Fecking Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe (FSB400 my arse!!)

[Layezee]

What is it with this board? I bought this board because it is supposed to
run at FSB400, but whenever I run it at that, it fails to go anywhere past
the initial post or gets half way thru' the Windows XP load screen (little
blue train running across screen) and it BSoD on me.

My system is AMD Athlon XP 3200+, but it won't run any more than 2500+. My
BIOS settings are configered to 200MHz x 12.5. If I go any higher then it
doesn't even get as far as the very first initial bit of showing me what the
CPU rating is - system just hangs.

I've got 2 x 512MB RAM DDR 3200 - these are Crucial memory, which I was
recommended and seem to be the most popular purchased when looking at the
Crucial website and using their selector for my board.

I've done a fair bit of googling on the issue, and it seems *lots* of people
have this issue and *lots* of people say - try this, try that - but I've not
found anything that works.

Can anybody offer any advice - what-so-ever? I feel like I'm going mad.

[Morgan]

Post by Layezee
My system is AMD Athlon XP 3200+, but it won't run any more than 2500+. My
BIOS settings are configered to 200MHz x 12.5.
Can anybody offer any advice - what-so-ever? I feel like I'm going mad.

What happens if you run the CPU at the default none overclocked speed...?

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Post by Layezee
What is it with this board? I bought this board because it is supposed to
run at FSB400, but whenever I run it at that, it fails to go anywhere past
the initial post or gets half way thru' the Windows XP load screen (little
blue train running across screen) and it BSoD on me.
My system is AMD Athlon XP 3200+, but it won't run any more than 2500+. My
BIOS settings are configered to 200MHz x 12.5. If I go any higher then it
doesn't even get as far as the very first initial bit of showing me what the
CPU rating is - system just hangs.

Try reading the fecking instructions on the XP3200+, and note that it
runs at 200*11, 2.2Ghz. I'm not surprised it won't boot at 200*12.5, as
far as I know nothing AMD has ever made will =reliably= clock at 2.5Ghz
with air cooling.

[Damon]

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can
Try reading the fecking instructions on the XP3200+, and note that it
runs at 200*11, 2.2Ghz. I'm not surprised it won't boot at 200*12.5, as
far as I know nothing AMD has ever made will =reliably= clock at 2.5Ghz
with air cooling.
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

I wish!, mine has to be underclocked and will only boot at around
193*11 with an XP3200+ anything higher and I get BSODs or at least the
system becomes unstable. This is with the recommended Kingston branded
DDR400. I had Crucial but it wasn't on the list of compatible brands,
although a BIOS version was subsequently released that added
compatibility for more 3rd party brands 1008 I think. I can't wait til
I can justify my next upgrade.
Apart from this, the board is ok for the price I got it at a while
back.

Damon

[John Jordan]

Post by Damon
I wish!, mine has to be underclocked and will only boot at around
193*11 with an XP3200+ anything higher and I get BSODs or at least the
system becomes unstable.

Firstly, try to narrow down the problem. Set the memory timings manually
to 3-4-4-8, because NF2 boards don't necessarily follow JEDEC specs.
Slacken off anything else memory/FSB related that you can find. If the
CPU has unlocked multipliers, try 200x10.

Old A7N8X fixes include upgrading the BIOS and remounting the chipset
heatsink with some thermal paste. Shouldn't really be necessary on an E.
Try increasing the chipset voltage slightly if there's an option, and
check that the CPU voltage is correct (1.65V).

[Odie Ferrous]

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can
Try reading the fecking instructions on the XP3200+, and note that it
runs at 200*11, 2.2Ghz. I'm not surprised it won't boot at 200*12.5,

as

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can
far as I know nothing AMD has ever made will =reliably= clock at

2.5Ghz

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can
with air cooling.
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

I wish!, mine has to be underclocked and will only boot at around
193*11 with an XP3200+ anything higher and I get BSODs or at least the
system becomes unstable. This is with the recommended Kingston branded
DDR400. I had Crucial but it wasn't on the list of compatible brands,
although a BIOS version was subsequently released that added
compatibility for more 3rd party brands 1008 I think. I can't wait til
I can justify my next upgrade.
Apart from this, the board is ok for the price I got it at a while
back.
Damon

I've had two of these boards.

Neither would run memory at 400MHz - and I have Corsair (some 2-year old
performance stuff) memory.

Best I can get is 166; it simply doesn't work at 200.

I'm not interested in manual settings - as far as I'm concerned it
should just run.

My other boards do, so why not this one?

On the other hand, it is currently extremely stable...


Odie

[David Livingstone]

Post by Odie Ferrous
Best I can get is 166; it simply doesn't work at 200.

There is a jumper (CPU_FSB) on the board for 200Mhz or 400/333/266Mhz
(the default)

- see Section 2.6 Jumpers, page 2-15 in the manual '2. Central
Processing Unit FSB'

And download WCPUID at
<http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html> to confirm
the AMD's actual speed ....


rdgs

[Odie Ferrous]

Post by David Livingstone

Post by Odie Ferrous
Best I can get is 166; it simply doesn't work at 200.

There is a jumper (CPU_FSB) on the board for 200Mhz or 400/333/266Mhz
(the default)
- see Section 2.6 Jumpers, page 2-15 in the manual '2. Central
Processing Unit FSB'

I've been there, I can assure you.


Odie

[John Jordan]

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can
Try reading the fecking instructions on the XP3200+, and note that it
runs at 200*11, 2.2Ghz. I'm not surprised it won't boot at 200*12.5, as
far as I know nothing AMD has ever made will =reliably= clock at 2.5Ghz
with air cooling.

Well, there's the FX-55, although I think the retail HSF comes with
heatpipes :-)

[A. J. Moss]

Post by GSV Three Minds in a Can

Post by Layezee
My system is AMD Athlon XP 3200+, but it won't run any more than 2500+. My
BIOS settings are configered to 200MHz x 12.5. If I go any higher then it
doesn't even get as far as the very first initial bit of showing me what the
CPU rating is - system just hangs.

Try reading the fecking instructions on the XP3200+, and note that it
runs at 200*11, 2.2Ghz. I'm not surprised it won't boot at 200*12.5, as
far as I know nothing AMD has ever made will =reliably= clock at 2.5Ghz
with air cooling.

You'r assuming the CPU is multiplier unlocked. AFAIK, desktop Athlon
XP3200+ CPUs aren't.

If the thing is multiplier locked, the OP will get 11 * FSB_speed, no
matter what he sets the multiplier to in the BIOS. In other words, he's
unwittingly *not* overclocking it.

[John Fryatt]

Post by Layezee
What is it with this board? I bought this board because it is supposed to
run at FSB400, but whenever I run it at that, it fails to go anywhere past
the initial post or gets half way thru' the Windows XP load screen (little
blue train running across screen) and it BSoD on me.
My system is AMD Athlon XP 3200+, but it won't run any more than 2500+. My
BIOS settings are configered to 200MHz x 12.5. If I go any higher then it
doesn't even get as far as the very first initial bit of showing me what the
CPU rating is - system just hangs.
I've got 2 x 512MB RAM DDR 3200 - these are Crucial memory, which I was
recommended and seem to be the most popular purchased when looking at the
Crucial website and using their selector for my board.
I've done a fair bit of googling on the issue, and it seems *lots* of people
have this issue and *lots* of people say - try this, try that - but I've not
found anything that works.
Can anybody offer any advice - what-so-ever? I feel like I'm going mad.

An Athlon XP 3200 doesn't run at 3.2GHz. That is an 'equivalent' rating
that AMD devised to show how good the XP was/is. It is meant to show the
equivalent pre-XP Athlon or Pentium 4 (according to different people)
needed to give similar processing 'power'.

An Athlon XP 3200 actually runs at 2.2GHz - 200MHz(FSB) * 11(CPU mult)
So, it looks like when you run at 200*12.5, thinking that you are at a
'2500' setting' you are in fact at something like a theoretical '3600'.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K7/TYPE-Athlon%20XP.html

Mind you, from other comments, it sounds like that m/b isn't up to it
anyway. :-(

[Dominic Shields]

Post by Layezee
What is it with this board? I bought this board because it is supposed to
run at FSB400, but whenever I run it at that, it fails to go anywhere past
the initial post or gets half way thru' the Windows XP load screen (little
blue train running across screen) and it BSoD on me.
My system is AMD Athlon XP 3200+, but it won't run any more than 2500+. My
BIOS settings are configered to 200MHz x 12.5. If I go any higher then it
doesn't even get as far as the very first initial bit of showing me what the
CPU rating is - system just hangs.

I have this board with a 2700XP on it and its superb. I bought a cheap
3200XP from Ebay and walked into the obvious trap of being sent an
2500XP remarked which didn't work at all.

In building a machine for someone who wanted a 3200XP I tried the
genuine CPU in my machine - it worked fine but really (and obviously)
isn't dramatically faster than my 2700XP so have never felt the need
to buy a kosher one.

[John Fryatt]

Dominic Shields wrote:
<snip>

Post by Dominic Shields
I have this board with a 2700XP on it and its superb. I bought a cheap
3200XP from Ebay and walked into the obvious trap of being sent an
2500XP remarked which didn't work at all.
In building a machine for someone who wanted a 3200XP I tried the
genuine CPU in my machine - it worked fine but really (and obviously)
isn't dramatically faster than my 2700XP so have never felt the need
to buy a kosher one.

I agree. My rough rule of thumb is that you need to double the CPU speed
to see any great difference in practice. In the past I tried upgrading a
PII/400 system with a PIII/450 cpu - 12.5% faster, but made zero
effective difference. Also I recently upgraded a portable from 450MHz to
750MHz (to squeeze a little more use out of it), which is about 67%
speed improvement, maybe 75% if you allow for newer design of the 750
cpu. This time the difference was noticeable, but hardly a quantum leap
ahead. People set too much store on cpu speed.
As you say, 2500, 2700, even 3200, you probably can't see the difference
in practice.

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Post by John Fryatt
<snip>

Post by Dominic Shields
I have this board with a 2700XP on it and its superb. I bought a cheap
3200XP from Ebay and walked into the obvious trap of being sent an
2500XP remarked which didn't work at all.
In building a machine for someone who wanted a 3200XP I tried the
genuine CPU in my machine - it worked fine but really (and obviously)
isn't dramatically faster than my 2700XP so have never felt the need
to buy a kosher one.

I agree. My rough rule of thumb is that you need to double the CPU
speed to see any great difference in practice.

Mine too. The hassle involved in most upgrades (unless you can just drop
a new CPU in the old motherboard - pretty rare) makes it not worth going
through the pain unless you can get 2x or better on CPU speed, memory,
disk size/speed, etc.

I mean I can see the difference between an XP2400+ and an XP2700+ in
benchmarks, but not in the real world. Certainly not worth paying the
huge price premium for the bleeding edge chip when one nominally 20%
slower is usually less than half the price.