AOpen nCK804Ua-LFS Motherboard report

[dwb]

Steve, take a look at the Abit K8N - my opinion is that Asus USED to be worth the extra money. They seem to have their share of bad juju like everybody else.

Do you want to buy my M-Audio Revo 5.1 for your audio needs? <email me if you do>. I am going to go with the dreaded "Creative" to add to my gaming audio. The X-fi Xtreme music is also supposed to sound pretty good.

dwb

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Originally posted by: SteveSAS
Thanks for the replies. Please don't be mad at me, but I've decided to switch to the ASUS A8N-E (feel free to talk me out of it).

I am going to take Operandi's advice and go to a 6600GT video card with a fan. Best current deal is the XFX PVT43GNDF3 Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card from newegg till 10/31 for $147-$20 rebate.

Next step up (at newegg) would be to 128MB 6600GTs from CHAINTECH (SE6600G) or GIGABYTE (GV-NX66T128D) for $145.

Your thoughts?

Also...

I assume the fan speed is temperature controlled?
Do you think the fan on this board could be replaced with a passive cooler (though I will start with the stock fan)?
How come the GF6600 cards have 256MB and sell for less than the 128MB GF6600GTs? Is the GT still a better performer with only 128MB?

Thanks again

Steve Sobel (non-gamer, audio enthusiast)

I have used the A8N-E in a build before. That person is having no issues. Running the latest release 1008 BIOS and nForce 6.66 drivers on that board. I find no reason to dissuade you from it. That build I also used a Zalman NB47J on the MCP, so you can certainly passively cool it. The only thing is that it ends up UNDER the video card in a vertical orientation and technically this puts it into a "heat pocket" -- especially if you are using a 6800 or longer card. My solution was to make sure a front case fan was used to blow air across the Zalman.

My experiences have led me to conclude that MOST boards out there have some quirk or another. Some boards have more quirks than others. The least quirky I know of are, and in order of least quirky to most (of the ones I have used):

1. ABit KN8 Ultra (no quirks at all that I have run into--1 build with this board so far)
2. EPoX 9NPA+ SLI (no quirks at all that I have run into--1 build with this board)
3. AOpen nCK804Ua-LFS (temp reading quirk, otherwise rock stable--1 build--my machine)
4. EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra (voltage quirk, does not properly read 1.35/1.4v vCore CPUs, otherwise rock stable with latest BIOS and vCore can be set to -0.1v -- 22 builds so far)
5. ASUS A8N-E (quirk around having an "Unknown ACPI Device" show up in Device Manager unless you install the AI NOS Booster driver for this device...others have reported the following quirks: loud or noisy MCP fan, higher than normal DOA rate, sensitive to what nForce drivers you use in relation to what BIOS you are running--especially in a RAID array situation, and lastly flakey internet -- without using NAM). I personally saw the "Uknown ACPI Device" one show up, and let it go out the door that way. It was not until later that I discovered exactly what that was. 1 build so far with this board.


I was using the EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra for standard builds, but am now switching to the ABit KN8 Ultra based on my experience. It does lack firewire, but most people I build for could care less about firewire.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: dwb
My temps in BIOS look resonable, but I don't review them in various situations.

dwb

So what kind of temps are you experiencing out of curiosity?

Originally posted by: SteveSAS
I assume the fan speed is temperature controlled?
Do you think the fan on this board could be replaced with a passive cooler (though I will start with the stock fan)?
How come the GF6600 cards have 256MB and sell for less than the 128MB GF6600GTs? Is the GT still a better performer with only 128MB?

Thanks again

Steve Sobel (non-gamer, audio enthusiast)

Yes, you can replace the stock fan. Unless it comes passive the stock cooling always comes off in my systems whether it's CPU or graphics card. For the 6600GT I'd opt for Zalman's passive heatsink, the ZM80D-HP.

I don't think I'd buy a graphics card with 128MB today, unless you don't plan on keeping it very long and/or don't mind dropping the settings for the newest titles.

 

[dwb]

This thread is in danger of going four pages. Who would have thought that the "Dark Horse" of motherboards, the Aopen nCK804Ua-LFS, would have caused such a stir. Almost as much as a new brand of oatmeal hitting the shelves.

dwb

 

[cr0ssfire]

Yes, indeed...the nCK804Ua-LFS will soon take over the world! Long live...LONGEVITY!

This really looks like a good choice for a motherboard, even if its overclocking options aren't totally overwhelming (but I assume it can OC to an extent). Literally every other nF4 ultra motherboard out there has a glaring issue in my eyes that dissuades me from considering it, but the only thing this motherboard seems to not have going for it is those little extra features like MSI and Gigabyte might offer which I've personally taken a liking to.

I don't know about you all, but I'd rather have a rock-solid motherboard that won't let you down rather than an overly-picky, fussy DFI board. Indeed, as Christmas approaches I've got my eyes set on the AOpen board as a gift to myself...

 

[dwb]

Yup, there are those of us that value stability over "gazzillion feature sets" I like performance, get a real kick out of building and tweaking my own system, but am just not willing to "experiment" with agressive settings that may damage components and shorten life.

But that is this week; maybe next week I will overclock.

dwb

 

[Operandi]

dwb, (or anyone else for that matter) what kind of temps are you seeing with your board?

 

[dwb]

Reading forums, rebooting the computer, and reading CPU temp in BIOS said 42C. My best placement of a heatprobe is right next to my northbridge chip, it is now reading 39C - I have a zalman passive cooler on it. I have the Lian Li "cheese grater" case, lots of big, quiet fans, and I keep them all on low with a fanbus, until I start gaming, then I crank em up. Since I am not overclocking, I see little risk in my setup overheating. Again, if you are overclocking and MUST have reliable temp readings, I think that ChiPCGuys review of the Abit K8N would appeal more to me. So far, I like this Aopen board; it gave me zero setup headaches. BUT, I am not your typical Anandtech forum poster as I am not pushing my system to infinity and beyond.

=^) dwb

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: dwb
Reading forums, rebooting the computer, and reading CPU temp in BIOS said 42C. My best placement of a heatprobe is right next to my northbridge chip, it is now reading 39C - I have a zalman passive cooler on it. I have the Lian Li "cheese grater" case, lots of big, quiet fans, and I keep them all on low with a fanbus, until I start gaming, then I crank em up. Since I am not overclocking, I see little risk in my setup overheating. Again, if you are overclocking and MUST have reliable temp readings, I think that ChiPCGuys review of the Abit K8N would appeal more to me. So far, I like this Aopen board; it gave me zero setup headaches. BUT, I am not your typical Anandtech forum poster as I am not pushing my system to infinity and beyond.

=^) dwb

Overclocking won't be done on this system either. Quality, Stability and lowest noise possible are the main concern.

That seems like a farily decent temp, maybe a bit high for an idle. Is that with the retail HS/F and Cool n' Quiet on or off, how about load temps?

 

[dwb]

See my signiture; fans on low with bus rheostats. I haven't peaked at load temps, but I crank up the fans and don't worry about it.

dwb

 

[dwb]

THIS JUST OUT:

Aopen's customer service sucks! I have been trying to contact them for over a week, in different manners, and NO RESPONSE YET.

It's not just the big boys. Too bad, I like the board.

dwb

 

[AlexV]

I just did a new build the other day based on nCK804a-LFS (non Ultra version). Everything went relatively smoothly.

When I just booted up, and went into the BIOS, I saw the CPU and chipset temperatures, and thought that I didn't install the heatsink right (it's a 3rd party one). The CPU temp was 53-54 C just at boot. That got me scared

Having looked at the first post in this thread I saw that this temp was in line with what ChiPCGuy saw. So, I just let it go. Having checked the AOpen's site for the motherboard, they list the ability to monitor the system's temps and voltages here

http://global.aopen.com.tw/tech/techinside/hwmon.htm

This is a link for Hardware Monitoring found under the motherboard's Overview tab. I tried to find where to download Smartguardian, but didn't find it.

So, it appears that AOpen advertises the ability to monitor the temps/voltages through a Windows utility, but the one cannot be found on their site of M/B CD.

I'm wondering if there's any news from AOpen on the Windows utility to monitor the system's temps/voltages. I'm coming from an old Socket A ASUS board, and having ASUS Probe was really nice.

Thanks,

-- Alex

 

[dwb]

Good luck getting ANY information out of Aopen. For almost two weeks, I have been trying to resolve the conflict between my Aopen board (same as yours) and the Creative Xfi sound card. Nothing. Nada. Not sure anyone there is alive.

MEDIC, CHECK AOPEN CORPORATE FOR SIGNS OF LIFE!!!

LOL. They suck.

dwb

 

[AlexV]

dwb,

Just curious, have you tried posting in the forum on AOpen's website?

My build seems to be stable. I've had some issues with Windows hanging in various apps, but I hope that I resolved that by updating .NET framework and NVidia drivers.

Have you tried the latest NVidia drivers? I had IE hang on downloading some Windows Media samples off Microsoft's site, and updated NVidia drivers to v. 6.70 (that's the version on their website). This seems to have resolved the issue.

Another thing... Have you disable the onboard sound card in the BIOS? I remember seeing that option there.

By the way, do you know what a small red LED being on in the corner of the M/B just above the STBY_LED means? I looked all over the manual, but didn't find anything.

Thanks,

-- Alex

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Bump to let others know, despite being a good motherboard with a couple of quirks, AOpen is extremely unresponsive to customer inquiries. Buyer beware. I now would heartily recommend the ABit KN8 Ultra or EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra as great alternatives. Both have better bundles and cost less. The ABit has no quirks that I am aware of, and am now using it in my primary machine as well as making it a standard non-SLi motherboard for future builds.

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Originally posted by: AlexV
dwb,

Just curious, have you tried posting in the forum on AOpen's website?

My build seems to be stable. I've had some issues with Windows hanging in various apps, but I hope that I resolved that by updating .NET framework and NVidia drivers.

Have you tried the latest NVidia drivers? I had IE hang on downloading some Windows Media samples off Microsoft's site, and updated NVidia drivers to v. 6.70 (that's the version on their website). This seems to have resolved the issue.

Another thing... Have you disable the onboard sound card in the BIOS? I remember seeing that option there.

By the way, do you know what a small red LED being on in the corner of the M/B just above the STBY_LED means? I looked all over the manual, but didn't find anything.

Thanks,

-- Alex

Not speaking for dwb, but he has posted numerous messages on not only Dr. Open, but also their forums as well.

It is not that his machine is not stable, it simply refuses to POST with the Creative X-Fi Extreme Music sound card installed in any slot and his on-board AC-97 is disabled from my understanding from discussions with him.

As for the LED you speak of, I believe that is the one indicating the motherboard is fully up and powered. I do not believe it lights when the machine is a in a ATX soft-off condition.

 

[AlexV]

ChiPCGuy,

Thanks for the reply.

It's a shame that AOpen's customer service is sub-par. I haven't had any issues with the motherboard so far, had some with my new install but they seem to have been Windows XP ones.

I do definitely miss Asus Probe that I used with my old Socket A Asus board.

-- Alex

 

[dwb]

Aopen never did address my concerns.

My vote:
Motherboard - Great, never a problem with it
Aopen customer service - The WORST I have encountered

Too bad. A company that is not in the main hunt for MB customers should be the best at helping with technical problems. I would therefore have to recommend a pass on Aopen's products.

dwb

 

[dwb]

 

[dwb]

Digging up a stale, dead thread here! Pheeeewww

I am about to drop a 4800+ x2 into this thing. Anybody else out there running a dual core with this board? LOL, I should have asked this before, but if it doesn't work, I will use the Aopen board for my wife's computer and buy the Abit KN8 for me - I bet that Abit supports their products, whereas Aopen does not. (is that a run-on sentance?)

dwb

 

[Operandi]

I just finished a two builds with this board about a month ago. The machines worked flawlessly but I had mix feelings about the board itself...

There is plenty to like about the board, it's rock solid and the layout is just about perfect. All the power connectors are all in the same location right where they should be along the farthest right side of the board. The IDE and SATA ports are situated so not to interfere with each other. And perhaps most important the chipset is located above the PCI-E 16x slot so large passive coolers are no problem.

As for the negatives... Like others have said the CPU temp is way off, 20C or more I would guess. This has the unfortunate side affect of completely breaking the BIOS fan control which has no manual settings like previous Aopen boards, just "on" or "off". The board also ships with the bare minimum accessories; one SATA cable and no brackets for any of the USB or 1394 headers. I also experienced a few hangs at post seemly random but it only happened a few times normally after five or more restarts in a row.

Overall it seems like a board that is 90% finished. It's too bad Aopen didn't follow through 100%, as this could have been the best non-SLI nForce4 out there. Maybe there will be a new revision that addresses the temp issue.

 

[dwb]

Holy cow, this is a beaten thread. BIOS revision 1.03 Beta is out, wondering if anyone has used it. Does it fix the temp reading problems. Engrish description on Aopens website is meaningless!

dwb