Upgrade chipset on AN8-SLI Premium

[Robert Biel]

Can anyone explain how to upgrade the chipset on this board after Windows XP
Pro is installed? Or steer me to the applicable URL? I've been all over
the Asus website and my MB installation disk but I can't find any
instructions. I found the driver download at Asus but it appears to make a
floppy which would be used during OS installation. My OS and all software
is already installed and I'd prefer not to go through all that again if I
can avoid it. I'd appreciate your help. I've been researching this via
google for 3 days with no luck.

Why do I want to upgrade? I've had two unexplainable events in the last 4
days since I built new PC. Once a spontaneous restart while playing WOW and
once during post it froze during post after the display showed NForce 4
chipset and I had to do a reset to proceed. After reset it posted and the
OS loaded normally. I know there are reports of incompatibility with Antec
power supplies and I'm using the Antec Neo 480 (not the HE), but before I do
anything drastic like replace the power supply I figured I'd try updating to
latest chipset/bios. Not doing any overclocking.

Also, I saw a post below that warned against using the Asus bios update
program from within windows. Can anyone shed some light on that? I've used
it previously on my P4S533 and never had a problem. Thanks for any help you
may have to offer,

Robert B

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Can anyone explain how to upgrade the chipset on this board after Windows
XP Pro is installed? Or steer me to the applicable URL? I've been all
over the Asus website and my MB installation disk but I can't find any
instructions. I found the driver download at Asus but it appears to make
a floppy which would be used during OS installation. My OS and all
software is already installed and I'd prefer not to go through all that
again if I can avoid it. I'd appreciate your help. I've been researching
this via google for 3 days with no luck.

Why do I want to upgrade? I've had two unexplainable events in the last 4
days since I built new PC. Once a spontaneous restart while playing WOW
and once during post it froze during post after the display showed NForce
4 chipset and I had to do a reset to proceed. After reset it posted and
the OS loaded normally. I know there are reports of incompatibility with
Antec power supplies and I'm using the Antec Neo 480 (not the HE), but
before I do anything drastic like replace the power supply I figured I'd
try updating to latest chipset/bios. Not doing any overclocking.

Also, I saw a post below that warned against using the Asus bios update
program from within windows. Can anyone shed some light on that? I've
used it previously on my P4S533 and never had a problem. Thanks for any
help you may have to offer,

Robert B

The only way to upgrade the chipset is to replace the motherboard, but I
don't think that's what you were implying.

You can download the nForce4 drivers from nVIDIA's web site (
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp ).

Choose Platform / nForce Drivers --> nForce4 AMD --> Windows XP then click
on the Go! command button.

Usually these device drivers are the first thing that should be installed
after installing Windows XP.

I usually slipstream the nForce4 driver and the nVIDIA GeForce graphics
driver into my Windows XP bootable setup CD so I don't have to install them
after installing Windows XP.

I use ASUS Update to update the BIOS on my A8N-SLI Premium. I always
download the BIOS file to my hard disk drive before using ASUS Update to do
the flash.

 

[KC Computers]

Why do I want to upgrade? I've had two unexplainable events in the last 4

days since I built new PC. Once a spontaneous restart while playing WOW
and once during post it froze during post after the display showed NForce
4 chipset and I had to do a reset to proceed. After reset it posted and
the OS loaded normally. I know there are reports of incompatibility with
Antec power supplies and I'm using the Antec Neo 480 (not the HE), but
before I do anything drastic like replace the power supply I figured I'd
try updating to latest chipset/bios. Not doing any overclocking.

What do you have for RAM? Those restarts can be caused by the power
supply, etc. You should make a bootable floppy or CD with a
memory tester and run for a few hours. Memtest86 is free and
can be downloaded from www.memtest86.com.

 

[Robert B]

The only way to upgrade the chipset is to replace the motherboard, but I
don't think that's what you were implying.

You're right. I'm looking to update the NForce chipset drivers to 6.65 or
later.

You can download the nForce4 drivers from nVIDIA's web site (
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp ).

Choose Platform / nForce Drivers --> nForce4 AMD --> Windows XP then click
on the Go! command button.

Usually these device drivers are the first thing that should be installed
after installing Windows XP.

I usually slipstream the nForce4 driver and the nVIDIA GeForce graphics
driver into my Windows XP bootable setup CD so I don't have to install
them after installing Windows XP.

I use ASUS Update to update the BIOS on my A8N-SLI Premium. I always
download the BIOS file to my hard disk drive before using ASUS Update to
do the flash.

All very useful info. Thanks very much, Homer. I'll download and try those
NForce 4 drivers from Nvidia.

Robert B

 

[Robert B]

What do you have for RAM? Those restarts can be caused by the power
supply, etc. You should make a bootable floppy or CD with a
memory tester and run for a few hours. Memtest86 is free and
can be downloaded from www.memtest86.com.

My RAM is Corsair Twinx2048-3200c2pt. I'm hoping it's not the Antec Neo 480
but I suppose the only way to determine that is through the process of
elimination. Good advice on the memory tester -- I'll try it. Thanks
Kevin.

Robert B

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

My RAM is Corsair Twinx2048-3200c2pt. I'm hoping it's not the Antec Neo
480 but I suppose the only way to determine that is through the process of
elimination. Good advice on the memory tester -- I'll try it. Thanks
Kevin.

Robert B

You're better off getting Memtest86+ from http://www.memtest.org/ since it
is more current, and it even detects dual core CPU's.

What VDimm are you using for your DRAM? Corsair Labs specifies a VDimm of
2.75 Volts for your DRAM modules (In BIOS CMOS Setup => Advanced =>
Overclock Profile [Manual] => DDR Voltage [2.75V]). Inadequate DDR Voltage
could result in instability.

Are you using manual DRAM timings or did you leave everything at the Auto
setting?

 

[Phil DeBecker]

Can anyone explain how to upgrade the chipset on this board after Windows XP
Pro is installed? Or steer me to the applicable URL? I've been all over
the Asus website and my MB installation disk but I can't find any
instructions. I found the driver download at Asus but it appears to make a
floppy which would be used during OS installation. My OS and all software
is already installed and I'd prefer not to go through all that again if I
can avoid it. I'd appreciate your help. I've been researching this via
google for 3 days with no luck.

Why do I want to upgrade? I've had two unexplainable events in the last 4
days since I built new PC. Once a spontaneous restart while playing WOW and
once during post it froze during post after the display showed NForce 4
chipset and I had to do a reset to proceed. After reset it posted and the
OS loaded normally. I know there are reports of incompatibility with Antec
power supplies and I'm using the Antec Neo 480 (not the HE), but before I do
anything drastic like replace the power supply I figured I'd try updating to
latest chipset/bios. Not doing any overclocking.

Also, I saw a post below that warned against using the Asus bios update
program from within windows. Can anyone shed some light on that? I've used
it previously on my P4S533 and never had a problem. Thanks for any help you
may have to offer,

Robert B

Installing the nvidia chipset driver is no big deal. Just go to
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp32_amd_6.70.html
download the driver package, run the installer, and reboot. If you're
using a nvidia video card, you should also download the latest
ForceWare driver for it as well, from the same site (follow the
"download drivers" tab on that page).

It's a good idea to install the nvidia nforce4 6.70 drivers, but this
is unlikely to cure your problem. It does sound as if your Neo 480 is
the problem though. Antec Neo power supplies provide less than half
the amps on some of the rails than other Antec power supplies do, and
as you say this is well known to cause a lot of issues with A8N-SLI
boards.

It's not all Antec power supplies that have this problem, just the
Neos. I'm using a Antec TruPower 2.0 550W here with no problems.

 

[Robert B]

What VDimm are you using for your DRAM? Corsair Labs specifies a VDimm of
2.75 Volts for your DRAM modules (In BIOS CMOS Setup => Advanced =>
Overclock Profile [Manual] => DDR Voltage [2.75V]). Inadequate DDR
Voltage could result in instability.

Are you using manual DRAM timings or did you leave everything at the Auto
setting?

I'm running all "jumperless overclocking" options on auto. You may be onto
something though. I succeeded in updating the chipset from Nvidia's site to
6.70. Followed that by updating bios to 1009. Following that had to reset
all bios settings. While in the process discovered I had my CAS set to 2
instead of 2.5. I remembered seeing that the CAS 2 was recommended for both
Intel and AMD systems but a little further digging revealed the X2
processors call for a setting of 2.5 with these particular modules.
Corrected that and manually made sure remaining settings are as suggested by
Corsair. Didn't mess with the DDR voltage though. It's set to "auto."

The good news (though perhaps premature at this point.) is that the system
now seems to be running rock solid. I've had no further spontaneous
restarts or lockups. I'll give it another week or so before I conclude it's
OK. If I see any further problems I'll try memtest but at this point it
doesn't seem necessary. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate
it.Robert B

 

[Robert B]

----- Original Message -----

Installing the nvidia chipset driver is no big deal. Just go to
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp32_amd_6.70.html
download the driver package, run the installer, and reboot. If you're
using a nvidia video card, you should also download the latest
ForceWare driver for it as well, from the same site (follow the
"download drivers" tab on that page).

Yes, I was able to successfully update the chipset from Nvidia as suggested.
I guess I was just not expecting Asus to recommend updating the chipset
while providing no info on how to do it. At least I couldn't find it. On
the other hand Nvidia's package was a self-executable. Hard to mess that
up.

It's a good idea to install the nvidia nforce4 6.70 drivers, but this
is unlikely to cure your problem. It does sound as if your Neo 480 is
the problem though. Antec Neo power supplies provide less than half
the amps on some of the rails than other Antec power supplies do, and
as you say this is well known to cause a lot of issues with A8N-SLI
boards.

It's not all Antec power supplies that have this problem, just the
Neos. I'm using a Antec TruPower 2.0 550W here with no problems.

Well, if I had known then what I know now... Seriously though, I'm hoping
that having corrected an error in the memory timing and updating the
chipset/bios has taken care of the problem (see my post above). Really too
soon to say -- time will tell. I have a TruPower 430 in my old build and
it's never given me the slightest problem. If I do decide to go for a
different power supply I may just try the TruPower 550. I've been eyeing
the PC Cooling and Power 510 but they're sure not cheap. For now though,
I'm just going to sit tight and see if there's any further problems.
Thanks,

Robert B