Hello everyone, I came across this link while reading on the amdmb.com forums. Apparently a few people are experiencing some really bad probs with the Epox 8RDA+. Among the problems are: GF4 - board apparently frying cards, extremely slow IDE drive detection, no IDE detection at all, slow bootup probs, cold boot probs, fried psu's, heatsink mounting holes being "off center", hard drive corruption... the list goes on. Now, granted, these are just a few people...but still, it worries me (I have this thing on order). By the way, these guys are still having problems even after updating to the new bios. Also, with the new bios, the 3.3 volt line monitoring is completely eliminated (although this could be corrected in a future bios). There are also big problems with the new (2.0?) nvidia drivers. There are a couple of Epox techs that hang out on this forum I'm going to provide the link to (AOA), and they say that the problem is not with the board - but isn't that what you'd expect them to say? I dunno...:confused: I think one person on there said it was a chipset problem, and not the board - but again, I don't know what to think. I'm tempted to put this thing back up on Ebay when I receive it, buy a K7S5A, and wait for the kt400a boards to come out. I'd rather have a ton of probs with a board that costs me around 56 dollars, rather than have a ton with a board that cost me around $123 (including shipping and ins.). what do you guys think about this?? User error, bad board, what??? Here's the link: http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=27
The problems start on the first page, but they continue on back, so read thru a few of the threads to see what I''m talking about.
Thanks!
-jeanna
BadBadNeil
12-14-2002, 09:22 PM
Well I dont know about all the issues. I have read that same forum as well as well as the asus forums and people have issues with asus boards too.
I think the problem is you are reading a forum of people getting help so of course all the people there are probebly experiencing some type of issue or problem or having trouble overclocking. I'm sure for each person in there there are hundreds if not thousands who's boards are working fine. There are always bad boards, people who don't read instructions, etc. I guess its up to you to decided whether or not to keep it though.
I have the 8RDA+ sitting here in my downstairs in a box. I am waiting for my 3 remaining boxes of computer parts on monday then I will install.
If you want I will let you know how the install goes. I will let you know though that I DONT overclock so i probably will keep the existing bios unless its causing issues. I bet a lot of those problems are caused by overclocking, after all it is an overclocking forum afterall :) I can tell you one thing if i have a problem i will RMA the board.
crucibelle
12-14-2002, 09:48 PM
Neil - thanks for replying!! Yes, I would be extremely interested in hearing how it all works for you! Thanks so much :) I do know those guys are overclocking quite a bit (at least to ME it seems extreme). Normally, I'm not interested in overclocking either, but I was going to try to push the fsb up to 166 so that my pc2700 could run in sync (i have an xp 1600+, btw). If that doesn't work though, i'll just run the ddr as pc2100. I'm just a worry-wart in general though, and reading that forum really set me off. The problem with my board, is that since I bought it off Ebay, you only have 7 days to see if it's faulty or not (even though it's brand-new). Of course, if the board looks damaged in any way, i'll send it back for a replacement - but as far as testing it, it will be several weeks before I get all the components necessary to do that. Even so, if it doesn't work to my liking, I can still put it back on Ebay with a warning that it could be faulty. Yeah, I'll probably lose some cash, but I guess I'll learn a huge lesson about buying stuff on Ebay.. heheh ;) I suppose I could also just use the manufacturer's warranty, but I'm not sure about that. Oh well, I'm just praying that the thing works. Don't forget to let me know how everything goes for you! Thanks again, Neil! :t
-jeanna
BadBadNeil
12-14-2002, 10:07 PM
Believe me I'm nervous too, this is my first total complete build but i've done lots of reading and been gettin help on here and have installed lots of other parts so hopefully will go smoothly.
I have PC3200 ram but might lower it as you stated to be in sync with my 333fsb of my 2600+.
Im sure if anything went bad you could easily sell it again on ebay, especially since quantities arent really high yet.
I'll definetely post back or send you a PM when I get it all together, prolly tues or wednesday hopefully. I'll be the guinea pig :)
causticVapor
12-15-2002, 02:44 PM
I was considering getting the board as well. I'll use Tojo as a Guinea pig and see how the AVN8X works out for him. If it's a lemon, then I'll risk it and get the 8-RDA+.
Giblet Plus!
12-15-2002, 06:38 PM
I just recently read about these problems too. They are related to the lack of a pci lock. This means that the pci/agp speed is determind by the pci dividers, instead of locked at 33/66. All current via chipsets use dividers.
crucibelle- Since the epox board has a 1/5 divider, you will have no problems with 166 fsb. Just don't go higher than that, since the pci and agp speeds will increase.
The problems with geforce 4s happened when people pushed their fsb to high levels, like 200+, which made the agp clock significantly higher than the default of 66.
BadBadNeil - With your ram, instead of running it at 3200 speeds, run it synchronously at 2700 speeds with aggressive memory timings. Unless you were willing to push the fsb to 200, this is what would have been best anyways.
I'm sorry I recommend this board to both of you. At the time, I and the rest of the overclocking community thought the board had a pci lock.
:(
crucibelle
12-15-2002, 10:52 PM
Giblet - thanks! I'm happy to know that I should be able to do 166 fsb, that's all I really hoped for :) And, don't apologize for recommending the board! I'm personally still very excited about it ;)
As for the PCI thing, the Epox tech over at amdmb.com said that the pci was locked, but he only gave numbers for up to 166 fsb - and from what you told me, the pci speed doesn't increase till after 166 fsb. So, it seems he's being a little misleading, maybe?? By the way, I have no idea if he's for real or not (really an epox tech). Other people seem to think so, but don't really know enough to say.
Epox tech's statement on the pci lock is 6th post down here:
crucibelle - You do realize that in order to run at 166 fsb, you will either need to unlock your cpu or overclock to 166 fsb, (possible with a xp1600) unless it's one of the new Tbred A XP1600s.
The Epox tech statement is funny. From what I read on www.overclockers.com, the Epox board doesn't have a pci lock, and just uses traditional dividers. If what the Epox tech said is true, either the board does has the full pci lock, or it has one that poops out after 166fsb for some reason. It doesn't really make sense.
crucibelle
12-15-2002, 11:55 PM
Giblet - yep, I know that. I don't know a whole lot, but do know that much... heheh ;) I was planning on overclocking to 166 fsb. I'm not really comfortable doing any physical modification to the chip, itself. (mine's a palomino, btw)
I just looked at overclockers.com and they have something new about the pci lock thing, basically saying they've got conflicting reports. I think they are still leaning towards there being no pci lock, though. I wish someone would find this out for sure. It doesn't really have a whole lot of actual importance to me, but I'm curious as hell... heheh :D Thanks, Giblet!
-jeanna
biglaker
12-16-2002, 12:39 PM
To put the Amdmb issues in perspective-
That website, as BadBadNeil pointed out in his first post, is one in which will have alot of problems pointed out by whatever the current m/b is. Last winter, the 8kha+ was the hot board and the site was quite filled with people having troubles with the 8kha+. The input by Mushkin Rules helped alot of people figure out the configuration (bios setup, preferred pci board slots, etc). I sweated bullets for awhile before I hooked up my 8kha+ only to find that the only issues it had was the numlock light staying on and a flickering mouse. And that was resolved with by going to Win 2k. Hang in there and read as much as you can about how others have configured their board and maybe you'll be as "lucky" as I was with the 8kha+. Biglaker
missiveusa
12-16-2002, 01:29 PM
Very true what you say about the EPoX 8KHA+. Mine was a bit squrrelly out of the box, but with Mushkin's help, and a BIOS update, it's settled down nicely. Now I'll see if it will play with a T'bred B 2400:eek: . I think in the Athlon 64 future I would go with EPoX again.
BadBadNeil
12-16-2002, 01:57 PM
Originally posted by Giblet Plus!
I just recently read about these problems too. They are related to the lack of a pci lock. This means that the pci/agp speed is determind by the pci dividers, instead of locked at 33/66. All current via chipsets use dividers.
crucibelle- Since the epox board has a 1/5 divider, you will have no problems with 166 fsb. Just don't go higher than that, since the pci and agp speeds will increase.
The problems with geforce 4s happened when people pushed their fsb to high levels, like 200+, which made the agp clock significantly higher than the default of 66.
BadBadNeil - With your ram, instead of running it at 3200 speeds, run it synchronously at 2700 speeds with aggressive memory timings. Unless you were willing to push the fsb to 200, this is what would have been best anyways.
I'm sorry I recommend this board to both of you. At the time, I and the rest of the overclocking community thought the board had a pci lock.
:(
Yup I was gonna go to sync speed on ram to processor. I just got 3200 ram so I can use it for a while in future too. I willl just have to figure out where to change it to 166 speed in the bios. Its ok, the asus had problems and the epox does too. I'm just not gonna change the bios or nforce drivers unless I have issues. :)
I just got 2 of my last 3 boxes so I'm starting the build right now. I better drink more water my palms are getting sweaty. Wish me luck!
crucibelle
12-16-2002, 02:16 PM
Thanks for all the replies, everyone! :) I've been doing some more reading, and I've found that there are actually more people having positive experiences with their 8RDA+ than negative. Really though, it doesn't take much to set me off, like I mentioned before. I'm like Neil - I've installed various components, including motherboards, but I've never done an entire build - so I'm pretty nervous.
Neil - good luck!!! I hope all goes well for you! :t Personally, I've decided to flash to the new bios as soon as I get everything together - the shipped bios has a problem displaying the cpu fan rpm (displays it as zero) and this is just something that would irritate me, I think. Also, it allows the fsb to be set up to 250 - that one doesn't really matter to me as much though. As far as the drivers, I'm sticking to the ones that come on the CD.
Thanks again, everyone!!! :D
-jeanna
edit: I've also heard that the shipped bios doesn't display cpu and system temps correctly, and that the updated bios corrects this, but I'm not totally sure about this one.
crucibelle
12-16-2002, 02:26 PM
Neil, in case you haven't seen this and are interested, these are the fixes that the new bios offers (i got this off the epox site):
"FDD_3_Mode" support. "Assign IRQ for VGA" support. Fixed 1394 can`t control ( En/Dis ) by Setup. Added `AC97 Speaker At POST` function. Added Athlon XP 2600+ support (166*12.5). Added Athlon XP 2400+ support (166*12). Turn off keyboard LED before system into S3/S4/S5. Added support TURBO mode for performance BIOS. Support Kingmax module compatible issue (KingmaxMPXB62D68KX3MAA, KingmaxMPXB62D68KX3MBA, KingmaxMPMA82D68KX3MAA, KingmaxMPMA82D68KX3MBA). Enable PCI_LATENCY_SELECTABLE and PCI_IRQ_SELECTABLE item. Patch "System temperature" and "Chassis Fan" and "Power Fan" declaration error. Patch CPU ratio adjusts failed for the some 0.13u Athlon XP CPU. Added code for Athlon Model 10 support. Fix USB 2.0 enable failed. Added "Auto" mode for Memory Clock. OPEN FSB 250MHZ selectable. PCI_LATENCY_SELECTABLE support. PCI_IRQ_SELECTABLE support. Easy Boot support. Hot Key flash support.
Can anyone explain the flash bios procedures? Never did that before. Also I dont have a working floppy on this old computer. How will I get the flash update bios to my new computer or can I just flash it later?
Giblet Plus!
12-16-2002, 10:14 PM
You can flash it after you build it. Only flash it if you need stuff that gets updated.
Basically, what you do is make a boot disk, put the flash program and files on the disk, boot from the disk, run the flash program and make sure everything is typed in right. I have a dead motherboard sitting against my wall in my room from a bad flash procedure. You have to be really careful flashing your bios.
BadBadNeil
12-16-2002, 11:09 PM
Ok i hooked up most of the stuff tonight just a few more odd things to attach or figure out how to attach morrow.
One note: IDE connections are in a horrible spot on mobo. My HD's are right next to the mobo and the ide cables coming out of my HD's block the IDE ports. I'll have to figure that one out later.
I'll prolly give her a power up morrow and pray everything works and is recognized.
Also on another side note. My Swiftech MCX462+ had minor problem installing. It has great mechanism and is sturdy but there are four screws that go into the holes on the motherboard with locking nut on other side along with 2 washers. They won't screw down all the way and leave a gap where it moves around. I added another washer and now its nice n tight but im hoping that this extra washer doesnt make the board short circuit because it might touch the back wall of my case now...
crucibelle
12-16-2002, 11:53 PM
Neil - the instructions to flash the bios come in the exe file that you download from the epox site. However, if you don't have a floppy drive, you might want to try the "magic bios" utility that supposedly comes with some of the Epox boards (might want to check that to be sure, though. It would be on one of the CD's you get with your mobo). This utility allows you to flash your bios in Windows. Here's a link to a review that describes the procedure. You'll have to scroll down a bit to get to where it talks about magic bios, unless you want to read the whole review (it's a review of the 8RDA+) ;) I agree with what Giblet said though, if you don't really need the updates, don't flash. Better safe than sorry, right? :) If you do mess up, Epox sells new bios chips - I have no idea how much they cost though.
Review: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6507
-jeanna
Cee-W
12-17-2002, 05:09 PM
Here is some info. for you guys, have fun. :t
*This info. is from another forum and not my post*
Monday December 16, 2002 2:43 AM
Just a few days ago I emailed Epox's Hong Kong representative (which is called 2themax) regarding the PCI lock issue. In fact, we don't have any Epox motherboards being sold in Hong Kong, but they are rather sold under the brand 2themax. 2themax website
They're really prompt and I've just received the reply. Here you go:
<<
Hi,
Thank you for your enquire.
We have confirmed your problem with our mainboard manufacturer. When the AGP Frequency is set to 66MHz in Advanced Chipset Features of BIOS setup, the PCI clock is locked at 33MHz (i.e. the PCI clock is depended on the AGP clock/ 2).
For AMD Barton CPU, it is a non-released CPU so we are sorry that we are not sure can it be used in 8RDA+ mainboard now.
2theMax Support Team
----- Original Message -----
From: Ian
To: support@2themax.com
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2002 4:29 PM
Subject: 8RDA+ nForce2 motherboard
Dear Sir/Madam,
I'm writing to enquire about your 8RDA+ nForce2 motherboard for Socket A processors.
What I would like to know is whether the so-called 'PCI lock' is present on the board? From what I have read, the AGP frequency can be fixed at 66MHz regardless of the FSB, but no settings can be found regarding the PCI frequency, could you verify if such a setting is available (throught beta/future BIOS release) or in other words, is the PCI frequency fixed at 33MHz regardless of the FSB?
Also, is 8RDA+ compatible with the upcoming AMD processor code-named Barton, which will scale to a 400MHz FSB?
Regards,
Ian Ching >>
Let's hope we'll receive official words about this, directly from Epox Taiwan
crucibelle
12-17-2002, 05:34 PM
aha! very interesting, Cee-W ;) Thanks for the info!! :D
-jeanna
Giblet Plus!
12-17-2002, 08:03 PM
Nice, so it does have a pci lock. :)
Maybe only in the newest bios?
crucibelle
12-17-2002, 08:36 PM
I think you're probably right about that, Giblet. Maybe people had already damaged their boards before getting the new bios with the pci lock and that's why updating the bios didn't help? Could be. :t
-jeanna
crucibelle
12-17-2002, 08:38 PM
By the way, I just got this:
Dear customer:
This email is to inform you that the following item:
It's back in stock at New Egg!! :) The price has went up a bit, though
:rolleyes:
Giblet Plus!
12-17-2002, 08:44 PM
The Asus one is supposed to be good, too. I have a friend who just got one from newegg. I'll be checking it out and tweaking it tomorrow for him. :D
crucibelle
12-17-2002, 08:48 PM
Yep, I've heard some very good things about the Asus board, as well. :) Have fun tweaking, Giblet!!! :D
-jeanna
Giblet Plus!
12-17-2002, 08:55 PM
Oh, I will. He got an XP2400, too. :)
crucibelle
12-17-2002, 09:01 PM
ohhhh...sounds awesome! You're gonna have yourself a good ol' time... heheh :D
-jeanna
BadBadNeil
12-18-2002, 06:39 PM
Well heres the update:
So far I just got win2k installed. The original bios finds my XP2600+ fine, you just need to select "optimal default" in the main screen.
Also in the advanced area you can make your ram n sync with the FSB and change the CAS and all that good stuff.
The only problem I have had was it doesnt recognize a copy of win2k, I had to buy another version of it today. So make sure you have the original cd. Took FOREVER to load windows (over an hour) .
Booting is pretty fast but it hangs a bit on the main windows screen before loading windows. The computer is a nice cool 19C system and CPU is around 36C with the fan at half speed. At full speed CPU was around 29C just sitting there.
For some reason my rheobus doesnt work so im pissed about that but I'm glad there arent too many major issues so far. Now I am working on the drivers n such and trying to figure out why my 2nd HD isnt showing up. I'll post another update when I am satisfied its all nice n dandy.
crucibelle
12-18-2002, 07:03 PM
Ok, I may be wrong on this, but just trying to help: From what I've read, Neil - go into the device manager and see what drivers are loaded for your harddrives - make sure they are the nvidia IDE drivers, and not the Windows drivers. Also, jumper both harddrives to "cable select".
Also, make sure to disable any onboard feature that you are not going to use - for instance, if you aren't going to use the onboard LAN, disable it in the bios. I've also heard that disabling 8x AGP helps some issues.
If I'm wrong about any of this, someone correct me, please.
I have no idea what a rheobus is, I thought that was a type of monkey...duhhhh, i stooopid... heheheh :confused: :p :confused:
-jeanna
BadBadNeil
12-18-2002, 09:51 PM
Originally posted by crucibelle
Ok, I may be wrong on this, but just trying to help: From what I've read, Neil - go into the device manager and see what drivers are loaded for your harddrives - make sure they are the nvidia IDE drivers, and not the Windows drivers. Also, jumper both harddrives to "cable select".
Also, make sure to disable any onboard feature that you are not going to use - for instance, if you aren't going to use the onboard LAN, disable it in the bios. I've also heard that disabling 8x AGP helps some issues.
If I'm wrong about any of this, someone correct me, please.
I have no idea what a rheobus is, I thought that was a type of monkey...duhhhh, i stooopid... heheheh :confused: :p :confused:
-jeanna
Heh actually I got the other HD to show, I just needed to find out where to format it and did so. Someone in the storage forum helped out :) Now i got my 240gigs ;)
Rheobus just controlls my case fans with a dial. There is a front panel mount and controlls my four case fans. Looks cool and allows you to silence any noise. Unfortunately the power doesnt seem to be flowing through it to the fans correctly.
Just installed SP3 and it has dramatically sped up boot time! The nforce2 drivers that came with the epox work good too, no problems at the moment, am going to start putting some stuff on the drives and trying to hook it up to network next. Havent tried the speakers out yet or USB ports will have to do those soon too.
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