ASUS A8R32-MVP: Taking the Overclocking Route via the 0404
by Gary Key on April 20, 2006 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
System Configuration
We did not utilize the original board in our review and instead opted to purchase a retail board from NewEgg. Our test unit sports revision 1.03G and arrived with BIOS 0201 flashed on the board. We promptly flashed the board to BIOS revision 0311 in order to run our base test numbers before loading BIOS revision 0404 for testing. Our drive image consists of our full test suite along with AVG anti-virus and QuickTime Pro 7.0 running in the background during testing. All operating system updates for Windows XP SP2 have been installed along with the Windows Firewall being activated during all tests runs.
Worth noting is that our board does emit the humming or whining noise associated with certain Infineon based memory modules from varying suppliers. While the 0311 BIOS and subsequently the 0404 BIOS have reduced this sound, it has not been eliminated. New board replacements have solved this issue for the majority of users, so we can only assume that a substandard lot of boards was initially shipped to retailers. We will be returning our board for replacement shortly.
Our goal is to ensure the software load mirrors that of a typical user system during testing. Our test results utilize current game engines that are balanced between CPU and GPU operations except for F.E.A.R. which is GPU constrained. Our hardware choices consist of high-end components that certainly assist us in reaching the reported results but should be seriously considered when purchasing an enthusiast level board. Our recommendation is to not skimp on the power supply, memory, or video card choices when building this level of system.
| System Configuration | |
| Processor: | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego) |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.575V (1.400V default) |
| Memory: | 2 x 512mb OCZ Technology PC4800 Platinum Edition DDR-400 CL2-2-2-7, 1T base settings |
| Memory Voltage: | 2.70V standard, up to 2.85V overclocked |
| HT Multiplier: | 5x - 200HTT ~ 254HTT 4x - 255HTT ~ 350HTT |
| Cooling: | Tuniq Tower 120 |
| Power Supply: | PC Power and Cooling 850 SSI |
| Hard Drive(s): | 2 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 300GB 7200 RPM SATA (16MB Buffer). |
| Video Cards: | 1 x EVGA 7900GTX (PCI Express) for all tests. |
| Chipset Drivers: | ULi 2.20 M1575 |
| Video Card Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce 84.21 WHQL |
| Operating System: | Windows XP SP2, full updates |
We did not utilize the original board in our review and instead opted to purchase a retail board from NewEgg. Our test unit sports revision 1.03G and arrived with BIOS 0201 flashed on the board. We promptly flashed the board to BIOS revision 0311 in order to run our base test numbers before loading BIOS revision 0404 for testing. Our drive image consists of our full test suite along with AVG anti-virus and QuickTime Pro 7.0 running in the background during testing. All operating system updates for Windows XP SP2 have been installed along with the Windows Firewall being activated during all tests runs.
Worth noting is that our board does emit the humming or whining noise associated with certain Infineon based memory modules from varying suppliers. While the 0311 BIOS and subsequently the 0404 BIOS have reduced this sound, it has not been eliminated. New board replacements have solved this issue for the majority of users, so we can only assume that a substandard lot of boards was initially shipped to retailers. We will be returning our board for replacement shortly.
Our goal is to ensure the software load mirrors that of a typical user system during testing. Our test results utilize current game engines that are balanced between CPU and GPU operations except for F.E.A.R. which is GPU constrained. Our hardware choices consist of high-end components that certainly assist us in reaching the reported results but should be seriously considered when purchasing an enthusiast level board. Our recommendation is to not skimp on the power supply, memory, or video card choices when building this level of system.
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gersson - Thursday, April 20, 2006 - link
The xpress 3200 definitely is very custimizeable. I had a hard time figuring out how to OC, too. Finally got a 800 mhz OC out of my Opteron 170, though :-)I'd get the DFI mobo that's just out instead. I need to sell my A8R32 quick!
Marlowe - Saturday, April 22, 2006 - link
I agree with you. I think I will be returning this Sapphire card.. Might be faboulus, but it suffers from extreme cold boot issues - I've used 30+ minutes every morning the past days to get the machine on. Also it's generally very hard to get around oc'ing.. The bios needs manually resetting all the time.. Needs steps of 20-30 in HTT to getting somewhere.. And a bunch of other stuff.. My general experience with the board can be summarized lik one consecutive week of troubleshooting. Not really what I excpected. Would any of you like this from your new very expensive motherboard?My choice is returning, or waiting 3-4 months on a good bios.. what would you do :P (PS, sorry for bad English)
Samus - Thursday, April 20, 2006 - link
Looks like an A8N-SLI all over again. You know, it only took a year or so in bioses (all the way up to 1013 or so before I had decent stability) before the board was desirable imho.I'll never buy another Asus board after that little fiasco.