my new A7N8X-X setup

[suklee]

Have it up and running! WinXP is installing as I type.

CPU: Barton 2500+
RAM: Winbond CH-5 512MB (1 stick)

The lack of 12V connector (a la Soltek NV400) on this mobo worried me somewhat... was afraid I wouldn't get 2.2GHz out of my chip. Put on the heatsink, fired her up, and went straight for 200FSB. Nothing wrong so far, but of course I'll test the CPU with Prime95 once Xp's done installing.

Vcore left on default (Auto) but it tends to vary... either 1.64 and 1.66, but not 1.65. 3.3V rail fluctuates as well, from 3.24-3.32V. Should I be cocerned about my power supply? +5V rail is stable as a rock at 4.73V, and +12V is either 12.54 or 12.60.

Temperature wise the Hardware Monitor from BIOS reads ~40C, however bear in mind that my mobo is currently not in the case but exposed in an air conditioned office environment

So far the board seems very nice. basically a stripped down version of its big brother.. i'm still deciding if I want to keep this board though or send it back for a Soltek NV400... the 3 ram slots are a plus, as well as the good placement of the ATX power connector. Both boards support 6 USB ports, but the Asus has 4 included on its backplate, whereas the Soltek only has 2...

Here are some reviews in case anyone's thinking of picking up a nForce2 400 board:

Soltek NV400 @AMDMB.COM
Asus A7N8X-X @OCADDICTION
Asus A7N8X-X @PIRATE SOFTWARE

 

[suklee]

just ran some Prime95 'blend' test... failed after 10 minutes. cpu heatsink, nb, even ram were all hot to the touch! temps were nearing 60C on the diode... all this and my system's not even in the case yet.

I wonder if I'll have better luck with the Soltek.

Edit : WOW! noticed that my temp dropped 20C... it's now hovering around 40C without Prime95 running.

 

[Doomer]

i'm still deciding if I want to keep this board though or send it back

So why did you buy it in the first place ????

People like you make everybody pay more.

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: Doomer

i'm still deciding if I want to keep this board though or send it back

So why did you buy it in the first place ????

People like you make everybody pay more.

? Is it so wrong to try an item out, within 7 days (store policy) and return/exchange it if it does not SATISFY my needs?

It's not like I'm returning a DEFECTIVE item!

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Kai920

Originally posted by: Doomer

i'm still deciding if I want to keep this board though or send it back

So why did you buy it in the first place ????

People like you make everybody pay more.

? Is it so wrong to try an item out, within 7 days (store policy) and return/exchange it if it does not SATISFY my needs?

It's not like I'm returning a DEFECTIVE item!

im goona buy an nforce 2 WITHOUT dual channel DDR that costs more than half the nforce2 boards WITH dual channel. next, im going to throw myself into a wood chipper