Asus A7N8X - your opinions?

[MichaelD]

I'll be RMAing my Epox tomorrow. I'll probably get it back in May or so.

In the meantime, I have to build a killer rig. I'm looking at the Asus A7N8X, thinking of giving the NForce2 chipset a try. It seems to be the board to have, performance wise.

Knowing that I primarily game and rip MP3s, is this the better choice over another KT333 board?

Also, stupid question time: the NForce boards use NO VIA 4-1s b/c there's no Via chipset, correct?

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I'll be RMAing my Epox tomorrow. I'll probably get it back in May or so.

In the meantime, I have to build a killer rig. I'm looking at the Asus A7N8X, thinking of giving the NForce2 chipset a try. It seems to be the board to have, performance wise.

Knowing that I primarily game and rip MP3s, is this the better choice over another KT333 board?

Also, stupid question time: the NForce boards use NO VIA 4-1s b/c there's no Via chipset, correct?

unless via is making gthe chipset for nvidia, no there is NO VIA 4-1

asus is a nice MB. Though a couple things you should know.

The drivers u use for the chipset can only come from asus. Not sure what they did, but that is the case.
if you get any pc3200 ram from corsair, just make sure it is a more recent rev, otherwise u will have issues.

other then that it is a great MB. So is the Epox version of it has well.


go over to motherboards and read the threads there.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks Adul. I didn't know about the the Asus-only drivers...also didn't know about the RAM conflict. <---Those two things turn me off big-time, especially the first one.

 

[jpbushido99]

Are you guys talking about the Nforce drives that include USB 2, fire wire etc. I have installed the origion Asus ones then I went to Nvidia site and installed the new 2.0's and I haven't had a problem.

 

[chizow]

Not totally true about the Asus-only drivers. You need the Asus drivers if you use the onboard sound. The rest of the drivers (GART/AGP, IDE, Mem controller etc.) install fine. You just get a message saying you need to keep the Asus version of your sound drivers to use the onboard sound. I'm sure this will be fixed in future driver releases. I don't use the onboard sound, so its not a big deal for me.

I've also heard about the RAM issues, and it just boils down to default dimm optimizations. Pretty sure the latest BIOS sets them to default settings which are more compatible.

Chiz

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: chizow
Not totally true about the Asus-only drivers. You need the Asus drivers if you use the onboard sound. The rest of the drivers (GART/AGP, IDE, Mem controller etc.) install fine. You just get a message saying you need to keep the Asus version of your sound drivers to use the onboard sound. I'm sure this will be fixed in future driver releases. I don't use the onboard sound, so its not a big deal for me.

I've also heard about the RAM issues, and it just boils down to default dimm optimizations. Pretty sure the latest BIOS sets them to default settings which are more compatible.

Chiz

Thanks Chiz. Honestly, it sounds like a lot of trouble to me....I don't use onboard sound either...I just diable it in the bios and never have to worry about popup messages or anything like that. Do you wind up with a conflict (yellow ! in device mangler) by using the "ignore" method?

I want to order a new mobo tonight...it's gonna be an NForce or a KT333.

 

[jpbushido99]

Yeah I have my onboard sound off as well, that?s probably why I have never had any problems. This maybe a moot point but I hate there on board sound. I have an SB live 5.1 gamer and it sounds much clearer than the one on the MB. I mean I tried to tweak it but it just doesn't sound as good, this was a little disheartening since I have heard such great reviews on the sound. I am sure I am not doing anything wrong.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: chizow
Not totally true about the Asus-only drivers. You need the Asus drivers if you use the onboard sound. The rest of the drivers (GART/AGP, IDE, Mem controller etc.) install fine. You just get a message saying you need to keep the Asus version of your sound drivers to use the onboard sound. I'm sure this will be fixed in future driver releases. I don't use the onboard sound, so its not a big deal for me.

I've also heard about the RAM issues, and it just boils down to default dimm optimizations. Pretty sure the latest BIOS sets them to default settings which are more compatible.

Chiz

Thanks Chiz. Honestly, it sounds like a lot of trouble to me....I don't use onboard sound either...I just diable it in the bios and never have to worry about popup messages or anything like that. Do you wind up with a conflict (yellow ! in device mangler) by using the "ignore" method?

I want to order a new mobo tonight...it's gonna be an NForce or a KT333.

Hehe no conflicts if you disable it in the BIOS. The component is essentially "neutered". I also disable the SATA controller, but that requires changing a jumper rather than just a BIOS edit. I disable anything I'm not using, which is pretty much everything except for USB and Firewire. I don't have any devices that use serial, parallel, midi, game port etc. etc....and they all take IRQs and resources!!!

I only know about the driver issue b/c I tried out the onboard for a day or two. It was decent (good, not great sound), but still a bit buggy, particularly the control console thingy. Went back to my Audigy 2 though

I've had this board since X-mas and I've been very impressed with it.

Chiz

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: jpbushido99
Are you guys talking about the Nforce drives that include USB 2, fire wire etc. I have installed the origion Asus ones then I went to Nvidia site and installed the new 2.0's and I haven't had a problem.

The sound drivers are Asus specific which means you will need to wait for updated audio drivers from Asus. I would think that Nvidia themselves would be more likely to release updated drivers more often than Asus, but that is just my opinion. Here's a quote from Nvidia's Nforce Driver page located here.

Audio drivers will not install on the following nForce2 products: ASUS A7N8X and Chaintech 7NJS. Please use the drivers that come with these products to enable audio functionality.

 

[MichaelD]

Hey, that sounds good Chiz. Thanks man, I appreciate it. I may just give it a shot. What board were you using before the NForce? What's your opinion on your old board vs. the NForce, please?

 

[MichaelD]

Insane3D! MY BUD!! How are'ya, man?

So, if I get the Asus and just disable the sound in the bios, I won't need to load the drivers anyway, right?

Insane, would you recommend the NForce over the 8K5A2?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Hey, that sounds good Chiz. Thanks man, I appreciate it. I may just give it a shot. What board were you using before the NForce? What's your opinion on your old board vs. the NForce, please?

I was running an 8KHA+ (KT266A) which is now in a secondary rig. Although the latest 4-in-1's and swapping out my SB Live! for my Audigy 2 cured most weird "issues" with the VIA PCI bus controllers, the Nforce2 hasn't exhibited any of the "issues" I had in the past. System seems to run snappier and cleaner, but I've made numerous upgrades other than my mobo since then (RAID 0, pure NTFS on XP, 166FSB etc). Also, the Nforce2 BIOS gives me much greater control over my OC settings, many optimizations that are probably options with the KT333 (although the Nforce2 does offer confirmed PCI lock, Tbred unlocking, and the ability to lock the AGP thru BIOS). The onboard options are also excellent, as I'm using the onboard Nvidia LAN (comparable in performance to a $50 Intel Gigabyte NIC), 6!!! USB 2.0, Firewire (secondary and tertiary options are nice in addition to my Audigy 2 Firewire), and onboard SATA RAID (which I may use in the future, but not using it now). The biggest factor is all the BIOS options....nothing short of a tweaker/OCers dream.

Hope this helps,

Chiz

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Hey, that sounds good Chiz. Thanks man, I appreciate it. I may just give it a shot. What board were you using before the NForce? What's your opinion on your old board vs. the NForce, please?

I was running an 8KHA+ (KT266A) which is now in a secondary rig. Although the latest 4-in-1's and swapping out my SB Live! for my Audigy 2 cured most weird "issues" with the VIA PCI bus controllers, the Nforce2 hasn't exhibited any of the "issues" I had in the past. System seems to run snappier and cleaner, but I've made numerous upgrades other than my mobo since then (RAID 0, pure NTFS on XP, 166FSB etc). Also, the Nforce2 BIOS gives me much greater control over my OC settings, many optimizations that are probably options with the KT333 (although the Nforce2 does offer confirmed PCI lock, Tbred unlocking, and the ability to lock the AGP thru BIOS). The onboard options are also excellent, as I'm using the onboard Nvidia LAN (comparable in performance to a $50 Intel Gigabyte NIC), 6!!! USB 2.0, Firewire (secondary and tertiary options are nice in addition to my Audigy 2 Firewire), and onboard SATA RAID (which I may use in the future, but not using it now). The biggest factor is all the BIOS options....nothing short of a tweaker/OCers dream.

Hope this helps,

Chiz

It helps a whole lot. Wanna know something? I'm using my secondary rig now. It's a Shuttle KT266A rig. Great minds think alike, I see.

How are you running RAID on that NForce? It has serial ATA, but you're not using that, right?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Hey, that sounds good Chiz. Thanks man, I appreciate it. I may just give it a shot. What board were you using before the NForce? What's your opinion on your old board vs. the NForce, please?

I was running an 8KHA+ (KT266A) which is now in a secondary rig. Although the latest 4-in-1's and swapping out my SB Live! for my Audigy 2 cured most weird "issues" with the VIA PCI bus controllers, the Nforce2 hasn't exhibited any of the "issues" I had in the past. System seems to run snappier and cleaner, but I've made numerous upgrades other than my mobo since then (RAID 0, pure NTFS on XP, 166FSB etc). Also, the Nforce2 BIOS gives me much greater control over my OC settings, many optimizations that are probably options with the KT333 (although the Nforce2 does offer confirmed PCI lock, Tbred unlocking, and the ability to lock the AGP thru BIOS). The onboard options are also excellent, as I'm using the onboard Nvidia LAN (comparable in performance to a $50 Intel Gigabyte NIC), 6!!! USB 2.0, Firewire (secondary and tertiary options are nice in addition to my Audigy 2 Firewire), and onboard SATA RAID (which I may use in the future, but not using it now). The biggest factor is all the BIOS options....nothing short of a tweaker/OCers dream.

Hope this helps,

Chiz

It helps a whole lot. Wanna know something? I'm using my secondary rig now. It's a Shuttle KT266A rig. Great minds think alike, I see.

How are you running RAID on that NForce? It has serial ATA, but you're not using that, right?

Hehe well I figured since I had everything I needed to put together a pretty nasty 2nd rig, no point in selling it off for fractions of what I paid

I'm using a PCI RAID controller card. I was looking into the whole SATA adapter thing, but its pricey and not really worth it IMO. A few reasons:

1) You can transfer an existing RAID Array to a different system with the same card (hotswap) or you can migrate the card to a new system. Can't do this with onboard RAID unless it has the same RAID controller (which is uncommon nowadays with onboard RAID musical chairs).

2) SATA adapters are hella expensive...$30 a pop atm, and hard to find. Highpoint sells a SATA RAID card with 2 rockethead adapters, but then you get 2 more SATA headers you don't need (it runs around $90). The NF7-S comes with 1 adapter, but you have to buy a 2nd one for $30. SVC is the only place I've seen them on sale, and they also sell them for $30.

3) A PCI RAID card can be had for cheap ($34 shipped from Newegg for a card based on the Silicon Image controller), and offers greater flexibility in the future for your existing IDE drives. It also gives you 2 more IDE channels, which can support up to 4 additional IDE devices.

Chiz

 

[MichaelD]

Cool. Thanks for explaining it to me. I know all about RAID 0. AFAIK, you and I are the only two people here that use it. J/K. Everyone hates it and knocks it for that whole "if you lose one drive you're screwed" thing.

Whatever, right? I've been running RAID 0 for two years now w/no probs at all. A nice 1/3 boost in speed is always nice, right?

How do you boot off a PCI card? Do you set the bios to "boot from other" or "boot from SCSI?" Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[chizow]

Hehe np, yah I don't understand why people dislike RAID 0 either. I've never had a HDD fail on me, but then again, I take measures to prevent it. I COOL my drives and I also space them out in my case. Granted, some disks are just destined to fail, but regardless, I never keep mission critical data on a HDD without a backup plan of some sort. I've always kept a secondary HDD for storing data files that can't be replaced with a reinstallation, and I use a CDRW for the latest drivers and updates. I also back up any save games or prefs etc. Typically, I'll reformat and reinstall before a disk in my RAID array even thinks about failing

Booting from PCI is pretty easy. The onboard RAID BIOS initializes before any boot attempt is made, so you set-up your Array in the RAID BIOS (onscreen prompt vary from card to card), and you then have the option to assign the drive assignment (HDD 0, HDD 1....Boot). Pretty sure Boot and HDD 0 have the same effect, you just need to set the BIOS to boot to HDD 0 first if you assign your array to HDD 0. With WinXP and 2K, its easy to run a Windows install to your RAID array. John posted an excellent run through on what you need to do, but here's the quick and dirty version. Once you are into the WinXP setup, hit F6 to let XP know you want to install a 3rd party SCSI device. It'll ask you for a disk, but Windows also has a version of these drivers pre-installed. After that, the partition should be recognized, and you can format or install on it. One thing to note, if your card has the drivers on a CD rom, you will need to place them on a floppy disk prior to Windows installation. Windows won't read from the CD...pretty corny heheh. Run a search on RAID 0 and look for John's reply....very concise and comprehensive.

Chiz

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks Chiz. My 8K5A2+ came w/the Highpoint drivers on a CDR, so I had to pull the relevant files off and put them on a floppy to install W2K. A daunting procedure for a newb, but I've been thru it a few times so it didn't faze me at all.

Aside from the speed boost you get with RAID0, I also like keeping ALL my drives on separate channels...safer that way.

So, you've got the A7N8X and a PCI raid card, huh? Nice. I may do that myself. Granted, I don't have half the SBLive probs I used to have...I guess drivers got better. But I still do get them every once in awhile....maybe it's time for a change, huh?

Thank you for your help. Have a nice day.

 

[MichaelD]

Anyone else want to comment on this board?

 

[MichaelD]

TTT