Epox 9NDA3+ / 3500+ Mini Review - Page 3

jlccarv · 22nd October 2004, 2:05 AM

It did sound like a SATA lock problem, as opposed to a PCI/AGP lock issue... On my 8KDA3+ I had a bad experiece with SATA port 1 (NV Port), so I switched my HDD to SATA 2 (NV Port) and I'm yet to reach its HTT limit.

BTW, I'm getting a 9NDA3+ and a 90nm 3000+ on Monday. I will post my results

aokman · 25th October 2004, 2:01 PM

Have you got it yet, results please....

jlccarv · 25th October 2004, 4:43 PM

oooo... timely post, aokman

Got my 9NDA3+ Friday and a 3000+ in the mail today (expecting the reverse... lol).

Preliminary Results (lol):

I have no CPU temp troubles, my 939 3000+ reads 28 idle and 37 full load. The arctic silver was just applied today (obviously), so Im expecting a lil drop in the the next 3 days or so...

Overclocking the 3000+; So far, not good!

I'll work it a lil more...

The board is much the same as the 8KDA3, as far at the CMOS setup is concerned. It will not adjust vdimm to anything over 2.7v, even if 2.8v is set in the CMOS setup. One very pleasing thing, is that the board does not squeal like a dying pig; the 8KDA3 was sooo annoying above stock volts. Oo, and the MCP fan is loud.

Other than that, this board is fine.

Edit: Almost forgot! SATA port 2 is *not* locked. SATA port 1 *is* locked. Have not tried 3 or 4 (dont want to... very afraid)

fxr91 · 25th October 2004, 5:36 PM

Hm, looks like PCI SATA cards are going to become popular if they can't lock down the onboards ports...

eva2000 · 25th October 2004, 5:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fxr91

Hm, looks like PCI SATA cards are going to become popular if they can't lock down the onboards ports...

yeah that or PATA drives hehe.. got 2x Promise Ultra133 32bit/66mhz IDE controllers here just for those times

fxr91 · 25th October 2004, 5:45 PM

PATA is actually no problems from what I can tell and had personal experience with too. It is just that they are offering locked PCI buses, only for the end user to find out they have done a half arsed job of it

ssX · 25th October 2004, 8:09 PM

http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2253

aokman · 25th October 2004, 8:39 PM

Yeah if you look in the manual you will see that 1/2 are the NVIDIA ones and the other 3/4 are the PHY ones... i think thats what its called. It could be a very good board if i was able to use those dam connectors but im not removing my videocard cooler for it, i think the old spot was better as most coolers that use a PCI slot are going to block those SATA connectors...

Before you rule you chip as a crap overclocker, do some FSB tests. I could not get 2.3 stable out of this board yet i could manage 2.45 on the ABIT stock.

Temps were an easy fix, originally i had no rear fan due to watercooling but the board seems to have the temp probe around the mosfets somewhere for the CPU.

jlccarv · 25th October 2004, 9:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aokman

Yeah if you look in the manual you will see that 1/2 are the NVIDIA ones and the other 3/4 are the PHY ones... i think thats what its called. It could be a very good board if i was able to use those dam connectors but im not removing my videocard cooler for it, i think the old spot was better as most coolers that use a PCI slot are going to block those SATA connectors...

In regards to SATA 1 & 2 and your video card; just get your hands on a SATA cable that has a "L" shaped connector. My 8KDA3+ included a couple

Blurry camera phone, soz

You will obviously want to connect the "L" shaped end to the motherboard (not HDD). That should allow you to duck under your VGA silencer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aokman

Before you rule you chip as a crap overclocker, do some FSB tests. I could not get 2.3 stable out of this board yet i could manage 2.45 on the ABIT stock.

Thats interesting...

I can get it stable at 256x9 2300MHz, but at 2350MHz - errors. I was expecting between 2400MHz and 2500MHz, so Im a tad disappointed

Quote:

Originally Posted by aokman

Temps were an easy fix, originally i had no rear fan due to watercooling but the board seems to have the temp probe around the mosfets somewhere for the CPU.

Thats wierd

aokman · 25th October 2004, 10:06 PM

Yeah i tried the L connector, wont fit

the Artic silencer 4 is so close to it that im lucky it goes in at all.

Due to me using SATA 3/4, i could not get the board stable at even 210 HTT.

I checked out the review posted just before, they had the same issues as me with the board hanging on a reboot.

jlccarv · 25th October 2004, 10:32 PM

'L' connector wont work huh, bugger...

I have no problem with hanging apon a reboot. My shipping BIOS, is dated 09/07/04. Whats yours?

BTW: Im running one stick of 256MB memory

, for the time being. That could be why Im not affected by the reboot issue.

aokman · 25th October 2004, 10:45 PM

It was the same, i flashed it aswell to one i found on XS and that didnt help. The hanging is due to the SATA though i rekon as it stops right then...

jlccarv · 25th October 2004, 11:05 PM

I have the RAID ROM set to 'disabled' in the BIOS.

liveevil · 3rd November 2004, 2:19 PM

I bought the board of aokman and im currently running it at 250 ht. I'm not running any sata drives tho.

aokman · 3rd November 2004, 4:07 PM

Hope you have more fun with the board than i did

22nd October 2004, 2:05 AM	#31
jlccarv Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,135	It did sound like a SATA lock problem, as opposed to a PCI/AGP lock issue... On my 8KDA3+ I had a bad experiece with SATA port 1 (NV Port), so I switched my HDD to SATA 2 (NV Port) and I'm yet to reach its HTT limit. BTW, I'm getting a 9NDA3+ and a 90nm 3000+ on Monday. I will post my results __________________ Sony Vaio Club Member #4 Last edited by jlccarv; 22nd October 2004 at 2:06 AM.

25th October 2004, 2:01 PM	#32
aokman Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,053	Have you got it yet, results please.... __________________ EpicPhotos.com.au - Image Is Everything Next Expedition - Storm Chasing with ETT from June 3rd, 2013

25th October 2004, 4:43 PM	#33
jlccarv Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,135	oooo... timely post, aokman Got my 9NDA3+ Friday and a 3000+ in the mail today (expecting the reverse... lol). Preliminary Results (lol): I have no CPU temp troubles, my 939 3000+ reads 28 idle and 37 full load. The arctic silver was just applied today (obviously), so Im expecting a lil drop in the the next 3 days or so... Overclocking the 3000+; So far, not good! I'll work it a lil more... The board is much the same as the 8KDA3, as far at the CMOS setup is concerned. It will not adjust vdimm to anything over 2.7v, even if 2.8v is set in the CMOS setup. One very pleasing thing, is that the board does not squeal like a dying pig; the 8KDA3 was sooo annoying above stock volts. Oo, and the MCP fan is loud. Other than that, this board is fine. Edit: Almost forgot! SATA port 2 is not locked. SATA port 1 is locked. Have not tried 3 or 4 (dont want to... very afraid) __________________ Sony Vaio Club Member #4 Last edited by jlccarv; 25th October 2004 at 4:47 PM.

25th October 2004, 5:45 PM	#36
fxr91 Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brisbane, QLD Posts: 7,548	PATA is actually no problems from what I can tell and had personal experience with too. It is just that they are offering locked PCI buses, only for the end user to find out they have done a half arsed job of it Last edited by fxr91; 25th October 2004 at 5:46 PM.

25th October 2004, 8:09 PM	#37
ssX Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,403	http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2253 __________________ [SIZE=1]"God gave men both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time." - Robin Williams

25th October 2004, 5:36 PM	#34
fxr91 Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brisbane, QLD Posts: 7,548	Hm, looks like PCI SATA cards are going to become popular if they can't lock down the onboards ports...

25th October 2004, 8:39 PM	#38
aokman Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,053	Yeah if you look in the manual you will see that 1/2 are the NVIDIA ones and the other 3/4 are the PHY ones... i think thats what its called. It could be a very good board if i was able to use those dam connectors but im not removing my videocard cooler for it, i think the old spot was better as most coolers that use a PCI slot are going to block those SATA connectors... Before you rule you chip as a crap overclocker, do some FSB tests. I could not get 2.3 stable out of this board yet i could manage 2.45 on the ABIT stock. Temps were an easy fix, originally i had no rear fan due to watercooling but the board seems to have the temp probe around the mosfets somewhere for the CPU. __________________ EpicPhotos.com.au - Image Is Everything Next Expedition - Storm Chasing with ETT from June 3rd, 2013 Last edited by aokman; 25th October 2004 at 8:44 PM.

25th October 2004, 10:06 PM	#40
aokman Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,053	Yeah i tried the L connector, wont fit the Artic silencer 4 is so close to it that im lucky it goes in at all. Due to me using SATA 3/4, i could not get the board stable at even 210 HTT. I checked out the review posted just before, they had the same issues as me with the board hanging on a reboot. __________________ EpicPhotos.com.au - Image Is Everything Next Expedition - Storm Chasing with ETT from June 3rd, 2013

25th October 2004, 10:32 PM	#41
jlccarv Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,135	'L' connector wont work huh, bugger... I have no problem with hanging apon a reboot. My shipping BIOS, is dated 09/07/04. Whats yours? BTW: Im running one stick of 256MB memory , for the time being. That could be why Im not affected by the reboot issue. __________________ Sony Vaio Club Member #4

25th October 2004, 10:45 PM	#42
aokman Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,053	It was the same, i flashed it aswell to one i found on XS and that didnt help. The hanging is due to the SATA though i rekon as it stops right then... __________________ EpicPhotos.com.au - Image Is Everything Next Expedition - Storm Chasing with ETT from June 3rd, 2013

25th October 2004, 11:05 PM	#43
jlccarv Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,135	I have the RAID ROM set to 'disabled' in the BIOS. __________________ Sony Vaio Club Member #4

3rd November 2004, 2:19 PM	#44
liveevil Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Sydney Posts: 172	I bought the board of aokman and im currently running it at 250 ht. I'm not running any sata drives tho. Last edited by liveevil; 3rd November 2004 at 2:20 PM.

3rd November 2004, 4:07 PM	#45
aokman Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,053	Hope you have more fun with the board than i did __________________ EpicPhotos.com.au - Image Is Everything Next Expedition - Storm Chasing with ETT from June 3rd, 2013