Asus A8N-SLI FAQ – Configuration

***UPDATE 05/04/2005 - new BIOS and drivers added***

Introduction

The Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe is one of the first SLI motherboards that made it to the market, with initial availability just before the end of 2004. All the A8N-SLI motherboards that have shipped and are currently shipping, up to this date, are based on the same design and all carry the same rev. 1.02 version number. Despite the motherboard revision number being identical many of these boards ship with a different BIOS. This is one of the biggest problems and cause for many issues across the board as the initial BIOS it shipped with, 1001, lacks many of the improvements found in later BIOS versions. We’ll outline below how to go about making sure a system featuring the A8N-SLI is set up properly starting with picking parts and the simple procedure of upgrading the BIOS to the latest version.

Picking parts:

Power supply

The A8N-SLI is rather picky about what powersupply is used with it, and that’s partly due to the fact it is designed as an ATX 12V v2.0 motherboard, featuring a 24-pin power connecter and dual 12-volt rails coming from the powersupply. Although this recommendation goes for all systems, the A8N-SLI demands you have a good powersupply, the minimum requirement is 400-watts. It doesn’t have to be an ATX 12V v2.0 powersupply per se, nor feature a 24-pin plug, but it needs to be able to supply at least 18-amps of current or 200-watts on the 12-volt rail. Of course there’s a difference between running a single PCIe video card with this motherboard and running two in SLI. Up until two GeForce 6600GTs you can get by with the following powersupplies:

Power supplies tested with a single GeForce 6x00/GT/Ultra or up to 6600GT SLI

- Zalman ZM400B-APS, 400-watts
- Antec TruePower 430, 430-watts
- Tagan TG480-U01, 480-watts
- Enermax Coolergiant EG435AX, 430-watts
- Antec NeoPower 480, 480-watts
- PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 SLI, 510-watts

Power supplies tested with GeForce 6800GT and 6800 Ultra in SLI

- Tagan TG480-U01
- Antec NeoPower 480
- Fortron Source FSP550-60PLN*
- Antec TruePower 550 EPS12V*
- PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 SLI**

**The PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 SLI is currently the best PSU for running an SLI configuration or a high-end PC and comes with dual 6-pin PCIe connectors.

The power supplies designated with a * are needed if you want to run the A8N-SLI with an Athlon 64 FX 53 or 55 processor, two GeForce 6800 Ultras and two or more high capacity Serial-Ata drives. However they need to be modified in order to convert the 8-pin 12-volt connector, coming off of the 2nd 12-volt rail to two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, this is a simple procedure that means extracting the pins from the original connector and splitting them out to two 6-pin PCIe connectors. These will be connected to the GeForce 6800 Ultras directly, hence powering them off of their own 12-volt rail within the power supply. From our testing this is the only way to guarantee absolute stability. Take notice that when running SLI the EZ-Plug must also be connected to guarantee stable operation.

Other parts:

Processor

Picking other parts isn’t that difficult but we’d recommend to go with an Athlon 64 3500 based on the new 90nm, Winchester, core. This processor offers enough performance to power an entry level, mid-range SLI, or single video card system. If you want the best possibly performance and opt for GeForce 6800GT or Ultra cards in SLI you should pick either an Athlon 64 4000+ or FX 55.

Memory

Unless you plan on bleeding edge overclocking, some good, cas 2-2-2-5 DDR400, PC3200, memory will do just fine. Brands that offer excellent memory are OCZ, Crucial and Corsair. Please stay away from memory featuring led readout or other extras or memory from lesser known manufacturers. We’d recommend a 1GB dual channel kit for this motherboard, regardless of whether you pick an Athlon 64 or Athlon 64 FX processor.

Videocards

A GeForce 6600GT is a good pick for an entry level system, and a 6800GT or Ultra is a good choice for mid-range. If you want to go the SLI route realize that a system featuring two 6600GTs performs about on par with a 6800GT, but two 6800GTs perform slightly better than a 6800 Ultra. So the obvious choice for SLI would be two 6800GTs or Ultras, otherwise you’re better off with a single 6800GT or Ultra.

Harddisks

Any Serial-Ata harddisk would do fine, we’re pretty fond of Hitachi ourselves and have used up to two 250GB 7K250 discs in RAID and that performed admirably. Make sure these are connected to the NForce 4 chipset RAID controller though. More on that later, in the section about setting your drives up properly.

DVD/CD/RW/ROM

There are some problems with getting Serial-Ata Divers to work, so I certainly would not go that route. There are no benefits for doing so, other than a small reduction in cable clutter, but that really isn’t worth it. Good DVD/CD/ROM drives are Lite-On and older Toshibas such as the SD-M1802. For a DVDRW we’d pick a NEC 3500A or 3520A.

Installation:

Upgrading the BIOS

One of the first things to do when you got the motherboard is upgrade the BIOS to the latest non-beta release, which is 1007. The proper way of doing this is by using a floppy drive as a startup disk. You’ll need to have access to a second computer to create the needed startup files, according to the following procedure.

- Download the latest 1007 BIOS and BIOS flash tool here: http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=A8N-SLI%20Deluxe&Type=Latest
- Download the BIOS and flash tool under the BIOS section of above mentioned URL.
- In Windows XP go to the floppy drive
- Format with using the option to create a MSDOS startup disk
- Once the disk is created unpack the 1007 BIOS and flash tool to the floppy
- Configure the motherboard with just the memory, processor and heatsink, video card and floppy drive
- Set the SLI selector card to ‘single card’
- Connect the power supply, including the 4-pin 12volt and 6-pin PCIe
- Hit ‘del’ once the system displays the boot screen
- Go to ‘Exit’ menu and select ‘Load Setup Default’
- Then ‘Exit & Save Changes’
- After the reboot the system will boot off the floppy
- Type ‘awdflash 1007.bin’ to start the BIOS update
- Select ‘No’ to save BIOS and ‘Yes’ to update BIOS
- Once completed press ‘F1’ to reset the system
- Power the system off and unplug the power supply from the mains

Configuring the BIOS:

Now connect all your devices and plug in all your other cards. Reconnect the mains to the power supply and power the system up. Press ‘del’ on your keyboard during bootup to get into the BIOS, in the ‘Main’ section first set the proper time, date and language.

Main

- Make sure all your discs and optical drives are listed
- Enabled HDD SMART monitoring

Advanced

CPU Configuration > DRAM configuration

- Max Memclock (MHz) : DDR400
- All other settings : Auto

If you know the exact timings for your memory modules you can obviously set those manually as well, by leaving these to Auto the motherboard will use the settings as stored in the module’s SPD, hence it should use the proper timings.

CPU Configuration

- Hyper Transport Frequency : 5x
- AMD K8 Cool ‘n’ Quiet control : Disabled

PCIPnP

- Plug & Play O/S : Yes
- Init Display First : PCIEx
- Resources Controlled By : Auto
- PCI/VGA Palette Snoop : Disabled

Onboard Device Configuration > IDE Function Setup

- All settings : Enabled

Onboard Device Configuration > NVRAID Configuration

- RAID Enable : disabled

Obviously you’d set this to ‘Enabled’ and select which disks you’d like to use if you have more than one harddisk you’d like to use with RAID. Keep in mind that RAID only makes sense with identical harddisks each on their own IDE or Serial-Ata channel.

Onboard Device Configuration > USB Configuration

- All settings : Enabled

Onboard Device Configuration

- Onboard NV LAN : Enabled
- Onboard LAN BOOT ROM : Disabled
- Onboard Marvell LAN : Disabled
- AC97 Audio : Disabled
- PCI IEEE 1394a : Disabled
- Silicon Image SATA Controller : Disabled
- Serial Port1 Address : Disabled
- Parallel Port Address : Disabled
- Game Port Address : Disabled
- Midi Port Address : Disabled

Disable all devices you don’t need or plan to use, this frees up extra IRQs and means there’s less device drivers to load creating less system overhead.

SLI Configuration

- EZ-Plug Warning : Enabled
- SLI mode : set to SLI for SLI, Normal for single video card

JumperFree Configuration

- Overclock Profile : Manual
- CPU Frequency : 200.0
- PCI Express Clock : 100MHz
- DDR Voltage : 2.70v
- CPU Multiplier : Auto
- CPU Voltage : Auto
- PCI Clock Sync : 33.33MHz

LAN Cable Status

- POST Check LAN Cable : Disabled

PEG Link Mode

- PEG Link Mode : Disabled
- PEG Root Control : Auto
- PEG Buffer Length : Auto

Speech Configuration

- Speech IC Reporter : Disabled

Instant Music

- Instant Music : Disabled

Power

- ACPI Suspend Type : S3
- ACPI APIC Support : Enabled

Power > APM Configuration

- Restore on AC Power Loss : Disabled
- PWR Button < 4 secs : Instant-Off
- All other settings : Disabled

Power > Hardware Monitor

- Q-Fan Controller : Disabled

Boot > Boot Settings Configuration

- Case Open Warning : Disabled
- Quick Boot : Enabled
- Boot up Floppy Seek : Disabled
- Bootup Num-Lock : On
- Typematic Rate Setting : Enabled
- Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) : 30
- Typematic Delay (Msec) : 250
- OS Select For DRAM > 64MB : Non-OS2
- Full Screen LOGO : Disabled
- Halt On : All Errors

Now that the BIOS is set up properly exit and save the changes and let the machine reboot. We’d advice you to do a full install of Windows XP from a bootable Windows XP disk as outlined below.

Installing Windows XP

You can choose to install either Windows XP Home, Professional or Media Center Edition but we’d recommend 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 we’d recommend creating a slipstreamed bootable CD with Windows XP and SP2.

- Download SP2 here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165b076b-aaa9-443d-84f0-73cf11fdcdf8/WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe
- 02/05/2005 - Download NVIDIA chipset drivers ver 6.53 here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp2k_6.53
- Download NVIDIA ForceWare drivers ver 71.89 WHQL here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_71.89.html
- Install Windows XP Professional from the bootable CD
- Install SP2
- Install NVIDIA chipset drivers ver. 6.53
- Install NVIDIA Beta ForceWare drivers ver 71.89 WHQL

Once all of these device drivers have been installed you can proceed to install device drivers for any other components you might have. 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’.

If you're posting questions posted in the thread, be short, to the point and make sure you applied above BIOS settings first and have the drivers and software installed we listed. If not, we cannot help you. This thread will be strictly moderated to keep it as clean and informative as possible.

I have a few questions on the Setup.

1. I am going with the Thermaltake W0049-RUD Silent PurePower 680W Power Supply ATX. Any problems?
2. Why are you using the NVidia NIC, why not the Marvell that has MS driver certification?
3. Why are you not using the Silicon RAID controller vs. nvidia?
4. Why 2.7v for Memory, when RAM GUY states 2.8v?

1. I am going with the Thermaltake W0049-RUD Silent PurePower 680W Power Supply ATX. Any problems?

Haven't tested that PSU, but I'd guess that should be sufficient

2. Why are you using the NVidia NIC, why not the Marvell that has MS driver certification?

NVIDIA NIC runs off of the chipset directly, not off of the PCI bus, also one less 3rd party driver and IRQ to use.

3. Why are you not using the Silicon RAID controller vs. nvidia?

Same reason as the NVIDIA NIC.

4. Why 2.7v for Memory, when RAM GUY states 2.8v?

Depends on your memory, 2.7...2.8v is a safe range. Higher voltages allow higher clockspeeds. But I wouldn't start overclocking until I'm 100% confident the system is stable, then you can try taking it up a notch.

Thanks for the info. That makes sense.

Follow up question:

Since I am already using the Silicon chipset in RAID-0 is there an easy way to swap over or am I forced to reinstall again?

Also, Has anyone had problems with the latest 1004 bios? Anyone see any benefits?

> Since I am already using the Silicon chipset in RAID-0 is there an easy way to swap over or am I forced to reinstall again?

No, you'll have to re-install, in your case I would, as two disks in RAID0 could saturate the PCI bus, thus limiting performance, the Serial-Ata controllers on the chipset offer better performance.

> Also, Has anyone had problems with the latest 1004 bios? Anyone see any benefits?

No, but it is a beta BIOS, so the usual disclaimer applies, I'd stick with 1003 final.

Sanders, I was looking into powering the system and thought that the minimal PSU for these board running a single card would be 423 Watts. I went throught the tech specs for this answer, but I see you have a 400Watt PSU. Is this Just for the single graphics card?

Yes, but stick to the PSUs I listed.

> The power supplies designated with a * are needed if you want to run the A8N-SLI with an Athlon 64 FX 53 or 55 processor, two GeForce 6800 Ultras and two or more high capacity Serial-Ata drives. However they need to be modified in order to convert the 8-pin 12-volt connector, coming off of the 2nd 12-volt rail to two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, this is a simple procedure that means extracting the pins from the original connector and splitting them out to two 6-pin PCIe connectors. These will be connected to the GeForce 6800 Ultras directly, hence powering them off of their own 12-volt rail within the power supply. From our testing this is the only way to guarantee absolute stability. Take notice that when running SLI the EZ-Plug must also be connected to guarantee stable operation.

HI, I am interested in purchasing the Antec TruePower 550 EPS12V to power my fx55, 2 raptors, asus a8n-sli dlx and 2 6800 ultras. Can you please explain how the 8pin 12volt connector is split? I can use the pci-e connectors (which i can take off) from the adapters that came with the cards

Also, does this psu has 6 molxes only? No satas?

thanks for any info

just asking, but i have question for sassen, and anyone else who may be of service, but it would be great if the writer of this killer FAQ could help me out.

I cannot make a dos boot disk, can i use asus ez-flash (ie alt+f2) and have only the bios 1003 on the floppy then flash using that method or is it known to cause problems thank you all for helping me out... im currently in the process of building my system .

top FAQ Sander..... solved my friends problems with the board.... I do believe ur bios settings was what did it. However can they use cool and quiet??.. u've set it to disabled, is there a reason for this?.

Hi Anthony,

> HI, I am interested in purchasing the Antec TruePower 550 EPS12V to power my fx55, 2 raptors, asus a8n-sli dlx and 2 6800 ultras. Can you please explain how the 8pin 12volt connector is split? I can use the pci-e connectors (which i can take off) from the adapters that came with the cards Also, does this psu has 6 molxes only? No satas? thanks for any info

Please take a look at the below URL on how to properly configure the 6-pin PCIe power connectors.

PCIe video card power connector
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/image/11419/

The Antec TruePower 550 EPS12V has Serial-Ata connectors as well, two of them to be exact.

Dave,

> cannot make a dos boot disk, can i use asus ez-flash (ie alt+f2) and have only the bios 1003 on the floppy then flash using that method

Yes, that should work just fine.

Varun,

> However can they use cool and quiet??.. u've set it to disabled, is there a reason for this?.

No, current Cool 'n Quiet drivers from AMD cause the system to crash with Windows XP SP2, or run the procressor at 1/2 its rated clockspeed all the time, with no way of clocking it to its full clockspeed. So we'll have to wait until they release new drivers.

Hi Sander,

thanks for the reply

I noticed the pci-e connector has 2 yellow and 2 black wires. Are the 2Y are interchangeable? and the 2B ?

regards

> I noticed the pci-e connector has 2 yellow and 2 black wires. Are the 2Y are interchangeable? and the 2B ?

Yes, as long as you use the wires coming from the 8-pin connector on the Antex TruePower EPS12V power supply or the Fortron Source FSP550-60PLN.

Did someone test the Enhance Invasion 460W psu?
(Winni-3500, 2x6600GT)

Guido

Thanks for the great FAQ.

I was wondering if anyone has come across problem with the nVidia NIC just randomly dieing after X hours? I have had this happen quite frequently and the problem remains until I reboot. Switching to the other Onboard NIC seems to reduce the problem but I have still had it happen to me once.

I have a new Plextor SATA DVD burner installed. I found that Windows XP SP2 (MCE) would lock up whenever I tried to access the drive forcing me to reboot. Switching to the other onboard SATA solved the problem and allows me to use the drive. Just FYI,

Lastly, has anyone managed to get a working system up and running using the new Windows 64b PR?

Hi, need help on this matter:

I’m running:

AMD 3500 Winchester
Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XL Pro TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 (MY-050-CS)
1 x XFX GeForce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

With the following power supply:

Hiper Type R 480W ATX2.2 PSU (CA-002-HP)
HPU-4K480 is our fourth generation 14db true 480W PSU. It features: A single 120mm UV fan, 450mm multi-braided UV cables, PFC, gold plated pins and built-In SATA connectors.

My problem is that when I boot I get the bios error code indicating a graphics problem, it worked for a while and has now decided its not.

I have followed the above bios tutorial exactly but still no joy.

The odd thing is the system will boot if I take the card out of the PCIEX16_1 and put it into the PCIEX16_2.

Do I have a faulty board? Maybe the power supply is no good?

Please help.

Anthony

Bad news-Geil Ultra X PC-3200 (2-2-2-5) is not supported in dual channel mode.n00b question-if i update bios is there any chance to run it?

^^ What do u mean with "not supported"?
I´ve Corsair 2-2-2-5( "supported" ) modules and my MoBo refuses to cooperate.-)
Perhaps we have the same prob, i don´t think yer modules are unsupported, just try 1 module in B1 slot
or change to 2-3-3-8...


+++ btw: good work, this FAQ, Sander! +++

Sorry for this total n00b question, I'm a first time builder.

Which case would you reccomend for this board? I want to get full use of all the ports.