I wanted to start a thread for people to talk about this board and the problems that everyone has had with it. Preferably a list of the best hardware to combine with this unit to prevent the lockups and BSOD's. I have finally got my system stable and right now do not really know what the main culprit was. Whether it was all the mainboard or if it was just one of the components I hooked up to it that did not get along that well.

Got 2 Deluxe's when they were the only option. Annoyingly loud fan. Firewall doesn't work... BSOD's like no other.... almost about ready to give up on nVidia and go back to intel and ati.

As someone about to buy one of these boards, what would you recommend instead? I need the nForce4's SATA2 support...

I personally would end up buying an intel processor, with the 925 chipset, but that is just me. I do not know if it is the nforce4 that causes all the problems but it is definetly something. I would consider a DFI board but research as much as possible don't rush into anything because I have heard complaints about most nforce4 boards.

What part of "SATA2" do you need? There is no "official" SATA2 spec, only a bunch of extensions to the original SATA spec, all of which are optional. Eventually, all these extensions will become mandatory in SATA 2.5, but AFAIK, it hasn't been released yet.

In any case, all the drives being sold as "SATA2" should work just fine with a regular SATA port, with the exception of specific extensions. Even then, many SATA controllers support one or more of the extensions. This is why I think you should look for the specific feature that you want. Hunting for "SATA2" controllers is unreliable because there is no accepted definition of which extensions are supported.

NCQ, which as far as I can tell is only avaliable on the nForce4.

If you want quiet you need the Asus A8N-SLI Premium (no HS fan/uses a heat pipe) or the A8N32-SLI Deluxe (also uses a heat pipe instead of fan)

If you want to avoid the ASUS boards and go SLI the DFI Lanparty series is considered the next best choice, though you'll have chipset fan to deal with on the DFI boards.

Asuming you haven't bought yet I'd seriously consider the A8N32-SLI Deluxe as it is 8 phase power with no fans. You'll end up using less power, generate less heat, and thus can afford to run with less or slower case fans and lower RPMs on the Power Supply Fan(s).

As to the complaints about reliability with the ASUS board it is finicky about order of install and upgrades to the software. Asuming you know how to set it up properly in one shot it will work just fine. If you mess up you can always format and start over.

Either way it is a reliable platform.

Thanks. I'm tired of waiting, so I went with the standard A8N-SLI premium. Finalized, complete specs here: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... 668#223668 for those that are interested, also the afforementioned "how to set it up properly in one shot" would definately be appreciated.

Well step #1 is to download the latest non beta BIOS. Unfortunately the BIOS releases are frequent and some are considerably better than others. The good news is that if you are going for quiet and not Overclocking you should be on the safe side. Spend some time in the BIOS and in the manual or on the web and turn off any features you are sure you don't need but don't mess around with default settings if you aren't absolutely sure about it. I would suggest turning cool and quiet on but most hardware sites suggest you turn it off (They usually are suggesting Overclocking settings instead).

Step #2 is to download the latest drivers and support software. If you try to upgrade software you may see issues so you should avoid doing multiple installs where possible.

I would highly suggest you not have a network cable plugged into the PC during the setup. Keep it off the internet as long as possible (until you get your antivirus, firewall, antispyware software up and going). And you shouldn't be installing those until you are done with all your OS and driver issues.

I've not set this board up in Windows 2000 but I hear it is less finicky on W2K SP4 than it is on WXP SP2. I'm assuming you can get the gist of the order of install from the next section even if you choose to use W2K.

(This next section is slightly edited from a post that is over 6 months old on hardwareanalysis.com, I wouldn't recommend using what they had on there "as was" if you plan to use Cool n Quiet or you bought an X2 processor which will require newer bios and support software than the versions he listed)

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You can choose to install either Windows XP Home, Professional or Media Center Edition but it is recommended that you stick with Windows XP Professional. Install the operating system and device drivers according to the following sequence, make sure you already have SP2 on a CDR or different media so you can install that right after the installation of Windows XP completes. Do NOT install device drivers or other software before you have updated Windows XP with SP2. If you know how it is recommend creating a slipstreamed bootable CD with Windows XP and SP2.

- Download SP2 here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... P2-ENU.exe
- Download NVIDIA chipset drivers (nvidia.com)
- Download NVIDIA ForceWare drivers WHQL version (nvidia.com)
- Install Windows XP Professional from the bootable CD
- Install SP2
- Install NVIDIA chipset drivers (RAID/IDE/Ethernet/Audio)
- Install NVIDIA (Video Card) ForceWare drivers WHQL version

Once all of these device drivers have been installed you can proceed to install device drivers for any other components you might have that aren't listed. Keep in mind that if you want to make use of SLI the system will detect you have two video cards installed and ask for them to be set in SLI mode and reboot. Once the reboot is completed you need to manually enable multi-GPU rendering in the driver tab of the video card. To do that you need to enable ‘Show Advanced Settings’ in the Performance and Quality settings pane first and scroll down to ‘SLI rendering mode’.
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The current URLs are http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4 ... _6.70.html and http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_81.94.html but if you are reading this more than a week after I wrote it you should start from http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp instead and go to the approprate sections (Platform - Nforce4 AMD - Windows XP) and (Graphics - Geforce - Windows XP)

If you have the capability you may want to make a ghost image or some sort of full backup of the drive after the windows service pack install but before installing the chipset driver so you can start over more easily if needed. You could even use a spare hard drive to make a test install and play with that for a few days before you finalize your procedure on a bigger hard drive.

I haven't even begun to detail the ASUS software and drivers you might want/need to download and install other than the BIOS. In general it is a good idea to download the latest version and not rely on a CD distribution for these.

In short the hardware is good but you have TONS of bios options and TONS of software options. You might be able to choose defaults all the way through and get away with it but I would plan on it being a learning experience...

I bought the Asus A8N-SLI Premium last summer and I haven't had any problems. I have it mounted in a P180 case with an AMD X2 4600. I have the nVidia firewall disabled and I used an external firewall. I do not overclock and use CNQ.

Jason

Had a Deluxe, after 6 months the fan got REALLY annoying, sold it and bought a Premium. Not one inexplicable lock up or crash, an absolutely rock solid board. Haven't overclocked it. Thought of buying a 32 but seems to be unstable, I don't use Sli, space around CPU is tight for coolers and I've had no temperature problems with my Premium. Barring any major innovations I expect my Premium will last me till M2 (if it takes off). Don't use the Nvidia Firewall as it engages in a fight to the death with Service Pack 2. The Nvidia Ntune utility doesn't seem to work properly either

The ASUS A8N-SLI Premium is one very strange adventure. I just downloaded the revised manual dated February 2006 and found they changed the diagram for NVIDIA SATA connections. In the original manual, NVIDIA SATA1 and SATA2 were on the bottom (same as for Silicon), but the revised manual has those connections on top with SATA3 and SATA4 on the bottom!

This is shown in 2.2.3 and 2-21 of the revised manual.

So where are the NVIDIA SATA1 and SATA2 connections on the motherboard

I've had no problems with my recently setup A8N SLI Premium. I find it odd that though I'm logged in, I'm unable to respond to the survey at the top of the thread. Am I just not seeing a button / link somewhere?

I'm seeing the same thing. Presumably the poll is closed.

My wife's new system (see sig) has been running fine. I used part of a 3x5 card to get some airflow onto the VRM/heatpipe heatsink. Chipset works ok, but I'd feel happier if it had a heatsink on it, not to mention a temerature sensor. This was ASUS's first heatpipe design, and I think they were not agressive enough on the cooling. The brackets work fine - I'm testing 2 new SATA drives externally, thanks to the SATA bracket, which I had previously hooked up to the SI controller for exactly that purpose.

Biggest negatives are fairly minor. Why put the second ethernet controller and Raid controller on PCI? Why are Qfan thresholds set so high? Why doesn't Qfan control all the fan headers? Where is the motherboard temp sensor located? What is the mysterious third sensor reported by speedfan and MBM?

I'm planning on building a system for myself with a bit more gaming orientation, and if I were to do it now, I'd use either this board or a DFI. If do use this board in a more demanding way, I'll put a passive heatsink on the chipset. Given the timing (early April) I'll probably wait till June 6 to see what comes out of the AM2 announcement (at the very least, probably lower Socket 939 prices).

I see the poll just fine.

isn't there an AMD driver listed on the CD? Is that to be installed separately if one downloads the 6.70 chipset driver?

My A8N-SLI Deluxe has worked perfectly for a few months folding 24/7. I didnt even bother with the crappy firewall because it never worked on my DFI mobos.. AFAIK it doesn´t work properly on any nF4 board. The chipset is watercooled along with cpu, gpu and hdd wich is why i chose the deluxe over the Premium.

Download that driver from AMD directly. You appear to need it if you have an X2, not with single core CPU.
I installed only downloaded drivers, nothing from the CD.
Nforce4 chipset, the Marvell network driver from Asus, sound card (Audigy2) and Nvidia video drivers (7600GT).

I was planning on using the nVidia LAN connection for DSL. Do I need to install the Marvell network driver?

I am going with RAID 1 via Nvidia so I'll need to make a floppy from the CD, but other than that, I guess it's just the 6.70 chipset driver, sound and video card drivers.

I've heard it suggested not to install the nVidia IDE drivers and use the IDE drivers from XP.

What are your temps and what cooling are you using?

I have an X2 4200+ with the Thermalright SI-120 and a Nexus fan blowing down on it in an the Antec SLK3000B case, I am getting 50C at full load (prime95x2 after 20 hours) and the board temp reach 43C. The funny thing is that in idle my CPU is several degrees cooler than the board, they idle at 36C the processor and 40C the board.

I am not sure if having this fan blowing up or down. I have tested both positions and I am getting different findings. I would like some advice. Here is a resume of my temps:

Blowing down (max load after several hours of double prime95):
CPU: 50C Board: 43C
IDLE: CPOU: 36C Board: 40C

Blowiong up:
CPU: 51C Board: 40C
IDLE: CPU: 35C Board: 37C

I was getting full load CPU temps on the low 40s C and my board was on the low 30s C with my old rig in the same case (P4 3Ghz), this was with an Asus P4C800-Dlx that used a pasive heatsink on the chipset (i875p). I guess the SLI Premium runs hotter because the heatpipes on the Nforce4.

Thanks for your help.

You don't need to install the Marvell driver if you don't plan to use it, but it doesn't hurt to have it. I also use only the Nvidia LAN on my cable modem and have just disabled the Marvell one but I did install the driver.

I have also heard the same history about the Nvidia IDE drivers but I have run tests both with and without them and there was no noticeable difference. I ran ATTO disk benchmark and HDTach, so unless there is some kind of stability issue I cannot confirm that the Microsoft driver is the better option. I am not using RAID, I have a Raptor 74G as OS disk and a Seagate Barracuda 500GB as storage.

Details of my system are here. Scroll down to herefor updated temperatures. I'm using a passive Ninja and the CPU typically runs ~31C idle and ~40-45C under heavy load. The chipset hovers near 36C. I've done some very minor but effective ductwork in the P180 case and the Ninja.

Thanks. I guess that my temps are fine looking at yours. I don't have any air duct in place and before the duct you were having 47C on the CPU. I get 50C but running double Prime95 for hours, your readings are after 3dMark2005, that doesn't stress the CPU to its max. My chipset shows also the same 4C difference with yours.
IO guess that with a duct my system could go as cool as yours, taking 4-5C off the readings.

Thanks again!

I have just installed A8N-SLI Premium and it seems fine. I have not got the sound to work yet although I always seem to mess that up and the nvidia tune unitlity seems to have fan control disabled so i have a loud fan. Probably all my problems and (for a newbie) the card seems fine... and works with windows sbs.

don;t order from dabs though unless you build within 7 days - it is a real pain to send stuff back after that (although they did take my incorrectly ordered drives back).

I have the premium - have absolutely no issues, ever.

I eventually put an Xi-fi soundcard in, but thats about it.

I run it with 7900 gtx in SLI, amd 4800 x2, 2 gigs

I have a few friends with them also - they are all flawless. I think there might be some PEBCAKs here. Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard

-windows sbs and sound problems? thats not a normal build, driver related most likely (ie lack of certification for windows sbs)

All the nvidia lan stuff is crap - just use the nic and a real firewall on a router

a8n-sli premium might be the best board ive ever owned...and thats coming from an old fart who had an 12mhz 286 =/

I also over clocked easily the AMD for grins, and the video cards.

I use a p180 with volt modded fans, zalman heat sink on the cpu, stock coolers on the EVGA 7900 gtx 512mb x2

Ive got a raptor 74gb in the lower bay, some SATA burner for a drive - no floppy or anything else.

Best computer ive ever had - quiet, fast, never crashes - its been up for months and months.

Worth

I've had the Premium installed for about a month now with no issues whatsoever. However, I read on the ASUS forum that some people are having serious issues that occur month(s) after installation, which I find kind of scary.

If you have the ability to get the file before setting up the PC I would always start with the latest version and not bother with anything shipped with the motherboard.

FWIW all the issues I hear about on this setup are related to SATA support and the NFORCE firewall.

All my current hard drives are IDE (ATA133 or slower) so I'm not using any of the SATA ports yet.

I have run into issues with the NFORCE firewall hardware/software being buggy but a clean OS install with the latest software and drivers fixed that for me.

FWIW with AM2 parts being all the rage I am about to buy another 939 board now that you can get the non deluxe version for under $90 US. The Deluxe version is under $110 US but I thought I'd get the other version and see if the power draw is noticably different.

While I'd like to get rid of the northbridge fan, it isn't worth $50+ US for me to get a version without the extra fan.

http://labs.anandtech.com/search.php?q= ... &price=yes

I agree, and that is what I did. I originally was confused on whether that AMD driver was needed.