Asus A8V 'vs' Abit AV8 => whats the verdict ?

[BEIF]

Hi all !

Narowwed my new A64 939 board down to a Asus A8V or Abit AV8.

I will be using a 90nm A64 3000+ 939 cpu - aim is to O/C as high as I can on Zalman 7000 air.

Just a couple of questions:-

=> does the Asus A8V Rev 2.0 definetly have a PCI/AGP lock ?

=> whats the story wiht all these reports of the Asus A8V "freezing" and "locking up" at stock settings etc ..... is this a *known* issue wiht the Rev 2.0 boards ?

=> any other issues I should be aware of ?

Thx,
BEIF

 

[BEIF]

Sorry - forgot to add:-

=> is the Asus A8V good for 90nm 3000+ 939 cpu's "straight out of the box" or does it need a specifc bios like the ABit must have the 1.6 bios loaded for 90nm 3000+ 939 cpu's to boot and work ?

Thx again.

 

[McArra]

Asus A8V rev 2.0 have working AGP/PCI lock. I would go for it.

 

[Appledrop]

the a8v will boot with 90nm cpus. if it doesnt, then just put one stick of ram in slot B1, update bios, and it will.

but these days, they ship with at least the 1.007 bios which allows winchesters out of box. get a8v it rules :>

 

[BEIF]

Thx McArra & Azzy64

What about this "freezing" and "locking-up" being reported on this thread here:-

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...2119&enterthread=y

=> is this a wide-spred issue or is it a specific bad-ram-comaptability issue ?

THx.

 

[Stangs55]

a8v

 

[Sparky19692]

It looks like with the 939 chip you will be fine secondly you will be ordering a Rev 2 the problom is only on Rev 1.2

 

[phpdog]

The Abit av8 has a fully working PCI/AGP lock ..... i have 1 and i can overclock my AMD 64 3200+ socket 939 to about 9 x 275 @ 2475MHz and 10 x 263 @ 2630MHz Infact i havent had a single problem with the AGP/PCI lock on the ABiot av8.

CustomPC Abit AV8 Review

The main reason for the Abit's superb overclockability is that it's the only Athlon 64 board in this Labs test that's capable of locking both the AGP and PCI buses, regardless what the FSB is set to.

Ive heard this about the AV8 so many times ? why is this ?

The only thing i had that was annoying was i got the board , it would take my Winchester ... So i popp
ed the BIOS chip out and sent it to abit for a totally free BIOS flash got it back within 48 hours


And along with the great overclocking , if you get the 3rd Eye model ... the 3rd eye feature is great ... you can monitor all your temps / voltage / CPU speed / FAN rpm / Time / PCI Freq /and AGP Freq while doing things like playing games .

 

[BEIF]

Hi phpdog

Even with the latest Abit Bios for the AV8, doesnt the board still report the wrong CPU temp ?

The other thing putting me off the Abit is RAM compatabiltiy - with the Asus, it has a verified RAM list, which includes my Hynix D43 ram - with the Abit, apparently RAM compatability is very hit and miss ?

Brif

 

[BEIF]

......... bump ......... [ sorry ! ]

 

[xsilver]

hey beif -- I just bought the abit and have no problems with my d43 sticks of memory
and thanks to you I realize they overclock to 250+ mhz too -- thanks mate

the abit does report funny temperatures but everything else is cool ..... actually its not cool -- its reporting 60+ degrees
the 3rd eye thing is cool though -- that's the difference really between the asus and the abit, the asus makes up for it with 8.1 sound and the extra ide controller -- oh the abit also apprently has "rubycon" japanese capacitors, if that makes a difference.....
I just bought the abit cause its $20 cheaper where I am

 

[BEIF]

Hi xsilver

Glad that I was of some help - those generic D43 sticks are awesome value for money.

That 60+C temp you are getting:-


- is that at idle at stock speed

or

- is it at full / stress load at your 250mhz overclocked speed ?


Thx,
BEIF

 

[xsilver]

the 60c temps are at load @258mhz ... which is the farthest I've tested it stable (9x multiplier)
the funny thing is even at 1800mhz the temps are still 58-59 ---- might also be the fact that these last few days have been 35c where I am :sun:
im also just using the stock cooler still -- I ran out of money for the zalman -- and at 258mhz I boosted the vcore just 1 notch, not sure if it needs it though

everyone else just seems to be saying that the abit reports higher temps so dont worry
the asus though reports low temps so neither is really accurate (apparently idle temps are 30

 

[aatf510]

I had tons of problem with ASUS A8V Rev 2 + FX-55 in the past 3 weeks with numerous BIOS up/downgrade. Then I switched to Abit AV8 three days ago, WoW! Problem solved! I had been ASUS loyal customer since my first pentium 90 not including my dad's 486's. But this A8V is really really screwed up, and their "customer service" department made pack their board tonight and shipping back to zipzoomfly tomorrow!

I am finally happy after almost a month of "trying to fix many many problems" and now having my computer running properly!!
2600MHz -> 2814MHz (Mx14, FSB 201/66/33, 37C @ idle 47C @ full load)

 

[phpdog]

BTW on Abit AV8 , get the latest BIOS 17 to fix that CPU temp problem ,

AV8-3rd Eye BIOS 17
Version: 17 Released Date: 2004-12-02

Calibrated CPU temperature
Added "Dual Channel Enabled 128bit" when in Dual Channel mode.

 

[aatf510]

I have that BIOS installed. The temp hasn't changed by 1 degree.

 

[phpdog]

Originally posted by: toattett
I have that BIOS installed. The temp hasn't changed by 1 degree.

My temps havent changed either , but mine were never wrong in the first place , Iget temps of around 34°/36° Idle 38°/42° Normal Use 52°/54° Max Load under Prime95 .

My temps have always been this way, they are the same as MBM and my Lian Li temp probes .

BTW , I trun off all that ABIT Eq stuff in BIOS or whatever its called , all the CPU,SYS,AMB temp monitoring , and all the Voltage and Fan monitoring , EVERYTHING in there is tuned OFF .

I dont trust it to cool my system , it keeps putting the fan up and down like a yoyo and it drivs me nuts .

I bought a Rheobus ages ago for all that .

 

[boatillo]

I'd prolly get th Abit board myself if not for the fact they stuck the 20 pin connector in a really stupid place. Like I want a huge strand of cables draped over my hsf and blocking my rear fan.