Unofficial Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR thread

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vskagentsmith

Member
Oct 28, 2004
49
0
0
Great forum on the board, I was hoping to find a good resource, I have a question, one which is probably already been addressed, but I wasn't able to find any clear information:

If I buy dual channel memory (which I ordered at NewEgg's website) on accident, I didn't realize the board didn't support it until after it was too late. Now I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I haven't received the board or the rest of the hardware for my new computer, but I need to know once and for all:

Will the SL-K8AN2E-GR board *use* Dual Channel memory, or will it simply not work at all, or will it even damage the memory if I try to use it in the board?

Here's a link to the make and model of RAM I bought:
PDP Memory

I just want to know if this will operate at all, or if I'll have to send it back and get something else, if so what would you recommend (that will work) that runs up to 2GB?

Thanks in advance for the replies
 

cbehnken

Golden Member
Aug 23, 2004
1,402
0
0
Dual Channel memory is simply 2 matched chips packaged. This will work fine in the mobo and harm nothing.
 

wpenhall

Senior member
Oct 10, 2002
213
0
0
Question for you SL-K8AN2E-GR owners:

I'm thinking about picking up this board to complement an A64 3400+, but I have some concern about the layout. I have a Gainward 6800GT that extends down to the first PCI slot due to the hugh-jass cooler assembly. Looking at the board layout on Newegg, it looks like the chipset heatsink may interfere with 2-slot GPUs.

Anyone able to fit a 2-slot card (like a 6800 Ultra) in there no problem? Or can anyone tell me if the top of the heatsink is lower than or flush with the top of the AGP slot? It's a bit hard to tell from the pictures.

Thanks!
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Originally posted by: wpenhall
Question for you SL-K8AN2E-GR owners:

I'm thinking about picking up this board to complement an A64 3400+, but I have some concern about the layout. I have a Gainward 6800GT that extends down to the first PCI slot due to the hugh-jass cooler assembly. Looking at the board layout on Newegg, it looks like the chipset heatsink may interfere with 2-slot GPUs.

Anyone able to fit a 2-slot card (like a 6800 Ultra) in there no problem? Or can anyone tell me if the top of the heatsink is lower than or flush with the top of the AGP slot? It's a bit hard to tell from the pictures.

Thanks!

wpenhall, I am not at home, but from what I remember, the board's heatsink is not very large, as in you should be fine to install your 6800 card.
I have a 9800 Pro in mine, so I have no such issue, but when I get home, I will verify the height/size for you if no one else has already.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
wpenhall:

I checked it out, and it looks like the double decker card should fit fine.... it will be close, but it will clear. the heatsink is not very tall, and i'd say was designed for cards to be able to fit without a problem.

should be good, as long as whatever you get is the same as mine! :thumbsup:
 

sheemone00

Senior member
Sep 17, 2003
209
0
0
Hello guys I'm fairly new to the computer overclocking and all that jazz so if you guys can help me out that would be great. I just bought this board but I'm having some trouble w/ my RAM. I have the 2800+ CPU and two sticks of 2x 512 of Mushkin 3200. All setting are normal in the BIOS except for certain RAM settings and when I run Prime95 Windows craps out on me w/ a blue screen w/ either physical dump and PNL_LIST errors. I've upped the VDRAM to 2.8 and I'm running 3-3-3-atuo. Any suggestions on why this is happening?

edit: When I run the system with just one stick of my RAM everything works peacy. Also what program do you use to detect the CPU temp? I dont trust the hardware monitor that the mobo came w/ because when I run Prime95 with my one stick of RAM the temperature barely changes. 44 -> 46 ish.

edit#2: ok I fixed the stability problem by underclocking the RAM to 166. But if anyone can tell me a good program to watch my temperature I would appreciate it.
 

VVarewolf

Junior Member
Nov 3, 2004
9
0
0
Hello to everyone...

I'm obviously new to the forums and pretty much a noob to overclocking, though I can say I learned alot just from reading through this thread. I do have a few questions as I plan to order this board for my new PC I'm building. Let me first state that I haven't been able to spend this kind of money in a looooong time so am quite a bit out of the loop on new technologies and such (especially AMD).

I would like to try and duplicate the success Doobie has had with his OCing. I understand you can't expect the same results from different chips even if they are the exact same make...but I'm willing to give it a try. One thing I was wondering, since this board doesn't support dual channel, is there any reason to go with 2 512MB sticks instead of 1GB? How will it effect my OCing experience?

It also seems that the NewCastle 3000+ is a smarter buy over a 3200+ since you can actually OC it to a higher speed (am I right in this?)

I guess I'm also confused as to why you wouldn't be able to OC to 250Mhz with the PC4000s, isn't that what they're supposed to run at? I'm sure I'm missing something here.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but you could answer these for me I can get to ordering the parts for my computer :)
 

VVarewolf

Junior Member
Nov 3, 2004
9
0
0
I've been looking over some video cards to go with this setup and came across an interesting statement. Is it true that you can see better performance when components are from the same manufacturer? As in using an nVidia card as opposed to an ATI card for this board? In addition, what cards have you found to be good with this board in OCing situations?

Thanks again!
 

cyberknight

Senior member
Sep 3, 2004
378
0
0
no, ATI cards should not lose performance. I'm sure ATI could sue nVidia if they were purposely making their chipsets like that. Don't worry about matching your manufacturers. Just get what you see is the best value. All the manufacturers essentially "borrow" the technology to make their own product anyhow.

like an ATI Radeon 9800PRO is pretty much the same as the Sapphire or MSI one.

Depending on your budget, you should go for AT LEAST a video card with a Radeon 9800 PRO chipset (and make sure you get a 256-bit version). If you want to go high end, look to one of the 6800 nVidia cards or an ATI X800 card.

as for overclocking, I can't help you there...
 

VVarewolf

Junior Member
Nov 3, 2004
9
0
0
Originally posted by: cyberknight
no, ATI cards should not lose performance. I'm sure ATI could sue nVidia if they were purposely making their chipsets like that. Don't worry about matching your manufacturers. Just get what you see is the best value. All the manufacturers essentially "borrow" the technology to make their own product anyhow.

like an ATI Radeon 9800PRO is pretty much the same as the Sapphire or MSI one.

Depending on your budget, you should go for AT LEAST a video card with a Radeon 9800 PRO chipset (and make sure you get a 256-bit version). If you want to go high end, look to one of the 6800 nVidia cards or an ATI X800 card.

as for overclocking, I can't help you there...

Thank you for the clarification, I think I'll be going with a eVGA 6800 card.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Originally posted by: cyberknight
no, ATI cards should not lose performance. I'm sure ATI could sue nVidia if they were purposely making their chipsets like that. Don't worry about matching your manufacturers. Just get what you see is the best value. All the manufacturers essentially "borrow" the technology to make their own product anyhow.

like an ATI Radeon 9800PRO is pretty much the same as the Sapphire or MSI one.

Depending on your budget, you should go for AT LEAST a video card with a Radeon 9800 PRO chipset (and make sure you get a 256-bit version). If you want to go high end, look to one of the 6800 nVidia cards or an ATI X800 card.

as for overclocking, I can't help you there...

9800 Pro paired with my A64 3200+ is a fantastic combo.. pumps out plenty of FPS and is stable and reliable as anything... I :heart: my system, and I :heart: my 4th Soltek mobo.
 

VVarewolf

Junior Member
Nov 3, 2004
9
0
0
Originally posted by: CraigRT
Originally posted by: cyberknight
no, ATI cards should not lose performance. I'm sure ATI could sue nVidia if they were purposely making their chipsets like that. Don't worry about matching your manufacturers. Just get what you see is the best value. All the manufacturers essentially "borrow" the technology to make their own product anyhow.

like an ATI Radeon 9800PRO is pretty much the same as the Sapphire or MSI one.

Depending on your budget, you should go for AT LEAST a video card with a Radeon 9800 PRO chipset (and make sure you get a 256-bit version). If you want to go high end, look to one of the 6800 nVidia cards or an ATI X800 card.

as for overclocking, I can't help you there...

9800 Pro paired with my A64 3200+ is a fantastic combo.. pumps out plenty of FPS and is stable and reliable as anything... I :heart: my system, and I :heart: my 4th Soltek mobo.

Just a question...what exactly IS considered plenty of FPS? I think I read somewhere that below 30 was visible to the eye.
 

cpotter

Member
Oct 24, 2004
45
0
0
Purchased a Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR and AMD 64 2800+. The question I have is in regards to memory. I'm going to purchase 1 Gig of RAM, either with 1 Gig stick or 2 x 512. Is there any advantage of getting the 1 Gig stick (other than the ability to add an additional stick later)? The price is obviously more. 2 x 512 is likely the better route as 1 Gig is more than I'll need for a while. Looking though the board, it seems like some people have had problems with memory on ths MOBO, but from what I can tell this is only when the 2 sticks were bought at a seperate time or running with an incrased FSB. Do not plan to overclock. Any suggested brands of RAM that work well with this MOBO? Thanks for the help. Chad
 

cyberknight

Senior member
Sep 3, 2004
378
0
0
I'm just using one stick of 512MB Samsung PC3200. Timings are 3-3-3-8. It does the job just fine as I don't plan on overclocking. Great value.

I'll be adding a second stick later in the future, but I'm unsure if I should go for a 1GB stick, or a 512MB stick...
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Originally posted by: VVarewolf
Originally posted by: CraigRT
Originally posted by: cyberknight
no, ATI cards should not lose performance. I'm sure ATI could sue nVidia if they were purposely making their chipsets like that. Don't worry about matching your manufacturers. Just get what you see is the best value. All the manufacturers essentially "borrow" the technology to make their own product anyhow.

like an ATI Radeon 9800PRO is pretty much the same as the Sapphire or MSI one.

Depending on your budget, you should go for AT LEAST a video card with a Radeon 9800 PRO chipset (and make sure you get a 256-bit version). If you want to go high end, look to one of the 6800 nVidia cards or an ATI X800 card.

as for overclocking, I can't help you there...

9800 Pro paired with my A64 3200+ is a fantastic combo.. pumps out plenty of FPS and is stable and reliable as anything... I :heart: my system, and I :heart: my 4th Soltek mobo.

Just a question...what exactly IS considered plenty of FPS? I think I read somewhere that below 30 was visible to the eye.

plenty is much more than that, because I can see that 30 is not silky smooth :p
 

imported_kitty

Junior Member
Aug 18, 2004
19
0
0
reply cpotter,

You can take Geil and Kingstone (DDR400/512M) into account. I tested them on the K8AN2E-GR before.
They worked fine.
 

imported_kitty

Junior Member
Aug 18, 2004
19
0
0
reply cyberknight

I suggest you go for a 512MB stick in the future, but thestick had better is the same with samsung, otherwise, the system will become unstable.
 

wpenhall

Senior member
Oct 10, 2002
213
0
0
cpotter - I'm currently building an A64 3400+ system around this board and two 512 MB sticks of corsair value select PC-3200. I should be able to finish it either tonight or tomorrow morning and will let you know how it goes.

Open question for anybody else: I have an old soundblaster live! 5.1 card in my previous computer. Should I bother to put that in the new build, or is the onboard sound good enough for games? My audio consists of two, 2-channel systems for 4.0 surround, so I'm using the analog outputs.

Thanks!
 

wpenhall

Senior member
Oct 10, 2002
213
0
0
Originally posted by: cpotter
Thanks wpenhall. Would love to know how it turns out. Will check back. Chad

howdy -

well, I haven't fully completed the build, but I'm up to having Win 2k installed. I haven't tried any sort of overclocking, and am not sure I ever will, but so far I haven't had any issues with my corsair value select 2x512 RAM. Even though they are are the same model number (VS512MB400), I purchased them separately - about two months apart (from ZZF). Someone else was saying that they had a revision issue... I'm not sure where to look for that, but my system sees them both just fine.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.
 

Megatomic

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
20,127
6
81
It looks like I'll be building the same exact system wpenhall. I'll be pairing it up with an X800 Pro and WinXP. Soon I'll be involved in the WinXP 64 closed beta program and I'll be able to report on this system under 64bit OS. :)