A8V Deluxe Ver.2: questions about what CPUs, What RAM...

[Bucky]

Hello. I just got an Asus A8V Deluxe Ver. #2 motherboard.

I was wondering: Will the Athlon 64 3000 work on it? How much better
would an Athlon 64 3200 be? Would the rare Sempron 64 work? I ask
because I am an an extreme budget and will start off with one of those
CPUs, Later I want to get an FX when money is not so bad.

Next, I was wondering about RAM. For me to overclock without risking
the system to damage, what RAM, by brand and model, is good? OCZ?
Geil? Corsair? What RAM are you guys using to good effect.

Third, I was looking at getting a Thermalright SP-120 Heat sink, does
anyone know if it will fit without damaging the capacitors nearby?
What HSF are you guys using, and why?

Finally, when you got your board, did it have more than one IDE
Parallel cable, I only got one 80 conductor and one 40 conductor.
Wasn't there supposed to be at least one more?

Please pardon all my questions, I am new here and I have not had a new
system as I am currently running an old BX based motherboard system.

 

[Nero]

One 80 and one 40 IDE cables are all you will ever get.
Athlon 64 3200 is 2.2Ghz
Athlon 64 3000 is 2.0Ghz

 

[Peter van der Goes]

Hello. I just got an Asus A8V Deluxe Ver. #2 motherboard.

I was wondering: Will the Athlon 64 3000 work on it? How much better
would an Athlon 64 3200 be? Would the rare Sempron 64 work? I ask
because I am an an extreme budget and will start off with one of those
CPUs, Later I want to get an FX when money is not so bad.

Next, I was wondering about RAM. For me to overclock without risking
the system to damage, what RAM, by brand and model, is good? OCZ?
Geil? Corsair? What RAM are you guys using to good effect.

Third, I was looking at getting a Thermalright SP-120 Heat sink, does
anyone know if it will fit without damaging the capacitors nearby?
What HSF are you guys using, and why?

Finally, when you got your board, did it have more than one IDE
Parallel cable, I only got one 80 conductor and one 40 conductor.
Wasn't there supposed to be at least one more?

Please pardon all my questions, I am new here and I have not had a new
system as I am currently running an old BX based motherboard system.

First, you'll need a Socket 939 CPU to fit on your A8V Deluxe. AFAIK, there
are no 939 pin Semprons.
Contrary to what Nero told you, the Socket 939 A64 3000+ runs at 1.8 GHz,
the 3200+ runs at 2.0 GHz and the 3500+ runs at 2.2 GHz.
Whether or not a 3200+ over a 3000+ would be worth the extra cash to you is
a personal choice. The difference at Newegg today is $41 US (retail
packaging).
You may want to get a 3000+ and spend the savings on better RAM.
My A8V Deluxe (purchased from Newegg) came with two 80 conductor cables.
Where did you get yours and was there any evidence that it had been used
before you got it?
I have a 3200+ CPU running happily at 2.4 GHz on my A8V Deluxe Rev 2. I'm
using the retail HSF because it works fine here and is not too noisy. I
could get a 70-80 mm fan adapter and mount a 80 mm fan for even less noise.
I cannot address your question on the ThermalRight SP-120 from personal
experience, but here's a quote from buyer ratings on Newegg:
<quote>
My Athlon 64 runs at 2.6mhz (4000+) 43c idle and 51c under load. With TT
Volcano I was getting 55c idle and up to 70c under load! I paired this HS
with a Thermaltake 120mm Smart Fan 2800rpm. Very quiet and looks awesome in
my Asus A8V MB. It does not hit the capacitors or interfere with the RAM
sticks.
</quote>
My experience with a 3200+ would indicate that the SP-120 would be expensive
($63 shipped?!?) overkill on a 3000+ or a 3200+. You can save the $$ and
defer that purchase for when you go to a FX later.
I started with Geil PC3200 memory in mine (the Geil was fine at rated
speed), but I wasn't having much luck getting beyond 2.1 GHz. I switched to
a pair of Patriot PC4000 512 meg modules (see Newegg listings) and now I'm
at the 2.4 GHz mentioned earlier. Based on this experience, I'd say spend a
little more to get faster RAM.
Hope this helps.

 

[Jack White]

I have a 3200+ CPU running happily at 2.4 GHz on my A8V Deluxe Rev 2.

What did you set the FSB to?

I have a 3500. The multiplier is locked at 11 so I have to up the FSB to
220 to get to 2.4. It runs fine at 2.4 @ about 40 C on stock heatsink/fan
under normal conditions. It does jump up to the low 50s under load but
that's not too bad. I haven't tried going higher because the ram I got
with my system is just generic PC3200, and I'm perfectly happy with 2.4.

 

[Peter van der Goes]

What did you set the FSB to?

I have a 3500. The multiplier is locked at 11 so I have to up the FSB to
220 to get to 2.4. It runs fine at 2.4 @ about 40 C on stock heatsink/fan
under normal conditions. It does jump up to the low 50s under load but
that's not too bad. I haven't tried going higher because the ram I got
with my system is just generic PC3200, and I'm perfectly happy with 2.4.

Mine's at 240.

 

[Ed]

What did you set the FSB to?

I have a 3500. The multiplier is locked at 11 so I have to up the FSB to
220 to get to 2.4. It runs fine at 2.4 @ about 40 C on stock heatsink/fan
under normal conditions. It does jump up to the low 50s under load but
that's not too bad. I haven't tried going higher because the ram I got
with my system is just generic PC3200, and I'm perfectly happy with 2.4.

You could lower ram to DDR333 and crank up the bus more I suppose, not
sure how much of a performance hit you'd take tho.
Ed

 

[Bucky]

So, a 3,000 will work then, thanks.

I went to the thermalright site, which wasn't working properly with
Firefox for some reason, and opened with IE, and using some links,
found the listing of what boards are known to work. The A8V works
with the heat sink.

I got my board at a computer show in CT, my kind family members helped
me pay for it. One of them has done business with the guy before and
all was well. We all bought stuff, and their stuff worked. They
didn't get more than one 80 conductor ide either. Oh well, one came
with my WD drive, I'll use that later when I finally build the system.