View Full Version : ASUS A8N-SLI :: Work Arounds:Expensive Bugs:Tweaking:Info
OC-Master
05-09-06, 03:00 AM
Hi, I'm new to this overclocking mayhem but it great fun very addictive.
This is great thread OC-Master and other contributors, I’ve read it three times now gathering useful information and have managed a reasonable overclock on my rig :)
I have a question though with regards to the rather annoying HTT 3x reverting bug...... How the hell do you reset it? I was happily running at 230x11 HTT x4 before deciding to try and increase my OC to 235x11. When I booted into windows the bug had got me, x4 in bios, x3 in nTune.
I have read that HTT has no real affect on performance! Is this true as in a previous post you stated that your 3Dmark result were affected!
Any help would be much appreciated! :shrug:
Going from 3X HTT to 4X HTT yields a slight increase in performance in bandwidth extensive applications. Going to 5X HTT while overclocking gains no notriceable performance improvement.
If you wish to use the 4X and 5X HTT multi's and your board is stuck at 3X then you need to reflash the bios most likely with the clear cmoschksum checkbox checked. This should reset the HTT back to 5X.
OC-Master
MethanolMan
05-13-06, 10:04 AM
Never mind I got it ... Its just different then my a8n deluxe mobo. what a noob i am.
Sorry it took me so long to tell you guys.
It alway says ide 3 and 4 for my two raptors is all and on my old board once you set up raid it would not be there on the a8n deluxe mobo.
So that through me for a curv.
rfisher983
05-23-06, 04:36 PM
<i>Gain More Voltage From Your A8N/E/SLI/DELUXE/PREMIUM:
SCREENSHOT
I've performed a vcore mod the other night and it was a success! Like I was hoping for, my vcore went from 1.58v with the beta bios 1012 and 1010 to 1.68v after the vmod was performed. I would like to thank the people over at VR-Zone for sharing their ideas with us. You can find out how to perform the vcore mod by clicking HERE . Dont forget to ground all your 4 pins properly and use a meter gauge while performing this operation. I used the fan header nearby for ground.
Vdimm Mod:
The Vdimm mod from here actually works well. I gained a bit more stability with my memory from the mod but unfortunatly due to OVP (Over voltage protection) my ram will only allow up to 3.08v to go into it making the 3.3v not very effective. However, I know many of you out there do have ram without OVP that would love to juice up their memory. </i>
Wish the pictures worked for that link, I really want to raise my voltage.
BenZini
05-23-06, 06:32 PM
Going from 3X HTT to 4X HTT yields a slight increase in performance in bandwidth extensive applications. Going to 5X HTT while overclocking gains no notriceable performance improvement.
If you wish to use the 4X and 5X HTT multi's and your board is stuck at 3X then you need to reflash the bios most likely with the clear cmoschksum checkbox checked. This should reset the HTT back to 5X.
OC-Master
BenZini
05-23-06, 06:35 PM
Thanks OC-Master! I've cleared the bug with a re-flash.
I wish they would sort our these problems with a new bios!!
Cheers again for this great thread :clap:
Drew@PSU
06-02-06, 04:49 PM
Hi all,
Ok, so I have an A8N-SLI Vanilla version, and my NorthBridge fan is slowly dying ( as I type this ). I would just slap a heatsink on it and call it even, but my 7800gt sticks out right over it. So I have a few options:
1. Replace the fan with the same one from Asus ( Anyone know the number/site? )
2. Use a NV Cooler and heatsink trick that OCMaster used ( link? )
3. Get a smaller vid card and the big heatsink
4. Melt my northbridge.
Any help would be, well, helpful.
Thanks
---------------------
Specs ( just in case ):
Venice 3200+, A8n-Sli Vanilla, 2gigs Corsair Valueselect, eVGA 7800GT, WD caviar 200gig, Viewsonic VX922
Replacement fans are inexpensive:
http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=231&catid=134
($3 for the US and Canada; the shipping may cost more than the fan.) Also, you may be able to get one from Asus Support for free.
As an alternative, consider the passive cooler from the A8N-SLI Premium:
http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=2535&catid=136
$15. (The shipping for me was $5.) It fits the vanilla A8N-SLI perfectly, and it does not interfere with long graphics cards. (I have one on an A8N-SLI, with an eVGA 7800GTX card.)
... As an alternative, consider the passive cooler from the A8N-SLI Premium:
http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=2535&catid=136
$15. (The shipping for me was $5.) It fits the vanilla A8N-SLI perfectly, and it does not interfere with long graphics cards. (I have one on an A8N-SLI, with an eVGA 7800GTX card.)
I've been using the passive Premium cooler for several months and it works great without interferring with my SLi vid setup. This is a nice, quiet, solution.
fritzman
06-29-06, 05:11 PM
Hiya guys. Great thread (must confess to skipping a few pages in the middle, but...) I whipped my Ultra-D out a couple of days ago and am trying an A8N-SLI-SE with a 148 just for a bit of a challenge.
BIOS was (and is still) the one that came with the board (cpuz tells me it's 0301 dated 11/09/2005)
There seem to be two parts to the BIOS that matter as far as overclocking is concerned, and I am used to being able to lock both... the cpu/multi/HTT page and the Ram page. If I manually set fsb, HTT, etc, the ram page reverts to what I assume is default and when I set the ram page up, the cpu page reverts. More than a little frustrating.
So, having read most of the thread... I try out Ntune, and end up with the cpu sitting somewhere less than 2Ghz. Download and try Clockgen (from the cpuid site) and it doesn't seems to have enough settings (no multi/ram/vid) and then discover there's actually one specifically for the Nforce4 chipset, so download that... still no multi/ram/vid settings. Wierd.
Nonetheless, Clockgen does get me to 310x9 without any bothers and the memory (2 x 512Mb Teamgroup ddr600) is at 1:1 (310/3/5/5/10/10/19/16/2T top to bottom in cpuz) so I'm not totally unhappy.
Thoughts as to why the individual settings are not showing up in Clockgen? Should I be updating the BIOS?
Any help would be appreciated, because I know the cpu has more to offer...
baberpervez
07-01-06, 07:28 AM
At this time I would like to implore the avid overclockers on here to PLEASE describe to us in full detail, using pictures, and perhaps even good english in how to do a volt mod to the ASUS A8N SLI boards to increase Vcore from the max of 1.50 v to 1.68. My processor I know can do so much more given voltage and I'm anxious to know how. But again, just like everyone else out there, I dont want to fry anthing.
This is why we enthusiasts come on these sights, to learn and master the tricks of the trade. Now all we need is a few good teachers.
:)
baberpervez
07-01-06, 07:29 AM
I too found that Clockgen doesn't give voltage levels and am in wonder if NTune would really help get it faster than what mine already is? Should I try it? I can only give it 1.50 v for now :(
I'm blind from reading posts. I need to go higher than 1.5v on the a8n-sli vanilla. The VR-zone volt mod doesnt seem to show pics anymore. I have bios 1014. Can I go back to 1010? is it possible to use a deluxe version bios?
is it possible to use a deluxe version bios?Probably. I can confirm that flashing A8N-SLI Premium BIOS on A8N-SLI should be sucessful (should also be tru for A8N-SLI Deluxe BIOS on A8N-SLI (not confirmed)).
ProfNuke
09-17-06, 06:29 PM
I bought the Asus A8N SLI "SECOND EDITION"!!! i thought it is better than the A8N-E because of the second edition. the problem is, that there are not that much OC-bios settings. e.g. the cpu vcore is only up to 1.5v
my questions:
1. is there a modbios available?
2. will there ever be a modbios available?
3. Are there other bios versions compatible with my board? maybe the bios for the a8n sli deluxe???
4. which parameters do i have to use to flash such bios versions? (awdflash biosfile.dat /???)
please help me and please don`t say i bought some sh*t :( :bang head
swindelljd
09-17-06, 10:25 PM
Has anyone tried the Premium BIOS on a Deluxe board? The biggest issue as I recall was a 1:1 issue with the RAM. People (even in this thread I believe) guessed that it was a "BIOS fixable issue". I sort of "solved" it for myself by moving from a 3000+ (9x cpu multi) to a X2 4400+ (11x cpu multi) and some new ram with better timings. Right now to hit 2.6Ghz I don't seem to need more volts on my cpu or ram(unless I want to push >3V). However maybe the Premium BIOS will help get a bit more out of my rig.
So I'm wondering. Has the Premium BIOS solved the 1:1 issue or anything else the Deluxe BIOS lacked?
thanks,
John
baberpervez
09-28-06, 01:24 AM
I bought the Asus A8N SLI "SECOND EDITION"!!! i thought it is better than the A8N-E because of the second edition. the problem is, that there are not that much OC-bios settings. e.g. the cpu vcore is only up to 1.5v
my questions:
1. is there a modbios available?
2. will there ever be a modbios available?
3. Are there other bios versions compatible with my board? maybe the bios for the a8n sli deluxe???
4. which parameters do i have to use to flash such bios versions? (awdflash biosfile.dat /???)
please help me and please don`t say i bought some sh*t :( :bang head
Okay I had posted on this issue a while back, and around 3 months later.. no response from anyone! Though these forums have been a wonderful resource for practically anything, it's unfortunate that no one has information to help!
The Vcore mod is terrible! Doesn't give detail instructions in the how to's and talks in advanced computer jargon. We need something more descriptive, simple to understand, and do-able! (Something for noobs!)
And if not, could someone PLEASE find an updated bios that can give more than 1.5v to the core?
This core of mine has already hit 3.07 Ghz stable and is dying for more juice to go further!
HELP PLEASE!
You're not likely to get much help. I'm afraid interest in the A8N-SLI Deluxe/Premium is waning as other, newer toys come to market.
KillrBuckeye
10-03-06, 08:08 AM
You might want to try these forums as they are dedicated to Asus boards, and there are some knowledgeable moderators:
http://asustech.15.forumer.com/index.php?http://asustech.15.forumer.com/
Okay I had posted on this issue a while back, and around 3 months later.. no response from anyone! Though these forums have been a wonderful resource for practically anything, it's unfortunate that no one has information to help!
The Vcore mod is terrible! Doesn't give detail instructions in the how to's and talks in advanced computer jargon. We need something more descriptive, simple to understand, and do-able! (Something for noobs!)
And if not, could someone PLEASE find an updated bios that can give more than 1.5v to the core?
This core of mine has already hit 3.07 Ghz stable and is dying for more juice to go further!
HELP PLEASE!
I've done the vcore mod...and I was very disappointed. before the mod @1.5vcore i was able to get to 2.6ghz stable. after the mod @1.68 i was only able to get to 2.7ghz stable. i was hoping to get much higher. but all rigs are different so u might get lucky. i could write up a guide and provide pics if u or anyone is still interested.
swindelljd
11-07-06, 10:37 AM
I've done the vcore mod...and I was very disappointed. before the mod @1.5vcore i was able to get to 2.6ghz stable. after the mod @1.68 i was only able to get to 2.7ghz stable. i was hoping to get much higher. but all rigs are different so u might get lucky. i could write up a guide and provide pics if u or anyone is still interested.
I'd appreciate it if you could post a guide. I read the ones that have been previously posted (pictures and all) and honestly couldn't make sense of them.
Now maybe they were well written and I'm just not cut out to do vmods but it would sure be fun to try if I could get my hands on a really detailed write-up.
tia,
John
ProfNuke
11-07-06, 10:53 AM
I from my side is still interested :)
k here goes. this is exactly how i did my vcore mod.
go into bios, set vcore to max 1.550v
use meter to set pot to max 10k.
then do your mod...you'll have to pull motherboard out of case. and depending on your cpu cooler,
u might have to pull that off too? luckily i did not have to with AC freezer 64 pro. after mod is done...
put it back altogether and boot back into bios. goto hardware monitor screen and look at your vcore.
it will probably be around 1.58-1.6v. slowly decrease resistance...you'll slowly see vcore rising. keep
decreasing resistance until u've reached your highest desired vcore setting. i kept decreasing the pot
until vcore read 1.71v. although, i don't use 1.71v i just want that option incase one day i decide to
go hard core water cooling and need more vcore.lol i'm currently using 1.68v which is much higher than
most people are willing to use. ok...so now when i go into bios to set vcore this is how things are:
1.550v = is actually 1.71
1.5375 = 1.69
1.525 = 1.68
1.5125 = 1.66
1.500 = 1.65
things you'll need:
10k variable resistor (pot) Middle leg connects to ground. either side to spot on mobo. remember to use heat shrink to protect connects from shorts.
http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/7049/img2073to1.th.jpg (http://img475.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2073to1.jpg)http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/43/img2081lt8.th.jpg (http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2081lt8.jpg)
3 pin fan connector, i pulled one off my stock amd fan. will only need the black wire,
this is what i used to ground the pot.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4750/img2076vt8.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2076vt8.jpg)
i found this at vr zone, and that was all i needed to do the mod. pretty straight forward.
but to someone totally new to modding, it helps to have someone step u thru it.
53746
so where exactly do u find this spot to solder the wire to? ahh...good question...
12 oclock. right above the 939 socket for the cpu, in between the ATX12V and CHA2_Fan.
by the way, the CHA2_Fan is where u will be connecting the 3pin to ground.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/8812/img2103zu7.th.jpg (http://img490.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2103zu7.jpg)
thats basically all there is too it, i hope it helps. if u've got more questions i can help. also,
post your results if u attempt this mod. heres my results. 24hrs of prime = rock solid.
53747
here some shots inside my case.
u can see the red wire to the mobo. and the black wire to the 3pin fan header.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9239/img2117rj1.th.jpg (http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2117rj1.jpg)
heres the pot with high temp tape, taped under power supply.
http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/7008/img2124bo4.th.jpg (http://img484.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2124bo4.jpg)
emericanchaos
11-18-06, 05:53 AM
AIDA says i have BIOS 1011-001. is this the newest BIOS. newer than 1009?
liftedcj7on44s
12-11-06, 07:32 PM
ok i just did this mod on premium, and its working cuz i set 1.5 volts in bios and its showing 1.56 volts but i cannot get the voltage to change when i up or down the pot!
liftedcj7on44s
12-11-06, 08:11 PM
i got it working, had to change the wires around on the POT! got 1.71v in bios. i hit a wall with the ht at anything past 310! Also i had voltage set to 1.71 but cpu-z was only showing 1.400. kinda weird cuz i know it was at 1.71.
Here's my specs..
Can sombody do a summary of what I can do to my system..
I tried reading this whole thread but my eyes cnt take it... LOL
thnx
Asus A8N32-SliDeluxe
Athlon 3800+ (@ 2592 mhz ai booster)
ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm
BFG GF 7950 GTOC 512mb (core 595 mhz - mem 1.49 ghz)
Kingston ValueRAM 2x1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400
Maxtor 6L200PO (200 gig)
Sony DvD+RW/R/cd DRU-510A
Sony 52x cdRW/ dvdR
Antec 550w true power
Antec full tower
liftedcj7on44s
01-05-07, 06:51 AM
First off dont use AIBooster to overclock, do it all in bios. I dont know the settings for the a832n or whatever its called but dont use ai booster thats a no-no.
AI booster will screw it up?
So I guess the 32 is gonna have different settings than the non 32 ?
liftedcj7on44s
01-07-07, 01:47 AM
yea just stay away from AI booster. The 32 version bios is diff from what i have seen.
Can someone tell me which is the most current bios and drivers for the A8N-SLI Premium socket 939 mb???
I'm a little confused since there are so many different A8N boards.
Links if available would be greatly appretiated:beer:
Big Mike
02-10-07, 11:05 AM
Can someone tell me which is the most current bios and drivers for the A8N-SLI Premium socket 939 mb???
I'm a little confused since there are so many different A8N boards.
Links if available would be greatly appretiated:beer:
1302 is the newest BIOS, go to asus, downloads pick your board then pick the BIOS tab, its a beta BIOS, but it doesnt seem to have any issues and it has a lot of newer features. I believe the newest drivers are NForce 6.70 which you can get on NVidia's website, just go to their downloads section, pick platform, nforce4 and your OS.
While I'm posting in this thread, anyone have problems using manual DRAM timings/dividers with this board? I can use A64 Info once windows boots to set the timings and divisor I want, but if I set it in the BIOS and push the FSB way up the computer refuses to boot, if I just raise the FSB and then change the ram settings in windows it works fine.
Since I AM having problems, I updated the BIOS further from 1004. I didn't see it mentioned here on a quick read-through, but I was unable to update my A8N-SLI vanilla to 1005 or later because Asus Update says the BIOS is not for my motherboard, which the update tool calls "A8N SLI-R", which was news to me.
But browsing the ASUS web page finds me BIOS 1604 Beta, which I did successfully manage to patch into my motherboard. Didn't help for my particular problem, but maybe it can help someone. Wish I had a direct link handy though, as that would be nice of me.
My current setup is in sig. After switching out the Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 for the Asus A8N-SLI, windows XP SP2 started up OK. After installing ASUS' ancient driver package and updating everything, I was trying out a few overclocks with dual Orthos, A64Info-beta, speedfan 4.32, CoreTemp and probably nTune was active in the background too, and the ATK0110 low-level driver from the horrid AI-boost application.
I had done all the preparations. Memory dividers aimed for DDR333, HT multi down to x4 (going for the small OC first), so the only factor should have been the CPU. Going in short bursts around 1.375V, I could easily reach and superpi at 2700MHz, but I would get ... shutdowns. Immediate, like power-outage shutdowns to full off-state. I figured I had too few volts, overvolted to 1.4V, dropped speed to 220x12 = 2640MHz, and I could run dual Orthos for four hours if I let it alone. Orthos reported no errors, superPi reported no errors when I ran it, but the system would still, occasionally, eventually, perform the same immediate power-down.
I'm baffled, but hopeful. Updating to latest Beta BIOS didn't change anything. Removing, and updating, and removing again nVidia nTune changed nothing. Tried uninstalling the ATK0110 driver to no avail, still didn't help. I am hopeful because this problem appears even at stock speed and voltage, so it is most likely unrelated to the OC, but it is related to the motherboard, or the software that goes with it.
I did consider ... well, maybe I have been running TOO many monitoring programs, but I would still expect a more ... diversified crash, if it was a question of incompatibilities.
I did get a few bluescreens while overclocking without overvolting, so that's normal. It's just these... immediate shutdowns that I'm baffled over.
Anyone else had that kind of thing happen on an A8N SLI model?
The weird thing was, I thought, that I could
A few more things:
nTune keeps reporting the wrong Vcore, 1.55V when I'm at 1.35V. Odd?
I am using a 20pin Antech TruePower 480+ in the A8N-SLI's 24pin PSU connector. Is that my problem? But:
Since those additional 4 are supposedly related only to PCI-E requirements,
since the video cards I use all use extra PCI-E connectors from the PSU,
since I DO use the "EZ-plug" molex connector, and
since those four are just set in a parallell circuit to the +5 and +12 to provide more amps,
then: I shouldn't really gain anything from using a 20-to-24 pin adapter in the 24-pin motherboard slot... should I?
Of course, if that could be the solution to all my problems, I might as well buy an adapter and be done with it. I'm replacing the PSU sooner or later, but I'd like to know whether it's insufficient before I do.
Could be faulty, of course.
Big Mike
04-02-07, 08:30 AM
Certainly sounds ilke a PSU issue, you might want to look in the system logs though to see if any events happened at the moment the system cut out. As for the Ntune thing, if I set a voltage in the bios I got that voltage (plus 10 percent or so) unless I tried using a utlity to change the voltage in windows. Every software program caused the voltage to go straight to 1.55, I think this may be an NF4 problem though, my DFI does the same thing. Ultimately those and other problems finally prompted me to axe mine for an SLI DR Expert...
Thanks for replying, Mike,
No syslog events at all, none relevant at least (I do get "Computer Browser failed to start", but that's because I've actively prevented it from doing so), and no warning. Glad to hear a second opinion about the possibility of PSU error.
nTune is the only program that shows 1.55V, but then it shows 0% fan activity, which is also wrong. :) CPU-Z shows the correct voltage and A64-Info both shows and lets me change the voltage correctly enough. Certainly none of them show 1.55V regardless of actual voltage. I do get a small (circa 0.125v) variance though, but I've never seen a system that doesn't show something like that.
I would love to get a DFI board, but 939 is on the way, way out of the market and not even my local PC cooling and clocking store has one. Besides, I found the A8N-SLI at a great price at a closing sale, so I'm going to live that bargain up.
Ever noticed how bargains tend to get expensive? New PSU ... again? If that's what it takes...
Big Mike
04-02-07, 09:53 AM
Isn't that always the way? I seem to always need new stuff when I get a new "deal" on hardware. It definately sounds like a PSU issue, I was testing an A7N8X-E Deluxe to sell the other day and had the exact same problem, it ran fine but once in a while it would just reset out of the blue. Changing the power supply fixed it completely. I think I may have gotten the last SLI-DR Expert available, I searched for 3 days to find a new one for sale.
I have a backup TruePower 480 that I don't quite trust, but there's also a spare P4 478 system. I'm going to break out the multimeter and perform a few tests on both my current and my backup PSU before running away with any more large purchases.
Would a 20-to-24 pin converter really make a difference? I mean, it's not as if there's going to be any more current, is it.
Nope, good voltages on the VMM, +.05 V on all rails.
Made a separate thread about this.
simonwong1989
06-17-07, 12:34 PM
Question!
I currently have my system running (see sig for info) and I have 4 512MB DDR400 RAM (2x 2.5/3/3/7 and 2x 3.0/3/3/8 @ 200MHz Reading from CPU-Z). But on CPU-Z, it says I'm running 196MHz. How can I increase it so that I can get a higher MHz? Ram Voltage is set to Auto atm and the RAM Divider is 333.
FSB: 250
HTT: 4x
Multiper: x11
VCore: 1.4175
Thank you!
Duneadan
10-21-07, 04:09 PM
"Bios 1010.001 Beta
The 1010 series welcomes back all the memory timings which were hidden in previous bios'es due to some incompatibility issues which are now fixed. Some stability as the 1009.002 beta so if you have the 1009 beta, its recommended you step up to the 1010 beta."
Hi. Wanna say thanks for the time put into this sticky. It's helped a lot.
I've got two questions that I'm not sure of:
1. Will the bios rev 1010.001 work on an AN8-SLI premium? :confused:
2. What flasher should I use to flash it? :confused: The post at Rebel's Haven said to use bios flasher 1.11. However, I can't seem to find that flasher any where. Can I use the 109 or 108 flasher?
Thanks again for all your help.
Sincerely,
Duneadan
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