Unofficial Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR thread

[EMBE]

Alright thanks krose...appreciate it.

 

[NiN1111]

Do you mind elaborating on that? 166 memory divider? You're talking about the option under "max memclock" correct? I thought that adjusts the maximum memory clock of the ram. Also, how exactly does it set the ram to 208?
Sorry for my newbieish questions, I don't have any experience with socket 754 motherboards.

 

[Fuzn]

Yeah, this makes no sense. I just installed a ZALMAN CNPS7000A-Cu fan on this motherboard and the temperature using the bios says 51c and 49 on the hardware monitor software. I got this heatsink because the stock one gave me... the exact same temperatures. What a nice upgrade. I also used arctic silver 5 with both fans. Should I wait a while for it to set in or should i just try reapplying the arctic silver again?

 

[krose]

Originally posted by: NiN1111
Do you mind elaborating on that? 166 memory divider? You're talking about the option under "max memclock" correct? I thought that adjusts the maximum memory clock of the ram. Also, how exactly does it set the ram to 208?
Sorry for my newbieish questions, I don't have any experience with socket 754 motherboards.

No problem. Yes, the dividers are under max memclock. The divider is a factor that gives you the memory clock from the CPU Overclock (FSB) setting. The dividers are based on a stock 200 FSB. So at a setting of 166 the divider is 166/200 or 5/6. Then at 250 your actual memclock is 250 x 5/6 = 208. At 240 memclock would be 200. If your memory can't run 1:1 (the auto setting) at high FSB, then you can use the divider to get it back within specification. Athlon 64 does not take a performance hit running memory asynch unlike Athlon XP.

 

[krose]

Originally posted by: Fuzn
Yeah, this makes no sense. I just installed a ZALMAN CNPS7000A-Cu fan on this motherboard and the temperature using the bios says 51c and 49 on the hardware monitor software. I got this heatsink because the stock one gave me... the exact same temperatures. What a nice upgrade. I also used arctic silver 5 with both fans. Should I wait a while for it to set in or should i just try reapplying the arctic silver again?

Yeah same here. I didn't try the stock heatsink, put on a Thermalright SLK-948U, and my temps are 50 BIOS, 48 Soltek HWM at idle, goes to 50 load with HWM. This is after 2 weeks with AS5. AS5 application is tricky because it's so thick. You are supposed to put a small bead in the middle of the CPU heat spreader and let the pressure of the sink spread it out. If you coat the heat spreader with a thin layer you have a chance of trapping air when you attach the heatsink according to the AS website. I did the bead thing and from my temps I am not sure AS5 is the best thermal compond for this. I am going to try some Ceramique I have here. It is more mobile and should spread out better under the pressure of the heatsink.

 

[imported_Bucko]

I was able to get my tuner card working. By turning off ALL my PCI stuff in device manager before installing. Placed the card second to the bottom, it was assigned IRQ 17 by it's self.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Bucko, congrats on getting the card working!

krose & Fuzn, I did just what AS said not to do and spread a thin layer of AS5 across the heatspreader. The layer I put on is exactly as wide as the bottom of the SLK-948U. It kinda freaked me out when I saw that the the heatspreader was wider than the base of the sink, but it's working great. Anyway, with a Panaflo 92mm H my die temps are 44C idle and 46C load according to the Soltek HM. The biggest drawback to applying the AS5 this way is that it does make it more difficult to remove the heatsink. It's almost like a vacuum is created and you have to slowly turn the heatsink back and forth while pulling up on it with some moderate pressure until it suddenly pops up with a little "smack" sound. I was a little worried about that at first because I thought it might pull the heatspreader off of the chip, but I've done it a few times now with a couple of chips and it hasn't caused any problems (knock on wood). You gotta love the SLK-948U. The first installation is a minor PITA with the backplate and everything, but after that it's a piece of cake to safely remove/reinstall the heatsink.

Here's something interesting that I discovered last night - my gig of Ballistix PC4000 is suddenly able to run up to 235MHz totally stable at 2.5-3-2-10. I was messing around doing testing of 5X HT at 200 FSB and then at 210 FSB (where 5X maxed out with stability) at 1:1. I tried 220 and forgot to set the RAM to the 166 setting and the system booted but wouldn't load Windows. Now that's a big change from last weekend because the Ballistix wouldn't even post at anything over 210MHz even with max VDIMM and relaxed timings. I started testing all over again at 1:1, bumping it up 5MHz at a time, and was able to hit 240MHz using 2.5-3-3-6. Prime couldn't get past a couple of minutes, so I backed it down to 235 and it was totally stable. This was with the 3000+ so I popped the 3200+ back in and got the same results up to 230MHz (max stable FSB of the cpu at 1.55V). I checked and re-checked my notes from testing last weekend and every single setting in bios was exactly the same. Freaky, huh? I guess the Ballistix had to burn in or something before it would start to overclock with two sticks installed. Here's hoping that it continues to burn in and I can get it up to 1:1 at 250MHz with the 3000+.

doobie

 

[imported_Bucko]

Originally posted by: DoobieOnline

Here's something interesting that I discovered last night - my gig of Ballistix PC4000 is suddenly able to run up to 235MHz totally stable at 2.5-3-2-10. doobie

Spoon feed please
Where are these numbers found?
I know about the 10 as the multiplier
What are the other numbers will this help?


DRAM Configuration :

Max Memclock (Mhz) Choose the max. memory clock.
Choice: 100. 133. 166. Auto
Cas# latency (TcI) Choose the CAS# latency feature.
Choices: Auto; 2.0. 2.5. 3.0
Ras# to cas# delay Choose the RAS to CAS delay time.
(Trcd) Choices: Auto' 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7
Min ras# active time Choose the minimum RAS active time.
Choices: Auto; 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 12. 13. 14; 15
Row Precharge Time Choose the Row Precharge time.
(Trp) Choices: Auto; 2. 3. 4. 5. 6


not sure if i should off but I ran this on my 64: http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/utilities/cpudriver.EXE
from here http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html
havn't updated the orignal mobo Bios

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Bucko, are you asking where to find the memory clock speed & timing settings in bios? Under "Advanced Chipset Features" you'll find the category "DRAM Configuration" and that's where you can change the speed and timings for your memory. If I listed my rig's RAM settings in the order shown under DRAM Configuration, it would read Auto-1T-2-2-10-2. If you're not familiar with these settings, I'd leave them all at "Auto" (except Max Memclock should be set to 166 since you're running PC2700) so you don't lock your system up and have to clear CMOS with the jumper and then set everything back up in bios again. If you're running your CPU at stock speed and have very high quality PC2700, you might be able to set up your DRAM Config to something like 166-1T-2-2-10-2. Don't forget that how much voltage (2.6, 2.7, 2.8) you use plays a big part in the stability of your RAM (higher VDIMM usually provides better stability, but only go as high as you need to get it stable). I'm saying all this under the assumption that you're new to overclocking, so feel free to tell me to step it up a bit if what I'm saying is elementary to you. HTH

doobie

edit: Installing the latest AMD CPU driver is always a good idea so don't worry about that. The only official bios that's available is the one that shipped with your board. There is a beta bios available, but I do not recommend using it. I tried out the beta and didn't gain anything from it.

 

[imported_Bucko]

Never OC Ram before.... yeah so I'm a newbi

like this then.
DRAM Configuration :

Max Memclock (Mhz) Choose the max. memory clock.
Choice: 100. 133. 166. Auto
Cas# latency (TcI) Choose the CAS# latency feature.
Choices: Auto; 2.0. 2.5. 3.0
Ras# to cas# delay Choose the RAS to CAS delay time.
(Trcd) Choices: Auto' 2. . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7
Min ras# active time Choose the minimum RAS active time.
Choices: Auto; 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. . 11 12. 13. 14; 15
Row Precharge Time Choose the Row Precharge time.
(Trp) Choices: Auto; 2. . 3. 4. 5. 6

give me stuff to do at work besides work.
I know how to clear CMOS :beer: :laugh:

 

[DoobieOnline]

Yep, I think you got it. Who makes your RAM and what model is it?

doobie

 

[imported_Bucko]

Originally posted by: DoobieOnline
Yep, I think you got it. Who makes your RAM and what model is it?

doobie

Thanks but the ram is just rebate ram that I?ve used for couple years. Mismatched pny/ generic. I was planning on upgrading when I purchased the 64. Anyway I can easily get 2.2 from the 64 but the 2.5-3-2-10 will only get half way through 3dmark then freezes. That was with v-core at 1.55 and 2.60 dimm. The CPU multiplier didn?t seem to make any difference at all. In fact with the timings in auto I could run with 20x and didn't see any difference. If I use Dram default any thing over 2.2 gig is unstable.

Redid my Promise Raid0 last night. The first reading is windows software Raid0. Second one is using the Promise raid both are done on the PATA IDE 3 port master/slave.
software Raid0
hardware promise Raid0

 

[DoobieOnline]

You can try 2.7 or 2.8V for the memory and 2.5-3-3-10 and see if that gets you stable. 183MHz isn't too shabby for generic PC2700.

doobie

 

[imported_Bucko]

Thanks, I'll give it a try and let ya know.

 

[Xout]

I have a few questions about this motherboard. I have 2 x 512 (1GB) of Kingston memory PC 3200 DDR400. Does this motherboard support dual channel memory? I was going to buy an AMD Athlon 64 3200 CPU with Newcastle core for this motherboard. I am NOT going to overclock the system. What FSB can I get without overclocking? Thanks in advance.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Xout, Socket 754 Processors do not support Dual-Channel RAM and this is a 754 board. If you're not going to overclock, then you'll be running at 200MHz FSB (which is the default FSB of all the 754 CPU's).

doobie

 

[CraigRT]

Hey Xout, you should get this board, I have it and love it. Doobie has answered the questions for you already (I was going to say the same thing as he) but I thought I'd promote the mobo in my post

 

[Xout]

Well right now I have a 2.8G AMD Athlon XP on an Asus A7N8X-X motherboard with PC3200 Kingston DDR400 (1G) that doesn't support dual channel either but I have 333 FSB. Would I see any gain in speed going with the new 64 bit processors and motherboard? I really wanted to get something that can run 400 FSB and get the use of my dual channel memory. Thanks.

 

[DoobieOnline]

I re-read what I wrote and didn't want to confuse you. The PC3200 you have now will run dual-channel or single-channel so you can use it in any board that you choose. Running in dual-channel may give you a very slight boost in performance, but we're talking very slight. The additional cost to go Socket 939 (which does support dual-channel) would not be worth the extra 3 to 5 percent increase in performance you might gain (when comparing CPU's running at the same speed).

I take it you're running a 2800+ XP at 166 FSB right now? You would see a performance boost if you upgraded to the Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR and a Socket 754 CPU. Make sure your power supply has the necessary 12V 4-pin connector (the square one that attaches to the motherboard) or you'll have to upgrade your PSU, too.

The setup you have now isn't bad at all and might benefit more from a video card upgrade. What vid card are you currently running?

doobie

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Xout
Well right now I have a 2.8G AMD Athlon XP on an Asus A7N8X-X motherboard with PC3200 Kingston DDR400 (1G) that doesn't support dual channel either but I have 333 FSB. Would I see any gain in speed going with the new 64 bit processors and motherboard? I really wanted to get something that can run 400 FSB and get the use of my dual channel memory. Thanks.

hey there, you can't run dual channel on this mobo, but to be honest, the performance gain is not a huge deal. just going from an AXP to an A64 will be a big increase though, and running at 400FSB is what it will run at by default on this mobo, with your DDR400 that's perfect

 

[Ertaz]

Just as an update:

The Final OC for me is 2.47. I am running the mem @ the 166 setting (225FSB * 5/6 =187.5 I think). Runs Prime95 and D3 like no tomorrow. I will leave it F@H while I'm away next week. Oh well the next upgrade will be a dual NF4 Opteron (If I save up enough $ It may also be dual core). I am sold on the A64 chip design. I hate the speed of the P4's at work now.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Ertaz
Just as an update:

The Final OC for me is 2.47. I am running the mem @ the 166 setting (225FSB * 5/6 =187.5 I think). Runs Prime95 and D3 like no tomorrow. I will leave it F@H while I'm away next week. Oh well the next upgrade will be a dual NF4 Opteron (If I save up enough $ It may also be dual core). I am sold on the A64 chip design. I hate the speed of the P4's at work now.

me too... my 2.4B @ 2.9 is an absolute slug.. performs like ass compared to my A64 rig at home.

 

[Xout]

Doobie,

My current video card is an ATI 9200 (128mb). I have no problems with my current system. I am going to build me a new computer and give my son my current computer minus the (1G) of ram. I was just planning on going with another Asus board with a 3200 Athlon XP CPU to get the 400 FSB then noticed it wouldn't cost much more to go with a AMD 64 setup. I guess the dual channel is not that big of a deal but I would like to have 400 FSB. Yes my current system is a 2800 XP at 166mhz which is actually 333 FSB if I am not mistaken.

CraigRT,

Thanks for your reply too. I wanted to make sure that I could run 400 FSB without overclocking with my (1G) of Kingston DDR400. This board is about $20 cheaper than the Asus K8V SE Deluxe that I was looking at with the Athlon 64 setup. I basically just wanted to know if the small price increase of the Athlon 64 over the Athlon XP was worth it.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Xout, you'd definitely be better off going with a Socket 754 setup and I highly recommend the Soltek board. It's incredibly stable and makes a great base for a new system. Are you a gamer? If so, what games do you play and what video card were you planning to get?

doobie

 

[imported_Bucko]

Originally posted by: DoobieOnline
You can try 2.7 or 2.8V for the memory and 2.5-3-3-10 and see if that gets you stable. 183MHz isn't too shabby for generic PC2700.

doobie

Thanks Doobie that did bring my ram up a notch (bench tested). But I guess I need to do a little more research the 183 and "(225FSB * 5/6 =187.5 I think)" is over my head. I inched up to 225 with those setting and gave me 2300 MHz .. Yeah
So I guess my next query is FSB. SO mine is 225 x 4= 900 that can't be right ..rite
the 4x is hyper transport ??

Ertaz wasa 5/6 compaired to 2.5-3-3-10

Maybe I'll go back to reading

re-read my own post maybe it's 183x4=732 that sound more like it.


Edit: found a good read attest for me http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2004&p=2
I'm also DLing the CPU-z for info and education: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php