Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 1.4 Upgrade Question

[Mac]

PDQ (Pathetically Dumb Question) Time.

I am considering purchasing some PC3200 CAS2.5 memory as part of a CPU upgrade. How will this work in an Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 1.4 mobo. This was one of the early nForce2 mobo's that only supports a max of 333Mhz FSB for the CPU. According to the manual, it will support PC3200 non-ECC DDR Ram and also Dual Channel DDR400.

I have been running an Athlon XP 2000+ for a couple of years without any problems. I don't game that much anymore but I am starting to use the system for multimedia and DVD authoring so a faster CPU is becoming a consideration. If I had scads of time, I would probably buy a new mobo and an Athlon64 but swapping out a CPU is relatively painless and fast.

Due to the mobo FSB limitation, the logical upgrade path would be a 333 MHZ FSB Barton. But, I seem to recall that to get the maximum benefit of an nForce2 mobo, you would want the CPU FSB and memory to be the same speed but I'm not sure. So, there are some questions here:
1. Is it preferable to run the CPU FSB and memory at the same speed?

2. If yes, to the previous, is it possible to manually lower the clock speed of this memory or will it default automatically to the SPD?

3. If I underclock the memory as PC2700/ dual channel DDR333, can I use more agressive memory timings?

Bottom line, is this memory a good choice?

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Mac
PDQ (Pathetically Dumb Question) Time.

I am considering purchasing some PC3200 CAS2.5 memory as part of a CPU upgrade. How will this work in an Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 1.4 mobo. This was one of the early nForce2 mobo's that only supports a max of 333Mhz FSB for the CPU. According to the manual, it will support PC3200 non-ECC DDR Ram and also Dual Channel DDR400.

I have been running an Athlon XP 2000+ for a couple of years without any problems. I don't game that much anymore but I am starting to use the system for multimedia and DVD authoring so a faster CPU is becoming a consideration. If I had scads of time, I would probably buy a new mobo and an Athlon64 but swapping out a CPU is relatively painless and fast.

Due to the mobo FSB limitation, the logical upgrade path would be a 333 MHZ FSB Barton. But, I seem to recall that to get the maximum benefit of an nForce2 mobo, you would want the CPU FSB and memory to be the same speed but I'm not sure. So, there are some questions here:
1. Is it preferable to run the CPU FSB and memory at the same speed?

2. If yes, to the previous, is it possible to manually lower the clock speed of this memory or will it default automatically to the SPD?

3. If I underclock the memory as PC2700/ dual channel DDR333, can I use more agressive memory timings?

Bottom line, is this memory a good choice?

I run the board with PC3200 DDR 400 memory at 412 with a XP3200+ at 2.3 GHZ

Rock solid, snappiest system I've had so far.

Just make sure you have a good power supply.

Go for it :thumbsup:

 

[lightzout]

I have a Rev1.04 A7N8X and a Rev2.0 . I never had good stability even after flashing the bios when I used the DDR400 with a Barton on the Rev1.04. I have a gig of 2700 of value ram in it now and its rock solid but I never really played with the memory timing or voltage.

 

[JSSheridan]

Originally posted by: Mac
PDQ (Pathetically Dumb Question) Time.

I am considering purchasing some PC3200 CAS2.5 memory as part of a CPU upgrade. How will this work in an Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 1.4 mobo. This was one of the early nForce2 mobo's that only supports a max of 333Mhz FSB for the CPU. According to the manual, it will support PC3200 non-ECC DDR Ram and also Dual Channel DDR400.

I have been running an Athlon XP 2000+ for a couple of years without any problems. I don't game that much anymore but I am starting to use the system for multimedia and DVD authoring so a faster CPU is becoming a consideration. If I had scads of time, I would probably buy a new mobo and an Athlon64 but swapping out a CPU is relatively painless and fast.

Due to the mobo FSB limitation, the logical upgrade path would be a 333 MHZ FSB Barton. But, I seem to recall that to get the maximum benefit of an nForce2 mobo, you would want the CPU FSB and memory to be the same speed but I'm not sure. So, there are some questions here:
1. Is it preferable to run the CPU FSB and memory at the same speed?

2. If yes, to the previous, is it possible to manually lower the clock speed of this memory or will it default automatically to the SPD?

3. If I underclock the memory as PC2700/ dual channel DDR333, can I use more agressive memory timings?

Bottom line, is this memory a good choice?

1. Yes

2. Yes. You can set your memory to a percentage of the FSB frequency. '100%' is the setting to match FSB and memory freqs.

3. Can't say for sure. I am fairly certain that, for your application, memory timings aren't going to make a significant difference.

I have a 1.04 board myself, and I can run it at 200MHz FSB. Your milage may vary.

 

[Mac]

Thanks JSSheridan for the tip. I checked the Asus site and saw that 200FSB was supported in a later BIOS update. I would definitely prefer to upgrade to one of the faster 200FSB and hope that the PC3200 memory would have some value on possibly the next system build.

How stable is your system? lightzout doesn't sound very positive about running a 1.04 board at 200MHz.

 

[mlc]

Originally posted by: Mac
Thanks JSSheridan for the tip. I checked the Asus site and saw that 200FSB was supported in a later BIOS update. I would definitely prefer to upgrade to one of the faster 200FSB and hope that the PC3200 memory would have some value on possibly the next system build.

How stable is your system? lightzout doesn't sound very positive about running a 1.04 board at 200MHz.

1)beware... there is no guarantee that you'll reach 200 with a 1.04 regardless of the bios.. this is a known issue with this board, and there are many forums out there that discuss it... there are some modded bios out there that seem to have good results..
The limitation appearst to be related to how the board handles voltage towards its chipset... Folks have had mixed results .. some hitting 200.. and many others hitting a wall in the 185 range..

2) do your homework on the memory as well.. as these boards are very picky .. especially running dual channel mode as well as if you plan to overclock... If you don't plan to overclock .

My rig with the A78nx-DLX 1.04 revision includes Corsair 512mb TWINX PC3200C2PT , running with a barton xp2500 ... .I was able to hit around 192FSB stable.. anything higher would cause problems...

good luck

 

[Mac]

I went ahead and bought the RAM. It was on sale for $100 delivered. It is:

Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM 64MBX64.

I haven't made up my mind on the CPU, in fact made a post on the CPU forum asking for advice ( Link ).

As stated in the other post, OC not required but would consider. Your thoughts?

 

[mlc]

Mac...

given that you've got the memory to support the higher FSB's... you now have 2 options to consider if you go with a Barton core based AMD chip
1) you can get something like an xp2500, 2600 or 2800 in the $85 -$100 range.. which will run natively at 333FSB ... and then synch your memory and overclock it up to hopefully 400fsb... which would equate to the XP3200 chip... (1.04 board permitting)

2) or you can simply buy either the XP3000 or XP3200 which runs natively at 400fsb...for around $125 to $145.....

If you're not keen on overclocking, then I would opt for option 2 .. just make sure you get the 400fsb version to exploit the memory... and factor in the cost of a HSF if you get the OEM version

 

[Mac]

MLC,
Thanks for the note back. With only a $40 diff, I'll probably forgo the OC route and go with the 3000 or 3200. Re hsf, one of the best purchases I made was when SVC was selling/.dumping Thermalright SLK-900's for $20. It's all copper and huge but sure keeps the temps down. It should be more than adequate for the a 3000 or 3200.

 

[Mac]

After doing some basic searches, sounds like a 1.04 board may be hit or miss at running 400FSB Bartons. I couldn't find any detailed analysis other than random posts by other users on BB wondering why their mobo's weren't stable. If there are some articles on technical sites discussing this issue, I would appreciate the links.

What I am really looking for is whether anyone has been able to identify the key features on a 1.04 board that is likely to be stable with a 400FSB, ie., a certain type of capicitor, chipset versions (and how to identify), etc.

Frankly, I am becoming a leery of investing the additional $$ for a 3000+ or 3200+ 400FSB CPU if the mobo is questionable. May be just as well to purchase a 333FSB cpu and attempt to OC.

Would appreciate any info or insights.

 

[mlc]

Mac...

as I stated previously .. it's a hit or miss proposition with the 1.04. From my readings in the past.. it seems there is some type of limitation with how the 1.04 delivers voltage to the south bridge on this board.. and there are some well known mods out there to address some of these issues.. (lapping, wire trick, pencil trick, etc..)...

the best source of info for this is at www.nforcershq.com... Look within the forums in the ASUS section.. there is a good sticky on the A78nx board that discusses some of this..

the question would be is it more likely you can run at 333 and OC to 400 type speeds? or can you try a 400version of the processor and get it to post succesfully.. ? Not sure of the answer here...

 

[Techno Pride]

my rig

AXP Mobile @ 2.1GHz (10.5x200, 1.5v)
A7N8X-DLX 1.04 (1009 trats modded BIOS, CPC on)
2x512MB Kingston ValueRAM PC3200 (Hynix BT-D43, 2.5-3-3-11)

My rig has its NB/SB modded to 1.7v and it passes Prime95, SuperPI, BurnK7 fine but...sometimes it doesn't restart properly. I select Restart from WinXP and after exiting Windows, the computer will just fail to initialise and hang there. No BIOS screen, no display, no nothing. I have to turn off the computer, then turn it on again :|

I have Soundstorm enabled though. Disabling it may give you a slight advantage. Or maybe not.

My advice is: if you have the money to spare, get a new cpu/mobo. Else, save up for a new rig. No point throwing money on trying to get 200mhz fsb/mem to work.

 

[Mac]

mlc and Techno Pride,
Thanks for the info. I am leaning towards the 333FSB route now. It is not a matter of cost, I just don't have time to spend putting together a new system and was looking for a quick and painless boost. I just don't want to spend the extra $40-50 for a 3000 or 3200 400FSB Barton and find out the mobo just can't handle it. That is a waste of money. The only way to make some thing out of that is if the 400fsb Bartons are not multiplier locked (I don't know). That way I could lower the FSB to whatever the mobo can handle and then up the multiplier. Were the 400FSB Bartons multiplier locked?