A7N8X-X driver/reinstall questions

[dgk]

I'm going to have two days to replace my mom's motherboard with an
A7N8X-X. I have decent (Kingston Value RAM 512mb) memory and a nice
quiet TT HSF. This is not going to be overclocked. Athlon XP2600 cpu.
Some 5200 video card (128mb).

Question one, what is the fsb/multiplier for this setup?

Question two, what drivers should I install? I have grabbed the
nf2v116_wxp (basic drivers), alc650_wdma341 (audio?) and
trl8100c_451505 (lan) from Asus. I guess these are later than the
supplied CD. I thought all nForce boards had built in soundstorm
sound? What is this AC '97 stuff? Use there or the nForce website
drivers?

The whole story:

I had thrown together a nice Shuttle motherboard and 2400XP CPU for
her and she has had nothing but trouble; daily spontaneous reboots,
the CD burner always errors out, it runs slowly, etc. I give up trying
to diagnose it long distance and I'm planning to replace the whole
mess on a long weekend visit.

The plan:

Clone her drive and save the original. Boot into bios and set first
boot device to CD (for later). Run the clone drive in the old system,
strip all the drivers out that I can. Insert XP CD into CD drive so
it's ready to boot off it. Close it down. Scoop out the case, replace
everything. New PSU (good one). new MB, new video card, new memory.
Boot into XP CD. Do NOT select repair option. Select regular install
option. Once it detects existing XP installation, choose R (repair)
installation. This SHOULD install necessary drivers to get it up and
running WITHOUT wiping out the drive. Install all the new A7N8X
drivers and the new video card drivers. Test.

This should take two hours, tops. Then. off to the beach. Finally,
take all old parts, including the drive, back home. Install in new
case. Make it work. Keep it as beta test machine.

 

[No Body]

Wow! I guess no one ever accused you of being un-advantageous!!

Oh well to answer your questions, the FSB/Multipiler is going to be
determined by the memory. I think the 2600+ has a 133 MHz FSB. So you
would buy PC2100 memory (or PC2700 if you insist) and then run it at 133
Mhz. The multiplier will be 133 times xx = whatever the clock speed of the
2600 is. I think it's 1900 MHz. So the multipler is therefore 1900/133 =
14. Well anyway, you need to verify the FSB and CPU clock speed, but this
is how you figure out the other values.

As far as the drivers, you should be downloading the integrated drivers
from nVidia's website. They are the least painful and you get all of the
functionality from the board. Soundstorm, etc..

 

[dgk]

Wow! I guess no one ever accused you of being un-advantageous!!

Oh well to answer your questions, the FSB/Multipiler is going to be
determined by the memory. I think the 2600+ has a 133 MHz FSB. So you
would buy PC2100 memory (or PC2700 if you insist) and then run it at 133
Mhz. The multiplier will be 133 times xx = whatever the clock speed of the
2600 is. I think it's 1900 MHz. So the multipler is therefore 1900/133 =
14. Well anyway, you need to verify the FSB and CPU clock speed, but this
is how you figure out the other values.

As far as the drivers, you should be downloading the integrated drivers
from nVidia's website. They are the least painful and you get all of the
functionality from the board. Soundstorm, etc..

I just don't want to reinstall all of her apps and data. I did that
for the Shuttle board and it took days. It had best just work.

The drivers are what I can never figure out with nForce boards. The
manufacturer or nForce drivers. Each seems to screw up in some way. I
could never get the Shuttle board sound to work no matter what driver
I used and finally put in a separate soundcard which worked right
away. Maybe the board is just bad.

Wow, 133 fsb? Is that a joke? I would have bought a 2500 if I had
known. I figured that a 2600 would be faster. The memory is PC2700 at
least. Well, there is certainly overclocking potential but I'm
sticking to the straight-and-narrow. I want it quiet and solid.

Oh wait, I just booted it and I had set it for 166*12.5. That works
but I haven't run prime95 or anything. Odd, I would have thought that
it was locked and that I couldn't change the multiplier? Aren't they
all locked these days?

 

[peter]

Actually the 2600 has a FSB speed of 166 and the multiplier will be picked up by
the MOBO.
of course with DDR that works out to 333 so that would be 2700DDR Ram
peter

 

[peter]

Type: Barton
FSB: 166/333MHz
Socket A
OPGA Package
OPN: AXDA2600DKV4D
Core: 13nm
Die size: 101mm²
Transistors: 54.3 million
Frequency : 1.917GHz
Cache L1 Instructions: 64KB
Cache L1 Datas: 64KB
Cache L2: 512KB
Operating voltage: 1.65V
Multiplier: 11.5
Power (Max): 68.3W
Die temperature (max): 85°
CPU data bus width: 64-bit
peter

 

[dgk]

Type: Barton
FSB: 166/333MHz
Socket A
OPGA Package
OPN: AXDA2600DKV4D
Core: 13nm
Die size: 101mm²
Transistors: 54.3 million
Frequency : 1.917GHz
Cache L1 Instructions: 64KB
Cache L1 Datas: 64KB
Cache L2: 512KB
Operating voltage: 1.65V
Multiplier: 11.5
Power (Max): 68.3W
Die temperature (max): 85°
CPU data bus width: 64-bit
peter

Thanks, 166 it is. Maybe I'll pick up more memory for her.

 

[dgk]

As far as the drivers, you should be downloading the integrated drivers
from nVidia's website. They are the least painful and you get all of the
functionality from the board. Soundstorm, etc..

nVidia drivers enable Soundstorm but the Asus drivers don't?

 

[No Body]

nVidia drivers enable Soundstorm but the Asus drivers don't?

I don't know about the Asus drivers, I never used them. I've built 3 or
4 machines in the last year and all were nForce chipsets, and so I used
the integrated driver package from nVidia.

You know I just thought of something else. There are 3 versions of the
nForce2 chipset; MCP, MCP-T, and something else. The "MCP" version
doesn't support Soundstorm. You have to check the specs of the
motherboard for the Southbridge. Only the version called "MCP-T" and I
think another one supports Soundstorm. I had built a machine for someone
else about a year ago and it had the regular "MCP" Southbridge. After
futzing with it for awhile I found out that that Southbridge can't use
Soundstorm, but the auido still works of course. Maybe this is your
problem.

 

[peter]

The A7N8X uses an onboard Realtek® ALC650 audio CODEC that lets you enjoy
high-quality 6-channel audio without having to buy advanced sound cards.
................................

right off the ASUS web site!!!.............SO use the ASUS drivers that came
on the CD with the MOBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
amazing what you can find when you look or even read the manual

peter

 

[dgk]

The A7N8X uses an onboard Realtek® ALC650 audio CODEC that lets you enjoy
high-quality 6-channel audio without having to buy advanced sound cards.
...............................

right off the ASUS web site!!!.............SO use the ASUS drivers that came
on the CD with the MOBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
amazing what you can find when you look or even read the manual

peter

I also note the difference between the A7N8X DX and the A7N8X-X on the
sound front. Both have the Realtek ALC650, but the DX also has the
soundstorm for other stuff. Well, it is not going to make a difference
to my mother since loud games are the last thing she cares about.

 

[Ed]

I also note the difference between the A7N8X DX and the A7N8X-X on the
sound front. Both have the Realtek ALC650, but the DX also has the
soundstorm for other stuff. Well, it is not going to make a difference
to my mother since loud games are the last thing she cares about.

The onboard is good enough for a non-3D-Gamer.

Latest driver:
Windows 98Gold/98se/Me/2000/XP for Driver only.
For Windows 98 SE, DirectX(R)8 is required to enable advanced features.
version A3.67 2004/12/09
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlac97-2.aspx?lineid=5&famid=12&series=8&Software=True

Ed