Asus a8v O/C (also weird problem with boot)

[entech]

Hi,

I've just got myself a .90 a64 with asus a8v dlx mobo. originally i wanted something on nforce3 ultra but unfortunately none were on stock, and after sweeping through some reviews here i found that the a8v gives slight to no performance differencle and overclocks good as well.
but here on the forums i see the nf3 is in great favor - should i absolutely try to return the a8v and change to msi neo2 when it becomes available or is it not worth the hassle?

i could try to return it on fault basis - there is one strange problem with the system - sometimes it just doesn't power up. switch the PSU to 'on', then push the power button and nothing happens. then i switch the PSU 'off', then 'on', then push the pwr button again and the system comes up. this is the strangest problem i've ever seen in all my computers (and while assembling my previous a7n8x nforce2 based system i've seen a lot).

my configuration is

a8v deluxe
athlon64 3000+ winchester, stock cooling
2x geil ddr400 pc3200 value ram
ati radeon 9500pro
modecom 350W GT psu

also, to what extent i can o/c the cpu with stock cooling and my ram?

 

[Sparky19692]

Well I'm sure that others will disagree with me I'm very happy with mine. O/C is good I would like to have a higher FBS that 300 but who is actually using that? Besides that there is no real differance. and there are some nice features to Asus that others do not have. If you want a NF3 get it, is it worth Returning the Asus with K8T800 probably not. Also I HATE people RMA'ing a product as defectivejust because they want something else, you should have waited. As the power up is concerned when you say nothing happens you mean nothing right? the fans don't even turn on. You may want to check you wiring switch ete. I have had it happen the fans will spin up though for me it has always been right after a change in th O/C I just reboot and it stays away unless my memory O/C is to agreesive then you have to go back in and fix the timming.

 

[Zebo]

Maybe PSU? Got axcess to another?

 

[entech]

Yes nothing happens means nothing - no beeps, no asus voice, no fans spinning, only green diode on the mobo illuminated. total no state change with the button press. The wiring should be OK cause my previous system was in the same case. Well I do have other PSU, but it's a 300w crappy PSU (from previous system). I can try it without any components, only MB, one DDR, CPU and gfx plugged.

sparky: if the board is OK and i still wanted to exchange it, i would ask them for an exchange deal, not pretending defective.

 

[operaman1]

It's your psu. You need to save and get a better one. Especially if you want omre headroom oc'ing. I got an OCZ Powerstream 600 watter, but you could get away with a Fortron 530 or a Sparkle of the same (as it IS Fortron). I realize that 75 is a lot for a PSU, but it insures stability longterm. If you must be cheap, go with a Thermaltake 430 Watter. That is a solid psu for a cheap price.

 

[entech]

Well i thought it's psu-related too, but the system (once booted works stable running Prime95 for the whole night and MBM5 doesn't indicate any voltage anomalies...

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

There is nothing wrong with the A8V, it can OC to 260 FSB.
It's your memory that counts more. Geil is a good name along with Gskill and OCZ. How high the value ram version OCs, I dunno. The fancy timings don't matter, most who OC use ram rated with a higher FSB and loose timings. For example, the extreme OCers are using OCZ Platinum PC4200 with timings like 2.5, 3, 3, 10.

To answer your question as to how far you can OC on stock cooling and value ram, I'd say about 20mz.
The A8V allows you to automatically OC right from the bios menu in small steps. Try 3%, run the Asus Probe monitor, and see how hot your CPU is. The highest you should go to is 65c, anything above that is dangerous. Run Prime95 and see how hot it gets. At idle, it will be about 45C or so.

If your temps are ok at 3% over, try 5%, then 7%.

If you want to see pictures me OCing my A8V, go here. It's a lot to read, so just scroll down to the pics where I show the bios screens.

http://www.nogodforme.com/MyBabyTera.htm
I'm talking about this screen here.
http://www.nogodforme.com/images/DSC03898.JPG