Opinions on Asus K8N-DL

[link1305]

What do you guys think of this mobo? I has all the features I want, and seems decently priced (well, at least as far as Opteron mobos with PCI x16 go). 2 questions though: This board would support any Opterons (1.8 - 2.4) correct? About the power connector's...I see it has the 24 pin AND an 8 pin. Is the 8 pin something thats new? I would need a new ps also I suppose, since mine only has the 20pin atx connector and 4 pin 12v connector (Fortran 530watt). After looking at more info, it seems I need an "EPS12V" ps...is that correct?


I've been reading this forum for a while, though this would be my first dual proc system. It seems (lately at least) that more people use Xeons than opterons...is that mostly because you don't need registered RAM and the tend to be cheaper overall?

 

[dustybyrd]

About the power connector's...I see it has the 24 pin AND an 8 pin. Is the 8 pin something thats new? I would need a new ps also I suppose, since mine only has the 20pin atx connector and 4 pin 12v connector (Fortran 530watt). After looking at more info, it seems I need an "EPS12V" ps...is that correct?

I've been reading this forum for a while, though this would be my first dual proc system. It seems (lately at least) that more people use Xeons than opterons...is that mostly because you don't need registered RAM and the tend to be cheaper overall?

you may be able to use that power supply with some adaptors: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812183045 (or possibly even without)...but if you can avoid it, i would...and instead i would get this psu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103478

i can't speak for other people, but i chose dual xeons, because you can build a cheaper system for the performance...especially for the software i use...

 

[DaveB]

It's a nice board with the typical iffy Asus support. I just flashed a NUMA capable BIOS yesterday and got this result.



I've been able to OC my 244 CG stepping Opterons to 2.4 GHz, but you have to use ClockGen to do it similar to the early days of the Asus PC-DL for dual Xeons. The board is nice and stable though.

 

[link1305]

One of the reasons I was thinking about Opterons was because I found 2 Opteron 246's on ebay for $122 each (4 hours to go) and I figured I could snag those pretty cheaply compared to retail. The total cost to do the upgrade would be around $1000 (Mobo, ram, proc's, vid card), which is quite a bit.

My other option is to just go for an Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego + mobo + vid card, which comes out to roughly $750. The big difference is the cost of the mobo.....$270 is a lot for the dually one I was looking at

The main reason I was thinking duallies was the multitasking aspect...I tend to do a lot of stuff at once, and my 2800+ just chokes pathetically. I've always wanted duallies, and I figured this would be a good time to get them (with graduation money). I play a lot of games also, but with the Radeon x800XL I didn't think the difference in CPU's (duallies vs. single 3700) would be that huge of a difference.

 

[Shelnutt2]

One of the reasons I was thinking about Opterons was because I found 2 Opteron 246's on ebay for $122 each (4 hours to go) and I figured I could snag those pretty cheaply compared to retail. The total cost to do the upgrade would be around $1000 (Mobo, ram, proc's, vid card), which is quite a bit.

I am building my first dully system right now. Here's what I payed for my setup
2x1.6 C1 LV xeons &IWTs=$127-ebay,
PC-DL mobo $110 http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=72407
500 Watt Powork-$18 ebay (there was a ton last time I looked 500-600 Watt)
4 to 8 pin adapter- $6-newegg
2x1 Gig ECC memory $150-Ebay, (originaly I was using anotherboard that reguired ECC....none ECC is alot cheaper)
Antec Soho 1000- $50-Compusa(on sale)

So all together I spent about $461(not including shipping)

As soo can see it's about half the cost of building a Opteron system...

I had hdds and windows...so add $200 to pick up windows OEM online and a 200 gig hdd does for around $100 from major retailers (on sale).


if you need links to were I got anything just let me know...

 

[link1305]

The main thing preventing me from going with the PC-DL and Xeons in general is the lack of PCI-x16 for a videocard. Right now I have a Radeon 9800 and was planning on upgrading to a Radeon x800XL.....but I just looked for the heck of it, and I see that those are available in AGP as well. I guess I could go the Xeon route afterall now.

Is Registered RAM required with Xeons (like it is with Opterons)?

 

[DaveB]

Is Registered RAM required with Xeons (like it is with Opterons)?

It depends on the motherboard/chipset. The PC-DL uses regular unbuffered non-ECC DDR.

 

[link1305]

I assume 2 Xeons of the same speed (but different steppings) will run fine with each other? I understand overclocking would probably depend on the lower stepping, but other than that would there be any problems?

 

[Elif Tymes]

I would suggest the PC-DL, with a nice EPS12v PSU. Get a couple C1 or D1 stepping Xeon chips, I th9ink Diehard has some D1s for sale in the classifieds for 140 or so. I'd pick em up if I wasn't broke.

thats an insane deal on the PC-DL, I paid 180 for mine without IO and crap :-O I'm totally jealous.

But, yea, Xeon route is the way to go for cheap, and I'm completely satisfied with mine.

 

[dustybyrd]

I assume 2 Xeons of the same speed (but different steppings) will run fine with each other? I understand overclocking would probably depend on the lower stepping, but other than that would there be any problems?

i can't speak for all steppings, but a user in these forums checked an M0 with a D1 and they didn't work together on a NCCH-DL...or at the very least as i understood it, the bios said they didn't match and turned one off...

 

[DaveB]

I assume 2 Xeons of the same speed (but different steppings) will run fine with each other? I understand overclocking would probably depend on the lower stepping, but other than that would there be any problems?

Different stepping can have different default Vcores, so just get two of the same stepping. For OC, these are the best and what they can be expected to OC to in an Asus PC-DL:

1.6 GHz/400 LV D1 -> 3.1 GHz/800
2.4 GHz/533 M0 -> 3.5 GHz/800
2.4 GHz/533 D1 -> 3.4 GHz/800

You need to do some socket u-wire mods and possibly a simple VDIMM mod to get these OCs.

 

[Shelnutt2]

It depends on the motherboard/chipset. The PC-DL uses regular unbuffered non-ECC DDR.

It also can use ECC.

 

[jamesavery22]

It's a nice board with the typical iffy Asus support. I just flashed a NUMA capable BIOS yesterday and got this result.

...

I've been able to OC my 244 CG stepping Opterons to 2.4 GHz, but you have to use ClockGen to do it similar to the early days of the Asus PC-DL for dual Xeons. The board is nice and stable though.

Hey Dave now that Asus put out a numa bios is this rig gonna take your #1 spot? Or are its limited OC results keeping it at #2?

 

[DaveB]

Hey Dave now that Asus put out a numa bios is this rig gonna take your #1 spot? Or are its limited OC results keeping it at #2?

Until the BIOS gets sorted out, it's still #2!! The dual Xeon runs perfectly and since I'm lazy will remain #1 until the K8N-DL matures a little. I'm actually running the same Win XP install from my previous P4 3.06 RDRAM rig. I was able to get it up an running by using the Windows Maxtor SW to copy it to the PC-DL SATA drive and then doing a repair. I don't think that would work going to the dual Opteron but I may give it a try. I really hate re-installing all my applications.