Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 32885	2003-04-30 14:45:00	Asus A7N8X Deluxe. Anything to concider?	joeflies256 (387)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
140414	2003-04-30 14:45:00	Hi everyone, I hope no one minds seeing another person on here seeking advice about what computer components to go for. I have a list here that I am currently trying to decide over, and to be honest I'm not having much success! It would seem that the more research that you do the more confusing it gets, as everyone has differing tastes etc. anyway I feel like I'm slowly narrowing the list down... Anyway heres the list: CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2600 2.06GHz Socket A 333MHz FSB Retail Package w/ Fan and or with; Thermaltake Volcano 9 or 11, Socket A, Incl Switching Cable Mobo: GA-7VAXP Asus A7N8X Delux Asus A7N8x GEIL 512MB PC2700 Life time warranty. Legend 512MB PC2700 (Life time warranty) Samsung 512MB DDR PC2700 PQI 512MB DDR PC2700 (Any Generic Brand?) Basic Modem 56K internal? Basic Keyboard? DVD ROM. Multi Zoned all formats etc Asus 16x DVD ROM Samsung 16x DVD ROM CASE: ATX-508, 350W PSU, side fan and front USB Ports. Aspire Turbo Gamer Case, Midi Tower, 350W PSU, Silver, Side Window. Here is my list of questions regarding each component: Is there much of an increase in performance from the 2400-2600+. Is the differece really worth the extra $? Whats the best performing motherboard for the XP 2600? What is RAID for is this really required, I kind of had the idea that it is basically where you take 2 or more hard disks and get the computer to treat them as 1. Whats the benefits of that. Is it possible to have more than 4 Input devices e.g. 3 or 4 hard drives on the same computer? Is there any major performance/features difference from the Asus A7N8X Delux and the Asus A7N8X. What is the best RAM (memory) Brand\type that will run best on the Asus A7N8X. I was looking for a 512MB DDR PC2700 that can run at around CAS 2.0. I guess I am really trying to find the best mix of components that can offer the best performance and stability. Those were pretty much the major problems I am having at the moment. The case is also a hard one. Does anyone know of a good fairly cheap case that has at least 350W psu, front USB's? I dont want to really spend much more than $170 for the case... Well that pretty much sums up all my questions I think? But if any one can see any problems, or would like to offer some advice about options etc. it would be very much appreciated. In terms of price for the above I really don't want to be looking at much more than $1200.... If any one does get through all this, I thankyou for your time and a BIG CHEERS to anyone that can help!!! Regards....	joeflies256 (387)
140415	2003-04-30 22:49:00	Well Joe, so many questions. Unfortunately, I can't be of much help either. Most people get a system and keep for some time, then upgrade, so comparing motherboards etc.. is reliant on sites such as www.tomshardware.com to research the components. From experience, there is no noticible difference in performance for the price by going to the 2600XP. In RAM, the lower the latency, the better. Volcano9 I have heard is really noisy and the volcano11 is quieter. With the cases/power supplies, ask what make the power supply is, if Hyena, stay away.They rate it on the input power and as there are losses in the power supply it's real power is about 5% lower. Also of all the power supplies I have had to repair, they go in a big way and are writeoffs. My preference in 56K modems is the Lucent/Agere chipset as they are recognised by MS. The conexent are a little trickier to install. Ideal is total hardware modem, but more expensive and with that processing power maybe not worth the extra. I notice that you don't mention a Video card. Usually the reason for upgrading to so high specs is for games as even 1Gig CPU is capable of running any other thing apart from graphics program's. If playing offline & online games, a good video card can improve things noticeably. Hope this helps, but in the end you have to bite the bullet to buy what is in your budget and get the best "bang for your buck". Good luck.	Pheonix (280)
140416	2003-05-01 03:22:00	>>Is there much of an increase in performance from the 2400-2600+. Is the differece really worth the extra $? I'm not the person to answer this; I'm an overclocker - I got an 1800+ tbredB and it's running at 2600+ speeds right now on my A7N8X Deluxe. Saved me a whole bunch of money for the same performance ;) >>Whats the best performing motherboard for the XP 2600? Performance should NEVER be your primary factor in purchasing a motherboard. NEVER. Back in the KT133(a) days, Iwill produced the best performance boards... and a lot of people purchased them for that reason. They soon found out that doing so was not the smartest thing, as the Iwill boards were picky and troublesome. I had several friends who had got the Iwills tearing their hair out while I quietly chuckled to myself; I had gone with the MSI K7T Turbo-R instead. Sure it performed less, but it was cheaper, had a better balanced featureset and was the most stable KT133A board out, even moreso than the Asus and Abit competition. The two motherboard brands I will personally look at first are MSI and Asus... I'm more inclined towards Asus, just looking around my room now I can see 5 computers with Asus motherboards, and one with a Gigabyte mobo. MSI are great bang for the buck; not the most expensive but they give you a package overflowing with features. When upgrading from my KT133A to nForce2 I was looking at the MSI solution, but eventually switched to the Asus A7N8X Deluxe because the MSI board did not have the 4 socketA mounting holes required by my liquidcc chrome surge (www.liquidcc.com). Do not trust tomshardwareguide. Look around and find a wider range of reviews of your chosen mobos.. do a google search for nForce2, or keep your eye on hardocp.com and overclockers.com.au So buy for Stability, Featureset, Cost effectiveness (price/featureset and price/performance) and then finally factor in performance there somewhere. What good is having the fastest mobo if it BSOD's on you every 5 minutes? I know I'd rather have a slightly slower mobo that NEVER BSOD's. >>What is RAID for is this really required, I kind of had the idea that it is basically where you take 2 or more hard disks and get the computer to treat them as 1. Whats the benefits of that. RAID has several different modes, but the main real point of raid is redundancy in the form of security of data; you have two drives that have exactly the same data on both, if one drive dies you replace it and voila your data remains intact (provided the other drive doesnt die of course) This is known as RAID 1 or "mirroring" But other modes allow you to do things like having two drives appearing as one large drive (RAID 0 or "striping") Then of course there is 0+1, 3, 5 etc Basically you dont need it unless you want large amounts of storage, security of data (only necessary if you are running servers really) or you really really want to get a good performing storage setup. >>Is it possible to have more than 4 Input devices e.g. 3 or 4 hard drives on the same computer? Yes. With the A7N8X deluxe it has both PATA and SATA controllers, allowing more than 4 drives. Also, as is the case for any other computer, you can add a PCI IDE controller card which will give you more drive availablility (though instead of doing that you should probably look at purchasing larger drives) >>Is there any major performance/features difference from the Asus A7N8X Delux and the Asus A7N8X. The deluxe features the MCP-T southbridge and SATA. You basically get 1394 (firewire), more usb ports, two onboard network interfaces etc Check out the following to compare the two: www.asus.com www.asus.com Performance differences will be neglible. >>What is the best RAM (memory) Brand\type that will run best on the Asus A7N8X. I was looking for a 512MB DDR PC2700 that can run at around CAS 2.0. I guess I am really trying to find the best mix of components that can offer the best performance and stability. Avoid GEIL like the plague. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. I cannot stress this enough. I moderate one of the largest NZ overclocking forums and a number of members have had nothing but trouble with geil. One member, who has become a friend of mine over the years, even went so far as to demolish his bung sticks with firearms and explosives look here for more (forums.overclockers.co.nz) If you want the best ram, you cant go past Corsair or Mushkin. You get what you pay for though. I couldnt afford either, normally I do go for Corsair. This time around I got a pair of Samsung PC2700 TCB3's, and they're running fine at 5-2-2-2. Earlier batches of the Samsung TCB3's were quite good overclockers too, more recent batches such as mine still overclock well but not as great... So basically go for the legend or the samsung Check out these DDR ram guides: www.overclockers.co.nz www.overclockers.co.nz With the nForce2, you'll want to get a matching pair of the same sticks to take advantage of the dual memory controllers. >>Those were pretty much the major problems I am having at the moment. The case is also a hard one. Does anyone know of a good fairly cheap case that has at least 350W psu, front USB's? I dont want to really spend much more than $170 for the case... You'll be really hard pressed to find a good case with a 350w for that price... You'd be better off buying a decent case and then upgrading the psu.. BUT I did a quick search for ya and here you go: modding.stylespc.com Scroll down to the turbo gamer case. Not exactly my cup of tea but everyone is different and it may well be to your liking. StylesPC are a great bunch, and if the side panel with window isnt to your taste, I'm sure if you ask nicely they'll swap it for a standard side panel. >>Well that pretty much sums up all my questions I think? But if any one can see any problems, or would like to offer some advice about options etc. it would be very much appreciated. The nForce2 currently requires a fair amount of hands-on to get it running top notch.. though this depends on the OS you are using.. it requires less work if you are using XP, than say, if you are like me and use 2k where there is a bit more work to be done to get it up and running sweetly... Take a look here: www.nforcershq.com Basically its a great solution, better than VIA solutions, but you just gotta do a bit of work to get the most out of it.. as an overclocker this is nothing big for me: I'm perfectly happy to tweak away to my hearts content... if you do get an nForce2 board, and have any problems, either drop me a line at whetu@radiativenz.com or join up at the OCNZ forums and ask there For keyboard, buy a microsoft or logitech keyboard, trust me. You wont regret it. For dvdrom, either or. I think after this post I deserve a nice cold one ;)	whetu (237)
140417	2003-05-01 04:31:00	Hey thanks to everyone for the very in depth answers to my very expansive question lists! I am greatful for all of that extra insight... I have to race off to work now but will comment more on the research sites given and any follow up questions once I get back!!!!. Cheers again, and I hope you enjoyed that cold one!!!	joeflies256 (387)
140418	2003-05-01 05:14:00	What is the audio difference between the two MoBos? Does only the deluxe version support dolby digital 5.1?	forrest44 (754)
140419	2003-05-01 07:17:00	the deluxe has fully fledged soundstorm and the non-deluxe only has ac-97. Do some googling to find out the differences, reviews etc should shed a lot more light. soundstorm is definately far superior, however it is sadly crippled on all nForce2 mobos right now.. it's an excellent, well designed and powerful APU, but the DAC used on say, the Asus, for example is a Realtek AC650, which is far inferior to the Sigmatel DAC used on the Asus nForce1 board. This is why I'm not currently using soundstorm, as it's DAC is inferior to the dual sigmatels on my Philips Acoustic Edge. (for the unitiated: The DAC determines the output quality as it's doing the converting from the digital realm to the analogue outputs. DAC = Digital to Analogue Convertor)	whetu (237)
140420	2003-05-01 13:55:00	A big thanks to Whetu and others that helped, the information has been very helpful! I have checked out a few of these web sites namely: www.nforcershq.com A few things that I noticed in the forums was that a lot of people seemed to have stability problems. How do you rank the board in terms of its stability? Can most of these problems be sorted out with bios updates? Is this board reasonably new to the market, therefore as time passes the board will be better supported etc? My old computer, as far as I can see is very stable, in fact I have never had any problems with it, and despite the amount of tinkering I have done inside the box… And am therefore unaware of how unstable systems can be, perhaps I have just been lucky!!! I can’t even say what the name of the board is. The manual does not specifically specify what it is but the following specs: PC266 system board M810 series, V7.1 S73X Socket A. T- Bird Chipset Supports FSB’s of 200/266MHz Athlon XP/Athlon/Duron CPU’s? I was running a Duron 950MHz. I presummed it was a cheap mobo? Anyway a few dealers have given me various new system options to go for, the main problem is finding a dealer that can supply you all the components that you want; and at the right price for that matter. I only wanted to spend around $1200 so funds are limited for now, but I need to buy now because I have somone interested In my other System for a very good price.. Here is a few of the options that I have been given for around $1200, including installation/testing and freight. CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2600 / 2400 2.06GHz Socket A 333MHz FSB Retail Package w/ Fan or with a; Thermaltake Volcano 11, Socket A, Incl Switching Cable Asus A7N8X Delux or an Intel option, e.g. P4 2.53 / 2.4 MHz Asus P4PE Ram: 1x Samsung 512 DDR400 CL3.0 Or:1x Generic 512MB DDR333 PQI “ “ “ “ Legend V-Data Basic Modem 56K internal Basic Keyboard DVD ROM: Samsung 616T 16X/48X CASE: ATX-508, 300W PSU, side fan and front USB Ports. Aspire Turbo Gamer Case, Midi Tower, 350W PSU, Silver, Side Window. Components that I already have from my old Computer: Video Card: GeForce2 MX 400 64MB SDR (GF-NV11-400supports 2XAGP and 4XAGP). I know this will be the bottle neck of the system but will prob. upgrade latter. Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 80MB 7200RPM Does anyone have any experience with these components, which option would be the most viable in terms of price/stability/performance? The case is still a problem. Thanks again to Whetu for that website, but which one do I pick!!! What will be required for the system I want to put together? In terms of style I don’t want anything flashy but the ATX 508 looks plain enough for me and silver looks good. I really just need a reliable psu that can handle 2-3 hard drives DVD, CDRW, and a better Video card in the future. Prob with 8X AGP 128DDR. Good cooling / front USB ports and of course an affordable price that fits my $1200 Perhaps someone could specify what they would go for if they needed the components that I have stated and only $1200. Giving their reasons why over other options…. Well anyway if you are still with me thanks. I will probably continue doing what I have been doing, by reading billions of reviews/price lists etc and never get any where. I have almost gotten to the stage where I might just go for one of the options stated by the dealers but am afraid that it will not be very unstable or not the best option for my money…. To anyone else that decides to help me out, A big Cheers!!!	joeflies256 (387)
140421	2003-05-01 13:58:00	One last thing I forgot to ask! Is the Samsung DVD I have mentioned capable of playing multizoned DVD's Is there a patch for it, if so where can you get it form? Cheers again, I think that sould be everything!!!!	joeflies256 (387)
140422	2003-05-01 16:19:00	>>A big thanks to Whetu and others that helped, the information has been very helpful! You're most welcome, I'm always keen to help others . >>A few things that I noticed in the forums was that a lot of people seemed to have stability problems . How do you rank the board in terms of its stability? I'm having virtually no stability problems with my board, but that's mainly because I have put in the effort to select a good set of components, and have taken the time to make sure it is setup properly . A lot (and I mean A LOT) of those "i'm having problems!!!" threads are basically due to the owner being too lazy to search for what others have done to cure the same issues . It's very much the same with ANY forum really, people need to learn to find and use the search function, and they need to learn the value of GOOGLE . My current mobo revision is the 1 . 04, chances are that if you buy an A7N8X/A7N8X deluxe, you'll be getting rev 2 which as far as i know has the new northbridge which is rated for 400fsb . The 1 . 04's are definately capable of the 400fsb . I'm not sure of any other changes outside of that, but I'm sure Asus would have taken the opportunity to do a little tweaking to get rid of any remaining niggles . I find this board to be one of the most stable I've ever owned, and that's why I buy Asus; because I find their boards to be among the most reliable and stable . Over time it will mature of course, increasing in stability and performance . >>Can most of these problems be sorted out with bios updates? Most problems can be sorted out with a bios update, BUT most of the current problems are really due to the age of the current nForce2 driverset . . The next release due soon should fix a lot of the problems . nVidia is taking their time though so that they release a VERY solid driverset . >>Is this board reasonably new to the market, therefore as time passes the board will be better supported etc? It's been around long enough to go through a few pcb revisions . As a rule of thumb you should never buy "bleeding edge", but wait for the mobo to go through a few pcb revisions to "mature" and get most of the niggles sorted out . We are at this stage now, so I can completely recommend that somebody buys an nForce2 solution . Also both Asus and nVidia have reputations for high levels of support, and nVidia currently has arguably the best driver development team there is . So support shouldnt be an issue . >>My old computer, . . . I presummed it was a cheap mobo? Yes . . a quick google search turned up this: . hardwaresite . net/m810 . html" target="_blank">www . hardwaresite . net PC Chips . . . one of the brands that is best left in the shop, along with DFI and FIC . When buying it pays to stick to the big names: MSI, Asus, Abit, Gigabyte . These manufacturers are the "upper teir" so to speak, pc chips, DFI and FIC are in the lowest teir . Everyone else slots in either on the lowest teir or the middle teir, however this is only indicative . . every so often one of the big guns will put out a really crap board, and every so often one of the little guys will put out a really great board . >>Anyway a few dealers have given me various new system options to go for, the main problem is finding a dealer that can supply you all the components that you want; and at the right price for that matter . I'd go for this combination: *CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+ / 1800+ (Just use the supplied fan, despite what others may have you believe, the stock HSF has actually improved a great deal and the current version is actually a very competitive heatsink that is VERY quiet . It'll at the very least get you going and if you arent having the best time with it, you can upgrade the cooler later . Trust me, I'm the cooling reviewer for radiativenz . com) *Mobo: Asus A7N8X Deluxe *Ram: 2x Samsung 256 DDR400 CL3 . 0 OR 2x Samsung 256 DDR333 (pc2700) 2 . 5 TCB3 OR 2x Legend 256 DDR333 (pc2700) (you really want to go with two identical sticks - it offers a slight performance increase) *Basic Modem 56K internal *MS/Logitech Keyboard and mouse(compromise elsewhere and get yourself some decent interfacing equipment, you'll thank me for it later) *DVD ROM: Pioneer DVD120 16x (I like pioneer dvd drives over others) *Aspire Turbo Gamer Case, Midi Tower, 350W PSU, Silver, Side Window . *Video Card: Existing GeForce2 MX 400 64MB SDR *Hard Drive: Existing Seagate Barracuda 80MB 7200RPM Which dealers are you asking at the moment? I got all my gear from inhouse . co . nz but thats kinda cos I have a friend working there and *mumbles off . . . * :D Otherwise you really cant go wrong with john or george from stylespc . com or stephen from novapcpower . com These guys are all highly involved with the enthusiast community, and I can personally vouch for each of them . Just looking at all of that, you could probably get it all for around 1 to 1 . 1g . I got my 1800+/A7N8X Deluxe/2x 256meg Samsung TCB3's/geForce 3 Ti200 for a shade lower than 900 . . if you take off the gf3 and add ~50 for the modem, then ~110 for the dvdrom, ~130 for keyboard and mouse, and finally 165 for the case . . I see that as roughly $1085incl (remember this is with an 1800+) If you get a package deal you could probably get it cheaper! Personally I'd stick with the 1800+ and spend more on the keyboard/mouse or accessories like a Ratpadz GS . >>The case is still a problem . Thanks again to Whetu for that website, but which one do I pick!!! What will be required for the system I want to put together? >>I really just need a reliable psu that can handle 2-3 hard drives DVD, CDRW, and a better Video card in the future . Prob with 8X AGP 128DDR . You asked for a case with a 350w psu . . however wattage is only indicative . . . Take a look here for more: . overclockers . co . nz/showthread . php?s=&threadid=7094" target="_blank">forums . overclockers . co . nz So I found that page and instructed you to scroll down to the Turbo Gamer case . I'm sure the PSU in the turbo gamer case is fairly decent, and should be up to the task required . Again, if you buy from StylesPC (the dealer site I linked you to), you can ask nicely and they'll probably put on a normal sidepanel for you if the window isnt your thing . The other thing you can do is jump onto www . pricespy . co . nz and find the best prices for your seperate components . Then go to one retailer and ask them to do you a package deal that equals or competes with the best prices found . As for a vid card upgrade, ask when the time comes around . . but right now you couldnt go wrong with a radeon 9500 pro or a 9800/9800 pro >>One last thing I forgot to ask! >>Is the Samsung DVD I have mentioned capable of playing multizoned DVD's >>Is there a patch for it, if so where can you get it form? This page says so: . rpc1 . org/dl_firmware . php?download_id=171" target="_blank">forum . rpc1 . org Flash at your own risk, I take no responsibility for a dead DVD rom drive ;) it's 3am so I've probably made a few mistakes here and there in this post . . I'm tired and I should have gone to bed hours ago, so I'll do that now . . Goodnight! Hope I helped	whetu (237)
140423	2003-05-02 02:37:00	To Whetu: This isn't really connected with Joeflies question (though it's been quite useful for me), but I wanted your opinion. Last year I was looking around for a DVD drive, and for a laugh I went around Noel Leemings in PN. A guy there warned me off going to Inhouse, claiming they were under investigation for doing dodgy things with their components - filing off details and overclocking processors, etc. It sounded a bit far fetched, but rather than risk dealing with dodgy people I bought my Asus DVD drive from Dynamic Solutions. What would you say to those comments about Inhouse?	Lizard (2409)
1 2 3