A8V Deluxe Rev 2 opinions please

[Cyberlunacy]

i need some opinions on the Rev 2 ASUS A8V Deluxe.
looking at a trade for one but really dont like everything that i have read so far.
im probably going to with the NEO2 Plat for the primary board but i like having a backup mobo.

- they fixed the PCI lock in the rev 2 baords yes ?
- i have a gig of doublesided OCZ PC4000 EL Gold Rev 2. think the mobo will be ok with the ram ?
- Anything else i need to know about before i get it ?
- Im not much of a fan of the via chipsets but its a good deal,, so,,,
- Aside form yet another board from asus with HORRIBLE vdimm settings what else is poopy. (i mean come on,, they pretty much are stopping you from doing any decent overclocking with only 2.8v vdimm)

voice your thoughts, opinions and warnings so i know what im dealing with... or just flat out tell me to avoid it.... but remember its a rev 2

 

[Lord of Shadows]

Pci lock works

Check the list of recommended ram for the board, if its on it should work fine. Mine isnt and wont run at 250mhz (rated speed)

Ive heard that you can use ocz ddr booster to get up to 3.1v's but it will likely fry something above that. (I'll be testing this as soon as I finally buy a booster, up to 3.1v's though not about to risk the board)

Its a good board =)

 

[Cyberlunacy]

yeah i was just over at OCforums and read that the overvoltage protection kicks in at 3.1v yeah forget that....
man,,, asus is really becoming a turd for a mobo maker. my K8N-E deluxe kicked butt but the vdimm was only 2.7 which was fine since thats what my ram is rated at for DDR500 so overclocking it to 250mhz was no issue. but its just the principle of it.

im not liking this board rev 1 or 2 or whatever.

 

[cstafs]

I just got a refurb from Newegg that happens to be a rev.2 because I thought mine was bad.Is it worth trading out the 1.2 ver. I have installed for the rev.2?

Chris

 

[Cyberlunacy]

dude what did you just say ???

 

[cstafs]

Nevermind

 

[Cyberlunacy]

lol i got the part about you got a rev 2 now but that last part was a question,, which i didnt understand what you were saying.

anywyas i declined the trade so.... he claimed it ran fine on an FX53 but ehh im just not getting a good vibe on this board.

 

[Masterphool]

I just finished building a box with that board in it for someone else. Although I wouldn't get it for myself because like you I want some "room" to screw around with it, it is rock stable for a stock build. I had problems which were related to my dumbassness, but the rest was flawless.

The major thing I think is legitimate to complain about is that the manual doesn't mention using only 1 stick of RAM in slot B1 to get it to POST. Maybe my board wasn't a revision 2 ... don,t really recall, but I found it stupid that because the memory controller is onchip for my processor (3200+) that the board won't post with anything other than one stick of RAM in the right slot until the BIOS is flashed to the latest version.

 

[NoGodForMe]

Rock solid board, but it only OCs to 230mz. Myself, and others have run into the same roadblock. The board itself will OC up to 250mz (reducing multiplier of CPU), but if you try to take an FX53 above 2800, that is where the road block happens. I'm running Corsair PC3200XLPro (lights), and then tried G.SKILL LE and hit the exact same roadblock.

It's the Via chipset.

If you don't mind being stuck at 230mz, then fine, go for it.
But if you want to OC over 250mz, and try for extreme scores, then you need the MSI NEO2 Platinum.
And don't try the Abit board, it has the same chipset, and people hit the same roadblock.

 

[Cyberlunacy]

yeah im really lost on which 939 board to get.
im leaning towards the NEO2 Plat. but even that has issues with memory types.

i mean really are any of the 939 mobo's worth a poop. ? I know we all have issues with different boards, but there are boards like that A8V which consistantly show repeated issues with everyone who has them.

what about gigabyte,, didnt they have a good 939 ?
and i reallllyyy dont want to get a VIA,, those things are just crap... ill stick with the nforce 3. and the nforce 4 baords are crap too. all you gotta do is look around,, everyone who has one has issues. Man another example of yet another chipset released that mobo makers dont thuroughly test. they just make it and shove it out the door for us consumers to test and be punshed with while we deal with it and wait for them to make a bios update or an updated board.
frankly i wouldnt even think about nforce 4 for another 6 months.

 

[Lord of Shadows]

If you think an asus a8v is crap I dont think your going to find what your looking for...

 

[CounTDookU23]

Rock solid board, but it only OCs to 230mz. Myself, and others have run into the same roadblock. The board itself will OC up to 250mz (reducing multiplier of CPU), but if you try to take an FX53 above 2800, that is where the road block happens. I'm running Corsair PC3200XLPro (lights), and then tried G.SKILL LE and hit the exact same roadblock.

It's the Via chipset.

If you don't mind being stuck at 230mz, then fine, go for it.
But if you want to OC over 250mz, and try for extreme scores, then you need the MSI NEO2 Platinum.
And don't try the Abit board, it has the same chipset, and people hit the same roadblock.

Dam. Im glad i read this. Im stuck at 2.3ghz on my 3200+. I couldnt push one bit past stock with Corsair EMS LL 2-2-2-5 memory, no matter the timings, voltage......... you name it. Got a kit of PDP Partriot 3200XBL and it let me easily get to 2.3 rock solid. Wont do jack shit over that though. Memory is rated at 533mhz with 2.8V. I would go with the DFI or MSI board, but I cant seem to part with my AGP 6800GT. I feel its still got some heavy gaming left in it. I havent even changed the stock fan yet. Anyways, meh two cents. Believe this guy, there is some sort of road block on this baby. However If you just want to OC a little bit, this board is super stable. No Bull. Just not alot of perks. Peace

 

[NoGodForMe]

If you think an asus a8v is crap I dont think your going to find what your looking for...

He's got a point.

The A8V is rock solid, and 230mz is pretty good. May not be the 270 or 290mz some are looking for, but it's alright.
You have to decide how high you want to OC. If you're on air, then I'd say go with the Asus A8V, because you're not going much higher than 230mz.

As for the NF4 boards, seems the same situation is happening. You've got the Asus A8N-SLI which is rock solid, but hits a roadblock at 245mz. If you want to go above that, you try the MSI Neo4 or DFI Lanparty and hope you get a good board.

 

[CounTDookU23]

yeah im really lost on which 939 board to get.
im leaning towards the NEO2 Plat. but even that has issues with memory types.

i mean really are any of the 939 mobo's worth a poop. ? I know we all have issues with different boards, but there are boards like that A8V which consistantly show repeated issues with everyone who has them.

what about gigabyte,, didnt they have a good 939 ?
and i reallllyyy dont want to get a VIA,, those things are just crap... ill stick with the nforce 3. and the nforce 4 baords are crap too. all you gotta do is look around,, everyone who has one has issues. Man another example of yet another chipset released that mobo makers dont thuroughly test. they just make it and shove it out the door for us consumers to test and be punshed with while we deal with it and wait for them to make a bios update or an updated board.
frankly i wouldnt even think about nforce 4 for another 6 months.

You cant call something poop that youve never tried out. Hell even MSI had problems recognizing the CPU as did ASUS and all other 939 boards when they moved to 90mm.
It would have happend to DFI also. If you look around, they all had that problem. Even I was a bit mad because they wouldnt boot my cpu. But do you know which board did out of all of them. I do mean ALL of them. Thats right the ASUS A8V Rev2.
I dont see ppls gripe with via chipsets. The only people not happy with this board are extreme overclockers. ASUS is a great company. They just didnt pack all the enthusiast goodies into this batch. Good luck.

 

[AnglerfisH]

I've had no problems with my A8V Deluxe revision 2.0, aside from the 1009 bios being flaky (went back to 1008). I am still trying different tweaks with this board. It's been rock solid, glad to have AGP and PCI locks.

 

[Masterphool]

I've had no problems with my A8V Deluxe revision 2.0, aside from the 1009 bios being flaky (went back to 1008). I am still trying different tweaks with this board. It's been rock solid, glad to have AGP and PCI locks.

Well I don't know how that's possible. Mine had the 1008 BIOS when I got it and it wouldn't recognise anything except 1 stick of RAM in slot B1. I had to upgrade to the 1009 BIOS so it would recognise RAM in 2 slots. (Didn't try in more than 2, only had 2 sticks)

 

[CounTDookU23]

Well I don't know how that's possible. Mine had the 1008 BIOS when I got it and it wouldn't recognise anything except 1 stick of RAM in slot B1. I had to upgrade to the 1009 BIOS so it would recognise RAM in 2 slots. (Didn't try in more than 2, only had 2 sticks)

Wierd. I would boot till I used the 1008 bios. LOL. I got in using the one stick of ram procedure and afudos.

 

[CastleBravo]

You cant call something poop that youve never tried out. Hell even MSI had problems recognizing the CPU as did ASUS and all other 939 boards when they moved to 90mm.
It would have happend to DFI also. If you look around, they all had that problem. Even I was a bit mad because they wouldnt boot my cpu. But do you know which board did out of all of them. I do mean ALL of them. Thats right the ASUS A8V Rev2.
I dont see ppls gripe with via chipsets. The only people not happy with this board are extreme overclockers. ASUS is a great company. They just didnt pack all the enthusiast goodies into this batch. Good luck.

That kind of says it all. The most trouble-free and stable 939 mobo seems to be... the A8V Deluxe 2.0. Their only fluke was needing 1 stick of RAM to POST with the Winchester cores, but at least you could POST them at all with the Winchester... most other mobos couldn't at all.

The best overclockers are the MSI and DFI boards using nForce chipsets. Their nForce 4 boards seem to be getting sick overclocks. But they also seem to be more "twitchy" generally. Of course, extreme overclockers are typically experienced enough to deal with that anyway, and will see that as an OK trade-off for faster overclocks.

 

[Captain_Insano]

Pci lock works

Check the list of recommended ram for the board, if its on it should work fine. Mine isnt and wont run at 250mhz (rated speed)

Ive heard that you can use ocz ddr booster to get up to 3.1v's but it will likely fry something above that. (I'll be testing this as soon as I finally buy a booster, up to 3.1v's though not about to risk the board)

Its a good board =)

NO the PCI/AGP lock does NOT fully work on all the rev. 2.00 baords. ALOT of people who have winchester cores are haveing problems with it, it causes the system to hang before booting and several other weird things. Its ONLY the winchester that it is currently haveing problems with and i believe asus is trying to fix it. Its not a horrible unworkable problem, just if you have a winnie you MIGHT experience the problems. I'm not sure which stepping version of the winnies do and do not work well, but whatever stepping my winnie has it doesn't like the lock. I can't oc at all until asus resolves the issue. As for 1:1 ocing the K8T800 P's generally top out around 230/240, some can get 250 +, but average is in the 230/240 fsb range. But then again you have plenty of divider options, and since you can run all the way down to 3:2 divider without impact you can get just as high of a CPU clock, and a decent FSB. Overall the A8V R2.0 is one of the better stock boards, its decent for OC, but i'd stick with the NF3/NF4 based chipsets for high fsb ocing. Asus's NF4 board is turning out to oc really well. The msi board is 'the board to get' for fsb ocing.
Stock performance there is almost no diff between the via and nforce chipsets, it all about ocing where they break apart.

 

[Shadow27]

My Asus A8v Deluxe Rev 2 with a 3200 winnie overclocks to 2.7ghz easy, I haven't tried any further because I'm waiting on my XP-90 to come in But yeh 270 fsb on mine Dunno whats wrong with those just getting 230. BUT i do have that problem with it hanging on post, which is due to the locks on the board i reckon because it doens't do it at all with them set to auto. All i have to do is press the reset button and all is ok.

Shadow27

 

[Lord of Shadows]

I can overclock much higher than 230 as well with my newcastle.

 

[mikecoscia]

I have the 1.8 version of this board with 1009 bios. Do i have the agp/pci locks? How do I enable them? I have had nothing but bad luck when overclocking this board, can't get passed 210 FSB with my corsair twinx-3200xl ram. I also noticed my FX-53 runs hot even with my xp-120 (46 idle, mid 50's load).

 

[Captain_Insano]

What are your BIOS settings? For some reason mine goes nutz when i try 250 fsb when i lock it to DDR400 for effective asyncronous fsb. I don't know why, it just won't get up there and I have brand new OCZ PC4000 which is reccommended for my mobo. I think the average A8V's only do about 230 FSB. I have heard alot more of those than your high OC. My cpu goes to 2.6 easy on air also if i run a divider, its just the fsb it won't work right with. Maybe the via hd controller isn't shielded properly, i just switche to the promise controller, i'll try again.
You must be running a divider, cause PC3200 rarely gets to 270 fsb. If you left your Memclock to auto then the bios automatically compensates with a divider, your HTT is at 270 but i doubt your memory is. I can do the same thing and running a divider hardly if at all affects performance, so its not that big of a deal. I just would like to run async to use my meomory to its potential.
LOL, my sig is waaaay outdated, i'd better fix it. There we go, all fixed now.

 

[Dallows]

That kind of says it all. The most trouble-free and stable 939 mobo seems to be... the A8V Deluxe 2.0. Their only fluke was needing 1 stick of RAM to POST with the Winchester cores, but at least you could POST them at all with the Winchester... most other mobos couldn't at all.

The best overclockers are the MSI and DFI boards using nForce chipsets. Their nForce 4 boards seem to be getting sick overclocks. But they also seem to be more "twitchy" generally. Of course, extreme overclockers are typically experienced enough to deal with that anyway, and will see that as an OK trade-off for faster overclocks.

So what, you had to boot then flash the bios to 1009 so it would work?

 

[CastleBravo]

So what, you had to boot then flash the bios to 1009 so it would work?

Boot with 1 stick of RAM, update BIOS, turn off, set up RAM normally, turn on, works fine.

 

[Dallows]

have to remember that one

 

[mdlestat]

How come my board has Rev. 2.00 printed on the board itself, but all the diagnostics I use on it, including ASUS Probe, tells me I have a rev 1.xx board?

How can I find out for sure what I have?

I just got this thing from Newegg last week, if that matters--

 

[Ruffian998]

I love this board. I havent really overclocked with it, as i dont really have a good enough 12v and I hear the AMD64's love the 12v. But I have gotten my 3000+ to 3500+ speeds easily and there is no telling how much faster I can get it once I drop my ram settings a bit and get a new PSU.

Also, this thing is rock solid. I've had it running for 10 days straight running games everyday (Sims 2, HL2, Doom 3 Demo, etc...), writing papers for college, surfing the net, playing music. I think this thing might actually be more stable than my P4 setup I had a few months ago.

I dont think you'll have a problem with this board though. Plus it has the third IDE connector so you can put your hard drive on that and have your CD-ROM's seperate. But this is my second Asus board now. I use to be an Abit fan, but im converted now.

 

[Dallows]

Listen to the poster above me, he know's what he's talking about. I don't remember if I stated before but I say again. I've used this board in 3 machines I've built so far and all have been solid from the start. I tried oc'ing a little but I was held up by my lack of experience and knowledge and probably my newcastle core, lol. But yeah, I love the layout of the board and the ease of setup. Just make sure you up the bios to 1009 right away and you should be fine.

 

[CastleBravo]

How come my board has Rev. 2.00 printed on the board itself, but all the diagnostics I use on it, including ASUS Probe, tells me I have a rev 1.xx board?

How can I find out for sure what I have?

I just got this thing from Newegg last week, if that matters--

Alot of older utilities mis-report it as 1.xx insetad of 2.0.

 

[deltron3030]

i really cant see why people are only getting 230 i have 2 a8v deluxe rev 2 boards and both oc STABLY up to 270 and they will boot ok at 277.if i had to buy another 939 board i would get another a8v their solid and well designed,great layout.im allways defending this mobo cos it really shouldnt get labelled as a mobo only good for stock speeds as it is really sable in my experience at higher speeds people should stop blaming the mobo for poor oc's.and no silly oc interface like some.