AM2 build report

[PCNOOB]

A guy on here asked me to post how my build went as he was likely going to undertake a build with similar, if not identical, specs. Given the problems that people were originally having with this MOBO I thought it might not be a bad idea.

Asus M2N-E
AM2 3800 X2
1 GB Corsair XMS2 (1.9v, pretty important for this MOBO)
EVGA 7600GT

It's been a little over a month since I first booted up and everything's going great. Worked on the 1st try, and 1st build too.

This MOBO was pretty much a budget $100 item when I bought it, and when it originally came out it was touted as being a good overclocker. The problem was that the RAM voltage options in the BIOS wouldn't allow themselves to go over 1.9V. People were freaking out because the original specs had the RAM voltage, not only able to go much higher (like 2.5V or something), but also able to be adjusted in much smaller increments giving the illusion of more overclocking freedom than was actually the case. People were having problems with soft-booting, or booting up at all among other various instabilities following any sort of overclock.

They updated the BIOS a handful of times, and I think it was the 502 version (maybe 503, but there's only one in the 500's) that was the most stable. This is the BIOS that currently comes with the card, so there is no need to flash a new one. They have a newer one (802 or something), but from what I read it was less stable than the 502.

To make a long story long, make sure you get RAM rated at 1.9 or 1.8 volts (under 2), and you should be good to go. From everything I read the RAM I'm currently using overclocks the best with this board (2 X 512MB Corsair XMS2 1.9 V). Ironically I didn't know about all the drama with this card at the time of my purchase or else I wouldn't have bought it, but I think there was one review in Newegg that infuenced me to get 1.9V RAM. So I kinda lucked out.

Alot of people were pissed, and Asus was very crafty about retroactively changing the specs on this model. Anyway it works and the price is right. Although now I think they have an SLI model touting vista friendliness for like $116, so there really is no point to getting this one anymore unless they lowered the price, and you have a really strict budget.

I've been running FEAR at 1200 lines with maxed out settings (except 2x FSAA and 4X anisotropic texture) at a 27FPS average, and sometimes I'll drop to 1000 lines with no FSAA if it gets stuttery, but all in all it runs great. I also got a 22" monitor, wireless keyboard/mouse, and speakers all for $1050, so I'm definitely happy with the value of this build.

I have not OCed yet but here's the best stable settings I've seen using my exact same hardware.

HTT - 305 MHz
CPU Multiplier - 9x
HT Multiplier - 3x
vDIMM - 1.95v
vCore - 1.55v
Memory @ DDR2 533 = 813 MHz @ 5-5-5-15 2T
PCIe - 100MHz
PEG Link Disabled

I guess the 2T setting's pretty important. Below is the massive thread were everyone had their orgy of grief over this MOBO. But it was a happy ending. This thread stretches from 8/06 to now. Everyone posts their OC settings so it's very informative. Have fun. I learned alot.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...VIEWTMP=Linear