ASUS A7M266-D Any comments?

[Louis_Berding2002]

I've locked on to this board. I'm not sure why, but out of everything I've read, and after balancing quality Vs. cost....I think this will be my MoBo.

I am planning on slowly filling it with AMD MP's. Maybe...1800's? Any comments on those?

PS: processors are F'ing high here in Taiwan at the moment. I'm going to grab my MP's from the internet....even with shipping from the US, it's still cheaper than buying them here.... Ex: AMD XP 1500, 5,349NT (about $175 USD)

[zhotfire]

Have you been here (http://forums.2cpu.com/) yet? :)

[pelligrini]

I've got one running a couple of XP-1800s (didn't need MP chips). It's an OK board, but not one for some good overclocking. The FSB can be adjusted in increments of 1, but there are no adjustments for V-Core. As far as I know there aren't any multiplier adjustments either. I don't think the board layout is all that great either. My Volcano 7s barely fit. I'm probably going to have to dissamble them if I ever want to take them off. I also had some terrible problems with the onboard c-media sound chip, BSODs and reboots if you just glanced at the machine wrong. I think they've got the driver problems fixed. That was after I solved my problems with a Santa-Cruz. If I were going to build another AMD Dual I'd go with the Iwill board.

[phil]

I'd stay away from the Asus...too many problems. The MSI K7D is also a popular choice, but it too has problems. There are only 2 boards that I will recommend depending on whether you want to overclock. If not, the Tyan Tiger S2466N-4M is the one to buy. If you want to overclock, the Iwill MPX2 is the one to buy. Both are rock stable and don't give problems. My Iwill is running a couple of XP2400's quite nicely at 155fsb (2325MHz) with full stability.

If you are going down the dual AMD route, you will *need* a beefy PSU and the Antec 480W that I recommeded in another thread will work well. Also, use registered DDR....unbuffered may work but in my experience you will have problems - bsod's, random reboots etc.

[Louis_Berding2002]

Okay, the Iwill looks pretty sweet, and OC'ing and WC'ing is what I'm going for here. If I want to get registered DDR, how much do I need to run these DC projects nicely? I want to get the good stuff, but I'm afraid of the fact that I'm over budget already, and having to blck list funds for most parts already. ;)

:ssh:

Also, anyone get this Iwill MoBo yet? Where did you order it from? I want to know which companies to start talking with. Having to deliever parts to Taiwan is always much more work than you'd think.

[phil]

Well, I am running the Iwill MPX2 Louis, so I speak from experience when I say it ROCKS! I don't think you should have any trouble getting hold of it....Iwill is a Taiwanese company after all :)

As for the RAM, 512Mb is the bare minimum nowadays for dual systems. A 512Mb Crucial Registered PC2100 DIMM is approx $160 US.

[veggyhed]

Here u go I even looked up your mobo (http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=Asus%2BASUS+Mother boards&mfr=Asus&cat=RAM&model=A7M266-D&submit=Go)

Living in the same town as Micron and Crucial I have to say this company is in trouble. Hynix memory sucks just remember that and buy state side. Microns stock has fallen from 37 bucks to under 10 bucks a share and they have a damn good product. No I dont work there but I have lots of friends who do. The only reason Micron is in trouble is that Hynix gets bailed out by the government over there all the time. Micron has no debt and is one of the reasons they are able to stay in the market.

[Louis_Berding2002]

The stores here don't sell crucial, though I know I have heard that name quite a bit. Does the name matter? if so, what website do you order from? Any one? Or, do you stick to one vendor? In the states I once ordered a socket A COD, and what showed up was horribly different than a socket A. I had to refuse to pay the COD. ;) After a week it was returned to the company, and I've never did buisness with them again. ;) I'm glad I checked the shipping sheets before I signed.

There is no real COD in Taiwan, so it means having to give up my credit card info up front...I fear not getting the correct parts and being tossed around by the companies. If they're based in the US, the phone calls add up.


ATTN: Phil

How many units does that dually system put out? You have G@H on it I am guessing... Also, which OS do you have? I have read that ASUS doesn't like the XP at all. Which OS would have the fastest crunch times? I don't care which OS it is, the machine will be nothing more than a crunch box.
:ssh:I have a little more than $300 USD saved up so far. :ssh: ;)

[Louis_Berding2002]

Great deal Mr. Veggyhed! They even accept wire transfers as payment. Credit cards here charge too much to exchange money.

[veggyhed]

My last order from them arrived in under 24 hours and the shipping was free. Yeah I know I live in the same town but the same shipping speed can be found ordering in Utah, Oregon and parts of WA.
RMA`s are no problem and they are great to deal with on the phone.

[phil]

Originally posted by Louis_Berding2002


ATTN: Phil

How many units does that dually system put out? You have G@H on it I am guessing... Also, which OS do you have? I have read that ASUS doesn't like the XP at all. Which OS would have the fastest crunch times? I don't care which OS it is, the machine will be nothing more than a crunch box.
:ssh:I have a little more than $300 USD saved up so far. :ssh: ;)


I am running DF on all my systems at the moment. My workstation is running WinXP Pro (soon to be Linux) and is based on the Iwill MPX2 and dual XP2400's @ 2250MHz each (or 2325Mhz if I remove my USB2 card). At 2250Mhz, I get ~395,000 per CPU per day but I am expecting more when running Linux. With the dual XP1800 systems on Linux, I get ~333,000 per cpu, per day. If I left my 5 duals to run 24x7, I could produce over 3Million per day on the current protein but the wife and daughter turn their machines off as they are in the bedroom. Apparently, "they are too noisy" and they find it difficult to sleep :banghead:.

[Louis_Berding2002]

:eek:So...every system you have is a dually? Damn...you are a lucky, lucky man. ;)

[Newt001]

Ya micron is not doing too well, crucial should be selling the pc3200 very soon, I am seeing more of it come thru.
So far I am happy with my two sticks of pc3200/256MB. Can't seem to get veggy to put some in his system, but then with all those pc's running G@H & F@H, I guess he does not need any more help. How many pc's were you up to again?????? 18???? This deal with Rambus is going to turn out bigger then people are thinking.(my opinion only), the CEO of micron did not seemed to be very worried about it?? I need to contact some friends in Singapore and Scotland and see if anything is shaking over there, sometimes they here stuff before us here at the headquarters.

[veggyhed]

u have to add Project-orca to that now. I cant seem to get the macs into the collective but am still working on it.
I will need more memory here soon. I do like the way things are running on 512 so it is just a matter of cash. I still want to try PC2700 and see if I can go a little more with the overclocking without changing the voltage.
Funny how I never run out of things to do. Now I just wish I had some more time.:D

[Newt001]

Got some extra pc2700 here waiting for you, am going to ship them off soon???????
I think i am going to check out an Nforce2 mobo.....been hearing lots of good stuff about the expox???????