Asus A8V Deluxe Technical Discussion Thread

[stevenmh]

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---------original post

Thought I'd start a thread for A8V owners to chat about the board.

Mine arrived yesterday, and although I won't be putting it together until my new video card arrives, I did read the manual thoroughly. Some questions:

(1) Regarding the Promise controller with the two SATA ports and one IDE port... the manual states "you can use the RAID feature to set up a disk array and to support additional IDE devices."

This made me pretty happy, because of my setup:

2 x 36GB Raptors in RAID 0 for OS / Apps / Pagefile 1
2 x 74GB Raptors in RAID 0 for Games / Data / Docs / Pagefile 2
1 x 200GB IDE Seagate for backup and additional storage
1 x IDE CD-RW drive
1 x IDE DVD+/-RW drive

I was assuming that I'd have to put the 200GB IDE drive on the same cable as one of the optical drives. After reading this in the manual, it sounded like I could put it on the Promise IDE channel.

Moving along, the manual then states "By default, the RAID connector is set as RAID. If you want to use an independent drive, set the Operation Mode to IDE Mode under Advanced menu of the BIOS." This sounds like additional confirmation that the IDE port can be selected for use with a regular stand-alone IDE drive.

However, I get to the BIOS section, and under the Promise Controller options it says "Operating Mode - Configuration Options: RAID Mode or IDE Mode - This items sets the onboard Promise controller operating mode." Earlier chapters referred to this option as being an option associated with the CONNECTOR, but this says its associated with the CONTROLLER. So I'm thinking there are two possibilities here:

(a) BIOS and manual wording are a bit misworded, and the operating mode refers to how the IDE port is configured, and the controller will still provide SATA RAID either way, or,
(b) Choosing IDE mode disables the SATA ports, so that you get either SATA RAID and/or IDE RAID in RAID mode, or just non-RAID IDE in IDE mode, but no way to get SATA RAID and non-RAID IDE out of the controller at the same time.

Finally, moving to the Promise RAID configuration section, the screen shot has a line item for RAID array plus another line item for spare drive, so I'm hoping that option (a) above is the correct one. Anyone have any experience with this, either on the A8V or on another board with the Promise SATA/IDE RAID controller?


(2) Some BIOS options that I've not encountered before:

(a) Bank and Node Interleaving...default is disabled...but it doesn't say which would be preferrable for performance.

(b) Lots of memory tweaks above and beyond the main 6-3-2-2 values I'm used to seeing...I'm assuming those I'm not familiar with I should just leave on Auto.

(c) 2T Command...auto or enabled. Kind of a silly way to word the option. If I choose enabled I obviously get 2T...but what does it toggle between in auto? 1T and 2T? 2T and 3T? You would think that if the board had any chance of handling 1T, that the option would be entitled 1T command...auto or enabled, and that the 2T enabled therefore corresponds to the performance setting. But I'd like to be sure.

(d) Under graphics, there's Search for MDA Resources = Yes. No idea what this is.

[Senor Panadero]

Thanks for the thread.


I can only take on the last two of your questions:

(c) 2T Command...auto or enabled. Kind of a silly way to word the option. If I choose enabled I obviously get 2T...but what does it toggle between in auto? 1T and 2T? 2T and 3T? You would think that if the board had any chance of handling 1T, that the option would be entitled 1T command...auto or enabled, and that the 2T enabled therefore corresponds to the performance setting. But I'd like to be sure.

I believe this may depend upon your cpu. In the past have been 1T or 2T depending upon the stepping of the cpu. I'd leave it on auto until this is clear for the 939's.

(d) Under graphics, there's Search for MDA Resources = Yes. No idea what this is.

We had a short thread on this recently here. I suspect it has to do with the use of certain specialized CAD video cards, but couldn't say for sure.

[Arvig]

I don't know if he lists your specific BIOS questions, but have you looked at the BIOS Optimization guide at "Adrian's Rojak Pot"? He goes into a huge amount of details on various BIOS settings including some pretty obscure ones:

http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx...var1=56&var2=0

[trox]

Hi there stevenmh,
Im planning on buying this motherboard, whenever it gets released in the UK that is , just wondering if u intend to Overclock ? and if the PCI/AGP locks work 66mhz/33mhz on your version of the board?
Thanks for info , sorry for this post if it upsets u, just thought this was an important tech question id like to know the answer to

[stevenmh]

I don't know if he lists your specific BIOS questions, but have you looked at the BIOS Optimization guide at "Adrian's Rojak Pot"? He goes into a huge amount of details on various BIOS settings including some pretty obscure ones:

http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx...var1=56&var2=0

Yup, did some reading there and some Googling. Sounds like node interleave is for multi processors, so should be left disabled. Bank interleave should provide a performance boost in theory, although very minor, and is probably disabled by default for stability. I guess I'll have to run some benchmarks and see if it makes any difference. As for the memory tweaks, the BIOS guide does seem to have them, I'll have to read up on them later. The guide doesn't have the command 2T option, although it does have the 1T option, which is what I'm used to seeing in some menus. Perhaps 1T just doesn't work well with A64.

[stevenmh]

Hi there stevenmh,
Im planning on buying this motherboard, whenever it gets released in the UK that is , just wondering if u intend to Overclock ? and if the PCI/AGP locks work 66mhz/33mhz on your version of the board?
Thanks for info , sorry for this post if it upsets u, just thought this was an important tech question id like to know the answer to

Yes, I plan to overclock both FSB and CPU. The BIOS has the option for the PCI/AGP lock, and gives the option not only for 66/33 but also something like 74/37 I think. As to whether it actually works, I don't know, since I don't have it up and running yet. I have an X800 XT on order and expect it to arrive in a week or so, and am also waiting for the OCZ EB PC3700 1GB kits to get back in stock, and am planning on waiting until I have everything before putting the system together.

[grdh20]

I tried setting up the A8V today and I can tell you a couple of things other than the fact that I have a replacement coming Monday because my board couldn't save anything in the bios. I tried 3 bioses including the latest beta 1005.002. No dice. Anyway Asus pulled the pci/agp lock control out of all the available bioses because they had stability problems. Great huh? I ask myself, so what is the point then. They say it will reapear in a bios update, but dam what a load of c.r.a.p.!

Anyway my sk8v was a million times more refined than this rushed out POS. Like I said I'll try the new one before giving up on it. Thing is there isn't much choice right now 939 wise and from what I have heard the NF3 250 isn't much better. Seems like the whole 939 thing was a whole bunch of wishfull thinking and hype!

[stevenmh]

Just read a long thread over at xtremesystems on the A8V. Aside from confirming the lack of PCI/AGP lock in current BIOS, it looks like setting the Command 2T option to disabled rather than enabled or auto gives better performance. Perhaps disabled forces 1T.

[grdh20]

Just read a long thread over at xtremesystems on the A8V. Aside from confirming the lack of PCI/AGP lock in current BIOS, it looks like setting the Command 2T option to disabled rather than enabled or auto gives better performance. Perhaps disabled forces 1T.

Exactly what it does.

[stevenmh]

Cool. Looks like the OCZ EB PC3700 is going to be unavailable for quite some time, so I went ahead and ordered the Corsair TwinX1024-3200XLPRO. In the absense of an AGP/PCI lock, I think this will actually work out better than the OCZ EB series, as it should handle X-2-2-2 1T timings up to about PC3500 speeds. If the BIOS ever allows the PCI/AGP lock, then according to reviews, the Corsair will scale up to about 250MHz FSB at X-3-3-2.5 or X-3-3-3 timings.

[grdh20]

http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/sho...05&postcount=3

1005.020 beta bios. should fix some issues and may add locks opt back in but . . . Now there is a rumour that some of the early boards went out with defective lock resistors. Great......

I'm burning in some of that XL stuff now and at first I wasn't convinced that it ran any better or handled extra voltage than the CH sticks did at least over 220+, but I'll try it again after the burn in on Monday.

[stevenmh]

I just saw that and sent an email to Asus tech support. I'll post the response here if/when I receive one.

******************************************************

Dear Asus Representative,

I recently purchased the A8V Deluxe board for use with an FX-53 processor. I haven't built the new system yet because I'm still waiting on a few parts, but I've read the manual thoroughly and am participating in several message board threads specific to the A8V. I have a couple of questions:

(1) I've read that the PCI/AGP lock doesn't work with the 1003 BIOS, but that the 1005 beta BIOS fixes this problem. However, I've also read that early production boards won't support this feature even with a fixed BIOS, due to requiring a couple of extra resistors that are being provided on newer boards. Can you tell me if this is true or not? If so, can you provide a serial number range to differientiate between the boards with and without the hardware to support a working lock? I purchased this board with the understanding that it would have this feature, and the manual clearly states that the feature is present, so if my board does not have it working I will need to RMA it.

(2) The manual is a little confusing on the use of the Promise IDE port. Is it possible to use the two Promise SATA ports in a RAID 0 configuration, and at the same time use the Promise IDE port for an independent IDE drive? The BIOS has an option for 'RAID' or 'IDE' under the Promise menu item, but it's not clear whether it affects just the IDE port or all ports on the Promise controller.

This is my first Asus board and it looks like it's an excellent choice. I can't wait to get it up and running. Thanks in advance for your help with the above two issues.

[Mongoose420]

aparently the 1005.002 bios does not fix the locks. HOWEVER the 1005.020 does. my a8v+3500+ has benched at 270fsb the Auto setting for 2t is stupid, just set it to default. my khx3200/512's humm'n along at 221fsb with the supplied voltage and there's a rumor that the next bios update will include more vdimm so thats also good news for bh-5 users.

grdh20, you got 220fsb out of corsair XL at 2-2-2-5 1T? Best i'd seen so far is 215. Im definitly consider'n some of that ocz stuff. 270 1:1 would be

[stevenmh]

I wanted to get the OCZ EB PC3700, but I've heard differing stories on how long it might be until it's available again. Of course, I can always sell the Corsair XL and trade up later. It might be nice to have the low latency until I get my board tuned and determine how far the motherboard will go for me. With the EB series, you HAVE to overclock it for it to make sense running it. At PC3200 or PC3500 speeds it doesn't perform as well. But since you know your board will handle it, you're a prime candidate for EB.

[Arvig]

http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/sho...05&postcount=3

1005.020 beta bios. should fix some issues and may add locks opt back in but . . . Now there is a rumour that some of the early boards went out with defective lock resistors. Great......

I'm burning in some of that XL stuff now and at first I wasn't convinced that it ran any better or handled extra voltage than the CH sticks did at least over 220+, but I'll try it again after the burn in on Monday.

If you look in my profile, you'll see I just splurged and got this board, a 3800+ and some Corsair XMS XLPro memory. Anyway, do you know if there is a way to tell physically or via a serial number if one has a board that can't support the AGP/PCI FSB lock?

Reason I asked is I tried the beta BIOS you linked to, when I set the PCI/AGP FSB manually to 33.33/66.66 in an attempt (I assume) to lock it, upon rebooting instead of POSTing I'd get the speach reporter telling me "System Fail due to CPU Overclocking". Mind you, I'd also set the CPU speed manually, but I was setting it to factory default for my CPU. Anyway, I'm guessing this means my board is one that can't lock it's PCI/AGP FSB...but I want to be sure before I splurge on another board and decide if I'm going to sell or RMA this one based on that, and how to tell WHAT board(s) will work with a newer BIOS, and what ones won't.

As an aside, probably sell as used, I'm still stable OCing to 221*12 with this CPU, and well...so far it benchmarks quite well. Need to actually install something other then an OS, drivers and benchmark on it though.

As a second aside, does the Speach Post reporter chick have a name? For a voice in my BIOS, she sounds kind of sexy. This is my first ASUS board, is she in any others?

Me <---Checks out Computex reports for the booth babes first, then the info on new prototype computer parts.