Asus A7N8X Deluxe, another go

Copenhagen

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As some of you already know, my A7N8X Deluxe refused FSB's higher than 150MHz when operating in dual-channel sync mode and I had to RMA the board. Now I have got not one, BUT two completely new boards which I am going to try out. Well, if the first board performs well, I'll just return the second without trying it.

It will be interesting to see, how these new boards perform. I really hope they will do as expected, if not, Asus will loose one of it's most loyal ambassadors.

Let the test begin ...

<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

Vyrzeden

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Hope this go around works for ya. It's a pain trying to troubleshoot a problem on the working end of things unfortunately.

Keep us posted :)

Vyr
 

Spitfire_x86

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Buy MSI boards if you don't want headache. Their boards make less problems than any other mobo manufacturers. Search the MB forum to see

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RCPilot

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Well I haven't written them off yet. That board will be all right after the Bios catches up to those 333 fsb chips & dual DDR. As they have said on Tom's benches many times, ASUS always gets out a little advantage over the others, almost every time.

I'm still learning & having fun doing it!!!!!!
 

roncarney

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I also eagerly await your results. My 2800+ and A7N8X are at home, waiting for a PSU and some ram for me to try them out...

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Rob423

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well you guys think you have it bad... i have had one really bad 2 weeks.

i bought my first a7n8x and it was defective, so i rma'd back to newegg.

got a gigabyte from a local store, that boad didn't work.. the hard drive wasn't being detected.. after a long process of troubleshooting. this board was also defected.. the IDE slots didn't work, therefore it couldn't read the IDE drives..

now i just ordered a new A7N8X off of GoogleGear.com

i hope this works..

oh and one more thing to add to my hell week!

after the first a7n8x setup died.. i go to start up my old one... and that wouldn't start!

turns out the god dam Power supply died.. i mean this is just one hell of a week!

Is THG Slightly Slacking??
 

slvr_phoenix

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That's what happens to electronics while Mercury is in retrograde. :(


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Copenhagen

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Well, I have now almost completed testing the first of the two boards, which is the oldest one of the two boards when judged from the serial number.

<b>Test setup:</b>
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
BIOS: 1002 Beta 001
CPU: XP2400+, AUICB stepping, wire unlocked
RAM: 2x256MB GeIL PC3500, 6-3-3-2.

<b>Test results:</b>
All tests have been completed with the CPU running as close as possible to the stock frequency for a XP2400+, i.e 2000 MHz.

In <b>single channel</b> mode with memory running in <b>sync</b>, the board was able to run Prime95 stable with <b>210MHz FSB</b>. At 216MHz FSB the board eventually rebooted after running Prime95 for about 10 minutes. I haven't determined the exact stable FSB, but it is somewhere in between 210MHz and 216MHz.

In <b>dual channel</b> mode with memory running in <b>sync</b> things looked a lot worse, almost the same as my original board. The highest stable FSB running Prime95 was <b>158MHz</b>. The original board was stable at 150MHz, so I guess this one is a bit more stable, but certainly not even close to what I was hoping for and it doesn't come close to the results shown in various reviews on the net.

This first board I actually bought myself, because I wouldn't wait for the exchange board to arrive from the ASUS distributor. In the mean time I have received the second board directly from the ASUS distributor. The serial number on the board indicates that it is newer than the one I have just tested. One could maybe hope that some of the stability problems have been ironed out on the new board, but I doubt it. We will see in due time ...


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

roncarney

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Did the wire unlock trick give you free reign over the multipliers?

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Copenhagen

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Did the wire unlock trick give you free reign over the multipliers?
Yes, it unlocks multipliers ranging from 6.0 to 12.5 in 0.5 increments. Using the 1002 Beta 001 BIOS does only give you access to multipliers from 15.0 and upwards (valid for XP2400+).


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> [cool]
 

dttdar

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Maybe you should get rid of that Geil memory, I heard that stuff is crap. I run my A7N8X DLX with dual channel (2x256 Corsair 3500c2) and I'm able to hit a fsb of 207 on 1700tbredB. It runs stable also!

----------------
stop reading this!
 

Copenhagen

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Maybe you should get rid of that Geil memory, I heard that stuff is crap. I run my A7N8X DLX with dual channel (2x256 Corsair 3500c2) and I'm able to hit a fsb of 207 on 1700tbredB. It runs stable also!
No, the RAM is fine. If I run each stick by itself it can run faster than PC3200 RAM at very agressive timings. I can even use a high FSB in dual-channel mode, but only if I run the memory either faster or slower than the FSB frequency. So the dual-channel problem is isolated to synchronous FSB/memory operation.

<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

slvr_phoenix

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Did you shove in both sticks when you ran single-channel mode, or just one stick?


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Copenhagen

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slvr, I have tried both with one and two stick(s). It doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Dual stick, single channel, sync, works fine up to at least 200MHz FSB with agressive memory timings.


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

Copenhagen

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slvr, I have tried both with one and two stick(s). It doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Dual stick, single channel, sync, works fine up to at least 200MHz FSB with aggressive memory timings.


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

Copenhagen

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The last board has now been tested. It's a no go. Same problem with all three boards, although not at exactly the same FSB. The first one could run Prime95 stable with a 150 MHz FSB, the second 158 MHz FSB and the third one somewhere in between 150 MHz and 155 MHz, I didn't bother finding the exact value.

All in all, this is rather disappointing. My local dealer has a test-center, and they verified the problems with the first board, so I'm quite sure that my findings are correct. Also both my CPU and RAM can handle high FSB's as long as the memory is not running in sync with CPU bus. I'm not sure that a BIOS update will solve the problem, unless the voltage to the northbridge is software adjustable. Others have been able to increase the FSB by doing a voltage modification and improving cooling of the northbridge. I could also try this, but the problem is that the warranty is void, so I'm a bit reluctant. I feel that Asus should have delivered a board capable of running the new generation Thoroughbred B's with 333MHz bus, in dual-channel mode sync, right out of the box without any need for modification.

Too bad, I really liked the huge amount of features on this board, but it seems to come at a performance penalty. If I can't get a guarantee that the problem will be solved by Asus, I'll demand a refund and then go buy the Epox nForce2 board instead.

<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

Willamette_sucks

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how the hell are you getting fsb of over 200? i have an asus a7n8x and the max in bios is 200, what bios revision are you using? thats insane.
also using dual channel i can do about 180 fsb (xms 3200 running sync and aggressive).
thats w/auto on the agp (meaning it gets ocd with the fsb) and i dont know if on the asus u can change the pci multi i dont think so though, if so that could help.

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Copenhagen

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I'm using the latest Beta BIOS from Asus, 1002 Beta 3.

It allows for FSB's all the way up to 250 MHz as opposed to the standard 211 MHz, but that's pure academic with the HUGE stability problems this board has in dual-channel/ sync memory mode.

I can also do 180 MHZ FSB, but it's not stable at all. Try Prime95 and 3DMark2001SE and run them for an extended period of time. Then tell whether you are still stable with 180MHz FSB.

What CPU (model and stepping) do you have ?


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

Willamette_sucks

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xp 2700 standard multiplier.
i have 3dmark2001 and it ran fine but i only did it one time.

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Copenhagen

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Which memory slots are you using ?

There's one black, followed closely by a blue slot and then further away there's a second blue slot.


<i>/Copenhagen - Clockspeed will make the difference... in the end</i> :cool:
 

Stoochie

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Hahaha, no Sh*t, how about taking into account that this is a toms hardware board and the fact that ASUS is almost always in the lead in all mobo reviews and since people here actually base their purchases on these reviews, the ratio of asus owners to msi owners is quite disproportional (asus is highly regarded on all hardware review sites). Also, judging a mobos stability only by its manufacturer is rather stupid. You can take the most stable mobo and give it crappy ram, or incompatible peripherals, or a dumbass user - and you get a piece of poop stability-wise (dont even get me started on OS maintenance).

Damn it, i want to use htm here.
Man....damn....may rambus take your soul.
 

Stoochie

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First of all. Im assuming you used the same power supply that died for the first board. Did you stop to consider your power source at all? I mean, a power supply that is dying can damage your board at worst and make it unstable atleast. Also, a good high quality powersupply is crucial for stable performance at high speeds. You want a clean, regulated voltage. Did you consider the actual electrical wiring of your home? Sometimes people run too many appliances on the same fuse, and then wonder why their computer is not doing so well. That can actually damage your power supply by the way, especially a crappy one. MAybe you need a line conditioner...

Geil is NOT OK, NOT FINE. You should test the mobo with a different brand. You are here asking for help, so listen to what you are being told. GEIL has a reputation for crappiness. Im not going to waste my time going into details, it has been very well documented. Just read some forums about it. Until you try different ram, dont be RMAing your boards left and right. The fact that you tried several boards with the same ram and none can exceed a certain speed should make it quite obvious that its not the MOBOs fault. Especially since people allready run much more aggressive timings with better ram.

How did you come to the conclusion that your ram is FINE anyway? Did you test it?

Damn it, i want to use htm here.
Man....damn....may rambus take your soul.