A8N-SLI SATA locking? Anyone with knowledge of this?

[Lon Leader]

I have an A8N-SLI (non-deluxe, non-premium, if it matters) and I am
running an X2 3800+ with a 20% overclock. I recently added a single
SATA drive, currently on connector #1. (I have other IDE drives on the
system.)

What I would like to know is if, on the A8N-SLI, all the SATA ports
are speed locked, or just two of the four (and if only two, which
two?)?

I am concerned because I have read that some motherboards (but with
nForce3 chipsets, from what little I have learned) do not lock
connectors 1 and 2, but do lock 3 and 4.

So, is my new SATA drive running overclocked? Should I move it to
connector 3?

-=( Lon )=-

 

[CoCo]

Lon Leader skrev:

I have an A8N-SLI (non-deluxe, non-premium, if it matters) and I am
running an X2 3800+ with a 20% overclock. I recently added a single
SATA drive, currently on connector #1. (I have other IDE drives on the
system.)

What I would like to know is if, on the A8N-SLI, all the SATA ports
are speed locked, or just two of the four (and if only two, which
two?)?

I am concerned because I have read that some motherboards (but with
nForce3 chipsets, from what little I have learned) do not lock
connectors 1 and 2, but do lock 3 and 4.

So, is my new SATA drive running overclocked? Should I move it to
connector 3?

-=( Lon )=-

hi

yes do that! (-> sil3114, disable nf4-sata)

coco

 

[Razor]

I have an A8N-SLI (non-deluxe, non-premium, if it matters) and I am
running an X2 3800+ with a 20% overclock. I recently added a single
SATA drive, currently on connector #1. (I have other IDE drives on the
system.)

What I would like to know is if, on the A8N-SLI, all the SATA ports
are speed locked, or just two of the four (and if only two, which
two?)?

I am concerned because I have read that some motherboards (but with
nForce3 chipsets, from what little I have learned) do not lock
connectors 1 and 2, but do lock 3 and 4.

So, is my new SATA drive running overclocked? Should I move it to
connector 3?

-=( Lon )=-

I think it's locked,cause with my previous board (MSI K8N Neo2-NF3 ultra)i
had to move the drives to sata ports 3 and 4.In 1 and 2 the board couldn't
get above 225FSB.
Anyway is there a tool to report sata speeds?What is the normal speed for
sata,same as PCI(33.33MHz)?

 

[Razor]

hi

yes do that! (-> sil3114, disable nf4-sata)

coco

Well, he can't do that.It's an A8N-SLI with no additional Sata controller as
in deluxe-premium boards.

 

[CoCo]

Razor skrev:

Well, he can't do that.It's an A8N-SLI with no additional Sata controller as
in deluxe-premium boards.

ops...

(one reason to buy multi-satachip mb only)

 

[CoCo]

Razor skrev:

I think it's locked,cause with my previous board (MSI K8N Neo2-NF3 ultra)i
had to move the drives to sata ports 3 and 4.In 1 and 2 the board couldn't
get above 225FSB.
Anyway is there a tool to report sata speeds?What is the normal speed for
sata,same as PCI(33.33MHz)?

hi

asus >>Adjustable FSB/DDR ratio. Fixed PCIe/PCI/SATA frequencies.

 

[John Lewis]

I have an A8N-SLI (non-deluxe, non-premium, if it matters) and I am
running an X2 3800+ with a 20% overclock. I recently added a single
SATA drive, currently on connector #1. (I have other IDE drives on the
system.)

What I would like to know is if, on the A8N-SLI, all the SATA ports
are speed locked, or just two of the four (and if only two, which
two?)?

I am concerned because I have read that some motherboards (but with
nForce3 chipsets, from what little I have learned) do not lock
connectors 1 and 2, but do lock 3 and 4.

So, is my new SATA drive running overclocked? Should I move it to
connector 3?

-=( Lon )=-

It's not. ( Otherwise it would not work AT ALL, particularly @ 20%
overclock !! )

FYI, if you intend to overclock on a permanent basis, confirm your
20% overclock stability by running 2 simultaneous instances of Prime
95 one set to Affinity 0, the other Affinity 1 and run the 3 default
Torture-test modes for at least 8 hours each. (Verify 100% CPU
loading, 50% on each core using Task Manager.) Only ZERO errors
are acceptable, otherwise you will eventually have 'unexplained'
flakiness and maybe the loss of vital data.

John Lewis

 

[Lon Leader]

It's not. ( Otherwise it would not work AT ALL, particularly @ 20%
overclock !! )

FYI, if you intend to overclock on a permanent basis, confirm your
20% overclock stability by running 2 simultaneous instances of Prime
95 one set to Affinity 0, the other Affinity 1 and run the 3 default
Torture-test modes for at least 8 hours each. (Verify 100% CPU
loading, 50% on each core using Task Manager.) Only ZERO errors
are acceptable, otherwise you will eventually have 'unexplained'
flakiness and maybe the loss of vital data.

John Lewis

Hi John. I have run 2 copies of Prime95, the second started with the
-A1 parameter, but only for approx. 1/2 hour. I will try running the
three tests for 8 hours each as you suggest. The first two tests do
indicate 100% cpu usage in task manager, but the individual graphs for
each core also show 100% usage on both (not the 50% each you
mentioned).

I had to set the vCore to 1.40v. I have the Hyper Transport divider
set to 4 (with the 20% oc = 960) and the memory set to 333 (the 20% oc
brings it back to 400). I'm not out to set overclocking records - I
just like the thought of having a X2 4600+ for the price of a X2 3800+
(in Canada, $800 vs $400).

-=( Lon )=-

 

[John Lewis]

Hi John. I have run 2 copies of Prime95, the second started with the
-A1 parameter, but only for approx. 1/2 hour. I will try running the
three tests for 8 hours each as you suggest. The first two tests do
indicate 100% cpu usage in task manager, but the individual graphs for
each core also show 100% usage on both (not the 50% each you
mentioned).

Depends how you display it. You are executing correctly.

I had to set the vCore to 1.40v. I have the Hyper Transport divider
set to 4 (with the 20% oc = 960) and the memory set to 333 (the 20% oc
brings it back to 400). I'm not out to set overclocking records - I
just like the thought of having a X2 4600+ for the price of a X2 3800+
(in Canada, $800 vs $400).

Seems fine to me. Your settings look correct. I have a 4400+ running
at ~ 20% overclock ( ~ 2.65GHz ) and require 1.5V on that particular
one to get to 20% o/c stable. At 1.4 volts I can get to 2.5 GHz
stable. BTW, there is a sweet spot for core voltage -- too high
rapidly raises the power dissipation/internal heat, slowing the
silicon, besides undesirable long-term heat and voltage stress.
Anyway, check for the 8 hours per test. Especially Torture test #2
( max heat etc ).

John Lewis