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

[Assimilator1]

Why do you say that?

 

[NotquiteanooB]

As you can see in my signature; I'm running 2 similar mobo's with the same CPU's. All are water cooled. Prior to water cooling the A7N8X-E-Dx was always running hotter than A7N8X-Dx. After water cooling there was the same difference between the mobos. The CPU that is the hottest is in a P160 case that has separate temp sensors built in. I placed one of those sensors between the CPU waterblock and the plastic frame of the CPU holder. That sensor reads the same as the other Barton CPU. (39*C) I'm assuming the sensor or diode on the mobo under the CPU is not reading correctly. Using ASUS probe or MBM5.
The only thing I haven't tried is swapping CPU's and see if the high reading follows the CPU or stays with the mobo. I guess that will be my next test.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

bump

 

[Assimilator1]

Certainly worth a try ,it maybe just a bios calibration issue though.(I haven't heard of any)

Have you looked through the different bios revisions of each mbrd to see if there's any clues?

 

[NotquiteanooB]

The Bios's on each mobo are the latest that the ASUS site lists. I haven't checked for 'Uber' Bios's though.

 

[Assimilator1]

That's not what I meant ,have you looked at the info for all revisions of the bios on the Asus website?.An earlier bios may mention temp calibration issues ,more likely on an older revision mbrd.

 

[canuck123]

I just picked up an ASUS a7n8x deluxe (rev 2.0) and will be slapping in an Athlon XP 2500+ Barton Core Unlocked.

Looking for some advice on hardware needed:

- I would like to use 2GB of RAM. What do you recommend ?
- Also need a good HSF for overclocking

Settings:

- what should I set the FSB and other bios to to get the 2500 overclocked ?

Thanks

 

[Assimilator1]

Re RAM ,depends how much you wanta spend.
I use Crucial DDR400 as its reasonabley cheap yet is still good RAM ,I've found on my S754 rig that it'll hit ~235 MHz too

Afraid I can't help you specifcally with a HSF ,look for a large all copper heatsink with at least an 80mm fan.

what should I set the FSB and other bios to to get the 2500 overclocked ?

Are you new to overclocking?

If so you'll need to read an overclocking guide (might be one in the overclocking forum section?).
No one can tell you the specific settings to set your FSB at ,it all depends on the max speed your CPU is capable of ,you can only find that out by trial & error.
To do that increase the FSB in 5MHz steps (make sure the AGP bus is locked),intially do a quick 5min test with Prime95 ,if it passes raise the FSB another 5MHz.If it fails you can either drop the FSB a bit ,say 2MHz or raise the vcore 1 step.And repeat the test.
When you've found the optimal speed/voltage you want then do a proper Prime95 test ,it needs to be passable for at least 12hrs ,ideally 24hrs! .

On air cooling I wouldn't exceed 1.72v ,preferabley 1.7v (check the h/w monitor as the bios setting is inaccurate).
You will need a windows temp monitoring program to keep an eye on CPU temps.

Good luck

Btw I've got my XPM 2500 @2.5GHz

 

[canuck123]

Thanks for the advice. I've been reading quite a bit here and there and I also have the mobile version (unlocked) Barton XP 2500+.

I'm looking at some OCZ DDR at PC3500 :

OCZ EL Gold Gamer Extreme GX XTC PC3500 1GB 2X512MB DDR433 CL2-2-2-5 184PIN Dual Channel

This memory should do the trick !

I might just run the setup at 12 x 300 to get 2400 Mhz.

If anyone has a similar setup, I wouldn't mind hearing from them.

Thanks

 

[Whitedog]

This thread is older than dirt... like me... And so is this board. But I wish I had another one.

I have 2 of these boards. Been running strong for 2 years. I recently built a 3rd PC from a "cheap" board.., It died within 2 months. Cheap. Boy did I save money.'

I SURE WISH I COULD FIND ANOTHER A7N8X-E. MAN is this a stable mobo or WHAT!

Only place I can find one is on Eh-Gay... and they are going to 100+ bux. Maybe I just need to sell the two I have while they are going for good huh?

Any recommendations on another 462 board I can use? I really just need to get this spare PC running. Not looking into a fast honker.

I have an XP2100+
9800 Pro AGP card
2x512 generic PC3200 ram to put in it.

Just need a mobo. I'm tired of looking at this blue screen next to me.

Oh, and I WOULD just buy a new 939 mobo and A64... but me and wife just sunk a $$GRAND$$ into a Salt Water aquarium... and still have about $500 left to finish it off... so I'm not spending any more than I have to on PC gear right now. JUST MOBO.

Thanks

[edit]Oh, and BTW, just wanted to add that in my A7N8X boards, I'm running mobile 2600+'s @2.4 ghz... steady for the whole time ('bout 2 years). Rocking mobo! [/edit]

 

[canuck123]

Hey oldtimer, stick with the A7N8X-E and don't get anything else !!!! It works

I bought mine recently NEW and yes I paid $100 US for it but I wanted it new. I'm going to even get a used one to put on the shelf for insurance !

Later

 

[Whitedog]

So I gave up... I didn't want to sink more money into the 462 systems...

I can't waite to have money to spend again. But I'll not go there now.

I went semi-cheap again. I bought a mobo-cpu combo at local store today. Got an MSI board and A64 3000+ (both retail boxed) for $169. Gonna see how this thing runs. wish me luck.

 

[Assimilator1]

Originally posted by: canuck123
Thanks for the advice. I've been reading quite a bit here and there and I also have the mobile version (unlocked) Barton XP 2500+.

I'm looking at some OCZ DDR at PC3500 :

OCZ EL Gold Gamer Extreme GX XTC PC3500 1GB 2X512MB DDR433 CL2-2-2-5 184PIN Dual Channel

This memory should do the trick !

I might just run the setup at 12 x 300 to get 2400 Mhz.

If anyone has a similar setup, I wouldn't mind hearing from them.

Thanks

Don't confuse the mobile XPs (XP-M) with the earlier desktop XPs which were unlocked by default anyway.
Do you have an XP-M 2500 or an earlier desktop XP2500 unlocked?

Btw you'll never get this (or any socket A?) to run at 300FSB ,I think 230-240 is the typical limit.

Whitedog
How about the Asus A7V600 ? seems to be a reasonable mbrd in my limited experience of it ,& others rate it well too (btw I built 2 rigs using the 600)

And at this late stage your definatly better off not buying new S462 gear unless its real cheap.

canuck123
I wouldn't waste more money on a 2nd mbrd

 

[canuck123]

It's a XP-M 2500.

Typo on the 300! oops.

 

[Assimilator1]

Ah ,much better overclocking potential then ,you might be able to do 12.5x200=2.5GHz

 

[canuck123]

I just picked up some CORSAIR CMX512 x2 at PC3500. That should work fine at 2-2-2-5

 

[Papageno]

Hello all, perhaps someone can shed some insight into whether this is a motherboard or a PSU problem.

I have an A7N8X Deluxe (rev. 1.04), which I bought around 3 years ago. I've had absolutely no complaints with this machine
since I put this mobo in. However, in the last couple of months I've noticed something weird-- when I shut down the machine, after the power
LED goes off and the PSU fans turn off, I hear a rapid clicking and the HD LED blinks in time with it, sometimes also the read light on my
dual-layer DVD burner. Also, for a while the front case fan and the CPU fans stay on at a reduced speed-- eventually they stop and so does the clicking after slowing down. If the speakers are on there is a sound from them in time with the clicks. The machine starts up normally, although sometimes the
fans make weird noises before they settle down.

At first I thought the DVD burner was to blame because the clicking seemed to come from there, but then I disconnected both optical drives
and the floppy, and it still happened. Then I tried disconnecting the hard drives, and of course there was no booting into Windows, but I got similar symptoms when I hit the front power button to turn the machine off-- a clicking or ticking sound, gradually slowing down, and the case and CPU fans in time with it.

So now I think it's either the Antec Smart Power 400 W PSU (somehow not getting the appropriate shutdown signal from the mobo) OR the A7N8X Deluxe mobo itself not sending that signal. The latter would really suck, because I want to
keep this machine around for a while. Other than this the machine is rock-solid stable. Everything is running at stock speeds. Other components-- Leadtek Geforce 6600GT 128MB, Audigy 1 soundcard, 1GB Corsair XMS PC2700 DDR RAM, 1 60 GB Maxtor HD, one 160 GB (both ATA 133), one TDK CD-RW drive, one NEC DVD burner.

Any ideas? I suppose the easiest thing to do would be to try connecting another power supply and seeing if the problem went away.
Thanks for any enlightenment.

 

[Assimilator1]

Yes!

Seriously though the only way you are going to get a meaningful answer is to try a different PSU.

 

[Papageno]

Thanks, I just wish I had an adequate extra one lying around. ;-) Unfortunately the only one I have is a 300 W Enlight one that came originally with my case. I wonder if that would be enough to just test the mobo+vidcard+2 HD's if I disconnected the optical drives.

 

[Assimilator1]

Hmm ,dubious ,maybe ,if you can disconnect 1 HDD ,case fans & remove the sound card.
But really you want to test it with a better PSU

 

[Papageno]

Just to fill you in: I ended up replacing the PSU (an Antec Smart Power [1] 400W) with an Antec True Power II 480W and it solved the problem. Indeed, the power supply was going. It's only a shame that I can't use those extra PCI-E power connectors or the extra +12V output, or the SATA ones (since I have no SATA drives in this machine, alas) Only 5 regular molex connectors, and I had to use each and every one, yikes (2 optical drives, 2 HDs and a 6600GT vidcard).

 

[Assimilator1]

Good to hear its fixed

Btw your old PSU isn't still under its 3yr warrantee is it?

 

[Papageno]

Alas, no, it's been more than three years.

 

[Assimilator1]

ah heck ,but just a few months I bet?

 

[sygyzy]

Man, I am so glad to see this thread is still around. Here's my situation.

I am using this board in my current system. It's a very very nice build, or it was 4 years ago, but now I am going to start on a new system. It's about time. What I need advice on is how to stabilize this thing and QUIET it down.

I am so behind in systems, I don't what my choices.

Current config:

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
AMD Athlon XP 1800+ overclocked to ~2085
Thermaltake SK-6 HSF
1GB of Corsair PC3200 RAM
eVGA GeForce 6800
Lian-Li PC65 Case
4 Hard Drives (C to F) - 80GB, 160GB, 160GB, 120GB

I am giving this system to my dad. He does things like simple word processing. He only has dialup to use too. No fancy downloads or games here.

What I need help with is the noise mostly.

I will probably remove all overclocking or reduce it just so there aren't any problems with stability.

What are some HSF cpu coolers I can get that will lower the noise? Looking back at old reviews, it seems like the Delta fan on the SK-6 is notorious for being VERY loud. I need a much quieter HSF.

What about the chipset fan? Is it replaceable? Is it worth it?