* Official EPoX 8RDA/+ (nForce2) Thread *

Megatomic · Jul 17, 2003

irabufan, another big difference between them is that the 8RDA3+ doesn't have the MCP2-T southbridge chip which means no nForce APU. Most 8RDA+ boards purchased today are coming with the 400MHz capable northbridge chips. And even most of those who got older 8RDA+ boards are able to get their systems up to 200MHz.

I'd definitely go for the 8RDA+.

pspada · Jul 18, 2003

Ok, I like my 2700+ running @ 11.5x200fsb, but as I've had it almost 2 weeks, it's time to upgrade. Which is better, the 2800+, or the 3000+?

WhiteKnight · Jul 18, 2003

I ran memtest and it restarts my computer right at the end of test 5. What does this mean?

render · Jul 18, 2003

Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
I ran memtest and it restarts my computer right at the end of test 5. What does this mean?

bad memory. got to find it and rma it

MARMADUKE · Jul 19, 2003

WhiteKnight
I have a sale going on Buffalo pc3200 CH-5 $49 that will do 5322 @ 230 fsb @ 2.7V on my 8rda+.(2 day FedEx) (Luvs nforce2) .the link is in my sig.
Please list ALL your parts and the problems you are having.

WhiteKnight · Jul 19, 2003

Well, I already determined that one of my sticks of Crucial 2700 512 was bad, so I guess that means that the one remaining one is too, even though I can get the system to boot with it. Damn, now I have to RMA both. Marmaduke, I'll take a look, but I'm not looking forward to the 15% restocking fee if I want to return my current stuff, rather than exchanging it.

Edit: What happened to the stickiness of this thread?

outofgum · Jul 21, 2003

Edit: Answer found with a quick forum search!

render · Jul 22, 2003

I got the board(version 1.1) today and a 400ultra sticker on the box.

Megatomic · Jul 24, 2003

New EPoX 8RDA/8RDA+ BIOS Available

Word has it that memory stability has been increased at the expense of raw speed. I haven't installed it yet but I will in the morning when I get home from work. Has anyone here tried it out yet?

pspada · Jul 24, 2003

Quoting Megatomic from that linked forum:

I'll gladly trade a little speed for an increase in stability if the system is already really fast. My system is faster than I need it to be right now so I'll give the new BIOS a shot. Thanks for the heads-up EpoxUSA Tech.

Er, did you really mean that "..system is faster than I need it to be right now..."? None of my systems have ever been faster than I need......

Megatomic · Jul 24, 2003

Originally posted by: pspada
Quoting Megatomic from that linked forum:

I'll gladly trade a little speed for an increase in stability if the system is already really fast. My system is faster than I need it to be right now so I'll give the new BIOS a shot. Thanks for the heads-up EpoxUSA Tech.

Er, did you really mean that "..system is faster than I need it to be right now..."? None of my systems have ever been faster than I need......

Yep. I don't have a game that my system can't play extraordinarily well. And if the game was running slow, it wouldn't be the memory subsystem causing the slowdown.

Wag · Jul 24, 2003

Well, I feel I got ripped off. Purchased the FIC AU11, and now I see I have no 400 bus support, even though the board was marketed as such.

Megatomic · Jul 24, 2003

Originally posted by: pspada
Quoting Megatomic from that linked forum:

I'll gladly trade a little speed for an increase in stability if the system is already really fast. My system is faster than I need it to be right now so I'll give the new BIOS a shot. Thanks for the heads-up EpoxUSA Tech.

Er, did you really mean that "..system is faster than I need it to be right now..."? None of my systems have ever been faster than I need......

Oh, I should have mentioned that my system is running stably at 180MHz FSB with PC2700 memory installed. The Barton is clocking along at 2260MHz with Vcore at default still. I have speed to spare over here.

Megatomic · Jul 24, 2003

Originally posted by: Wag
Well, I feel I got ripped off. Purchased the FIC AU11, and now I see I have no 400 bus support, even though the board was marketed as such.

Wag, can you do the Vdd mod on the AU11 like you can on the 8RDA+ boards? If you can, I'll give you a pair of SMD grabbers for free, you'll just have to come up with your own potentiometer. PM me if you want them.

Wag · Jul 24, 2003

This is all new to me. Where do I find info on the vdd mod?

AFAIK the AU11 is exactly the same as a 8RDA+.

Megatomic · Jul 24, 2003

I wouldn't know where to go to find out for sure other than asking right here in this forum. Or maybe over at the nForcersHQ forums... Just keep my offer in mind if you find that you can do the mod.

Killrose · Jul 25, 2003

Originally posted by: Wag
Well, I feel I got ripped off. Purchased the FIC AU11, and now I see I have no 400 bus support, even though the board was marketed as such.

So you're saying you cannot at least attempt to adj the mem. bus speed to 200MHz? If it's non-adj in bios, a vdd mod is still not going to work. And of course, you have to have PC3200 min for 200MHz/400MHz DDR operation.

Megatomic · Jul 25, 2003

Hmm, I understood his post to mean that he couldn't get the system to run at 200MHz FSB due to low Vdd.... Wag, can you adjust your CPU and Memory FSB?

SpideyCU · Jul 25, 2003

Originally posted by: MegatomicI wouldn't know where to go to find out for sure other than asking right here in this forum. Or maybe over at the nForcersHQ forums... Just keep my offer in mind if you find that you can do the mod.

http://www.8rdafaq.com/Epox_nForce2/vdd_mod.htm - that should do it.

Wag · Jul 25, 2003

Well, I am using the 8RDA+ bios, but I still can't get it to 400. In fact I can't even flash it back to the FIC bios because it has the stupid bios protector and I forgot to turn it off before flashing. Lol. Not that it matters, the FIC bios is out of date.

The real funny thing is that I can flash Epox bios to my heart's content.

juanflaco · Jul 25, 2003

Greets, I just built my first system and I'm wondering if I need to change anything in the BIOS to optimize without OC'ing just yet (this is all still new to me). Any help would be appreciated.

The specs....

8RDA+
2800+ Barton
2x512 Crucial 2700
ATI 9800 pro

Any timings I should adjust without getting too ambitious just yet? Thanks, and please go easy on the new kid

pspada · Jul 25, 2003

OC'ing? If you are going to be doing so, you probably should take that PC2700 back right now!

juanflaco · Jul 25, 2003

Pspada - thanks for the advice, but I don't plan on OC'ing the thing. I'm just wondering if the defualt BIOS settings need tweaking.

pspada · Jul 26, 2003

Yes, you'll need to manually change the FSB speed from 133 to 166 to make the 2500+ run properly.

But even if you don't intend on overclocking, you'd be better of trading the PC2700 in for PC3200.

irabufan · Jul 26, 2003

questions:
if i wanna run dual-channel on this board, does the 2 sticks have to be EXACTLY identical?
i just purchased 2x512 kingston valueram pc2700 today, both are kingston oem chipsets i suppose, but one is made in USA and the other one in china, and the chips made in china had much less description on it compared to the one made in USA
i wanna know whether i should go back and exchange one of them so that the chipsets would be EXACTLY identical (ie. same company chip & made in same country)

and the other question is, is there much real-life performance difference if i run dual-channel vs. non dual-channel?

thx for the help

*** Official EPoX 8RDA/+ (nForce2) Thread ***

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* Official EPoX 8RDA/+ (nForce2) Thread *