Question on ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe nVidia nForce4 motherboard

[brucek]

Are there any issues with the ASUS A8N (Delux or Premium)motherboards, that users may be aware of with regards to running FS? I have only ever before built ABit /Pentium stuff, but am looking at a budget system at the moment incorporating SLI/ PCIe, an AMD chip (first for me), and something to mount it all onto (motherboard).This is not intended to be an "ace" system. just something budgetary that I may replace in a year or so and passed onto someone here at home.Thanks- Bruce.

[Guest Edwin]

Hi Bruce,You may want to take a look at this thread:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...11468&mode=fullI *believe* (i.e. not sure) the chipset fan problem has been fixed with newer board versions so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. If you want to be extra-safe, then you can get the Premium version, which isn't affected by the problem (since it uses a fanless passive heatsink for the chipset).Having said that, given your desire to build a budget machine, if I were you, I'd get the standard (i.e. non-Deluxe, non-Premium) A8N-SLI. That's the motherboard I got. My budget could well fit either the Deluxe or the Premium but I just didn't see myself using any of the added functionality provided with those variants. So I got myself the plain jane A8N-SLI. I paired it with the top-of-the-line AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+ and an NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX and the combination works just as well as the Deluxe or the Premium. There's no difference in the boards anyway (besides the additional RAID functionality etc.)Hope this helps.Edwin

[Guest SoarPics]

Hi Bruce,I've been very happy with the A8N board. And with the G.Skill LE memory I'm using it runs like a rocket (CBI shows the system at a PR4530). No set-up problems... just installed and fired it up. After 4 months of grief with the DFI NF4 Ultra-D (cold boot issues and corrupted Windows installs... numerous times... whether overclocked or everything at stock speeds) the ASUS board has been a welcome experience. The ASUS doesn't have the great overclocking options of the DFI BIOS', but it's been rock stable and relatively easy to overclock.ASUS had problems with the chipset fan going bad on earleir versions of the Deluxe but that has been resolved. If you buy now you'll get a good one for sure (easy way to tell is to check the chipset fan speed in the BIOS. If it shows somewhere between 5K-6K RPM you're OK). Also, the latest BIOS' of both boards will require that you install the nVidia 6.65 chipset drivers. DO NOT install the nVidia IDE drivers. They offer nothing in performance gains over the XP drivers and have fouled many a system. Because I use add-on NIC and sound cards the only thing I install from the nVidia chipset package is the SMBus driver. If you use SATA drives you'll not have any installation worries with the A8N (and most other NF4 boards). Unless you use RAID (no performance gain in games) you'll not have to do anything special during set-up.The A8N32-SLI is the hot ticket these days. Hard to find because folks want it's 16X thru both PCI-e slots. If you wish to run SLI then it might be the choice for you, otherwise the A8N Deluxe or Premium is your route (and cheaper, too).The AMD64 San Diego cores offer incredible performance for the price. They overclock nicely, too. Been very happy with my 4000+. The 3700+ is less than $250 at Newegg. They aren't the current rage X2 Dual CPU's (that are expensive) but I'm not convinced the price premium of the X2's are worth it at this time (just my opinion).Hope this helps,GregEdit: Ahhh, Edwin you type waaaay faster than I. :-) I agree with your point about the plain Jane A8N. Might be the best bang for the buck. Cheers.

[brucek]

Hi Edwin,Thanks again for your great advice.I had (perhaps incorrectly) noted that the non-Delux/non-Premium models were not SLI, however it sounds like you have one- is that correct? I will double-check my source again.I will be ordering this on-line, so it will be "sight unseen" as far as the fan issue goes (assuming I go with the "non-Premium" version. It sounds like ASUS are willing to change the fan out without any fuss, if I did h=get some older stock?Thanks- Bruce.

[brucek]

Hi Greg,Thanks for your reply."Ahhh, Edwin you type waaaay faster than I. :-)" Yes- when does he sleep? :) You guys both rock in the advice that you are willing to give on tech issues. I only wish I could repay the favors in flying advice (if you guys ever needed it, which I'm sure you don't :) )."Also, the latest BIOS' of both boards will require that you install the nVidia 6.65 chipset drivers. DO NOT install the nVidia IDE drivers."I was going to try to extend some more life out of my IDE HD's for a while- does your advice mean tnat IDE drives do not work on the board without the isuses you describe- or can I use IDE without the drivers you are referencing?"The AMD64 San Diego cores offer incredible performance for the price."I'm not an "AMD guy", although obviously are open to being "converted" :). I did note that both the San Diego and Venice cores were available for this board at my on-line store. Is one better than the other (both appeared to have matching speed figures).Thanks- much appreciate the advice from you guys,Bruce.

[Guest SoarPics]

"I was going to try to extend some more life out of my IDE HD's for a while- does your advice mean tnat IDE drives do not work on the board without the isuses you describe- or can I use IDE without the drivers you are referencing?"I should clarify. Your IDE drives will work fine, just don't install the IDE drivers during the nVidia chipset driver install. They've proven to be troublesome for a number of folks and offer nothing over the Windows XP drivers. The XP drivers are very stable, and will install when you install XP."I'm not an "AMD guy", although obviously are open to being "converted" . I did note that both the San Diego and Venice cores were available for this board at my on-line store. Is one better than the other (both appeared to have matching speed figures)."The Venice cores have 512Kb of L2 cache. The San Diego's have 1Mb. More L2 cache is preferred (especially for gaming and other demanding tasks).Greg

[brucek]

Thanks Greg- appreciate the answers.Bruce.