A7V8X-LA HP/Asus Motherboard

1 main question:

1) I found several sources of documentation on this old Motherboard,
one from the HP support site, and one in a .pdf file from Asus. Each said something different regarding the "amount"
of total storage size for the DIMM slots. Both sources agreed that there were a total of only 2 physical slots, but one said
maximum RAM size was 2x512mb RAM (1GB) and the other (the one from Asus in .pdf) said it holds maximum of 2GB;
doesn't make sense. One is right, the other is wrong. I'm inclined to believe the 2GB source is correct,
considering the low speed cap the Mobo puts on the DIMM slots (max pc2700).

Please, any help would be much appreciated.
P.S. Here are the two sources for you to review:

Motherboard Specifications, A7V8X-LA HP/Asus (Kamet2) - From Asus And
Motherboard Specifications, A7V8X-LA HP/Asus (Kamet2) - From HP Support

there are 2 different BIOS for the "Kamet2". One has an Award BIOS and the other a Phoenix. Check your motherboard to see which BIOS you have and you will know which one of the above links you referenced is for your board. There also is a "Kelut" version of the A7V8X-LA, making 3 of them that I know of. I'd sure like to know if the Phoenix version will handle the 2GB Ram......

fang said:

there are 2 different BIOS for the "Kamet2". One has an Award BIOS and the other a Phoenix. Check your motherboard to see which BIOS you have and you will know which one of the above links you referenced is for your board. There also is a "Kelut" version of the A7V8X-LA, making 3 of them that I know of. I'd sure like to know if the Phoenix version will handle the 2GB Ram......

Click to expand...

I thought "Phoenix" and "AwardBIOS" were the same? What I mean is, the Phoenix is the Co. name,
the AwardBIOS is the model/type. In fact, I am almost positive this is true, because the Motherboard
I'm using right now (abit AW9D) is using a "Phoenix AwardBIOS" (all in one description).

There is Pheonix and AMI (American MegaTrends Inc.) bios manufacturers. Award is Pheonix!

I recommend you do a BIOS updated first on that HP motherboard. Heck, try to get the bios from Asus website and see if it successfully updates.

Both motherboards have the same chipset, obviously so it the BIOS is what determines how much RAM it can detect. Try the BIOS from HP's site and see in the readme/log file if it changes the amount of RAM it can detect.

Keep in mind though that this is an OEM motherboard for HP, so in order to cut costs, HP only bought Asus boards that can limit the amount of RAM it can detect.

The mobo will support up to 2gb ram, as I am currently running 1.5 gb with this mobo. Unfortunately, Compaq(HP) has locked this to where i cant do any overclocking through the BIOS.

I'm not in the habit of resurrecting the necro-threads but I just acquired an A7V8X-LA from a co-worker, and google-search brought me here.

I have the same situation as the OP, so maybe I should flash the BIOS to the latest version. My goal is to get 2GB total RAM installed.

I like this machine, it's got a sweet ole' AMD Athlon XP 3200+ proc, stays relatively cool at 52 degrees Celsius.

I took out the HDD for my co-worker so he could destroy it. Got it home and yanked a SATA drive out of a dysfunctional Macbook(for parts) laptop,

stuffed it in the A7V8X-LA.

Installed Debian(Linux) with xfce desktop, runs nice, but of course, 2GB of RAM would(I'm sure) make a noticeable improvement over the stock 512MB.

P.S. found an interesting thread, looks like 2GB RAM is indeed feasible: www3.hp.com

P.S.S. Interesting Youtube video:

2GB of RAM on the way, thanks Scotty!

Wish I had seen this thread earlier.
That board supports 2 gig without any problems.
Enjoy.

that guy in the video is a straight wierdo......like WTF (go look at his vids....)

but i chased yall from the classies glad u got it sorted.

Deathhorse said:

that guy in the video is a straight wierdo......like WTF (go look at his vids....)

but i chased yall from the classies glad u got it sorted.

Click to expand...

lol, yea...I sensed he was a bit...what's the word....dorky?

But this little HP time machine is really a full featured rig, with all the various media ports. 2004 was a good year.

2GB PC 2700 installed, and making this machine a thing of joy!