Asus M3A AM2+ System "Swamp Thing" (56k Warning)

[crazydiamond]

whats up man, i dig the review. i just ordered this board and am expecting to get it friday or monday. im pairing it up w/ the x2 5000+ be, xfx 8800gt, 4x1gb a-data xtreme. im really lookin forward to the build, but the one thing im worried about it the atheros lan driver i keep reading about. a lot of people are reporting that this is creating issues w/ windows when they try to install the driver. the system will freeze/hang/loop reboots/etc......i was wondering if you have installed this driver and if youve had any issues, or are you using your own nic card? im expecting my build to be shipped friday or monday and want to know if it would be in my best interest to just go ahead and buy a pci lan card now instead of dealing with the atheros issues.

[Methious]

I haven't had any issues with the Ethernet, I noticed yesterday while updating windows that an optional update was the controller software and selected it for download. I haven't had any random reboots or lockups that weren't related to over clocking. I'm on Sat internet and it runs that at the full 1 Mb (mega bit) speed no problem.

I never installed the off the shelf drivers though, I went to Asus and downloaded every thing from there so I might have missed a flawed driver. It's a new board and runs pretty well. It's still on the initial BIOS release so as time passes the platform will mature and minor bugs will be addressed. Most of the problems people have told me about were driver related issues from installing stock drivers. Install the web drivers, install the latest nVidea forceware drivers (before you install the virus scanner), then run windows update completely. It was like 121 updates, one driver, several software and the rest security patches and such.

Hope this helps.

[jpierce55]

I had a miserable time changing to this mobo without a fresh install. Ended up that one of my old mobo drivers was still installed. I can't get this thing to work with the Phenom processor, it locks while loading. It oc's easy but I guess not a lot of need for the bios. I like AOD.

[Clouseau]

Seriously guys, if using VISTA go with installing the system with less than 1GB of total memory between the sticks and the vid card. It worked wonders on the M3A32-MVP.

[Methious]

I never have been a fan of putting in a new board without doing a fresh install, to many head aches. If it's still locking up I'd contact ASUS might be just a bios issue, we put a 9600 in mine for a couple of hours and had no problem. Wasn't horribly impressed with the 9600 but didn't run any programs that specifically used all four cores.

I finally got the ThermalRight Ultra 120 and Vantec Stealth fan in and installed. Probably the hardest most hair raising install of a heat sink I've ever done. Uses spring screws to attach to the back plate, had to use considerable downward force to get the screws to engage the threads. They really need to switch the screws to bolt heads to decrease the likely hood of the screw driver jumping off and puncturing the PCB of the motherboard. Fortunately (after an hour) I got it on without an incident. (minor nicks on the knuckles from sharp edges)

I must say I'm impressed with it, with no Artic Silver 5 break in time, 30C idle down from 36-37 but that wasn't where the heat sink shined, it really showed it's true colors under full torture test load. 3 hour torture test load Orthos the highest temp was 41C. Ran it up to 3.52 GHZ for 30 minutes with a slightly increased vcore 41C max temp.

The heat sink itself is huge, had to remove the blow hole fan (knew that in advance), replaced the Ultra blow hole cover and black mesh, between the mesh and the heat sink there's maybe 3mm clearance. On the AMD platform I was surprised to find it will only mount sideways. Meaning it has to face the power supply or video card slot. It covers the first ram slot on this board so changing ram will be a pain.

For cooling I'd say it's going to be hard to beat for AIR cooling. For me at least that out weighs any negatives. In the next day or two time permitting I'll get it clocked and stabilized, run a few more benches and finish this up.

[Methious]

There's a new bios for the board that might help if your still having problems. It's located here. http://support.asus.com/download/downlo ... uage=en-us

Also when we put the phenom in we had to leave the processor voltage set to auto on the old bios. New bios I don't know. I'm probably going to wait until the next bios as the first new bios might have some issues.

[jpierce55]

I got it working, typing on it right now. The AMD overdrive was bumping my ram to very aggressive settings (found where another person had the same issue on another board). I went to safe mode unchecked aod assistant from the startup files and all is well. AOD and Windows only shows 1.97ghz but my current settings are ~2.5 on cpu-z, I have not tried more. Typical oc's are supposed to be 2.6-2.7 so I hope to get there. The processor runs kind of warm 56c, maybe the bios is wrong?

[Methious]

56C seems a little hot, what's the top end temp of the 9700, I would think it's 70C or below, my x2 6400 is 61C. Here's a paste from Toms Hardware on temps with a zalman 9700 led heat sink.

"We used the Zalman CNPS9700 LED to cool the Phenom 9700 CPU, stressing it by running the multi-threaded version of Prime95 for half an hour. With the fan running at full speed, the CPU temperature reached 38°C. Reducing the fan speed resulted in a temperature of 45°C. When idle, the CPU stayed rather cool at only 32°C."

That's not over clocked though. What's your Vcore set at, if vcore is a little high on these for the over clock it'll pump out heat. 56C under full load or idle? If it's idle I'd sure let off the OC. I went to the heaviest air cooling I could find, thermalright 120 ultra. Went from idle 36-37 to 31C, full load torture 55C and creeping up, to 41C full load torture for an hour no creep. The artic silver 5 hasn't broken in yet so it should go lower. I'd want it to run cooler but I'm an anti heat freak.

[jpierce55]

My coolers clip was hung up on the NB, it was on the cpu but must not have been 100%. After scraping the NB down and clamping it better I got 29-32. The cpu topped at 2.46 stable and with the new bios 2.48. It is way slower than the X2. This board lacks the limitations to overclock the Phenom to the 2.6-2.7 most people get, but would likely be good for the 9600 BE when it comes out.

With the first bios my BE topped at 3.0, the new bios let it hit [email protected] and stable. Actually I bumped to 1.5v and looks like over 3.3 would be stable, but I will have to watch temps to go that high, first I will torture the 1.475 and go from there. The new bios adds some of the settings the first lacked, you may want to try it after all.

[Methious]

Probably try it, can always go back if I don't like it. Glad you found the heat problem. I think as the bios matures it'll be better for over clocking. I put that thermalright in and after break in time I'm going to push it a little. Not much overhead in the 3.2 but what the heck. It's a much better board even in it's infancy than my old m2n-e. I usually wait until they mature a little but when you suddenly come on extra cash it's a good time to move up.

It's been a rough few computer days the last few, so I'm taking a day off to get my head out of it, after that I'll clock some. (Last night was dreaming about networking cross platform Vista/XP you know it's time for a break when that happens.)

I'm happy with this one but I have a terminal case of techno lust so I'm looking at the new e8400 45nm Intel next time around.

[crazydiamond]

hey man, when you get back on there w/ the x2 can you try droppin the multi a few and uppin the fsb. some people are sayin that anything over 216 fsb and it locks up. i am gettin my 5000be tomorrow and i already have the board, i was hopin on goin w/ a fsb over 250 or so to oc my ram too. ill be gettin the rest of the build tomorrow night so if you dont mess w/ it by then ill probably be reportin back w/ what i find.

[Methious]

I had it 360 X 10 stable 15 minutes, but had a mediocre cooler on it so had to shut down for temps. It was the hardest OC on the board I did took 4 or 5 hours, voltages upped a notch or two on every thing. Long term stability dunno. Short term plan drop mult slightly, prolly 14 and try for 230FSB/HT yielding 3.22 and move from there. New Bios out (see above post) seems to help. You have to remember this is a new board/chip set and will mature. Unfortunately the impatience of desiring to be on the cutting edge is accompanied with the required patience for the cutting edge to catch up to your desires.

I think it's worth it though, if Phenom steps up to bat we'll be ready. Early reports say it's running 13% under comparable Intel Quads, at about the same percentage price drop. Same bang for buck. I might try out the new Intel e8400 45nm later this year but I have no regrets with my current setup even un-clocked. After I find out what I can do with it bench it and post I'll be going back to 3.2. If it's doing what you need why push it (other than we can).

[jpierce55]

Could be you read me stating that someplace else, because 216 is the max I can get before lock-up. 214 stable on the Phenom or BE, the northbridge on my board is running hot. I vented some outside air in and bumped it more stable, so heat is the issue and not from the cpu.

Methious says his nb is running reasonably cool, but it may run cooler at 200fsb, that I have not checked.

[Methious]

Sorry that was a reply to an earlier post, I mounted a small fan I had on the north bridge heat sink that helped. I'm scrounging a local shop for a heat pipe cooler monday, they said they had one, then planning on mounting a fan to that. Plus I'm running 3 120mm fans, 2 slot coolers, and venting air in from out side during some of the tests. I usually run at 200 FSB out side of testing. I'm considering a slot based water cooling system for the chip set, wouldn't be worth a hoot for the cpu but probably killer on the north bridge. Running at 3.2 there's not much need for a 24/7 OC. On a 90nm cpu running air 145w thermal dissipation I don't think the silicone will take much more. Best sustained I've seen is 3.52, max suicide run 4.0 cpu-z verified. A sustained 320 MHZ OC just isn't worth damaging the chip. I see a lot of the Phenom users having trouble above 215 FSB, but I don't know what their doing for cooling. I've gone as far as pumping in air conditioned air, and venting from outside air that was freezing. Guess it depends on the lengths your willing to go to dissipate heat.

[crazydiamond]

got everything put together today. no problems what-so-ever on my end.

the rig is:

asus m3a
x2 5000 be
rosewill rcx-z3
4x1gb a-data extreme
xfx 8800gt

im runnin original bios still, i wanna do some more tests with it before i switch to newer bios. i only used newest drivers off of asus website, never even put thier cd's in.

running the BE @ 3.2ghz just usin multi for now, around mid 20's C idle in windows. did have it at 3.5 w/ only the multi for a bit

scored over 11500 on 3dmark06 @ 3.4 w/ a small oc on vid card

i was havin problems lowering multi and upping fsb. i could boot into windows at highers speeds, but any tests would usually crash. i cant find the multi that went from 1x-5x on my last board. its the multi that you multiply the fsb by to get ht link. can someone tell me where that is in this bios. i think that might had somethin to do w/ stability issues and higher fsb.

my nb is warm, but not hot by any means

this a-data extreme is nuts, these things oc so well. i had it at like 1050mhz 4-4-4-12 @ 2.2v --- pc stats got it over 1250 @ 5-5-5-15, 1100 @ 4-4-4-12 --- for <$50 for 2x1gb i highly recommend

oh ya, my front usb ports dont work. no clue why, they are plugged in fine, they work on abit an52, but getting nothin outta the m3a, any suggestions?

well thats about it for now, ill be back when i get some more time. peace

[Methious]

When you up the FSB you may have to increase voltages, most notably Vcore,Vdimm, NB. Possibly others. Nice job on hitting 3.2 on the 5000! 3.4 is rockin it especially mid 20s temp idle.

The HTT link on that board isn't listed 1x-5x it's listed 1000,800,600,400,200, 1000 = 5x, 800 = 4x etc. Probably specific to the AMI bios. I tried the new bios, ran benches before and after no performance hit going to first revision. Solved a minor stability issue for me.

I got the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog (was same price as regular 8800 that week), nice card isn't it! Every game I've run it on it blasts it's way through it.

You shouldn't run into NB temp problems unless you OC using FSB/HTT (same thing on AMD). I was testing using air conditioned air and venting air from a near by window (dryer exhaust hose w/high cfm 120 mm fan drawing air). I hit a FSB wall at 223 with out cooling it. I don't really need it this build but I went ahead and got a ThermalRight 80MM NB cooler to match my cpu cooler. Their universal AM2/intel 775 so which ever I run I won't lose the investment. Now I just have to make time to put it in.

In all I'm impressed with the M3A, add some NB cooling and it'll clock pretty good. If you can hit a sweet FSB OC (3.2-3.4), crank the 8800 to 650/950 I bet you can break 12000. I hit 125xx with a little less video OC but I've got the GT with the larger fan so it was safe. Also had antivirus and windows defender running so disabling those might get a few more points.

Doing another AMD build this week, Asus M2N-E, 4400 x2, 160 gig sata 2, Asus video card, couple gigs ram. It's a seller to finance my habit.

[crazydiamond]

ya, i increased vdimm, vcore, but didnt see nb, only sb. where do i adjust nb volts? maybe its in the newer bios?

the xfx i have came in an alpha dog box and has alpha dog sticker on card, but does have stock clocks. i have been running them at 650/950.

12000 in 3dm06 is what im aimin for. i did all my wiring behind the mobo tray, and i have 3 120mm fans, soon to be 4 and the rcx-z3 is a 92mm that goes up to 3300rpm so i have pretty good airflow. the only wire/cord running in sight is the fan wire on the window panel. i think hitting 12000 for around $850 is pretty good. coulda skimped on hd, ram, hs/f to make it even cheaper too.

i think ill either be selling this one or doing another build in the next 2 weeks or so to sell. wantin to get my hands on that 9600be in a 790 board and some 1066 ram actually that would be temp rig too because i wont be content until we get that am2+ sli board. an unlocked next revision phenom and some 9xxx series in sli. then ill try to be content for awhile haha

[Methious]

I hear ya, I'm waffling, Phenom would slip right in my rig and run, but the have the new 45nm Intels coming. Been looking at the new 45nm 3.0 GHZ as a good air cooling over clocker. In my case I think it's terminal techno-lust. All my machines are temporary, 6 - 9 months average. I got the X2 4400 in and built today, Asus sent me a brand new M2N-E replacement board (newer version, has 4 pin cpu fan connector). Soon as it and a 1.6 single core I have sell I gotta make a decision.

[jpierce55]

Well Methious so far my Phenom remains slower than the 5000be on this board. Voltage can't be raised above 1.25 and that is the speculation by others as part of the limit. The Phenom is 100% stable now with 214fsb and 1200ht (runs 1283). I gave up on AOD that is how I got stable and cpu-z shows my memory running good timings and 428mhz now.

Good news is I super glued the nb anchors in and got that TT silencer installed. The cooler temps gives piece of mind and the offset cooler makes installing my Infinity much easier.

Asus needs to tweak the bios some more and the board can be better with the X2 at least, I can get speed with the 4 core but not the x2. Memory is also ganged with the new bios and can't be changed. The x2 scores 300points stronger in Science Mark. If I could get the ram up to speed with the X2 it would smoke the KA3, where right now it is ~the same. If they could get the vcore up on the Phenom to 1.375 I think it could run better than the current 2.46 but not match the 5000BE.

As for the Phenom itself in Sciencemark it runs 1200 flat at stock, and hit 1410 at 2.46mhz. 35c top temp. 20's at idle.
As for the 5000BE it runs 1710 with this board and [email protected] and 1740 with 1.45v with the KA3. The slight difference is lack of memory speed.

Lastly I think the 5000 shows high temps, it shows 47-51 after full load. I felt the cooler and the heat pipes even felt room temp. (and the cooler is flat now ) That indicates to me I could probably crank to the 1.5v safely if I wished and hit 3.3-3.4ghz. I won't do that unless just for a good benchie.

I have the Phenom in for now but likely will take it back out, it is less performance+more power consumption.

AOD is not to swift after all, but I may try the next release.

[Methious]

I don't have much faith in software over clockers, AI Boost is ok for a mild OC.

Is the voltage on the phenom limited in bios? Boards supposed to go 0.8 to 1.7 in 0.025 increments. Or is that just max recommended voltage from AMD? I went with the 6400 because of the higher clock speed being advantageous in games, down the line if games support quad better I'd jump on one. I'm wanting to see what they do with the tri cores should be interesting.

I ordered a killer NB cooler for the board, ThermalRight 80mm to match the cpu cooler. Might not need it much now but if I go to the 45nm 3 ghz intel it'll be looking good, their supposed to OC like a big dog.

Asus sent me a new M2N-E to replace the old one, if I go intel it's going to be another Asus board their features and support just rock.