*** Official ASUS A7N8X/Deluxe (nForce2) Thread ***

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Macro2
I'm still running the 1002.001 beta bios. Whats better about 1002a?

I can now approach 200MHz FSB speeds with my R9700pro w/out serious stuttering. Anything above 198MHz still results in lockups or freezes, but with 1002.001 I would see serious stuttering (like clockwork, every 3 or 4 seconds) at @ 192MHz. It might fix other issues related to SPD settings on certain dimm modules, but I'm not sure.

Oh, and it also enables Q-Fan control. I don't use it, I use a rheo, but it might be a useful feature that some were looking forward to implementing.

Chiz

 

[klein297]

patrickmacdonald

Your slow boot issue could be caused by the firewire controller looking for devices.
When I disabled firewire in the bios, or plugged in a device, it shortened my W2K boot time a full minute.

 

[Wurrmm]

Will this mobo be able to support the new 400mhz Bartons that come out in May?? Or will I have to but yet another Mobo???

 

[Wurrmm]

Are the Nvidia 2.03 nf2 drivers newer than the Asus 1.16 ones?

 

[touchmyichi]

Wurrum, When the 400 mhz fsb athlons come out asus will release a bios update that should make this board easily support it. You should use the asus 1.16 drivers on their website

 

[Soulo]

Flash it to 1002A. Its not a beta, its what 1002 final should have been. BIOS' are hit and miss, even if they don't become official, a Beta BIOS can be better than a shipping or final revision BIOS depending on your needs. 1002.001 Beta was the best BIOS for about 2 months until 1002A was released only recently.

The reason why your CPU is showing up as an 1800+ is b/c your BIOS has reverted settings back to safe defaults of 100MHz x default multiplier (probably b/c it didn't like what your RAM was doing at default SPD settings). I believe the default multiplier on the 2400+ is 15, which makes sense as 15 x 100 = 1500MHz which is close to an 1800+ (1533MHz). After you flash to 1002A, do the following:

1) Change your FSB speed to user defined and set it to 133MHz.
2) Change CPU interface and Memory timings to Optimal and
3) Set Memory ratio to 100% or "Sync". Save/Save and Exit.

Any time you exit after making changes, make sure to save first and then save and exit.

Now you are essentially running at stock clockspeeds, but your RAM is underclocked. You can run it synchronously at a higher FSB at this point, since your RAM can theoretically handle 185MHz at its specified RAM timings. The nice thing is the nForce2 unlocks Athlon T-bred B's so that other multipliers can be accessed via the BIOS.

Simple math shows that a 166MHz FSB yields a 12x multiplier to achieve stock speeds of 2000MHz, so if you go back into your BIOS and change those 2 settings, you won't really be overclocking (total clockspeed is the same), but you will see a performance increase b/c of the increased bandwidth between the CPU and main memory (and the rest of the system). You could do this w/out overclocking anything until the theoretical max of your RAM at @ 11 multi and 185MHz FSB. If that settings seems to be stable, you can then tweak your memory timings to the rated speeds for those Kingston PC3000 modules. If you aren't sure or don't feel comfortable setting them yourself, just change the setting from Optimal to Aggressive.

Chiz[/quote]

I just did what you said and now I'm running at 2400+ now. Thanks a lot.

 

[Audiofight]

I am currently running a A7N8X Deluxe and loving it. My system specs:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe w/ 1002.003 bios (gotta flash it yet)
Athlon XP Thoroughbred 1800+ @ 1916 MHz (11.5 x 166)
512 MB Corsair PC3200 TwinX (2x256MB, in DcDDR)
Asus V9280TD GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB AGP 8x @ 300/600
Western Digital 80.0 GB Special Edition hdd
40x cdrom
40x cdrw
Zip100
Antec SX830 case w/ Antec Smart Power 450W psu
Custom watercooling kit

I absolutely love this system. I can run almost anything at maximum settings and still have a very playable system. 3DMark2k3 kills me though, so I don't run that program anymore. It makes me feel pretty low, yet I can't do much else to make my system faster w/o dropping huge coin.

 

[Gregg123]

SOULO, Yep, I have the same setup, same problem. I will check out the responces to see what I can do...

THANKS CHAZ!

 

[Soulo]

I'm having some sound problems. The sound connectors on the back don't seem to be working. I've updated it to nforce 1.16, but it still doesn't seem to work. Has anyone had this problem?

 

[Audiofight]

soulo

What isn't working? Which jacks? How are you trying to hook it up to your speakers and what speakers are you using?

I know my digital output didn't work right until I went into the utility and configured it to use the digital output.

 

[Macro2]

Thanks Chiz. I wish I had some ram that would run 198 MHz. I just have cheapo Nanya and at 133 to boot...

I will say this...the A7N8X deluxe is one sweet board. Even if the bios temp is a little high. I'd buy another in a minute.

 

[Soulo]

Originally posted by: audiofight
soulo

What isn't working? Which jacks? How are you trying to hook it up to your speakers and what speakers are you using?

I know my digital output didn't work right until I went into the utility and configured it to use the digital output.

I'm trying to hook up my logitech z-340 speakers to the line in (lime green) jack. I configured it for analog and everything, but still no go.

 

[Soulo]

 

[h0mi]

Soulo- I'm having a similar problem with my deluxe MB (using a regular no name brand of speakers)

I'm going to do a clean install of XP and hope maybe that will work, since this install of win2k Im using was once on a Bh6 and maybe it didnt like the drivers or something.

 

[RandySavage]

Does anyone have any experience using SATA raid on this board?????

Any input would be appreciated... I know everyone is waiting on the raptors, but I was hoping someone went for the cudas

 

[titanz117]

i just bought a asus a7n8x for 130.00 from somone on these forums. i didnt get it yet. but i have 256 mb pc2100 kingston sitting around that im praying works in this motherboard will it? im only running a 1700 on it so i dont need high mhz ram atleast not now i just want to get this thing set up

 

[Laredo]

You might want to try changing the jumper to an alternate from how it's set initially, or change to another controller. Sometimes this is helpful in allowing the system to properly recognize a drive

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: titanz117
i just bought a asus a7n8x for 130.00 from somone on these forums. i didnt get it yet. but i have 256 mb pc2100 kingston sitting around that im praying works in this motherboard will it? im only running a 1700 on it so i dont need high mhz ram atleast not now i just want to get this thing set up

PC2100 will work just fine, and you shouldn't even need to tweak in the BIOS to have that 1700+ running at defaults.

Chiz

 

[titanz117]

thanks alot ill have my 9500 nonpro and asus set up this week i hope

 

[titanz117]

networking 2 computers threw the delux is this the same as a router or will i lose alot of my speed??

 

[FearoftheNight]

1. How do I share a broadband connection using the Dual Ethernet Ports?
2. What is all this weird brackets that came in the box with the board?
3. I have one of the 1002s Aida tells me. Is the temp right? Cuz Asus probe says "Ok raise your voltage and OC more". But Bios says "Its hot as hell...push it up anymore and you'll see flames."

 

[floccus]

networking 2 computers threw the delux is this the same as a router or will i lose alot of my speed??

A router would be faster mainly because it is made purposefully to accomplish this task, which means that it is much more streamlined. I don't know any realistic speads since i've never tried it and don't know anyone who has compared the two, but you probably wouldn't see any drop off from a router that would really worry you. But I still would have to say get a router cause I don't like running a pc as one.

1. How do I share a broadband connection using the Dual Ethernet Ports?

Depending on your OS you can use ICS in windows or get a real program like Sygate. Using Sygate is my choice as it is pretty easy to configure it as to which is the connection to the net and which is connected to the network. You can also get firewall integrated into the software which would be nice. So, basically, plug the cable from the cable/dsl modem into one of the NIC, run a cable from the other NIC to your hub or switch, load up Sygate and tell it which NIC is connected to what, and away you go.

2. What is all this weird brackets that came in the box with the board?

I'm gonna assume you mean the 3 parts that have the extra 2 USB ports, the 2 IEE1394 ports, serial port, and game port. So, thats what they are.... If thats not what you mean than I don't remember any other "brackets" in the box.

3. I have one of the 1002s Aida tells me. Is the temp right? Cuz Asus probe says "Ok raise your voltage and OC more". But Bios says "Its hot as hell...push it up anymore and you'll see flames."

What are the temps exactly? Athlon's can run at 95 C in theory. Also, what kind of cooling are you running? AMD retail HSF can't handle OCing as nicely as something better.

 

[FearoftheNight]

What I meant in my uhh often noob question is what does the serial and game port do/ whats it for?
About the temps the bios is giving me 72 C!!! on load. But Asus Probe and Aida are giving me 36- 40 C. I do not have crappy stock cooling. Thermalright Sk-7 + Thermaltake Smartfan II running on full.

 

[FearoftheNight]

Voltage is at 1.775.

 

[floccus]

What I meant in my uhh often noob question is what does the serial and game port do/ whats it for?

Hmm.... guess we really are moving away from legacy....

Anywho... the serial port is the 2nd serial port. Most computers still use two to support peripherals such as a Palm cradle or anything else that connects to the serial interface. The serial port is the one with the pins (male) and there is also one integrated into the board. The game port is the larger one with the holes (female) and is used for attaching a joystick, gaming wheel, game pad, or anything else that uses the game interface.... which is pretty much any input device made for gaming. I'm not sure if manufacturers have mosed to the usb interface for those thigns, but I would safely bet they have so if you don't need it, then there's no need to hook it up, same goes for the 2nd serial port.