A7N8X Rev 1.04

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Bill_Phillips

A friend gave me an A7N8X Revision 1.04 motherboard he didn't need. I
figure I can make up a decent machine for the kids. Can someone help me out
by letting me know what AMD processors will work with this board.

Also, if there are any tips, hints, etc., I'd sure like to hear about them.

Thanks in advance,
Bill
 
Bill_Phillips said:
A friend gave me an A7N8X Revision 1.04 motherboard he didn't need. I
figure I can make up a decent machine for the kids. Can someone help me out
by letting me know what AMD processors will work with this board.

Also, if there are any tips, hints, etc., I'd sure like to hear about them.
Click to expand...

The A7N8X board is for the out-of-date socket A Athlon versions, i.e.
Athlon XP and earlier,
<http://www.asus.de/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=218&l1=3&l2=13&l3=57>

(As the board takes a minor part only of the total budget for a
computer but defines nearly the whole system, I would not build a new
machine around this old board if I didn't have fitting spare parts
(processor, cpu cooler, display adapter etc.).)

The way to go today is the Athlon 64, either on the old-fashioned
socket 754 or on the up-to-date socket 939 - or next automn on the
forthcoming socket M2; they differ in the types of memory modules
which are suitable (DDR or DDR2 for M2 or DDR3 in 2007) and of display
adapters (AGP for so. 754 or PCIe for so. 939, as a rule).


Roy
 
A friend gave me an A7N8X Revision 1.04 motherboard he didn't need. I
figure I can make up a decent machine for the kids. Can someone help me out
by letting me know what AMD processors will work with this board.

Also, if there are any tips, hints, etc., I'd sure like to hear about them.

Thanks in advance,
Bill
Click to expand...

I have one of these boards running as a secondary machine and it is
just fine. You can put in any Socket 462 Athlon/Sempron AMD processor
that runs at 333mhz (or less). Don't use 200mhz (400mhz) since that
board can be unstable at that speed. In my board I have the AMD 2500
(Barton) with RAM that's also running at 133mhz (366mhz). It's best to
have the RAM and CPU running at the same speed. That would be a
perfectly fine board for surfing, basic word processing, email and
similar basic tasks. For most children's games it should also be OK.

I'm not sure what AMD CPU's for that socket are still available, but
you can probably find something on Ebay, if you can't find anything
new. You can get RAM by going to a site like Crucial... they'll tell
you exactly what type of RAM is appropriate for that board.

Sam
 
Sam said:
I have one of these boards running as a secondary machine and it is
just fine. You can put in any Socket 462 Athlon/Sempron AMD processor
that runs at 333mhz (or less). Don't use 200mhz (400mhz) since that
board can be unstable at that speed.
Click to expand...

May be you have an A7N8X Rev.1.06 (or earlier) and your BIOS is not
up-to-date; on the board's website you find the warning:

"Front Side Bus
400* / 333 / 266 / 200 MHz
( * PCB 1.06 or earlier version need BIOS update )"

In my board I have the AMD 2500
(Barton) with RAM that's also running at 133mhz (366mhz). It's best to
have the RAM and CPU running at the same speed.
...
Click to expand...

FACK - nevertheless I would use PC3200 (DDR400) memory modules and
have them running at 333 MHz with the Barton.
(A DDR400 CL3.0 chip will run with CL2.5 at 333 MHz, in many cases.)



Roy
 
May be you have an A7N8X Rev.1.06 (or earlier) and your BIOS is not
up-to-date; on the board's website you find the warning:

"Front Side Bus
400* / 333 / 266 / 200 MHz
( * PCB 1.06 or earlier version need BIOS update )"



FACK - nevertheless I would use PC3200 (DDR400) memory modules and
have them running at 333 MHz with the Barton.
(A DDR400 CL3.0 chip will run with CL2.5 at 333 MHz, in many cases.)

Roy
Click to expand...

I've tried it, with a rev, 1.04 board and installed all the BIOS
updates. It will seem to run OK, but if you do any serious diagnostic
checking the system fails. So, for most of these boards, although it
may appear to work there could be problems lurking beneath the
surface. Besides, the slight improvement in speed just isn't work the
extra hassle that this speed incurs. For a child's computer, running
it at 366mhz will be just fine.

I also own a A7N8XE-Dlx board which was "advertised" as one of the
first Asus nForce2 boards to fully support 400mhz. That one works
great, using an AMD Athlon 3200 processor. In fact, it's the machine
I'm using to write this on.

Asus acknowledges that there was a problem with most of the earlier
A7N8X boards... they replaced one that I told them wouldn't run 400mhz
properly. Unfortunately, the replacement board wasn't much better...
so it's pretty much a hit or miss proposition. The problem is, how do
you know which board you have?

Sam
 
Sam schrieb:
....
I also own a A7N8XE-Dlx board which was "advertised" as one of the
first Asus nForce2 boards to fully support 400mhz. That one works
great, using an AMD Athlon 3200 processor. In fact, it's the machine
I'm using to write this on.

Asus acknowledges that there was a problem with most of the earlier
A7N8X boards... they replaced one that I told them wouldn't run 400mhz
properly. Unfortunately, the replacement board wasn't much better...
so it's pretty much a hit or miss proposition. The problem is, how do
you know which board you have?
Click to expand...

You only know the rev. no. ;-(

Asus, too, seem to have outsourced the final product control to the
user - though they have established ASRock as their value daughter.

The cautious user will invest in an Asus mainboard only if a higher
revision no. and a higher BIOS version are available...
(And install Windows Vista after SP2 has been shipped, at the earliest;-)


Roy
 
Sam schrieb:
...


You only know the rev. no. ;-(

Asus, too, seem to have outsourced the final product control to the
user - though they have established ASRock as their value daughter.

The cautious user will invest in an Asus mainboard only if a higher
revision no. and a higher BIOS version are available...
(And install Windows Vista after SP2 has been shipped, at the earliest;-)


Roy
Click to expand...

My only experience is with the 1.04 revision. However my observations
are confirmed by many others. See
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13 for a lot more
commentary on the same subject.

Sam
 
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