to my dealer. He tested them seperately and pronounced the mobo the culprit. Getting it repaired/replaced.

Last I checked, the CrashFree thingie was supposed to prevent just this. What the hell happened?

@LocustusX, Thanks for your suggestions. But from the above, you'll notice that my concerns with heat have been placed on the backburner

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: LocutusX
to be honest, i've heard complaints regarding various aspects of the RAID functionality on the K8N-E.

i do not think i would set up a RAID array on this board.

Since i'm not interested in RAID, it's fortunately not a problem for me.

For more info, check out the Asus forum @ pcper.com. There are a non-trivial number of "RAID complaints" regarding this board.

The only complaints on the RAID implementation was 1) Asus didnt use the full 4 channel of the Nforce3-250gb chipset and 2) they utilized channels 1 and 2, instead of 3 and 4, which according to them, prevents overclocking past 227Mhz. BUT, in my experience with RAID 0, I've had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever up to 235MHz....this is utilizing 2 WD Raptor 74GB drives..

 

[jkresh]

what on earth is taking them so long to get the next bios out, 1006.008 has been out for more then a month and still no sign of another beta or the 1006 release?

 

[Fab1an]

ur behind dude, the 1006 final has been out for days

 

[LocutusX]

Nope, not on the North American site.

If it's on the site for your country, can you please post the changelog?

Without the changelog, it's just as useless as the 1006 beta...

 

[Fab1an]

use the update utility

I dont know what has changed, here is some comment from someone else: http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54185

 

[beflythis]

ehh... now I'm nervous to try this. anyone already using it?

-beflythis

p.s. any ram voltage changes? i really want to be able to turn down my vcore voltage in order to run @ 2.4ghz..

 

[LocutusX]

some people reported issues with the beta version -- i.e your MAC address on the onboard LAN card, getting wiped out...

 

[jkresh]

the update utility has stoped working for me, it found a newer version of the utility and downloaded it but I cant get the new one to install (double click on setup and the process starts but nothing ever shows up and it only uses about 2 megs of ram) anyone have asusupdate 50031 working?

 

[Fab1an]

I can boot with:
hypertransport link=880 (220 * 4)
cpu speed=2420 (220 * 11)
memory frequency=220 (1:1)

But does anyone know why I can't boot with:
hypertransport link=600 (300 * 2)
cpu speed=2400 (300 * 8)
memory frequency=200 (2:3)