8RDA3+ newbie questions

[Zilla]

Hi, I'm totaly new to nforce platform, so please excuse my stupid questions...
I replaced the greatest performer I've ever seen, 8K3A+, with 8RDA3+ and I've got some questions that I can't find answers to... Will you please help me?

1) My CPU temp is finally OK (T'breds and 8K3A+ are enemies in this :-))) ), but my MOBO/chipset temperature went up significantly. I have the 2.0 revision with active cooling on the NB and the heatsink is warm at most, but my ambient temp has risen from 27°C to like 34°C. Is that OK?

2) I have a stick of Seitec DDR400 RAM (512MB), but my board is not stable at 200MHz at all, no matter what voltages/settings I use. Is that a board or memory problem? Unfortunately, I can't afford to try buying new RAM just for the hell of it, I NEED to know that those sticks will work without a hitch (considering going dual channel).
Anyone had any problems with Kingston HyperX DDR433?

3) I heard rumors about some faulty nforce drivers, which ones are the best for me?

4) Some CPU multipliers aren't working on this board event though I was told that nforce2 boards have all the multi's unlocked. When I try to set 13x my comp stops at boot with warning message and I have to lower it to be able to boot. Any suggestions?

- just adding that I have the latest BIOS...
Thanks anyone who's willing to help...

My rig:
AMD T-bred 1800+ @ 2220MHz (177x12,5) 1,6V || Thermalright SLK-800A || EPoX 8RDA3+ || 1GB DDR333 Samsung + Seitec || Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro (440/360) || 2xWD800JB || DVD Pioneer 106-S || CD-R Plextor 24/10/40A || SB Audigy + Inspire 5300 || Chieftec Dragon AX-01SLD Aluminium || Enermax 460W || Enermax fan controller || SONY CPD-G420 19”

[golfer49]

1. That board (ambient) temp is not out of line, but you may want to consider more case cooling.

2. I have never heard of Sietic memory, you may want to try changing memory timings to 11-3-3 at cas 2.5, with about 2.8 volts on the memory to see if it will stabilize.

3. I am using the 2.03, and they work for me, just make sure you do not use the nVidia IDE drivers, keep the M$ ones when it asks.

4. If you have a 2100XP or higher cpu, you will have full range of multipliers, since you have an 1800, you will have 12.5 and below. try reducing you multiplier to 11, and keep raising your FSB in 5 unit increments from the existing 177 and seeif you can get to 200 FSB with the revised memory settings I mentioned. Chipset voltage should be at 1.8 volts also.

Good Luck and welcome to the forums!

[Zilla]

Originally Posted by golfer49

1. That board (ambient) temp is not out of line, but you may want to consider more case cooling.

2. I have never heard of Sietic memory, you may want to try changing memory timings to 11-3-3 at cas 2.5, with about 2.8 volts on the memory to see if it will stabilize.

3. I am using the 2.03, and they work for me, just make sure you do not use the nVidia IDE drivers, keep the M$ ones when it asks.

4. If you have a 2100XP or higher cpu, you will have full range of multipliers, since you have an 1800, you will have 12.5 and below. try reducing you multiplier to 11, and keep raising your FSB in 5 unit increments from the existing 177 and seeif you can get to 200 FSB with the revised memory settings I mentioned. Chipset voltage should be at 1.8 volts also.

Good Luck and welcome to the forums!

Thank you very much for a reply...
I need to sort a couple of things here:
1) My case is an aluminium Chieftec and I have 5 system fans installed, so my cooling should be more than adequate, it's just this board that gives me such high ambient temperature - my 8K3A+ never went above 31°C even in VERY hot summer days

2) I know that SEITEC is a cheap crap, but my thoughts are that since it's supposed to run at 200MHz FSB and it did in my friend's computer, shouldn't it run on this board as well?

3) Thanx for the info, I'll give 'em a try

4) OMG, I thought that nforce2 MOBO's can unlock the whole range of multi's by remapping the lower ones if neccessary... I don't want to end up doing another wire trick as I had to with my 8K3a+

Again, thanx for help, buddy. I owe you one...

[Tjummelum]

1)
Im reading 27C/80F but it used to be 31-34c on NB without active cooling. If it doesnt get higher i wouldnt worry.

2)Try removing the jumper that controls 133-166-200fsb. i could´nt get past 202mhz with that installed. But most likely golfer49´s advise should do it.

4) Im running a 2500+ Barton and only have 12.5 and below.

Good luck.

[Zilla]

:-(
Nothing helped, I just can't stay stable on 200Mhz. And there's another problem, my comp just won't wake up from sleep, even though I've got all the patches installed. All I get is this loud beep and blank screeen...

I'm seriously considering returning this board.

[Zilla]

Now what the hell is going on here?!?!
Just tried to set a higher FSB with that damned Seitec along with DDR333 Samsung (revision D), whis wasn't able to make it past 176MHz on 8K3A+, and now I'm running Prime stable at 184MHz!
Jeez, looks like I'm gonna need to try out some relly good RAM before I ditch this board...
Will I go wrong with Kingston HyperX DDR433 in dual channel?

[jansershen]

Originally Posted by Zilla

Now what the hell is going on here?!?!
Just tried to set a higher FSB with that damned Seitec along with DDR333 Samsung (revision D), whis wasn't able to make it past 176MHz on 8K3A+, and now I'm running Prime stable at 184MHz!
Jeez, looks like I'm gonna need to try out some relly good RAM before I ditch this board...
Will I go wrong with Kingston HyperX DDR433 in dual channel?

Buy yourself an Asus A7N8X Rev 2 mobo and your troubles will be over. Put the Epox board in a crusher.

[Zilla]

Originally Posted by jansershen

Buy yourself an Asus A7N8X Rev 2 mobo and your troubles will be over. Put the Epox board in a crusher.

Yeah, I finaly decided to ditch it but I can't make up my mind. Asus A7N8X or Abit NF7-S?? What do you think?

[superjohnny]

DDR333 Samsung is rated at 166MHz. Some Samsung memory just won't run higher than that. So you use two ****ty sticks of memory in a good motherboard and when it won't do what you want you ditch the motherboard. What kind of logic is that?

Did you try the latest BIOS? I've been running my 8RDA3+ for months at 10*200 with not 1 crash. It's a solid motherboard.

[Zilla]

Originally Posted by superjohnny

DDR333 Samsung is rated at 166MHz. Some Samsung memory just won't run higher than that. So you use two ****ty sticks of memory in a good motherboard and when it won't do what you want you ditch the motherboard. What kind of logic is that?

Did you try the latest BIOS? I've been running my 8RDA3+ for months at 10*200 with not 1 crash. It's a solid motherboard.

If you read my posts carefully, you know that i tried ONLY the DDR400 Seitec with 200MHz FSB and thus the board should be able to stay stable with that stick, especially when memory timings are set by SPD. That stick was able to run flawlesly in my friend's computer, so it's not the RAM that's crappy, aparently...

[Lazgoat]

In my experience the N-Force 2 boards are generally quite fussy as to the memory used in them. I've used "Generic" RAM that worked in other machines but not in an N-force system I was building.
Give the 8RDA3+ some decent RAM (Tiwnmos, Corsair or Samsung) and you may find that all your problems will dissappear.

Laz.

[Zilla]

Originally Posted by Lazgoat

In my experience the N-Force 2 boards are generally quite fussy as to the memory used in them. I've used "Generic" RAM that worked in other machines but not in an N-force system I was building.
Give the 8RDA3+ some decent RAM (Tiwnmos, Corsair or Samsung) and you may find that all your problems will dissappear.

Laz.

Thanx for the info, this is very helpful. I'm currently considering getting this RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR433 CL2 DUAL - 2x 512MB. Do you think it will run fine in my board?

[superjohnny]

That's good memory and should work fine. If I were buying new memory right now I'd go track down Marmaduke over at amdmb.com. He sells Buffalo (TwinMos) memory for a great price. Newegg also sells this same memory.

I know how frustrating it can be trying to get this stuff to work. Good luck.

[Poppy0200]

Originally Posted by Zilla

Thanx for the info, this is very helpful. I'm currently considering getting this RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR433 CL2 DUAL - 2x 512MB. Do you think it will run fine in my board?

I have 3 8RDA3+ systems going. 1 has the Bufalo PC3700 (2x256m) and
the other 2 has PC3200 HyperX. All 3 sytems run rock solid at 200x11.

2 of the MBs are Revision 1.1 and the one with the Bufalo DDR is a Rev 2.0 and can go higher in speed. This one I have had as high as 217x11.
All 3 MBs are using 2500's.

There is nothing wrong with your MB that some good Ram won't fix. I
don't use any sleep modes as I find them messing up no matter what MB you use.

Good Luck!! Paul....

[Zilla]

Originally Posted by Poppy0200

I have 3 8RDA3+ systems going. 1 has the Bufalo PC3700 (2x256m) and
the other 2 has PC3200 HyperX. All 3 sytems run rock solid at 200x11.

2 of the MBs are Revision 1.1 and the one with the Bufalo DDR is a Rev 2.0 and can go higher in speed. This one I have had as high as 217x11.
All 3 MBs are using 2500's.

There is nothing wrong with your MB that some good Ram won't fix. I
don't use any sleep modes as I find them messing up no matter what MB you use.

Good Luck!! Paul....

Thank you very much, this is exactly what I was looking for - a note from someone who actually uses this MB/RAM combo. So, I'll give HyperX a try and let you know if I succeeded or not...

[madest]

Firs at all sorry for that im posting here because i have 8RDA+ rev 1.1
not 8RDA3+ but i didnt find 8RDA+ newbie thread so ...

1. # Is id rock proof that i have to use 100% same memory when i want to get Dual mode
because i used Viking PC2700 (nanya chips) and TwinMos PC3200

is it possible to get dual mode ?

and again sugsestions for cheap and good memory (512mb)


2. # i have 1700+ and i have got 8,5*220 fsb with default voltage and pc 2700 memoies. Is it good ? though i have rev 1.1 8RDA+


3. # i need tips for getting memory speed/bandwith higher so
i have tried fsb and so on .... as i mentioned i have not tried REAL dual jet so how much is it possible to get with sandra on PcMark 2002 memory score with athlon and NforCe combination. It seems to me it is impossible to get as high Intel .... pc mark memory score about 7-8000

[piloteer81]

Originally Posted by madest

Ok first off I'm not sure the 8RDA+ board supports dual channel ddr mode so no matter what ram you get, it's not going to work. It's only the later Nforce2 chipsets (ultra/400) that support it. If I'm wrong (I did check on the Epox global site) then its highly recommended that you use matched memory pairs. Using lower quality ram, especially if its not running in sync like yours is a bit hit and miss and might couse some stability issues.

Your overclock is good, but again your ram might be holding you back. If you haven't already tried increasing memory timings in the bios try this.

orig post:
1. # Is id rock proof that i have to use 100% same memory when i want to get Dual mode
because i used Viking PC2700 (nanya chips) and TwinMos PC3200

is it possible to get dual mode ?

and again sugsestions for cheap and good memory (512mb)


2. # i have 1700+ and i have got 8,5*220 fsb with default voltage and pc 2700 memoies. Is it good ? though i have rev 1.1 8RDA+


3. # i need tips for getting memory speed/bandwith higher so
i have tried fsb and so on .... as i mentioned i have not tried REAL dual jet so how much is it possible to get with sandra on PcMark 2002 memory score with athlon and NforCe combination. It seems to me it is impossible to get as high Intel .... pc mark memory score about 7-8000

[madest]

8RDA+ rev 1 no dual

Thats can't be so because i knowit supports
How big the difference should be i thought dual mode adds about 20% performance

but someon said me its just ~5%

and other again (P4 user) said that he may get +100-110% to memory performance using Dual mode and AMD motherboards wont go more then 10-15% max and you should be lucky if you get 10%

so what is true??