Asus A8N32-SLI Mobo Do's and Don'ts [asus a8n sli] [voltage fluctuations]
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Re:Originally posted by: guy
This board is, while a great board, very typically ASUS. And the warm boot issue is extremely annoying if you're doing any kind of overclock.
http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?page=3&articleid=729
Unfortunately, getting the system booted was not always that easy. In many cases, booting up the P5N32-SLI resulted in a blank monitor screen and we had to manually shut down the board using the kill-switch on the power supply. Originally, we thought this might have been a heat-related issue, as the system typically would not reboot after running benchmarks and the like. After checking fans and airflow, we were convinced that the setup, at least, was not at fault. We also noticed that the next boot after using the PSU kill-switch, would invariably halt during POST with the message that "overclocking failed or overvoltage failed". The problem with this is that in just about every case, we were neither overclocking nor overvolting any of the components. Investigating the issue, we found that in the Hardware Monitoring section of the BIOS, that the CPU was consistently undervolted, usually by a solid volt off of the expected value. That is, even if we raised the voltage elsewhere, the VCORE Voltage would be one volt lower. We managed to gain a bit of stability by manually raising the CPU voltage, but still found that the system became unresponsive from time to time.
It's a P5N32-SLI review, but the issue at hand is basically the same. The bottom line is, even with 8-phase power or whatever, ASUS can't get the Vcore right. Probably it'll take 9283665-phase power regulation before ASUS give us a board with a stable vcore. It's much, much improved compared to previous ASUS boards, but there still are Vcore fluctuation, too. I don't understand why AT review can't catch things like this, but AT didn't mention the Vcore fluctuation in A8N-SLI Premium review, either.
Also this board will try to do things on its own. There are many examples but can't write them all here right now. I believe the behavior is by design so a joe-six-pack can't mess up the BIOS, but I'd rather take a board that does what I tell it to do even if it means clearing CMOS.
All in all, it's an excellent board for stable day-to-day use. I currently have this board and a DFI NF4 SLI-D. Purchased this board in antipation of replacing the DFI as testing/OC'ing bed, but it doesn't look likely to happen. Probably I will continue to use DFI as an OC testbed, and use the ASUS as my main rig.
Thanks for the link Lopri! Great details and what I suspected too….issues with voltage regulation to the CPU. I find that if I overvolt my CPU a little, it cures the warm boot issues!
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Re:This board is, while a great board, very typically ASUS. And the warm boot issue is extremely annoying if you're doing any kind of overclock.
http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?page=3&articleid=729
Unfortunately, getting the system booted was not always that easy. In many cases, booting up the P5N32-SLI resulted in a blank monitor screen and we had to manually shut down the board using the kill-switch on the power supply. Originally, we thought this might have been a heat-related issue, as the system typically would not reboot after running benchmarks and the like. After checking fans and airflow, we were convinced that the setup, at least, was not at fault. We also noticed that the next boot after using the PSU kill-switch, would invariably halt during POST with the message that "overclocking failed or overvoltage failed". The problem with this is that in just about every case, we were neither overclocking nor overvolting any of the components. Investigating the issue, we found that in the Hardware Monitoring section of the BIOS, that the CPU was consistently undervolted, usually by a solid volt off of the expected value. That is, even if we raised the voltage elsewhere, the VCORE Voltage would be one volt lower. We managed to gain a bit of stability by manually raising the CPU voltage, but still found that the system became unresponsive from time to time.
It's a P5N32-SLI review, but the issue at hand is basically the same. The bottom line is, even with 8-phase power or whatever, ASUS can't get the Vcore right. Probably it'll take 9283665-phase power regulation before ASUS give us a board with a stable vcore. It's much, much improved compared to previous ASUS boards, but there still are Vcore fluctuation, too. I don't understand why AT review can't catch things like this, but AT didn't mention the Vcore fluctuation in A8N-SLI Premium review, either.
Also this board will try to do things on its own. There are many examples but can't write them all here right now. I believe the behavior is by design so a joe-six-pack can't mess up the BIOS, but I'd rather take a board that does what I tell it to do even if it means clearing CMOS.
All in all, it's an excellent board for stable day-to-day use. I currently have this board and a DFI NF4 SLI-D. Purchased this board in antipation of replacing the DFI as testing/OC'ing bed, but it doesn't look likely to happen. Probably I will continue to use DFI as an OC testbed, and use the ASUS as my main rig.
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Re:Originally posted by: guy
Yeah, the combination of processor/memory/etc can make a big difference between people's experience w/ a motherboard. Hopefully, the board will become popular enough w/ enthusiasts that mod'd bios's will come out to help folks that might have some limitations w/ the current Asus bios's.
Just read up on the the whole entire 54 page thread…and i can relate to almost all the issues those people have gone through. I still doubt the stability of this board (especially the bios – why did Asus choose AMI!!!), since many are still having warm boot issues with POST failing (I did at one time, but higher VCORE resolved it). I also found this good link there;
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=83206
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Re:Yeah, the combination of processor/memory/etc can make a big difference between people's experience w/ a motherboard. Hopefully, the board will become popular enough w/ enthusiasts that mod'd bios's will come out to help folks that might have some limitations w/ the current Asus bios's.
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Re:Originally posted by: guy
Long as heck but this is the best thread on the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe – http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=80491…..
Everyone is going to have different results based on hardware/system configurations. Making generalizations, such as do not use Bios 1103 is silly. The above forum link provided, has the most knowledgable experts on this board and would recommend anyone to browse thru it for tips or information.
Thanks for the link! As I said, this is from my experience on my processor (a opty 165) and my motherboard. I'm glad to hear others aren't having as much issues, but I've also seen a fair number of people with similar issues.
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Re:Long as heck but this is the best thread on the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe – http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=80491
As someone who also upgraded from the A8N-Sli Premium to the A8N32-SLI Deluxe. I had a different experience than you.
I've only tried overclocking to 2.75ghz and did it with minimal manual tweaking. Using Bios 1009 and now 1103, no issues.
1. Installed a first-release version of Windows XP w/ no issues. Afterwards, installed all patches/updates.
2. RAIDs set-up using A8N-SLI Premium, recognized in bios and no issues using after installed Nvidia Drivers 6.85
3. PEG link Auto and Disabled – no difference in my overclocking
4. Vcore – 1.475v w/ vcore overvolt (1.275 + .2 overvolt). I haven't tried to go higher.
5. EZ-Plug – notice no difference between plugged in and not
6. Bios 1103 has given me no stability issues w/ my overclocking
7. After flashing to Bios 1103, I did not have to manually clear NVRAM. I just needed to reconfig bios settings and have been good to go since.
Everyone is going to have different results based on hardware/system configurations. Making generalizations, such as do not use Bios 1103 is silly. The above forum link provided, has the most knowledgable experts on this board and would recommend anyone to browse thru it for tips or information.
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Tags: asus a8n sli, voltage fluctuations