Unofficial Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR thread

[CaptainPOE]

The only problem that I have with this mobo so far is the awful placement of the main power connector. It is placed right above IDE1 and IDE2, and it is also right beside the heatsink and fan on one side and on the other are the HDD's, makes for some real tight spaces to work in when trying to plug everything up.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

edited out

 

[imported_Bucko]

Dam I have to get my head clear of that via stuff. Sorry
nForce nForce nForce nForce nForce nForce
Ok hope that sticks.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: CaptainPOE
The only problem that I have with this mobo so far is the awful placement of the main power connector. It is placed right above IDE1 and IDE2, and it is also right beside the heatsink and fan on one side and on the other are the HDD's, makes for some real tight spaces to work in when trying to plug everything up.

but on the bright side, the memory is at the top, horizontal

love that!

(I agree about the ATX connector.)

 

[DoobieOnline]

What heatsinks are you guys using with the Soltek? Thanks!

doobie

 

[krose]

Thermalright SLK-948U with Panaflo 92mm H1A.

 

[DoobieOnline]

That's what I needed to know. Thanks krose!

doobie

 

[ecameow]

so the newcastle 3200+ is 2.2ghz?

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: DoobieOnline
What heatsinks are you guys using with the Soltek? Thanks!

doobie

retail... reporting 44C under full load.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: ecameow
so the newcastle 3200+ is 2.2ghz?

Yep

 

[imported_Bucko]

cool ..fast reply from SOLTEK support
Dear customer:

Thank you for contacting Soltek.
Please follow below instruction to find on the Soltek CD. Driver --> Promise --> Pdc20579


Best Regards.
Ring /Soltek
Tel:886-2-26429060
Fax:886-2-26429065
Email: ringlo@soltek.com.tw
Website: http://www.soltek.com.tw

So I'm guessing that the drivers have to be installed before the promise P-ata is recognized in windows?

When I boot the PDC20579 shows a bootable Cd but I can't use it.
I keep getting hung-up on getting a raided drive C so I never get past the driver/software bit.
What config are you guys using for HHD/cd arrangement?

The trick before to achieve a bootable raid drive was to use a third drive with windows installed. Then pull that one after stripping the other two. But last night when I was doing it I still had problem installing on the other two. I never thought about using ghost and dumping an image onto the raid.
I know that this forum is kind of against Raids but I?ve doubled throughput in the past 40>80mbs at least on one bench test. Can't remember the test (alto or something like that?) And I know I really don?t need c to be raided.

 

[Ertaz]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
OP should change title to unofficial Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR thread so mods can evaluate it for stickiness

Done.

Also if you think it would be helpful to put a mini FAQ in the first post then PM me with the info you want in there and I will "Git er Dun'.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Ertaz

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
OP should change title to unofficial Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR thread so mods can evaluate it for stickiness

Done.

Also if you think it would be helpful to put a mini FAQ in the first post then PM me with the info you want in there and I will "Git er Dun'.

A FAQs in the first post would be very helpful. TTT and hope for a sticky! ^

 

[DoobieOnline]

Well, I bit. After reading everything I could find on the SL-K8AN2E-GR it doesn't look like I could beat it for the price. I should have it set up this weekend along with the A64 3000+ and Thermalright SLK948U. I'll post what kind of luck I have with it once I get everything figured out. This will be my first A64 build and I have to admit I'm still learning the terminology (HTT, FID, etc). Of course I'd love to be able to run 10x230 or 10x240 if the 3000+ will handle it with Vcore maxing out so low on the board.

Here's a few questions for SL-K8AN2E-GR owners...

Are you running a single SATA drive? If so, which SATA header should I use as to not be too limited on max FSB? I have a 74GB Raptor I'd like to use and I've read that some nFORCE 3 250 boards won't hit high FSB's with SATA drives hooked up to the NVIDIA headers.

Will I have to hit F6 during XP installation to load SATA drivers even if I'm using a single drive?

Anyone have problems with running 2x512MB at 1:1 using a high FSB? I have a gig of Geil PC4000 that I'd like to use if possible.

That's it for now, and thanks for any suggestions you have. Feel free to school me if you have any important info about setup that I need to be aware of!

doobie

 

[krose]

I have the same setup except for RAM. You don't need high Vcore. I just got a 512mb stick of Adata Vitesta PC4000. Using clockgen, I am currently running at 270x9 HTT, memory 1:1, HT multiplier = 3, at 1.55 Vcore and 2.8 Vdimm, albeit at 3-4-4-8, 1T timings. Using the BIOS you should be able get to 240x10.

I am not running a single SATA, but a RAID array with 2 Raptors on the Nvidia SATA 1 and 2. I have not tried SATA on the Promise controller. SATA is not affected by high FSB for me. I have AGP lock set to 66.

You will have to load the SATA drivers during install for a single drive.

I have read of problems running 2 x 512 sticks 1:1 on other boards. With double sided sticks, they default to 166 RAM divider. Some can, some can't, you won't know until you try.

HTH, Ken

 

[imported_Bucko]

When doing install I wasn?t being patient enough. I had master/ slave on both IDE ports and one CD connected to the promise port. It takes quite a while for the drives to time out and the Promise to kick in. so now I have drive 0 as 80gig and raided my slaves. Leaving another 80gig master drive 1 to mirror the main.
Here is where my new problem is. I can run a single CD/dvd-rw off the Promise and I?m able to read the disk and Nero will recognize either RW but will not let me burn. Also If I plug both CD and DVD in it hangs at the boot-up. Also when booting with the single CD player it say that bios isn?t loaded .
Is anyone using the P-ata of the Promise controller?
I've tried chip select and master /slave configs. And have no indication of problems in hardware configs.
Rereading manual now to see what I missed.

 

[imported_Bucko]

Ok had a guy explain it to me again.. Same thing he said yesterday but this time it sunk in.
The Promise is ONLY a raid controller. So I'll move my 80's to that port and then put my opticals to the masters on the IDE 0,1.. I always though that was a no no?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: krose
You don't need high Vcore.

Correction, you don't need high vcore My 8 month old 3000+ will likely not hit 2.3ghz stable on that board with only 1.55v unless it overvolts significantly and still maintains the overvolt under f@h Gromacs work load. I thin I can completely forget about the 2.4ghz I run now with that limit.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Bucko
Ok had a guy explain it to me again.. Same thing he said yesterday but this time it sunk in.
The Promise is ONLY a raid controller. So I'll move my 80's to that port and then put my opticals to the masters on the IDE 0,1.. I always though that was a no no?

The problem with the promise controller is that it's on the pci bus, but if you aren't eating bandwidth with other pci cards that need it you should be OK, particularly since the board has pci/AGP lock.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Thanks for the tips krose. Hopefully everything will go well and I'll be one happy camper the next time I post about it. By the way, Newegg finally got some more 3200+ 1MB chips in last night and I ordered one this morning. I called them and they said no biggie on returning the retail 3000+ unopened. Really hoping I get a good OC out of the 3200+ since that's the chip I wanted all along. Should be an interesting build this weekend.

doobie

 

[DoobieOnline]

Just thought of another question... Which drivers are you guys using - the Soltek's that are dated 03.26.04 or the newest nVIDIA unified set? Is there anything that I shouldn't install, like the nVIDIA IDE driver? I've heard conflicting reports on that one.

For those who haven't looked lately, Soltek's site has new drivers dated 08.12.04 for audio, hardware monitoring, and Cool & Quiet.LINK

Thanks for the help!

doobie

 

[krose]

I am using the latest Nvidia 4.27 package. I didn't install the IDE driver, but one was installed with the SATA RAID driver during my Win2K Pro install, since SATA is an IDE device. When you hit F6 during install one of the drivers you install is the Nvidia Nforce storage controller along with the Nvidia RAID class driver. In device manager under IDE Controllers I have 2 devices, Nvidia CK8S Parallel ATA controller v2.5, and Nvidia CK8S Serial ATA controller v2.5. There is a driver file, nvatabus.sys v5.10.2600.415, for each device. That is the version on the label of the RAID driver floppy. The drivers in the 4.27 package are the same version. I have had no problems with IDE so far.

Thanks for the heads-up on the updates on the Soltek website.

 

[CraigRT]

I am using the latest NVIDIA drivers off their website, not a problem.

 

[krose]

System is running great but I have a bit of an annoyance. When I run Prime95 to test for stability the computer will not shut down or restart from the Windows menu. I get the windows is shutting down message then it goes to the generic blue Win2K Pro screen but never shuts off. The mouse pointer is still functioning too. This happens at stock or overclocked. It also happened last night after recording a TV program with a WinTV250 MCE. Can anyone confirm this problem?

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey krose, I'll run some Prime95 when I get the system set up this weekend and see if I can duplicate the problem.

Thanks for the replies on loading SATA drivers during the install. I just want to make sure that I'm understanding what you guys are referring to because I downloaded the manual to get more familiar with the board and read over the NVIDIA Controller section. Since I'll be running a single SATA Raptor, I don't need to install the RAID driver and should only install the NVIDIA NFORCE Storage Controller driver during setup, right? Sorry to be such a pain about this, but I had a problem with getting a single SATA drive installed on an Asus A7N8X-DLX at one time and I definitely want the install to go as smoothly as possible the first time around. Thanks!

doobie