Recommendations for replacement 754 MB?

M

/mel/

I'm fed up of this Winfast/Foxconn K8S755A/755A01 motherboard. It refuses to
run the RAM at DDR400, and I cannot stop it from trying to boot off USB
storage if I forget and leave them plugged in.

So, any recommendations for 754 motherboards? I have spare NICs and PCI
audio, so all I really need is SATA/IDE/USB2/3xDIMM/AGP8 and a decent BIOS.

Alternatively, if anyone has heard of a hacked BIOS for this board....
 
E

Ed

I'm fed up of this Winfast/Foxconn K8S755A/755A01 motherboard. It refuses to
run the RAM at DDR400, and I cannot stop it from trying to boot off USB
storage if I forget and leave them plugged in.

So, any recommendations for 754 motherboards? I have spare NICs and PCI
audio, so all I really need is SATA/IDE/USB2/3xDIMM/AGP8 and a decent BIOS.

Alternatively, if anyone has heard of a hacked BIOS for this board....
Click to expand...

Are you trying to run 3 sticks of ram @ ddr 400? I don't think the A64
(754) and boards are made to run 3 @ 400, mine wont.

Ed
--
Chaintech VNF3-250 / BIOS 4.0
Athlon 64 3200+ (newcastle) / 2x512 Ballistix PC4000
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB / Creative Labs Audigy 2
Seagate 160GB 8MB PATA100 / WD 120GB 8MB PATA100
NEC 8x DVD-RW 2500A / LiteOn 52x CDRW 5238S
Antec SX-1040BII 400W
 
L

Lachoneus

I'm fed up of this Winfast/Foxconn K8S755A/755A01 motherboard. It refuses to
run the RAM at DDR400, and I cannot stop it from trying to boot off USB
storage if I forget and leave them plugged in.
Click to expand...

I don't think any S754 A64 can run three DIMMs at DDR400. Changing the
motherboard won't help; the memory controller is on the CPU.

Can't you just change the boot order to try USB devices after the hard
drive?
 
D

db

Lachoneus said:
I don't think any S754 A64 can run three DIMMs at DDR400. Changing the
motherboard won't help; the memory controller is on the CPU.

Can't you just change the boot order to try USB devices after the hard
drive?
Click to expand...


My asus manual says it can but you have to use single sided ram.
 
M

/mel/

db said:
My asus manual says it can but you have to use single sided ram.
Click to expand...

RTFM! ... The manual for this thing says that I can, but there are
limitations as to combinations - I'm going to have to figure out the engrish
before I can figure out WTF they are...

"x8 single rank or x16"
"x8 double rank"

According to Lavalys Everest my DIMMS are 512M (2 rows 4 banks) and 2 off
256M (1 row 4 banks).

Well, the manual says that there are combinations that can work, but I can't
even get 768M at 400MHz using any combination of the two. Gah.
 
D

db

/mel/ said:
RTFM! ... The manual for this thing says that I can, but there are
limitations as to combinations - I'm going to have to figure out the engrish
before I can figure out WTF they are...

"x8 single rank or x16"
"x8 double rank"

According to Lavalys Everest my DIMMS are 512M (2 rows 4 banks) and 2 off
256M (1 row 4 banks).

Well, the manual says that there are combinations that can work, but I can't
even get 768M at 400MHz using any combination of the two. Gah.
Click to expand...


well i'd assume *single rank* is single sided ram etc.
The only combo using 3 sticks at 400MHz is for all 3 to be single sided
on mine. (one side to have zero chips.. just to be clear ;) )
Any use of a double sided stick and i'm down to 333.
Sux cos i got 1 single and 1 double :(
 
R

Robert Klute

Are you trying to run 3 sticks of ram @ ddr 400? I don't think the A64
(754) and boards are made to run 3 @ 400, mine wont.
Click to expand...

The Athlon 754 should be able run 3 unbuffered DIMMs, but ...

Depending on implementation you may get unpredictable results and
performance will be slower.


(From the AMD Functional Data Sheet, 754 pin package)

2.4.2.1.1 Unbuffered DIMMs
An unbuffered 2 DIMM configuration requires up to six differential clock
pairs, an unbuffered 3 DIMM configuration requires up to nine clock
pairs. Since the processor provides only six clock pairs, the use of an
external clock buffer is recommended. The use of processor performance
state (Pstate) transitions is not recommended when an external clock
buffer is used for 3 DIMM clock pair distribution as unpredictable
results may occur.
 
G

gerry

Well, the manual says that there are combinations that can work, but I can't
even get 768M at 400MHz using any combination of the two. Gah.
Click to expand...

I've got an aopen AK86-L motherboard, and apparently the newer bios
won't let you run at DDR400 under some circumstances either. I recall
there was a lot of problems with ram compatibility when these 754
boards came out.

I've had no problems running with an older 1.11 bios with two sticks
of mushkin 512M. I've got one of those 550 watt power supplies that
"you don't need" too ;)

I'd pull one ram stick out for now if I were you.

People seem to really like that DFI motherboard, and it's relatively
cheap too. I'm thinking of getting one to replace my old P2b as the
old dma33 ide channels are getting a bit dated now.
 
D

dawg

I have a similar problem. I have an A64 2800+,Chaintech VNF-250(Nforce 3)
and 1 512M stick of Winbond PC3700. I've overckoed it to 219 FSB.The CPU mhz
shows up correctly(1965) but the memory reads 365 at boot up.
The 1st BIOS on the board showed the memory running at 400 but it was pretty
buggy and not very stable so I've been updating the BIOS twice now. Others
with the same motherboard/bios are showing 400 FSB. Can't figure it out.
 
P

Paladin

well i'd assume *single rank* is single sided ram etc.
The only combo using 3 sticks at 400MHz is for all 3 to be single sided
on mine. (one side to have zero chips.. just to be clear ;) )
Any use of a double sided stick and i'm down to 333.
Sux cos i got 1 single and 1 double :(
Click to expand...


I just bought an ASUS K8N-E Deluxe and 3 sticks of Crucial
512Mb single sided DDR400.

Can I use all 3 on this board @ 400Mhz......if you know?

Thank you,


PALADIN

"The only thing you get to take with you are the things you gave away."
 
R

Robert Klute

I just bought an ASUS K8N-E Deluxe and 3 sticks of Crucial
512Mb single sided DDR400.

Can I use all 3 on this board @ 400Mhz......if you know?

Thank you,
Click to expand...

You can use three sticks, but there is a performance hit.
 
P

Paladin

You can use three sticks, but there is a performance hit.
Click to expand...


Robert..........

Do you mean the system would be faster with only two sticks of
Crucial 512?

Thanks,




PALADIN
 
W

Wes Newell

Any idea how much?
Click to expand...
The max ram bus speed drops from 200MHz (ddr400) to 166MHz (DDR333). It
will have a minimal effect on system performance. It may increase with
some task and decrease with others depending on if the task can use more
memory or it can use more bandwidth. In simple terms, you more than likely
won't notice the differences.
 
P

Paladin

The max ram bus speed drops from 200MHz (ddr400) to 166MHz (DDR333). It
will have a minimal effect on system performance. It may increase with
some task and decrease with others depending on if the task can use more
memory or it can use more bandwidth. In simple terms, you more than likely
won't notice the differences.
Click to expand...


Thanks Wes.......

I did notice the bus speed was at 166, but I also noticed that this
mobo, memory, and AMD 3000+ gives me a very fast machine,and it's
still at the BIOS default settings!!

The bottleneck ....now.....seems to be the HD and the 74 Gb Raptor
I ordered should fix that! :---) One guy in the reviews described
the Raptor as being sooo fast that his eyeballs couldn't keep up with
what was happening on the monitor. :--) I'm looking forward to
having that complaint!

Regards,


The only complaint I have with the board is that I don't have
sound.....either with the onboard or a PCI card. So, I got a
replacement for it.....which I hope will solve my problem, whenever I
can get around to swapping them.





PALADIN
 
W

Wes Newell

The only complaint I have with the board is that I don't have
sound.....either with the onboard or a PCI card. So, I got a
replacement for it.....which I hope will solve my problem, whenever I
can get around to swapping them.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a driver/config problem rather than a hardware problem. Highly
unlikely both onboard and a pci sound card would both be defective.
 
P

Paladin

Sounds like a driver/config problem rather than a hardware problem. Highly
unlikely both onboard and a pci sound card would both be defective.
Click to expand...



I've spent about a week trying to figure it out. I've tried
removing/reinstalling/updating drivers.......changing PCI slots,
changing sound cards, retesting the speakers. I'm at the point where
I'm now talking to myself !

When I called Asus and described the problem, they told me to tear it
all apart and start over. Well, I'm going to do just that........only
with another new board and, while I'm at it, a new case. :--)

This is the first time I've ever had sound issues.....no joy!



PALADIN
 
R

Robert Klute

Robert..........

Do you mean the system would be faster with only two sticks of
Crucial 512?
Click to expand...

Yes. As was noted by Wes, the bus speed can drop when you go to 3
sticks. This drop is related to the fact the the 754 package only
provides 6 clock pairs, with each DIMM requiring 3 clock pairs. When
you put in the third DIMM an external clock buffer is recommended and
while DIMM1 gets its own address and command pins, DIMM2 and 3 must
share the second one.

Also, the use of Pstate transistions (basically Cool'nQuiet) can result
in unpredictable results when 3 DIMMs are used.

On the K8NE, the owners manual, specifies that the max speed for a
single DIMM is DDR400. For 2 DIMMs it is DDR400 as long DIMM1 is filled.
For 3 DIMMs, it is DDR333 if all single sided DIMMS or the combination
of Double/Single/Double are used and DDR200 for any other combination.
(note: this is double sided, not dual channel).

Lastly, there is an approved list of DIMMs that can be used.

See page 2-12 in
http://www.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/sock754/K8N-E_DX/e1883_k8n-e_deluxe.pdf

There is supposed to be an updated list on the ASUS site, but I haven't
found it.
 

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