neogort Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 For the ASUS A7N8X vs its bigger brother the A7N8X Deluxe, which performs faster? I know the Deluxe has all the bells and whistles (too bad I don't need them), but usually when it comes to ASUS their Deluxe versions also have higher performance even with the extra features (baseing this fact on their graphic cards). Are they both the same performance wise? I won't be using SATA or any of the onboard features for both mobos. Also, the Dual Channel RAM question: Does Dual Channel RAM only work with PC3200 (400mhz) RAM? I planned to plug a 333fsb barton into the A7N8X plain along with some Crucial PC2700 (333mhz) sticks and run those in dual mode - basically making the RAM:CPU a 1:1 ratio (which I heard is better)... but then the official description of the dual-channel support says: DualDDR combines the power of DDR400 with two independent memory controllers, which yields a staggering 6.4GB per second of memory bandwidth?twice the memory bandwidth of other DDR400 chipsets. Increased memory bandwidth delivers better system and graphics performance, resulting in more overall productivity. Soooo, do they mean just the DDR400 chipset in general or that the ram actually has to be DDR400 (PC3200)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 only the deluxe has the ability to do dual channel, check the specs on the site www.asus.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neogort Posted September 16, 2003 Author Share Posted September 16, 2003 I believe both of them support dual channel, unless their website is wrong? I know the A7N8X-X (budget version) doesn't For the A7N8X plain http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A7N8X&langs=09 Dual-Channel DDR 4003 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets Max. 3 GB unbuffered PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 non-ECC DDR RAM Memory (Twinbank) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sUpErpAws Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 dual-channel works with all speeds of ddr If I were you, i'd just go for the a7n8x-x like i am in a month. dual-channel is pretty useless right now for amd systems, giving only a 3-4% boost to overall performance. Quoted from Tom's Hardware - "Buyers enticed by dual channel DRAM should note one crucial thing: in theory, a dual-channel memory link does not bring any benefits since the data rate is limited by the FSB bus's bandwidth. It's fixed at a maximum 200 MHz (Athlon XP 3200+) to give a bandwidth of 3.2 GB/s. Even using fast dual DDR400 memory with an access time of 6.4 GB/s has no effect on the Front Side Bus bottleneck of 3.2 GB/s. With that in mind, it's really not so inappropriate to question dual-channel memory technology on the Socket A platform. A single memory channel combined with DDR400 - and cleverly connected at the Northbridge - has a bandwidth of 3.2 GB/s. What's more, this solution saves money." Well, that's my opinion on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12Iceman Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Go with the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe. You may not need the special features like serial ata now but you might want them in the future. Also i recommend PC3200 ram which can run at sync at 333 mhz when needed but can also run at 400 mhz for when you upgrade later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blachole Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 I recomend the asus a7n8x deluxe also..i got it and could never be happier :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aem4162 Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 i ordered the deluxe friday while reading ththe other a7n8x thread....it's on the way and i can't wait to get it...mom and lisa can have the -x boards.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blachole Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 The deluxe is truely an amazing board. Just be sure to have your speakers pluged in when you start it up for the first time ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desaul17 Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 The deluxe is truely an amazing board. Just be sure to have your speakers pluged in when you start it up for the first time ;) I finally had to turn her off. She'd scare the hell out of me!! :woot: Plus, she lies about the memory.....typical :happy: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza Veteran Posted September 17, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 17, 2003 I finally had to turn her off. She'd scare the hell out of me!! :woot:Plus, she lies about the memory.....typical :happy: . What's the matter with it? Just curious to know :ninja: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitjel Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 The mobo talks or something? :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desaul17 Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 Yeah, female voice when it posts. In the olders bios versions she'd say the memory failed the start up test when it was fine. Been fixed since version 1002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aem4162 Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 WOW!!!! I got my deluxe today!!!! It's such a bunny!!!! gotta go get a cpu..... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm baby :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 I believe both of them support dual channel, unless their website is wrong?I know the A7N8X-X (budget version) doesn't For the A7N8X plain http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A7N8X&langs=09 Dual-Channel DDR 400 3 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets Max. 3 GB unbuffered PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 non-ECC DDR RAM Memory (Twinbank) yeah sorry bout that, its the -x version that dont support dual channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aem4162 Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 *sigh* my new deluxe failed the post...i'm on another computer and everything is fine i wanna die :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desaul17 Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 What kind of memory do you have in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aem4162 Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 2 x 512 mb of ddr400....it worked with the other boards any ideas? i sent in a tech support req to asus, but now i'm thinking i'll just rma it back to newegg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desaul17 Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 You might try looking around over at NforcersHQ. Check out the FAQ's and see if you missed anything during set up. Kinda unusual for them to arrive DOA. If the board isn't dead, my best guess would be that the processor isn't seated properly if the memory is ok but it could be a lot of things. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lammmetak Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 only the deluxe has the ability to do dual channel, check the specs on the site www.asus.com not true my mobo is non deluxe and has dual channel :devil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beep99 Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 YOu betcha it is DUAL capable.But there is a few things you so called experts forgot to mention in giving this person some advice.For one....the Deluxe is of course a very good board but the non-deluxe is the same exact board with just not so many extras on it.Sata being one of them...also Firewire.The main feature that is the one that matters most is whether it is a rev 2.0 board now.These newer version boards come with improved placings of certain parts on the board and also have the ULtra 400 chipset on them now.I suspect in your purchase of the Deluxe you didnt bother to find out what version of board you got.The version is in between the 2nd and 3rd PCI slots and is printed on the board itself.Also if your current Ram doesnt post maybe it just might with a BIOS upgrade.The newest version currently out is 1006 but be careful when and if you look for it on the Asus site because they have 2 different Bios....the one's made for pre-version 2.0 boards and the newer version 2.0 boards. Also to activate it into DUAL you have to have the sticks in the proper RAM banks,which you probably know already. Good luck....let us know what's up ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lammmetak Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 tip: use asus update and update the bios: it will say while booting: < how much ram u got(in my case 1 gig) > , dual channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desaul17 Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 YOu betcha it is DUAL capable.But there is a few things you so called experts forgot to mention in giving this person some advice.For one....the Deluxe is of course a very good board but the non-deluxe is the same exact board with just not so many extras on it.Sata being one of them...also Firewire.The main feature that is the one that matters most is whether it is a rev 2.0 board now.These newer version boards come with improved placings of certain parts on the board and also have the ULtra 400 chipset on them now.I suspect in your purchase of the Deluxe you didnt bother to find out what version of board you got.The version is in between the 2nd and 3rd PCI slots and is printed on the board itself.Also if your current Ram doesnt post maybe it just might with a BIOS upgrade.The newest version currently out is 1006 but be careful when and if you look for it on the Asus site because they have 2 different Bios....the one's made for pre-version 2.0 boards and the newer version 2.0 boards.Also to activate it into DUAL you have to have the sticks in the proper RAM banks,which you probably know already. Good luck....let us know what's up ok? Newegg hasn't sold a revision 1.x board in months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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