ASUS A8V Deluxe Overclocking Guide -- Discussion

[KillrBuckeye]

AdmSovereign: You mentioned in a previous post that your CPU temps get up to 65C? If that's true, I'm willing to bet that temperature is what's causing your system instability. That's WAY to hot for an A64 CPU. My CPU at full load doesn't go much over 40C.

Regarding memory dividers, BIOS versions 1011-1014 all have screwed up BIOS settings. Setting the divider to 3:2 in BIOS actually activates a [5:3 DDR333] divider, and the [5:3 DDR33] setting activates a [2:1 DDR400] divider. This is consistent with what you have reported. I have spent quite a bit of time researching this issue, and this has been the case for every single person using BIOS versions 1011-1014 (those who have reported memory divider issues). I suggest that you stick with BIOS 1009 since you will have all memory dividers available to you. With FSB at 240, a working [5:3 DDR333] divider setting should yield a memory speed of 200 MHz (DDR400). Using [3:2] should yield a memory speed of 173 MHz, so nothing is wrong with your dividers a long as you stick with BIOS 1009.

That being said, you need to determine the source of your instability. Please clarify for us your temperature issue first. That seems most likely to me.

 

[AdmSovereign]

ASUSProbe reports right now that my idle temp is 53C (just from browsing the internet and using MS Word.) Do you think Folding@Home is driving up my CPU temps? It uses 100% of my processor but runs on Low priority...
This post will be updated when I attempt to OC again, I am currently writing a meeting plan. MB sensor says 24C. I have not used Motherboard Monitor because it reports freaky temperatures (for instance, that my processor temp is 37C on stock air, give me a break! It does not support my motherboard, only the A8V-E Deluxe. If it should support the A8V Deluxe, then something is seriously wrong as I have a hard time believing my temps are that low). I do have Arctic Silver 5 applied.

 

[KillrBuckeye]

ASUSProbe reports right now that my idle temp is 53C (just from browsing the internet and using MS Word.) Do you think Folding@Home is driving up my CPU temps? It uses 100% of my processor but runs on Low priority...
This post will be updated when I attempt to OC again, I am currently writing a meeting plan. MB sensor says 24C. I have not used Motherboard Monitor because it reports freaky temperatures (for instance, that my processor temp is 37C on stock air, give me a break! It does not support my motherboard, only the A8V-E Deluxe. If it should support the A8V Deluxe, then something is seriously wrong as I have a hard time believing my temps are that low). I do have Arctic Silver 5 applied.

I'm not sure how high/low priority works, but if your CPU is at 100% that would be considered "full load", right? Still, I think 53C is too high. As I said, AsusProbe reports my idle temp around 32C, full load temp around 39C.

Do you have your video card overclocked? If so, return it to stock settings and see if your system still crashes in Halo. My video card overclock was causing me problems, even though it was fine on my Socket A system.

 

[Shekers]

TCCD RAMs

I been reading how TCCD RAMs do not do well with this motherboard. I have a pair of Shikatronics PC4000 rams (TCCD RAM rated at 3-4-4-8 T1 @250mhz) and I cant do 1:1 at 250mhz...The memory bandwidth with the latency set to 3-6-6-15 is about 2449mb/s in Memtest86... I would get lots of errors in test #5 and I wouldnt be able to boot into a stable Windows...Now here's the weird thing...when I set to 5:3 at set the muliplier to 9x and the HTT to 290mhz, I would get 2610mhz on the CPU and 237mhz on the memory...and in Memtest86, i would get a speed of 2610mb/s, and I wouldnt get any errors in any of the tests...Windows is somewhat stable...it might crash from time to time...

Here's my question...what could be causing the problem? Right now, i am blaming the Mobo which btw is a rev2 with 1009 bios w/ a 3200+ Venice core (I know it's supported only 1011 and above bios, but they dont have the rite mem divider...) If it is the mobo...I was thinking of getting an MSI Neo2 Platinum or a DFI nF3-D Ultra...which one should I get?

 

[KillrBuckeye]

The memory bandwidth with the latency set to 3-6-6-15 is about 2449mb/s in Memtest86... I would get lots of errors in test #5 and I wouldnt be able to boot into a stable Windows...Now here's the weird thing...when I set to 5:3 at set the muliplier to 9x and the HTT to 290mhz, I would get 2610mhz on the CPU and 237mhz on the memory...and in Memtest86, i would get a speed of 2610mb/s, and I wouldnt get any errors in any of the tests...Windows is somewhat stable...it might crash from time to time...

I don't understand what's "weird" about that. The system becomes slightly more stable when you lower the memory speed--makes sense to me. Regarding the increase in memory bandwidth reported by memtest86: did you keep the timings at 3-6-6-15 when you were running at 290x9 with the [5:3] divider? If so, then yeah it seems a bit strange. If you changed the timings then that explains the increase in memory bandwidth. Raw memory speed is not always better than lower speed with tighter timings.

It's hard to know what the "problem" is with your setup without testing the memory on another board. Since it seems there are quite a few people who can't achieve high memory speeds on this motherboard, I would guess that it may be holding back your memory. You may have read that my Crucial Ballistix overclock very poorly on this board, and won't even run stock speeds with 1T command enabled.

If it is the mobo...I was thinking of getting an MSI Neo2 Platinum or a DFI nF3-D Ultra...which one should I get?

Take a step back and consider what you really want to get out of your system. The truth is that there is little to no penalty for running your memory on a divider with A64 systems. CPU clock speed is by far the most important factor. I realize you must be extremely frustrated that your memory can't even run at its rated speed (trust me, I was frustrated too), but keep in mind that we're talking about a performance difference that simply will not be detectable in real-world usage.

However, if you have money to burn and getting maximum performance from your system is a very high priority, then getting another motherboard would probably be your best bet. There are much better options if you go with a PCI-e motherboard. If you must stick with AGP, I've heard Epox and ASRock are pretty good solutions. Many people have had problems with the MSI board, and the DFI board had many problems upon its release (I'm not sure if they released a new revision yet).

 

[AdmSovereign]

memtest86 does not report memory bandwidth correctly. It said I had about 1200MB/s when SiSoft SANDRA reported over 5800MB/s. Regarding my OC, if I disable Folding@Home, then my idle temp drops to about 37-38C with 1.450vCore in BIOS...back to OCing! YAY!

UPDATE: After running four bouts of torture test (one test will expose a failure on my proc in my experience) my processor is stable at 1.450vCore. In addition, load temps go up to about 54C (under a torture test). However, idle temps hover around 41-43C after a torture test...my exhaust must suck despite two front intakes and an outtake on the back. My vidcard is a BFG 6800NU (350/700 which is stock).

UPDATE II: I'm impatient! My idle temps returned to 38-39C after five minutes...

OK, part of the idea of my undervolting experiment was to determine whether I have to face that my CPU sucks at OCing. I've tried 2.4GHz with no success, best was half an hour of Halo before restart. Now under Prime95 @ 62C. I have a stock cooler rated at 30-33CFM with AS5. I have a Soyo Dragon case (black/silver, full ATX, four 5.25 bays etc). Two intakes (80mm) on front, one outtake (80mm) on back. No case window. Only AGP graphics (BFG6800NU), no PCI cards. Custom cooler on 6800. PSU fan reversed to blow up and out the back rather than down onto the proc.

 

[Dragonling]

sata 2 issues....

good day ppl
i recently upgraded my sys from 2 x ibm 250G sata hdds to 2 x wd sata 2 hdd's (wd250ks). after 3 months one of the new sata's died. after RMA'ing both wd sent me 2 refurbished drives....
the problem starts.......any time i access data after its been copyied to the raid 0 config, i get data errors. after installing games like fear to the d (raid 0)
it will crash the game. BUT install the game to c (wd80g ide) or e (wd160G) the game runs smoothly and stable..

system:
asus a8v delux bios ver 1017.002
amd64 3000 @ 2205mhz (Venice) 245 fsb with a64 cooler artic freezer 64 pro
Gt 6800 (v9999) @ 420/1150 with zalman VF900-Cu
kingston hyperX 2.2.2.5 @ 2.5 .2 .2 .5 2 200.5 fsb
audigy 2 ZS
ocz 520 12u power supply
2 x wd250ks sata hdd's raid 0
1 x wd800bb hdd
1 x wd1600bb hdd
1 x nec dvd writer
sunbeam case with 2 x 120, 3 x 80 fans (artic cool pro)

os: winXP sp2 Corp edition with all critical updates

drivers: asus 81.89 (nvidia)
windows drivers for all others exept audigy2

what ive allready tried...
rma'd the wd 250g hdd's
changed the sata cables
used the jumper on the sata to limit it to 150(sata 1)
tested both the promise and the VIA sata controllers at all settings when setting up the stripe.
changed the power cable for the sata hdd's
RMA'd the mobo
tried all the bios from original to 1017 including the beta bios
RMA'd the psu
ran the system at stock speeds
ran the system at underclocked speeds
system temps are cpu 33/41 mobo 20/30 gfx 48/51 (idle/load)

now im getting fuzzed.... cos thid system was as stable as a rock before with similar sata's now i cant use my sata's for anything. plz advise
btw sandra tested the hdd' at 80Mb/s and all iometer tests for 2hrs pass with no errors
l8rz

 

[p4trick]

Guys I just bought a A8V(not deluxe) and im having problems with the VIA controller. When I overclock it cant boot into windows. I know you can fix it by using the promise raid controller but the non deluxe version doesnt have it. Does anyone know if some bios or anything will solve my problem? or do I have to RMA my mobo for a deluxe version? ty.

my system
a8v
amd 3800 x2
raptor 36gb hdd
7800 nvidia
1GB pc3200 geiL 2-3-3-6 ultraX

16.VIA SATA/RAID Controller problems:
A lot of people have been having problems OC'n with their HDD on the VIA controller. Some people report extreme fragmentation and an eventual no-boot. The PROMISE controller is better and more stable. Certainly no problem OC'ing. See for example THIS for problems our members faced with the VIA controller.

Using the PROMISE SATA controller or switching from VIA to PROMISE:
Important Note!
I have had questions about swapping controlers when the OS is on an IDE HDD and I answer them here. Suppose your boot drive is the IDE. Nothing needs to be done. No swapping is possible or necessary between the Red Port and the Blue/Black ones. The Red port is your RAID port and you will keep getting errors if you swap from the Black--> Red ports. Errors will go away only if you set up RAID.

To double check, goto the BIOS and do this:
1. BOOT > HDD (or something similar) and move your IDE to the top of the list.
2. BOOT > BOOT DEVICE PRIORITY and your selected IDE should show up as a boot device. Bump it up to the top of the list.
You are done!

When your OS resides on the SATA being switched:
A lot of people have questions on how to activate the PROMISE SATA controller or switch over from the VIA SATA controller without reformatting their HDD. This is how it's done: (You need to have your XP install CD)

1. Copy the PROMISE SATA drivers to a floppy.
2. Turn off your computer and switch your HDD to the PROMISE controller
3. Turn on goto the BIOS ; Advanced > OnBoard Devices Configuration > Onboard Promise Controller [Enabled] > Operating Mode [IDE]
4. In the BIOSchange Boot priority to CD and exit BIOS
5. Pop in your XP CD and press F6 (look carefully for the message at the bottom of the screen)
6. Pop in your Floppy and let XP copy the PROMISE Drivers.
7. Exit install when asked for.
8. We are done!

[*] If the above method doesn't work, follow the same steps only let XP repair the existing installation. You should not lose any data.

 

[Velocity]

Guys I just bought a A8V(not deluxe) and im having problems with the VIA controller. When I overclock it cant boot into windows. I know you can fix it by using the promise raid controller but the non deluxe version doesnt have it. Does anyone know if some bios or anything will solve my problem? or do I have to RMA my mobo for a deluxe version? ty.

my system
a8v
amd 3800 x2
raptor 36gb hdd
7800 nvidia
1GB pc3200 geiL 2-3-3-6 ultraX

From What I know there is no way around it. If you can try getting the deluxe version, or maybe a pci card.

 

[p4trick]

I seem to have fixed my own problem now lol.

By updating the bios from 0218 --> A8V Beta BIOS 0221

fixed corrupting the HDD while overclocking

Also using AGP/PCI 66.6:33.3 and 1.450 volt on the CPU (240x10).

 

[Velocity]

kool

 

[bill_k123]

Jost got a Opty146 and am looking at a AV8 deluxe. I'm stillon Agp. This board has a lot of onboard features I really don't need but does it overclock well. Would like to get this 146 to 2.8 when I get all parts together. Sorry Iknow it's kinda off post but a lot of answer in here. Not at all familiar with AMD either.

 

[KillrBuckeye]

There aren't a lot of choices for AGP socket 939 motherboards that overclock really well. Don't get me wrong, I loved the A8V Deluxe while I was using it--one of the easiet boards to set up and it was extremely stable. Achieving extremely high HTT on this board seems to be hit or miss though. There is a DFI NF3 board and an Epox board that are said to be better overclockers, but I don't have any firsthand experience with those.

 

[Stom]

I don't know if this is a closed thread as such or anything but I just registered here just to add my bit of information about the 'Case 1: BioVader' problem with random crashes.

I was suffering a lot with these problems, especially when playing world of warcraft. Once it had crashed out once, the crashes would happen within about 5minutes again after the first (total system bombout this is) - would happen with plenty of other games too depending on what was going on in the background.

Searched about and finally came across something, which I tried and fixed the problems. Basically if you use the latest on-board network adapter drivers there are problems. I have gone back to version 'v7.24.2.3' of the driver and not had one single system freeze/crash for well over a month now thankfully.

Don't know if this is a solution to the problem, but i thought it may help if I add my piece


Just realised, I am having a problem with the board and its boot up times for Windows. If this is the incorrect place to ask this i apologise. Anyway, once the BIOS has gone through its initial stuff before the windows early boot screen comes up the machine just sits there with a flashing cursor in the top left of the screen. From what i have read this is due to hard disk delay/wait time. Does anyone else have this problem and if so, how the heck can I disable it? (it sits there flashing for what seems like 40 odd seconds)

(oh, and hello everyone)

 

[Velocity]

Set your bios to default and follow the manually in this forum about bios setting.

 

[Dragonling]

problem solved

hi guys
i finally fixed the prob with my rig...
it was a faulty firmware issue on the WD 250G sata2 hdd's. after two weeks on working with asus, wd, guru3d, ocz i finally got the problem pinned down. u wouldn't believe the buck passing i got on this..
when wd finally decided to send me compatible tools for the new sata2 hdd's one of the drives thought it was an ide drive....:/
tested this phenomenon on 2 diff rigs with diff sata controllers....
so again wd is going to rma my 2 hdd's...
hmmm rma'ing 4 of the same type of hdd within 4 months
so ill b waiting 4 my 2 new drives and will post the results..
l8rz

 

[Spoudazo]

Does this guide work well with the Asus SLI Premium mobo? Are they that much different besides the dual x16 PCI slots?

 

[turkey4550]

too late - total system failure......

the board/cpu/ram/psu are all being rma'd

probably going to go with the same cpu same ram same psu but i am leaning towards the msi neo 2 board this go around...

Sounds to me you have a optical drive problem to me champ. I ahve had the same thing happen to twice in the past. Both times were pioneer dvdrws on the blink. Sounds like the same blue screen u been gettin. Ide drives do some crazy s***t when they are goin out. Or....it's something completely different, lol.

 

[KillrBuckeye]

Does this guide work well with the Asus SLI Premium mobo? Are they that much different besides the dual x16 PCI slots?

No, the BIOS naming conventions are totally different between the two boards. Further, the boards use different chipsets. The only thing that you want to carry over from this guide is general overclocking techniques.

 

[Spoudazo]

No, the BIOS naming conventions are totally different between the two boards. Further, the boards use different chipsets. The only thing that you want to carry over from this guide is general overclocking techniques.

Thanks

I guess I'll have to resort to. . .to. . .to Google!