Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
In article <iFrNd.2428$ZZ.84@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net>, "Jag Man"
<Jag_Man653R-E-MOVE@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I'm thinking about upgrading from my current A7V266-E and AMD
> Athlon XP 1800. From posts here and other forums I'm now thinking
> about an A7N8X. Is this a good choice, perhaps with an Athlon
> XP 2800 or 3000? Which particular A7N8X versions should I be
> looking at? I'm not a gamer, and don't spend much time
> listening to music or watching DVDs on the computer. I use it
> for programming, writing, Internet, etc. Thus speed and stability
> are paramount.
>
>
> TIA
>
> Ed
I have an A7N8X-E Deluxe and a 2600+ XP-M running at 200x11
(same as a 3200+). The A7N8X-X is a single channel alternative.
Those are the ones I'd suggest. A7N8X-VM/400 might be more
trouble than it is worth. I use a FX5200 with this rig,
to keep power dissipation to a minimum. (The low end FX5200's
are fanless.)
The only hard part about using Nforce2 boards, is finding
RAM that works. There are probably quite a few brands of
cheap PC3200 CAS3 memory that won't work reliably. Finding
a good CAS3 for the job might take some digging (see forums on
nforcershq.com). To solve the problem faster, I bought some
Ballistix PC3200, and that works error free. Test your
system with memtest86 from memtest.org and Prime95 from
mersenne.org, to determine whether your selected combo works
well.
The advantage of the XP-M (mobile) processor, is both the
FSB and multiplier can be set in the A7N8X-E BIOS. There is
still the issue with the "low" versus "high" multipliers,
so I think I am limited to 200 x 12.5, but since I didn't see
much benefit from running 12.5, I leave it at the lower
setting of 200 x 11. Various mobiles are for sale here:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=property&catalog=343&propertycodevalue=4181,%200,%200,%200,%200,%200,%200,%200&minprice=&maxprice=&mfrcode=1028&DEPA=0&InnerManu=1028
You will note that these officially run at FSB266, but I'm
running mine at FSB400 (200MHz clock). The silicon die is
Barton, the same die as is used on the 3200+. These processors
are picked to run at low Vcore, and when you set the Vcore
to a bit more in the BIOS, (like 1.65V or a bit less),
that is when they become suitable for running at 3200+
speeds. When you first plug it in, it should be found
running at about 800MHz core or so, and by setting most
of the BIOS settings manually, you can work up from there.
If you get "stuck" along the way (reset button won't work),
just power down and the BIOS will recover.
Since those processors are OEM, there is no fan. You could use
the HSF assembly from your current computer. I bought a
Zalman 7000 AlCu, which is more than enough, and you can turn
that down a notch if you want.
So, the only potential unpleasantness, is the RAM. My cheap
RAM from another system turned out not to be ready for running
in dual channel mode. No matter what I did, I couldn't run at
DDR400, to match the FSB400 setting. You can run the RAM in
single channel mode, drop the clock a bit, and fiddle with the
multiplier - I spent about a week characterizing what would and
would not work. The reason DDR400 rate is desirable, is the
processor needs every bit of bandwidth you can give it. The
A7N8X-X runs in single channel mode, so you don't have the
option of running the more demanding (but only 5% more effective
in real use) dual channel mode.
Consult the forums on nforcershq.com for more suggestions.
A "command rate 2T" hacked BIOS is another fix for the problem,
but what that does is drops the effective bandwidth of the memory
bus. So, you still aren't beating the problem, just side stepping
it.
Have fun,
Paul
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram