Asus A7N8X Deluxe questions

[Force Flow]

What does revsion 2 of this board provide? Is it notated anywere in this product description from newegg?

Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail Socket A AMD Athlon XP/Duron (support AMD XP 3000+ "Barton") Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 SPP, nForce2 MCP-T FSB: 400/333/266MHz IDE: 2 x ATA133 RAM: 3x 184-pin DIMM Sockets (PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 non-ECC DDR) Slots: 1x AGP (Pro/8X), 5x PCI Ports: 6x USB2.0 Onboard Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller w/ 2 ports NVIDIA SoundStorm Audio Processor Unit with Dolby MCP integrated 3Com MAC + Broadcom AC101L PHY LAN Firewire 1394: 2 Ports MCP-T integrated IEEE 1394a + Realtek PHY 8801B Model#: A7N8X Deluxe Review by Gamepc.com Review by Tom's hardware : : New BIOS for A7N8X Series (PCB 1.06 or earlier Version) to Upgrade to Athlon XP 3200+ with 400 FSB

Is this "new BIOS" notation what the revsion 2 is?

[M. A. Dockter]

Reversion 2 is a totally different PCB with a new chipset. The chipset is the nForce2 Ultra 400, which offically supports the 400Mhz FSB and the 3200+.

Simply because newegg offers a bios upgrade to provide what I deem as "artificial" support for the 3200+ implies that the board they are selling is not rev2 (although I could be wrong and they are simply providing that note just in case customers are afraid to buy Rev1.0x boards *Shrugs*)

I recently got a Rev2 board from googlegear.com Free UPS 2 day shipping...got here 2 days after I ordered it...can't complain there

[Surge1243]

I think the only change rev. 2 brings is support for the new 400 MHz FSB. The "new BIOS" comment is referring to the fact that people who bought the earlier revision can still get the 400 MHz FSB support by downloading the latest BIOS.

EDIT: Man, I guess I'm a slow typer! . M.A. explained it much better anyway.

[Force Flow]

Aha! That makes sense now. In the Asus A7N8X board specs, 400FSB was supported, while in the deluxe model, it was not.

I just checked on mwave too. They have the same specs on their A7N8X Deluxe board.

I also just checked googlegear. Their board supports a 400FSB.

A question about googlegear: are they a good supplier?

[M. A. Dockter]

I really like them...I ordered the a7n8x dlx from them, a 2500+, and some Corsair 256MB PC3200. DIMMs from them. Their prices are slightly higher than Newegg...I've found them about inline with mwave...but their free 2-day UPS Shipping makes up for those prices, I think.

I also had to call them about the board before I bought it...asked them if the board is Rev2. The support person I got on the phone didn't know, so she went to ask someone else intead of blowing me off...I was impressed!

[piccolo0u812]

I was also impressed with Googlegear. The two day shipping is a must for an addict. I just received my new vid card so quickly I didn't even have time to be impatient!! One negative not though: I ordered stuff from NewEgg and Googlegear for my new pc, and some items came out of their boxes, apparently just to be able to fit it all in one big box. I was quite disappointed. It was like having one of your siblings open your birthday present. If anyone with power reads this, you people shouldn't do this.

----The following is a shameless plug for my next post---------

Anyone with Asus A7N8X experience, please read my post in the motherboard section!

[TwoRails]

From what I've read, Rev 2 (with the new chipset) offers stable 400 fsb support.

[Force Flow]

Originally posted by TwoRails From what I've read, Rev 2 (with the new chipset) offers stable 400 fsb support.

Stability is always a plus.

[jeresimo]

I just got the Deluxe Version 2 yesterday and it says in the Users Manual with a updated inserted page that this is a NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset not like the old version which is the SPP.

It also says that the BIOS Version 2 is not compatible with the Mobo with lower version . They also advise not to upbate the older one because it wont work.

One thing I noticed is that in the original Manual it says it supports a 3200 Barton RAM but in the inserted page say it supports a 2800* RAM ? I don't know if this is a typo from AMD?

[TwoRails]

Correct: you can not use BIOSs for the earlier mobo as they are two different chipsets. It would be just like using a BIOS update for a different model mobo.

And yes, it supports both the new 3200+ Barton and DDR400 (PC3200) memory.

[Force Flow]

I having a hard time locating the revsion 2. Only googlegear seems to have it. Is it that new?

[TwoRails]

Ya... that's weird. Newegg.com is listing only the standard version of the A7N8X rev 2, not the Deluxe version !?!

[Force Flow]

www.essencompu.com might be a possibility. Couldn't tell if their board was revsion 2 or not, so I fired off an email asking about it. Hopefully I'll get something back on Monday. (Ooo! That's tomorrow! Lol! )

Did newegg use to carry them?

How old are the revision 2 boards anyway?

[TwoRails]

If they have it, I couldn't find it. The new chipset is called the nForce2 Ultra and there was no mention of this in the descriptions or specs. I just looked at Mwave and didn't find it there, either.

[Force Flow]

Hmm... I may have to go for the first one...

Is first chipset is the nForce2-ST, nForce2 SPP or nForce2 MCP-T (or are the SPP and MCP-T the north and south bridges?)

What are the differences between the chipsets between the 2 boards, besides the stable 400MHz FSB support?

[TwoRails]

rev 1 (meaning the chipset, not the mobo) works great and has no problems. But, the 3200+ 400fsb Barton wasn't released. The rev 1 is reported as not being as stable with the 400fsb CPU as it should be, so nVidia came out with the nForce2 Ultra which fixes any stability issue.

The funny thing is that the part number seems to be the same, but with the infamous suffice of "A" on it!! Can you say VIA deja vu?? (oh, and the rev 2 of the chipset sez "ultra" on it.)

If you don't plan on ever updating to a 400fsb CPU, then it's a none issue. Since I recently got the 2700+, but the time I'm upgrading, the "XP" probably won't even be around!! LOL! -- rumor has it that the 3200+ will most likely be the last XP.

HTH

TwoRails

PS: also, what I'm saying is that it is a chipset issue, not a mobo or brand issue.

[Force Flow]

Hmm...

Well I guess if I can't find revision 2, then I'll go with revision 1, as I'm going to stick a 2500+ in it. I'll probably have to get a new board again anyway when I do another upgrate.

Thanks a bunch, TwoRails!

[Force Flow]

Okay, my emails were answered. newegg said they had no idea, as stock moves so quickly, but www.essencompu.com they had it. It doesn't say it has a nForce2 Ultra chipset, so I'm still a little confused. http://www.essencompu.com/nupplysingar.asp?ID=2886

Here it is on the asus site: http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...d/overview.htm

[TwoRails]

Well.... I read somewhere where it said "Ultra" was on the chip, but according to the photo below, it just shows the "A" designator... !??! - (It's funny how reviews go, this one on the 3200+ sez it junk, but others say it great )

http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20...lon_xp-02.html

And, they do call it the Ultra 400, as the spec link below shows:

http://secure.newegg.com/app/specifi...tem=13-131-455

TwoRails

[Force Flow]

Hmm... Strange.

Oh, well. It doesn't really matter anymore. I went ahead and got whatever deluxe board newegg had. So, I'll see what it really is when I get it. Hopefully Friday or Monday.

[TwoRails]

Let us know how it works out, OK?

[Force Flow]

I plan to do that.