ASUS M2A-VM HDMI

smc · Post by **smc** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:01 pm

Moogles wrote:I had some vague plans of putting this thing in a HFX mini with a Samsung SSD and a 30" screen for completely silent operation. Although a seperate graphics card is an option, I'd rather use integrated graphics since no 3D acceleration is required at all, and a graphics card would add a lot of heat.

I've been using this board for the past two weeks with the onboard video driving a HP LP3065 at 2560x1600, and can report it works fine, including fullscreen playback of HD .wmv clips (I don't play games). I switched over from an A8N-VM CSM + GeForce 7600GS combo for the similar reasons, i.e. less heat. No obvious differences in image quality to my eyes.

A nice added bonus is the ability to go below 1.1V with AM2 CPU's, although the three X2's I have tried (G1 3600+ and 4400+, F2 3800+ EE) have been disappointments on the undervolting front, as none runs 100% stable below 1.00V at idle.

For those interested in running W2K (which Asus is the only 690G user not to support) on this board, use ATI's 7.6 drivers, minus the display driver (I used those for the Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H instead); for the two question marks in the device manager, manually point them to SMBUSati.inf and AtiHDAud.inf from the Asus XP driver set.

For reference, I am running 2x1GB Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400, BIOS 1001, and x86 XP SP2 and W2K dual boot. BIOS 1001 didn't change much for me, only less flickering before the login screen in W2K.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:29 pm

Funny/odd thing is the non HDMI version has a bios with the same fixes at one version number lower.

1001 HDMI = 0901 nonHDMI

Some of the intermediate BIOS versions don't match up but most of the same fixes are listed for both versions of the board with differing bios version numbers.

mtavares · Post by **mtavares** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:22 am

SpaceNerd and russp,

Thanks by your feedback. It seems that the flickering problem is related to something other than resolution and temperature. The memory may be the reason. It is important to buy qualified memories only in order to run problem free.

In our case we will move to a discrete videocard to solve this problem.

Thanks by your testing and colaboration.

Best Regards,

Marcos

Q.J.A

dsjonz · Post by **dsjonz** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:04 pm

[quote="smc]I've been using this board for the past two weeks with the onboard video driving a HP LP3065 at 2560x1600, and can report it works fine, including fullscreen playback of HD .wmv clips (I don't play games). [/quote]

This is great news! Unfortunately, I just advised somebody elsewhere in the forums to opt for an ATI X2400/2600 board for acceptable 25x16 support. Guess I was wrong. <sigh>

colin2 · Post by **colin2** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:17 pm

smc, what are your northbridge temperatures like? Can you say a word about how much air you have moving across the NB heatsink?

There's no question that if you look at cards made for 25x16 monitors they have a ton more heatsinking than a typical NB. What I don't know is how much of that is for games and how much of that is just to deal with 4 million pixels at 60 hz.

What I was wondering in the thread dsjonz kindly replied to was how close to the wind you're sailing if you hook up a 25x16 *and* don't have a lot of airflow across the board. On the ASUS M2A-VM, it looks like the NB heatsink is placed to take advantage of airflow from a typical CPU cooler, and if you instead go for a low-watt CPU plus Ninja plus slow 120mm fan, you're ending up with a lot less airflow down at the NB. A nice passively-cooled video card still looks like a good idea for safety's sake.

smc · Post by **smc** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:01 pm

colin2 wrote:smc, what are your northbridge temperatures like? Can you say a word about how much air you have moving across the NB heatsink?

Well, my case is now closed and under my receiver... I have no idea where the temperature sensors are on the M2A-VM, but right now Asus Probe has the CPU (idling at 1GHz/1.00V) at 30C and the MB at 34C. Room temperature is 25C.

My case is a Silverstone LC17, with two Panaflo 80mm fans at 7V in the back. The X2 4400+ is cooled by an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro mini-tower style heatsink with the fan blowing around 1300rpm most of the time, quiet enough for me. A Seasonic S380 is (barely) exhausting air on the other side. None of the exhaust streams are even barely warm. No other heat generators apart from two Samsung SATA drives, a SP2004C and a HD501LJ, both showing 35C SMART readings.

While the NB heatsink isn't getting much direct airflow, there is a fair amount of air moving from the front intakes to the rear fans, as I discovered from the amount of dust on that path when swapping motherboards.

My idea was to see how this setup would hold up, and get a 2400/2600 if it wasn't satisfactory. For the moment, I am quite pleased with the results, although I realize I haven't been asking much from the X1250.

colin2 · Post by **colin2** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:14 am

Thanks much smc. This is a great help in thinking about airflow constraints.

ppl4golf · Post by **ppl4golf** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:25 pm

I just bought the HDMI version (main silly reason is I need a mobo that is compatible with Silverstone LC11 risers) and this is like the only contemporary one.

M2A-VM HDMI
Athlon64 4200+ x2 (219MHz stock voltage + CnQ)
Kingston 667 value ram 2x512MB (800MHz @ 1.9V)
Maxtor ProLine 500GB SATA2
Sapphire ATI 650 Pro

Initially, I got it hooked up to my 1080p TV, I force detected the native 1920x1080 resolution via VGA connection. Things are nice and sharp until I play videos on it...with a relatively beefy CPU mildly OC'd to 2.4GHz, I expected perfect picture and no stuttering. Well NOT. It doesn't look like this mobo can handle 1080p or any contents on 1080p panels, I have stutters, lines, artifacts, etc.

My intention was to use it in the bedroom for a 27" 1280x720 panel and indeed it works well at this resolution. For the HDMI bracket, it was mounted but only the TV/SPDIF line is connected because I don't have the PCI-E riser addition.

I find it sort of crippling not be able to display 1080p, although it may just be a driver/codec issue, but the strange thing is 720p seems no problem.
Even more strange, my Sempron 2800+ @ (200MHz) on M2NPV-VM can stream videos pretty flawlessly to the 1080p but wound crash on the ATI 650 Pro ATSC card :~)

More to come...

NX3 · Post by **NX3** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:51 am

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=41419

Free upgrade in bios coming soon !!

ppl4golf · Post by **ppl4golf** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:10 pm

I added another 2x512MB and do 4x512MB on this M2A-VM HDMI/runs XP Pro...it improved the performance a little bit, does 1280x720 pretty much flawlessly. There are still occasional and noticeable artifacts and odd stutter displaying 1920x1080.

There is one good attribute in this mobo is the onboard Quiet Fan is set pretty aggressively to lower noise, the rpm won't budge over 1500 until the CPU is well over 50Â°C. However, as most of us found out, the system fan is not controlled which I find very perplexing. Fanmate2 time again. Now when it really heats up, the noisiest component is the PSU fan!

I hooked up the video module and the composite out is absolutely horrible, possible driver/BIOS issue but it is not even usable even on the crappiest tube TV.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:16 pm

dhanson865 wrote:Funny/odd thing is the non HDMI version has a bios with the same fixes at one version number lower.

1001 HDMI = 0901 nonHDMI

Some of the intermediate BIOS versions don't match up but most of the same fixes are listed for both versions of the board with differing bios version numbers.

fwiw there is a new BIOS out now.

M2A-VM lists it as 1301 dated October 2nd 2007
M2A-VM HDMI lists it as 1301 dated October 4th 2007

Looks like they might have synced up the version numbers

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:26 pm

OK, 1404 is out now and the version numbers are still in sync between HDMI and non HDMI boards.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:02 pm

M2A-VM BIOS 1501

1. Update AGESA code to version 3.1.3.0
2. Fixed system will lose 256/512MB when using Integrated VGA or PCI-E VGA under 4GB configuration
3. Update CPU microcode to support new processors
4. Enhance VGA compatibility
5. Fixed cannot raise CPU Vcore for AM2 6000+ processor
6. Fixed CPU Vcore cannot drop after activating Cool'n'Quiet with AM2 6000+ CPU
7. Update VBIOS for built in VGA
8. Fine tune motherboard temperature safety range for PCProbeII.
9. Fixed execute awdflash.exe and system hang on when entering wrong file name or no file name.
10.Enhance SATA Blu-ray compatibility

NX3 · Post by **NX3** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 2:49 pm

"Update VBIOS for built in VGA"

Sounds interesting, the latest bios update from AMD it sounds like that improve video playback performance.

Also they've actually said whats new !

smc · Post by **smc** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:13 am

My experience so far with the M2A-VM HDMI BIOS 1501 is that it requires slightly higher CPU voltages to run stably, especially (but not only) during video playback, particularly of HD content. With the voltages I used with BIOS 1001, I had regular crashes doing routine tasks such as opening an application while running another etc. (I use RMClock).

This seems consistent with the claim that some hitherto unused HD decoding circuitry has been activated, as mentioned in the INQ article referenced above. 1080 playback does seem smoother than before on my setup (X2 4400+).

SpaceNerd · Post by **SpaceNerd** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 9:14 am

smc wrote:My experience so far with the M2A-VM HDMI BIOS 1501 is that it requires slightly higher CPU voltages to run stably

I can confirm that. With previous BIOS versions, I was able to run my BE-2350 at 10.5x215 / 1.05V stable. Now I'm using 10.5x200 / 1.20V. I tried decreasing it, but I always have to clear the BIOS when using incorrect settings, because I end up with a black screen after reboot. Even at default clock, I can't lower the VCore that much anymore...

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:43 pm

I'm not undervolting the CPU but I did find that somewhere around 0801 or 0901 I started getting instability that got worse as I went to higher BIOS revs. When I got to 1404 it got so bad that I couldn't get the computer to make it all the way to the windows desktop (around the time the real time antivirus would kick in it would lock up or spontaneously reboot).

I've been using this board as my main PC for 6 months now. With only minor difficulties overall.

The good news was I changed one bios setting and all my problems went away. I was at default voltage for all parts but with the newer BIOS I had to go up a notch above auto on the Ram voltage.

If you haven't tried it yet, you may want to up the ram voltage a notch and try your CPU undervolting again.

NX3 · Post by **NX3** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:06 pm

I stopped undervolting via bios on this board on bios a while back as it wasn't stable enough. I think its on 1101 with defaults and it seems happy enough. It sounds likes with defaults 1501 is ok and maybe worth updating too ? I over clock the mem to 800ddr fine with defaults

Mikael · Post by **Mikael** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:10 pm

Just a quick Q: Undervolting is supported on both the HDMI version and the regular one, right?

silence · Post by **silence** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:25 pm

Hey all,

Just something to note about this motherboard:

Don't plan on using this in a low-profile case with the HDMI riser card. The board only comes with a full-height bracket for the riser card, and the card itself is too tall to bother modifying the bracket. I originally purchased this to use in a Antec Minuet, but had to replace it with the Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H which shares the same chipset, has better onboard audio, and places the HDMI port on the backplane. The MSI and Gigabyte chipset-equivalent competitors appear to be less picky with RAM as well, if that matters to anyone.

-Dom

Mikael · Post by **Mikael** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:10 am

silence wrote:The MSI and Gigabyte chipset-equivalent competitors appear to be less picky with RAM as well, if that matters to anyone.

But none of them support undervolting, right?

silence · Post by **silence** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 3:29 pm

Mikael,

When I get the machine booted up for the first time in a few days, I'll be sure to post the results. Since I'll be installing a fairly cool-running efficient processor (65w 4200+) I'm not too concerned about being able to undervolt anyway; plus this build is not for me.

I'll get back to you.

-Domenic

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:48 pm

1603 BIOS
1. Fixed that AM2 and AM2+ CPU enable ECC function fail.
2.Update Realtek PXE ROM to V2.08.
3.Enchance the compatibility of some memory.
4.Support BIOS downgraded protection.(To avoid the system BIOS can be downgraded to BIOS before 1603).

SpaceNerd · Post by **SpaceNerd** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:23 am

I'm currently using BIOS 1603 (although there's a new beta BIOS available), and it seems as if undervolting works much better again! I'm running my BE-2400 (stepping G2) at 11.5x210 / 1.05V with takeMS DDR2-800 RAM at 1.8V.
I'm not sure if this is influenced by the new processor (previously I used a BE-2350 with different stepping), but the system "feels" far more stable with the current stable BIOS.

ceraf · Post by **ceraf** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:54 am

I have the non-hdmi version of this motherboard.

I'm having trouble with the onboard graphics. If i install the drivers from the cd provided, the video would eventually crash randomly on the desktop. I thought it was just a driver issue (garbled display upon crash), but i tried the new ati drivers as well to no avail.

Could this be a hardware issue? I really don't want to send my board back to NCIX or Asus.

I'll be trying a bios update later on.

CountTyro · Post by **CountTyro** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:43 am

I upgraded bios from 1301 to 1603 and now my multiplier selection is greyed out - which is bad, since I'm using AMD 5000+ Black Edition..

Also, I'm seeing some sort of display garbage - odd flashing pixels in some places. They aren't monitor-related, since when I move a window that has them, the flashing pixels move along..

SpaceNerd · Post by **SpaceNerd** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:53 am

@CountTyro: The multiplier is only greyed out, if you enable Cool 'n' Quiet. So it's either use C'n'Q with default multiplier or disable it and change the multiplier. I don't know why they implemented it this way though...

CountTyro · Post by **CountTyro** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:31 pm

It seems to be fixed in the 1604 beta bios.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:54 pm

1705 BIOS
1.fixed problem that when using some Sempron CPU,the system fail to boot.
2.fixed problem that system fail to resume from S3 when using certain CPU.

Note that is from the non HDMI page. For some reason the HDMI 1705 BIOS still says beta.

As far as I can tell both boards use the same or similar BIOS files and the team goes back and forth testing on both versions.

For example there is a 1604 beta for the non HDMI but not for the HDMI.

kickaha · Post by **kickaha** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:41 am

1801 BIOS (HDMI page)
1. Fix fail to resume from S3 with AMD 5000+ CPU issue.
2. Fix show wrong AM2+ CPU HT/NB frequency in BIOS.

*edit* sorry, still a beta, now offline

here direct link: ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socketAM ... I/1801.zip