Unofficial Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR thread

[DoobieOnline]

New review up at Legion - LINK

doobie

 

[Yargster]

On page 18 of the SL-K8AN2E-GR manual it shows how to connect your CPU fan. I have two problems:
1) The picture isn't the correct motherboard.
2) I cannot find a "CPU fan connector" as listed in the manual.
Question: Where do I safely connect my CPU fan?

 

[Yargster]

On page 18 of the SL-K8AN2E-GR manual it shows how to connect your CPU fan. I have two problems:
1) The picture isn't the correct motherboard.
2) I cannot find a "CPU fan connector" as listed in the manual.
Question: Where do I safely connect my CPU fan?

 

[DeMody]

Look at the purple sheet that came with your board. It's says "Top Mainboard" and then "SL-K8AN2-GR / K8AN2E-GR" etc. etc. On the back page, there is a layout of the pin connectors. You want "Fan1".

 

[DoobieOnline]

New bios dated 09/27 is available here. The description reads "Supported AMD Cool 'n' Quiet for Semprom CPU" but doesn't give any other info. I'll probably try it tonight and see if there are any other changes.

doobie

Edit: There is a new version of Hardware Monitor on the same page (dated 09/30).

 

[krose]

Latest BIOS also adds support up to 300 HTT. It actually works unlike the power users BIOS, but the BIOS settings are a couple of MHz off, e.g. I must set 265 in BIOS to get 267 with CPU-Z. They'll get it eventually.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Ken, thanks for the great news! I'm definitely flashing if it allows FSB adjustments over 250.

doobie

 

[DoobieOnline]

Bios T1.2 didn't work out very well for me. I lost Prime stability at 2.5GHz and couldn't get it back no matter what I tried. I went back to T1.1 and everything's good again.

doobie

 

[imported_kitty]

On page 18 of the SL-K8AN2E-GR manual it shows how to connect your CPU fan. I have two problems:
1) The picture isn't the correct motherboard.
2) I cannot find a "CPU fan connector" as listed in the manual.
Question: Where do I safely connect my CPU fan?

Please connect the FAN connector to FAN1

 

[krose]

Originally posted by: kitty
On page 18 of the SL-K8AN2E-GR manual it shows how to connect your CPU fan. I have two problems:
1) The picture isn't the correct motherboard.
2) I cannot find a "CPU fan connector" as listed in the manual.
Question: Where do I safely connect my CPU fan?

Please connect the FAN connector to FAN1

CPU fan header is above the AGP slot, under the CPU socket, to the left of the nvidia SATA ports.

 

[Fuzn]

Quick question. I have 2 sata drives in a raid0 on this board. I was sorta wanting to get some more space, would this board give me some trouble if i wanted to add another sata drive? or would it be a better idea to just get a pata drive instead?

 

[TeejayV]

I just ordered this board and a 3400+ as well. I'm just wondering what would be the best type of ram to put into this system? PC3200, PC3500, PC3700, or PC4000? I want speed, but i am not going to overclock. Thank you.

Teejay

 

[DoobieOnline]

Teejay - get the best gig of PC3200 you can afford. For $150, Corsair Value RAM CAS 2.5 is good stuff and you should be able to run it 2.5-3-3-6 at DDR400. If you want super-tight timings, get the PQI Turbo PC3200 for $250. It will run 2-2-2-5 at DDR400. It's very hard to justify the extra $100 for the PQI since timings aren't bad at all on the Corsair, but if you ever decide to overclock the PQI will definitely let you.

doobie

 

[TeejayV]

hmmm, doobie, thanks for the reply. I had my eyes on that corsair ram you speak of. I think i will be getting that ram, because it is easier to get here in Canada without me having to go online and ordering it. I'm really excited about this board, and can't wait to run it. I'm upgrading from an xp2800 so i should see a pretty big performance difference.

Let u all know what happens when i get it!!

Teejay

 

[DoobieOnline]

Newegg has been out of stock for a while on the Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR, but you can still find it at NCIX.com. NCIX charges ~$10 more than Newegg, but at least they have them in stock.

doobie

 

[imported_kitty]

I just ordered this board and a 3400+ as well. I'm just wondering what would be the best type of ram to put into this system? PC3200, PC3500, PC3700, or PC4000? I want speed, but i am not going to overclock. Thank you.

I suggest you buy PC3200. Because the PC3500, PC3700 or PC4000 is for overclocking.

 

[wyrd]

Hi there. Is this thread dead or are people still posting? I was considering this board, but I've been reading this thread and there seems to be some problem with getting RAM to work properly? Can anyone tell me what that's about?

Mostly I just want to make sure my system will work without any problems before buying it. I'm not using anything complex, I'm keeping it simple. Thus I'm using typical a typical IDE drive for my HD rather than SATA (every mobo seems to have probs setting up SATA drives, so I'm staying away). I've read people having problem with RAID, but I have no idea what that is. I don't think I'm using it, so hopefully that won't be a problem.

The only other thing, aside from HD, is mostly the RAM issues. If someone can, can you tell me whether my RAM will work? (it'd help a great deal if someone who's used the RAM could tell me if it's working). I've also heard people having problems using 2 sticks of RAM, so I want to know if I'd have problems using 2 sticks of my brand. Oh, and I've heard something about this board not supporting dual-channel memory? What's that about, and will it affect me?

Lots of questions, I know. I just want to make sure I won't have any "typical" problems if I buy this motherboard. Thanks for your time. Here's my setup:

1x Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
DDR400(PC3200) - Non-ECC Unbuffered
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only
IDE ULTRA ATA100 - High-performance with 8MB Buffer
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor - Retail
Socket 754 - Newcastle
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "AA6800B1" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-145-084&depa=0

Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive, Model SOHC-5232K BLACK, Retail
ATAPI/E-IDE - 2MB Buffer
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

COOLER MASTER Praetorian Black ALUMINUM MID-TOWER CASE, Model "PAC-T01-EK" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Antec 430W Power Supply, Model "TRUE430" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-908&depa=0


SOLTEK "SL-K8AN2E-GR" NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-180-061&depa=0

 

[DeMody]

I have the exact same RAM from Newegg that you're looking at in my Soltek. Works great.

This Soltek is a champ. You can't do much better for the price (if at all).

 

[cbehnken]

Keep in mind if you overclock much the Promise SATA controller is useless.

I'm running 242 HTT and the device will not start in device manager.

The onboard Nvidia Sata controller and the Nvidia IDE RAID works perfectly though.

 

[wyrd]

I have no plams to overclock. Too many problems seem to be associated with it, regardless of mobo. But thanks for the info!

 

[Zoobeus]

I actually just bought this board the other week.

Im just wondering about advice, and or settings I should maybe run it at. Ive never really OC'd before, so Im really unsure.

This is currently what I have

SL-K8an2e-gr 250gb
2x512 pc3200 kingston value ram
AMD 64 3200+ (Newcastle)l (Arctic-cool Silencer 64-TC)
Leadtek Geforce 6800 GT

***Everything is retail including the processor. I just chose to use a different heatsink than the standard one.

Now I currently have the system running at a 5/6 ram ratio. I have the fsb set to 241 and the agp frequency set to 66, 256mb agp, at a 4x8x setting.

The HT i have set to 4x (since 250gb chipset is capable of 1000mhz correct?)

Now, I also have my Cpu multiplier set to x10 and have the following settings:
Cpu vcore: 1.550v
Agp 1.50v
Ram 2.7v
Chipset Vcore 1.8v

Now with this setup I get around 2440 mhz, and dont seem to have any issues. I havent crashed and can play stuff like World of Warcraft fine . However, when I try and run 3dmark05 I always freeze up about halfway through. (never have I had a problem with crashing from games or stress tests). According to solteks monitors and Sisoft, my cpu temperature is less than 50C (45C right now, idle..), and less than 45 for my case (35 right now, idle). My 2 120mm case fans arent spinning real fast either, they are temp controlled.

**I was able to run 3dmark05 with default settings and my computer didnt lock up. Of course the ratings were like 5450 or something.. =\. I assume thats very low for this setup?


I was wondering if someone could tell me if I should altar my settings? Any red flags? For instance, my Vcore chipset, is that too high?

Also, I noticed when I boot up it detects ddr400 with default settings, but at the settings im currently running at it says ddr333. (But Cpu-Z even lists the frequency of the RAM at 203ish mhz.)
Now my computer posts fine and it runs smoothly. Should I be concerned with 3dmark05 freezing on me?

Also, when I leave default settings in, my cpu clock rate is 2020 mhz, (not 2200 like I expected..) However, my l2 cache is 512kb, and not 1M. So it is a newcastle. Hrm.

Anyhow, can someone suggest memory timings for me, Im completely lost when it comes to that stuff. Or can someone recommend other useful benchmark/monitoring software?

Thanks!

 

[WT]

As far as RAM, Im running a stick of Geil 512 DDR3200 in mine, as well as a stick of Kingmax DDR3500. No problems on this board. The Geil stick is temporary, on loan from another PC I have until I get an old Abit KG7 board RMA'd. Once the 3200 is taken out, I intend to try for a mild O/C on the board.

 

[leeto]

When the computer is off overnight and its turned on it hangs right after the memory test and before the devices are detected.

Ive tried turning off and on quick boot but it makes no difference.

I am running the following:

SL-K8AN2E-GR
AMD 3000 64
1GB Kingston value ram
WD 74GB Raptor

 

[cpotter]

Starting my first build. Initially I decided on the AMD 64 2800+ processor, which led me to chosing a socket 754 MOBO. I knew I wanted a nVIDIA 250Gb chipset after reading many reviews. Initially thought of getting the Epox at about $75, but after reading most of the posts in this thread, went with the Soltek. Almost everyone seems satisified with this board. Being a newbie, I have 2 additional questions. Hope this is not beyond the scope of this board. If it is, I appologize.

Well, I've purchased the AMD Athlon 64 2800+ processor. Also purchased a motherboard. Went with the:

SOLTEK "SL-K8AN2E-GR" NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL $99.00

Looked for a while at many socket 754 motherboards. The Epox was about $15 cheaper, but the SOLTEK seemed solid. Seemed to have excellent reviews and virtually no complaints from people trying to install/use the board.

My next question is regarding case and PSU. For me, I do not need an expensive case. It is just going to sit under the desk. Will not be moving the case either. I think I can get an decent case for around $30 - $40. The question I have is more in regards to the PSU. I read somewhere that as a minimum, you need a 400W PSU for a 64 bit chip. I assume anything over 400W would be reasonable? And would most any 400W power supply that comes standard with a low end case be resonable for my usage? Are there other parameters of the PSU that I need to evaluate? Or certain brands to look out for or avoid? To me getting an adequate PSU seems more important than the case itself.

In all likelyhood I will be running the following components eventually:
1) Soltek board Athlon 2800+
2) 1 Gig of Ram
3) New 60 - 80 gig hard drive possibly with an additional much older 20 gig HD as a slave
4) New DVD Burner
5) Seperate DVD Rom
6) Video card, not yet decided on which one.

My question is regarding case and PSU. For me, I do not need an expensive case. It is just going to sit under the desk. Will not be moving the case either. I think I can get an decent case for around $30 - $40. The question I have is more in regards to the PSU. I read somewhere that as a minimum, you need a 400W PSU for a 64 bit chip. I assume anything over 400W would be reasonable? And would most any 400W power supply that comes standard with a low end case be resonable for my usage? Or do I need to buy a low end case and supplement with an better PSU? I'm somewhat handicapped by a budget for the computer. Are there other parameters of the PSU that I need to evaluate? Or certain brands to look out for or avoid? To me getting an adequate PSU seems more important than the case itself.

Also need some advice regarding a cheap video card. I do very little gaming, and nothing that would require exceptional video. My kids (3 yr old) plays games. I do general computer work. May watch an occasional DVD, but will likely be buring DVD's more than watching. At some point, I may what to be able to feed the VCR into the computer and transfer to DVD. But this capability is not necessary at the molment. There are cards as low as $30 on newegg for general video. Was thinking of getting one less than $60. Any suggestions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Chad

 

[imported_kitty]

reply leeto,

You can try to raise a bit memory voltage. (2.7V or 2.8V)