Asus A7N8X Memory Question

[VoteQuimby]

Currently I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard. I've read on Asus's site that the A7N8X V2 can run the memory @ 400 mhz with pcb2. I've had the board for quite some time now, so I assume mine isn't pcb 2. So can I update my bios and enable my bus to 400 mhz? Or am I just dumb? The reason I ask is that I currently have 512 PC2700 ram and want to buy another 512. But If I can run at 400 mhz(pc3200) then I'll buy a gig of 3200.

My specs
XP 2400+
512 PC2700 Corsair XMS
120 gig Seagate
40 gig WesternDigital
Gf Ti4400


Thanks

 

[mlc]

If you are running revision 1.04 or any 1.x for that matter, then there are no guarantees trying to achieve an FSB of 200 regardless of the memory used.(i.e. PC3200).. The revision 2 boards are not a problem based on what I've read on the other forums...

I have an A7n8x-dlx 1.04.. with some very good memory (Corsair XMS 2x256C2PT PC3200).. I was able to get to about 185 stable.. but anything over that was a problem... 185 seems to be the barrier many folks hit on that board.. (I'm running with an XP2500 barton)


I think you can look at the label right on the board... (I think its near the battery).. and it should tell you which revision you are running with...

Also there are a few different versions of bios floating around ... that supposedly overclock the rev 1.x board better than others.... (1004 is popular.. and there are a few doctored versions.... see nforcershq.com for details)

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

A link to Bit-Tech on how to identify the revision number of the board -- http://www.bit-tech.net/review/216/2
And though Rev2.0 specifically supports DDR400, that's not to say you're completely out of luck from what I can remember. If you search back through this forum you'll find plenty of topics about this. I'm 99% sure that if you bought the motherboard in the past year to year and a half you probably have the Rev2.0.

HTH

 

[Lark888]

My experience is that 1.04 Revision will not get to 200FSB. My 1.04 board topped out at about 193FSB. I needed another Motherboard and purchased a Rev. 2.0 A7N8X board. The exact same CPU (Barton 2500+) and memory (Crucial DDR 2700) are running happily in the Rev. 2 board at 200FSB for months now. I was even able to push above 200FSB (think I stopped about 211FSB) but wasn't worth the possible stability.

Bottom line - Rev 1.04 board was limiting potential of CPU and memory to O/C.

 

[VoteQuimby]

I checked my mb and I have a 1.04 rev :\

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

Then it'd be like Lark888 and mlc said ... the best that you could probably do with that would be something like 185FSB or thereabouts. An increase of 20MHz isn't anything to write home about, but it's a bit more than 10%. 200FSB might be possible, but there's probably going to be a good chunk of tricks you're going to need to perform to get it to work.

A good (recent) thread on nforcehq about this exact topic -- http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55922
Be sure to check out the stickies at the top of this forum -- http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13
A Bit-Tech review of the rev2.0 board, which helps explain some of the differences -- http://www.bit-tech.net/review/216/ (same link as above, just reiterated for emphasis)

EDIT -- one of these days I hope to finally figure out this linking mechanism here

 

[bigpow]

My 1.04 can run Corsair XMS PC3200C2 (2x512M) @200FSB (RAM 6-3-3-2 100%)
Good luck with yours.

 

[VoteQuimby]

Thanks for the responses guys, I'll check it out.

 

[madogvt]

I must be lucky, my 1.04 will do 200FSB as well. Have Corsair XMS PC3200 512MB x 2.

 

[SalientKing]

The best my a7n8x will do is 191, and its a rev1.04. I have the 1007bios, which i think is the latest one. Ive noticed there is no option to adjust the command rate, does this mobo support 1t timings?

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

Quimby, another thread on the board here reminded me of something else that's important to consider. On the AthlonXP setup, it's important to run your FSB/RAM synchronously, as it does make a performance difference. If you're currently at 333/333 and you up the RAM so that you're at (say) 333/376, you would notice very little (if any) performance increase, and your performance might actually go down a touch. The best thing to do then, obviously, is to overclock your CPU by the same amount to achieve the synchronousness (is that a word? ) again.

SalientKing -- I want to say "yes" but I cannot confirm nor deny specifically. I'll dig a bit deeper and post back here when/if I find something.

 

[Amaroque]

I had an A7N8X. I ran it at 200MHz (400MHz DDR) from day one.