* ASUS A8N-SLI experiences/results/issues

[RoosterKooster]

Where is the non-Deluxe 1010 bios download? Is this for the Premium?
Thanks,

 

[RoosterKooster]

All you folks who have overclocked the A8N SLI Premium, what is your vcore? I, like many, many others, can only hit ~1.32v, ~1.36v or ~1.49v.

After initially being elated, this board is showing a very serious design or bios problem and Asus is mum!

This sucks!

I have decided to not OC at all until Asus gets of its Assus and admits and rectifies this problem. Asus' support forum has a number of messages regarding this vcore issue and there is no Asus types commenting at all.

Dammit! I should have gone DFI!

 

[Dragon41673]

Rooster...I feel your pain...I can't go past 2640 stable because of the vcore problem

 

[ElTorrente]

Originally posted by: RoosterKooster
All you folks who have overclocked the A8N SLI Premium, what is your vcore? I, like many, many others, can only hit ~1.32v, ~1.36v or ~1.49v.

After initially being elated, this board is showing a very serious design or bios problem and Asus is mum!

This sucks!

I have decided to not OC at all until Asus gets of its Assus and admits and rectifies this problem. Asus' support forum has a number of messages regarding this vcore issue and there is no Asus types commenting at all.

Dammit! I should have gone DFI!

I have an a8n-sli premium and am running fine on bios 1007-002.

The only VCore "Problem", it seems, is that software doesn't seem to detect the proper voltage that was set in the bios.

When I was unstable and failed Prime95, I would go into the bios and increase the voltage by .125, and I would be stable again. It was obvious to me that the voltage was in fact working properly- it was only bugged readings that were showing lower voltage. Right now, I am running at 1.475volts to my cpu. On my system, software (cpuz and asus probe) was only showing 1.37 or something like that, then it was showing ~1.4, then it skipped everything in between and now shows ~1.5.

I thought I was stuck at 2580 when I first started messing with my oc settings. Eventually I simply started playing with my cpu multiplier, htt, ht multi, and stepping up the voltage.

Here are the settings I am running right now:

overclocking mode = manual
cpu speed = 270
cpu multiplier = 10
ddr speed = 333
ht multiplier = 4x
vcore = 1.475
ram voltage = 1.85
ht voltage = default (1.2 I think. I didn't need to increase voltage of ht even though htt is overclocked by 80mhz)

as I'm typing this, CPU-Z is showing: 1.520V (mostly) and fluctuates occasionaly to 1.45, 1.488, etc - but generally 1.52. ASUS Probe is currently showing: 1.504, and doesn't fluctuate as much.

All I know is- my computer is prime95 stable with two instances running, one on each core, of small FFTs (large also) - for 24hours or indefinetly. I ran 3dmark05 overnight over and over and nothing indicates that it is unstable.

My temperature is the highest when running two instances of prime95, and it'll get to 49C and even touch 50C if it is a hot day. Playing BF2 only gets it around 45C and my mobo temperature is around 38C or so.

I've been very happy with my ASUS a8n-sli Premium.

 

[Dragon41673]

No matter what I make my vcore...it doesn't go past 1.48 peak, steady around 1.45 in ANYTHING that monitors voltage...so for you to even have it showing 1.52 is remarkable in my eyes

 

[ElTorrente]

Originally posted by: Dragon41673
No matter what I make my vcore...it doesn't go past 1.48 peak, steady around 1.45 in ANYTHING that monitors voltage...so for you to even have it showing 1.52 is remarkable in my eyes

I got my A8Nsli Premium about a month ago or so. It said "REV. 2" on it. Is your board a rev 2 - or have you owned it for a while? Maybe there is something with the older ones(?)

 

[Dragon41673]

Mine is the Asus A8N-SLI Premium Revision 1.02

 

[RoosterKooster]

I have rev 1.02 also.


Thank you for some very good information, ElTorrente.

I'll try trusting the bios vcore. My vcore has been fluctuating a few tenths in AIBooster and CPU-Z and I know it has been a little above 1.50 on at least one occasion.

 

[Eeezee]

my ASUS-SLI Deluxe doesn't post. It worked for about a week. I'm RMA'ing it =(

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
I got my A8Nsli Premium about a month ago or so. It said "REV. 2" on it. Is your board a rev 2 - or have you owned it for a while? Maybe there is something with the older ones(?)

Hi ElTorrente,

Is that "Revision 2" or "Version 1.02?"

My motherboard says "Version 1.02" right on the motherboard to the right of the motherboard name printed on the board itself. Can you confirm which one yours says because if there is a "Version 2" out there, I want it!

Regarding your findings on the vcore problem, unfortunately, mine don't correlate. I posted this in another thread. But it seems relevant here, so here goes:

-----------------------------------------------------

I thought you were right about this. I too noticed some stability improvements as I made my way up the vcore increments. However, there is definitely a problem. Take a look at this chart:

First is the vcore setting in the BIOS. Next is the vcore reported by the hardware monitor in the BIOS after a restart. The next data entry is which reading is favored where the reading fluctuates (or, in other words, if the reading fluctuates between 1.40 and 1.42, which one is more prevalent). Finally, any comments or notes from me.

1.3625 = 1.37 (Solid)
1.3750 = 1.39 (Solid)
1.3875 = 1.39 (Solid)
1.4000 = 1.39-1.40 (1.40 heavily favored)
1.4125 = 1.40-1.42 (1.40 mildly favored)
1.4250 = 1.39-1.40 (1.40 heavily favored Note that this is a move downward.)
1.4375 = 1.40-1.42 (Evenly split)
1.4500 = 1.40 (Solid)
1.4625 = 1.40-1.42 (Evenly Split)
1.4750 = 1.50-1.52 (1.5 heavily favored) (JUMP FROM 1.42 to 1.5!)
1.4875 = 1.52 (Solid)
1.5000 = 1.52-1.53 (152 mildly favored)

Now, we could still think that the big jump there from 1.42 reported ot 1.5 reported was just a measurement abberation. But, that jump also coincides with a two degree increase (c) idle temperatures as well as a six degree increase in load temperatures. So, the the voltage is drastically increasing out of step with the small increment indicated. Which is a shame because I had worked my way up to just that point, and only need one or two more increments to get my OC stable. But, when I go from 1.4625 to 1.4750, I get a lot more of a vcore increase than I wanted, and an unacceptable spike in temperatures.

By the way, it seems (so far) that this only affects X2 processors. Yet, oddly, while many are reporting the bug, a few are saying they are totally unaffected. I used to think I was unaffected. But, after going through each vcore settings to make that chart, I realize that I am.

Anyways, here's my specs:

X2 4400+ Toledo @ 2.5GHz (1.4375v) (250x10) | Thermalright XP-90C w/ Panaflo 92mm FBA09A12M1A (48cfm 2450rpm) w/ AS5 - Load Temp: 47c @ 75f ambient | Asus A8N-SLI Premium (rev 1.02) (BIOS 1005) (HT-Bus 4x250) | 2GB Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 2-3-3-6-1T 416DDR 5:6 divider @ 2.7v | NVIDIA 7800GTX (MSI)

I also just updated to the final release 1007 BIOS. It had absolutely no effect.

H

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Just tied the 1008.001 Beta Bios. I'm sorry to report that it had absolutely no effect on the vcore problem.

H

 

[RoosterKooster]

Hurin, thanks for posting your observations here. I went back to 1006 from the 1007 release. I also have HT fluctuations and it just doesn't look good. My idle temp is being reported at about 45c. 2 - Prime95's only makes it go up to 52c. There's something screwey there. The board is definitely problematic. Mt PS - Seasonic s-12 500w - should be providing excellent power. My 12v is 11.712v; 5v is 4.784v.l 3,33v is 3.232 Is it me or are the +5v and +12v quite low?

I have a mind to get a DFI and put an end this mess.

What pisses me off is that Asus is not publicly acknowledging this mess.

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Well, I'm spending my day at work (heh) researching which board will be replacing my A8N-SLI Premium. I'm also considering the DFI. But the Abit Fatal1ty one looks decent as well (even though the picture of that kid on their site makes me want to slap him. . . you play computer games you're not tough.).

I had a thought though. . . but I'm at work and can't test it. What trips me out is that there is at least one person who is claiming perfect vcore reponse even with an X2 CPU (4800+). I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with the variable that might have an effect.

The only thing I can come up with. . . I never plugged in that EZ-Plug 4-pin molex on the motherboard because the manual says that it is not necessary if you have a 24-pin power supply and/or are not using SLI. But, loooking at some DFI information, they say to always plug in the 4-pin molex and even a little floppy power connector into it as well.

Do you have the 4-pin molex ("EZ-plug") connected? Maybe it's worth a shot? I know, I'm grasping at straws.

Regarding your overall voltage levels. Mine are a bit more stable (and higher) than that. Those do seem a bit low to me. Mine are usually within .1 or even .05 of their targets. Vcore excepted of course.

H

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Looks like the DFI doesn't allow much OCing with my Corsair Ram. link.

Sigh. . . I'm slowly being forced to get that friggin' Fatal1ty board.

H

 

[ElTorrente]

Well, I think I was wrong about saying the VCore problem was just a software reporting error.

My Vcore in software won't report above 1.5V, though I have it set to 1.55V in BIOS. I am using 1007final bios. My CPU is prime95 stable at 2760ghz at 1.4875 (which reports 1.5V in software), and when I go up to 2770 it fails prime95. I increase the voltage to 1.5, or 1.51 or 1.55, and it doesn't matter... - it still fails prime95 exactly at 2770 and and software still reports the voltage at 1.5V.

This is very dissappointing, since I have a water cooling system hooked up now and my temperatures aren't holding me back anymore. I should be able to give it 1.55 (or more, on a different mobo), and get much better speed.

I looked around on ASUS's website, and there is no official response or acknowledgement of this problem anywhere.

So... I guess I'm going to have to replace with DFI. :/

I've been a big ASUS fan for years and I have always been happy with them, but this is a pretty serious and important issue. When you put a certain voltage into the bios, you should be able to count on the motherboard actually doing it. There is no indication anywhere that they are looking into it, and I'm not going to sit around and wait for some BIOS update that may never come (which addresses this issue, at least).

I am sad.

EDIT: Hey.. how about if all the asus a8n-sli premium owners who read this head over to asus' website and make posts about this issue, and hit the tech support people with requests to fix this stupid problem!

 

[Hurin Thalion]

Hi ElTorrente,

I did the same thing. I thought I was unaffected. But as I kept pushing my OC higher, I eventually found that I had the bug too. Reality comes crashing down rather harshly when this board's limitations raise their ugly head.

Here's my thread on the Asus forums. For all the good it will do.

I'd be careful with the DFI choice though. My prior post contains a link about Corsair not overclocking on the DFI.

H

 

[RoosterKooster]

I have a HP PSC 2410 printer installed. When I power down the printer my Asus A8N SLI Premium "powered" system (X2 4400+; SeaSonic s-12 500w; OCZ Plat Rev2 2x512 DC just stops functioning and the video, mouse and keyboard signals are gone. A reset is required to play anymore.

This motherboard apparently sucks! Asus sucks!

 

[Hurin Thalion]

I agree. I'm tired of dealing with my Premium. Instead of Premium, it should be called "Premature". . . because it's definitely only half-baked where X2 processors are concerned.

Again, I'd wait patiently if we had any indication that this can/will be fixed in a BIOS update.

But, well, I'm tired of sitting here in the dark. I just ordered an Abit AN8 SLI. I think it will play nicer with my Corsair C2 RAM than will the DFI. It should be here on Friday. Assuming it is an improvement, I'll be sending my Asus back.

H