ASUS A8N-SLI Premium

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GreggC

I'm putting together a computer based on the A8N-SLI Premium mobo. I
purchased the mobo, an AMD Athlon64 XP4000+ cpu and (4) Kingston 512MB
PC3200 memory sticks (pre-configured) from jncs.com. I just ordered a
Gigabyte GVNX66128D card. Any suggestions on a modem? Something with
a PCIe interface and x64 drivers. Any other input on this new build
would be greatly appreciated.

A8N-SLI Premium
AMD Athlon 64 4000+
2GB Kingston PC3200 (DDR400)
Gigabyte GVNX66128D GeForce 6600 PCIe
 
GreggC said:
I'm putting together a computer based on the A8N-SLI Premium mobo. I
purchased the mobo, an AMD Athlon64 XP4000+ cpu and (4) Kingston 512MB
PC3200 memory sticks (pre-configured) from jncs.com. I just ordered a
Gigabyte GVNX66128D card. Any suggestions on a modem? Something with
a PCIe interface and x64 drivers. Any other input on this new build
would be greatly appreciated.

A8N-SLI Premium
AMD Athlon 64 4000+
2GB Kingston PC3200 (DDR400)
Gigabyte GVNX66128D GeForce 6600 PCIe
Click to expand...
What kind of modem are you looking for:

56 kbs analog
Cable
DSL
etc

I don't think you will find any of these in PCI-e configurations, since even
the fastest modems are well with the bandwidth of PCI architecture.
 
GreggC said:
I'm putting together a computer based on the A8N-SLI Premium mobo. I
purchased the mobo, an AMD Athlon64 XP4000+ cpu and (4) Kingston 512MB
PC3200 memory sticks (pre-configured) from jncs.com. I just ordered a
Gigabyte GVNX66128D card. Any suggestions on a modem? Something with
a PCIe interface and x64 drivers. Any other input on this new build
would be greatly appreciated.

A8N-SLI Premium
AMD Athlon 64 4000+
2GB Kingston PC3200 (DDR400)
Gigabyte GVNX66128D GeForce 6600 PCIe
Click to expand...

It would be better to buy just 2 sticks of 1 gig memory rather that the 4
sticks of 512.
AMD on die memory controllers don't handle all 4 slots filled very well.
Ken'
 
Mark A - Good point, I hadn't really looked at it from that
perspective. I'm looking for an analog modem to support the answering
machine/fax software that I currently use. Needless to say this modem
will have to have 64 bit drivers. I believe that Intel has released
such drivers for modmes based on their 536EP chipset, but I'm not sure
which modems use this chipset.

Ken - Unfortunately I already have the system base (mobo, cpu and
memory) I wasn't aware of AMDs shortcomings visa-vie four memory
slots. Supposedly my supplier, JNCS.com, tests their products prior to
shipping. If I do encounter any problems such as you suggest, I'l;l
definitely go back to the supplier. I guess this one can never do
enough research!
 
It would be better to buy just 2 sticks of 1 gig memory rather that the 4
sticks of 512.
AMD on die memory controllers don't handle all 4 slots filled very well.
Ken'
Click to expand...

Apart from that, chances are that with four dimms, you will only be able
to run at a 2T timing, whereas 2x1GB will run at a comfortable 1T
timing, which is quite a noticeable bit faster. I know the Deluxe has a
problem running four dimms at 1T, I'm unsure whether the Premium suffers
the same fate, though it seems likely to me.

As for the 56k x64 modem drivers - I'd do some more research for that.
Find the drivers, and you'll know which modem to buy.

RJT
 
RJT said:
Apart from that, chances are that with four dimms, you will only be able
to run at a 2T timing, whereas 2x1GB will run at a comfortable 1T timing,
which is quite a noticeable bit faster. I know the Deluxe has a problem
running four dimms at 1T, I'm unsure whether the Premium suffers the same
fate, though it seems likely to me.

As for the 56k x64 modem drivers - I'd do some more research for that.
Find the drivers, and you'll know which modem to buy.

RJT
Click to expand...

I don't think the board has anything to do with that, as the memory
controller in the CPU.
The later AMD cpu's ( San Diego and Venice ) have a updated memory
controller that doesn't have that problem.
Ken'
 
It would be better to buy just 2 sticks of 1 gig memory rather that the 4
sticks of 512.
AMD on die memory controllers don't handle all 4 slots filled very well.
Ken'
Click to expand...
Just saw this post. I'm getting ready, or at least was, to buy two more 512
modules for my Intel4 based system on a P4C800 Deluxe motherboard. I currently
have two 512 modules onboard. Are you aware of any problems with that
combination running four 512 modules? I posted elsewhere on this board
concerning buying the two additional modules 17 months after I built the system
and trying to match what's already in the machine. Thanks.
 
Just saw this post. I'm getting ready, or at least was, to buy two more
512
modules for my Intel4 based system on a P4C800 Deluxe motherboard. I
currently
have two 512 modules onboard. Are you aware of any problems with that
combination running four 512 modules? I posted elsewhere on this board
concerning buying the two additional modules 17 months after I built the
system
and trying to match what's already in the machine. Thanks.
Click to expand...



Your modules are quite probably double sided and could cause problems. (
modules 512 or larger usually are double sided ) You don't say what make you
have.
I have the same board and my understanding is that as long as the modules
are single sided, 4 modules will work OK
I have the same board and I asked the same question at the OCZ forum and
this is what I was told, as my modules are 2x228 they are single sided.
If you wish you could ask there yourself.
http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=45
Hope this helps
Ken'
PS no need to tell them the make of your modules :-)
 
It would be better to buy just 2 sticks of 1 gig memory rather that the 4
sticks of 512.
AMD on die memory controllers don't handle all 4 slots filled very well.
Ken'
Click to expand...
Just saw this post. I'm getting ready, or at least was, to buy two more 512
modules for my Intel4 based system on a P4C800 Deluxe motherboard. I currently
have two 512 modules onboard. Are you aware of any problems with that
combination running four 512 modules? I posted elsewhere on this board
concerning buying the two additional modules 17 months after I built
the system and trying to match what's already in the machine. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

I've run two Ballistix PC3200 512MB double sided DIMMs and also four
Ballistix PC3200 512MB double sided DIMMs and had no problem with
either configuration. All settings remained the same (including
PAT enabled).

With respect to the 1T versus 2T command rate thing, the Intel chipsets
don't mention this parameter in their data sheets, and I saw a comment
on Xbitlabs, that the chipsets always use 2T command rate timing. It is
pretty hard to prove it one way or another, short of using a scope or
logic analyser.

In any case, I wouldn't be overly concerned with fitting another
two DIMMs. Sure, if you select some generic CAS3 DIMMs that are
half the price of other modules, you might end up with bad RAM.
But, as a rule, when compared to other motherboard brands, Asus
usually does a pretty good job on RAM compatibility. In some cases,
if you extract all the modules from your BIOS file, you'll see
part numbers for a certain number of RAM in there, implying that
Asus applies special conditions for some RAM. That is presumably
because the SPD on the DIMM is known to lie about the RAM
parameters.

When you get your new matched pair of DIMMs, test them separately
first, to make sure there are no problems with the new RAM by
themselves. Memtest86+ and Prime95 are good programs to use for
that purpose (a couple of passes error free with Memtest86+ is
enough, before booting to Windpws and doing the real test with
Prime95).

In terms of best strategy, if you are overclocking, two DIMMs in
dual channel mode gives the best possibility of overclocking. I
wouldn't use 4x512MB if trying to reach DDR500 (you'd be lucky
to hit DDR440 with four double sided modules). In that case 2x1GB
is the way to go, just like with Athlon64. At ordinary memory
speeds (PC3200 running at DDR400), either two or four sticks will
be fine on 875P, whereas on Athlon64, four sticks might require
2T command rate, and take a 15% memory bandwidth penalty compared
to running with two sticks at 1T command rate.

HTH,
Paul
 
RJT said:
Apart from that, chances are that with four dimms, you will only be able
to run at a 2T timing, whereas 2x1GB will run at a comfortable 1T
timing, which is quite a noticeable bit faster. I know the Deluxe has a
problem running four dimms at 1T, I'm unsure whether the Premium suffers
the same fate, though it seems likely to me.
Click to expand...

Euhm what are you talking about (1T v 2T timing...) ?

Do you mean amd controllers can only run with 4x 2-2-2-2 memory latency
chips ?

Are is this something totally else ?

Bye,
Skybuck.
 
Your modules are quite probably double sided and could cause problems. (
modules 512 or larger usually are double sided ) You don't say what make you
have.
I have the same board and my understanding is that as long as the modules
are single sided, 4 modules will work OK
I have the same board and I asked the same question at the OCZ forum and
this is what I was told, as my modules are 2x228 they are single sided.
If you wish you could ask there yourself.
http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=45
Hope this helps
Ken'
PS no need to tell them the make of your modules :-)
Click to expand...
The modules I'm looking at are Kingston, and according to their specs are rated
for ASUS boards. The modules I Have in the machine already (2 512's) are double
sided and seem to work fine.
 
Ken' said:
I don't think the board has anything to do with that, as the memory
controller in the CPU.
Click to expand...

You set the memory timings in the BIOS of the board. This is still done
at board level.
 
RJT said:
You set the memory timings in the BIOS of the board. This is still done at
board level.
Click to expand...

RJT
The above quote is what I was referring to.
It doesn't matter if you have the deluxe or the premium, the memory
controller is in the cpu and not on the board.
Ken'
 
Ken' said:
It doesn't matter if you have the deluxe or the premium, the memory
controller is in the cpu and not on the board.
Ken'
Click to expand...

It does matter which board you have, as even though the memory
controller is in the CPU, the board - through it's BIOS - still handles
the memory settings. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to set the timings
in BIOS now would you.
To give you an example how the board can still influence mem timings:
the ASUS A8N SLI boards do not work with a 1T timing above 250Mhz, even
though this works fine on other nForce4 boards with AMD CPU's.
RJT
 
RJT said:
It does matter which board you have, as even though the memory controller
is in the CPU, the board - through it's BIOS - still handles the memory
settings. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to set the timings in BIOS now
would you.
To give you an example how the board can still influence mem timings: the
ASUS A8N SLI boards do not work with a 1T timing above 250Mhz, even though
this works fine on other nForce4 boards with AMD CPU's.
RJT
Click to expand...


That's true, but the bios on both are very similar with very few changes as
far as the memory settings are concerned.

Ken'
 
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