Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe: First ATI RD580
by Wesley Fink on March 1, 2006 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking: Asus A8R32-MVP
One of the most interesting new features in overclocking the RD580 is that the chipset is designed for high-speed operation. In most cases, current NVIDIA and ATI chipsets need to have Hyper Transport frequency adjusted to 3X around a 260 to 270 Clock frequency to keep HT speed at or below 1000-1100. The RD580 chipset was designed for higher HT speed. We consistently found that the board could easily handle HT speeds in the 1450 to 1550 range. For most overclocking this means, for the first time, that it is not necessary to even adjust the 5X HT setting for most overclocks. It was only where we were exceeding around 1500 (300 Clock Frequency) that we had to drop the HT one notch to 4X. Overclockers should be very happy with this new feature of the RD580 chipset.
One word of caution: it appears that the RD580 chipset will not reset an HTT strap or ratio unless you first power down. We had seen this in other testing of the RD580 and it is also a reality on the Asus A8R32-MVP. For instance, if you try to set the ratio to 4X (from 5X), the board will not implement the ratio change until you have powered down the system. Thankfully, this will rarely be necessary with the high-speed HTT capabilities of the RD580, but please keep this in mind when adjusting HTT ratios.
The Asus A8R32-MVP required no special approaches to achieve high overclocks. There is no longer the need to inch your way up on overclocks. High overclocks could be set directly, and as long as the settings were workable, it is possible to boot directly into Windows XP at the higher overclocks. However, there were many times when we set reasonable overclocks and the board failed to boot the first time. In this case, power down the board and restart, and your settings will likely work. Similarly, a bad overclock almost always requires that you turn off the power and restart for recovery. Fortunately, the Asus normally recovers, but often you will need to power off first with overly aggressive OC settings.
The 1T command Rate, which was an issue on the A8R-MVP, is definitely working as you would expect on the A8R32-MVP. We confirmed with memtest86 on boot and Systool in Windows that we were setting and maintaining a 1T Command Rate in high overclocks. We did find that Asus is using a very clever tool to protect the board when settings outside the board's capabilities are detected. If we set values (Ratio and Clock Speed) that would result in an HTT higher than the board's capability of about 1500, the board would read 1T Command Rate in memtest86 (prior to Windows boot) and then change to 2T in Windows. Apparently, Asus is lowering the Command Rate to allow a boot under impossible circumstances - after the BIOS initialization. This was never a problem if you kept the resultant HTT within the board's very wide capabilities, but you should definitely find out where HTT fails to effectively overclock the A8R32-MVP.
Asus has also introduced a very unique and effective new means of dynamically adjusting memory timings for the widest possible compatibility. Asus has developed a means of dynamically controlling memory clock skew to achieve better memory compatibility and better overclocks. The best way to illustrate this feature is with a diagram.
The Asus A8R32-MVP does appear very flexible in handling different memories at default settings, and the overclocking performance at 1T is outstanding. These are certainly indications that Dynamic Clock Skewing is working as claimed. However, some overclocking purists will not be happy with any scheme that second guesses their overclocking settings. For maximum manual control Asus has included BIOS switches for turning off the auto memory clock skew.
Those who don't understand overclocking or who don't want to bother will find automatic overclocking options in the Asus BIOS. This allows you to set an overclock and have the board adjust the related settings. These work well for moderate overclocking, but they will not allow the extreme results achieved manually on the Asus A8R32-MVP.
| Asus A8R-MVP Overclocking Testbed | |
| Processor: | Athlon 64 4000+ (2.4GHz, 1MB Cache) |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.425V (default 1.35V) |
| Cooling: | Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Heatsink/Fan |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
| Memory: | OCZ PC4800* Platinum (Samsung TCCD Memory Chips) *The current equivalent OCZ memory to OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 |
| Hard Drive: | Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM SATA2 8MB Cache |
| Maximum OC: (Standard Ratio) |
246x12 (5x HT, 2.5-3-3-7) 2952MHz (+23%) |
| Maximum FSB: (Lower Ratio) |
322 x 9 (4x HT, 1T, 3-3-4-7) (2898MHz, 2 DIMMs in DC mode) (+61% Bus Overclock) |
One of the most interesting new features in overclocking the RD580 is that the chipset is designed for high-speed operation. In most cases, current NVIDIA and ATI chipsets need to have Hyper Transport frequency adjusted to 3X around a 260 to 270 Clock frequency to keep HT speed at or below 1000-1100. The RD580 chipset was designed for higher HT speed. We consistently found that the board could easily handle HT speeds in the 1450 to 1550 range. For most overclocking this means, for the first time, that it is not necessary to even adjust the 5X HT setting for most overclocks. It was only where we were exceeding around 1500 (300 Clock Frequency) that we had to drop the HT one notch to 4X. Overclockers should be very happy with this new feature of the RD580 chipset.
One word of caution: it appears that the RD580 chipset will not reset an HTT strap or ratio unless you first power down. We had seen this in other testing of the RD580 and it is also a reality on the Asus A8R32-MVP. For instance, if you try to set the ratio to 4X (from 5X), the board will not implement the ratio change until you have powered down the system. Thankfully, this will rarely be necessary with the high-speed HTT capabilities of the RD580, but please keep this in mind when adjusting HTT ratios.
The Asus A8R32-MVP required no special approaches to achieve high overclocks. There is no longer the need to inch your way up on overclocks. High overclocks could be set directly, and as long as the settings were workable, it is possible to boot directly into Windows XP at the higher overclocks. However, there were many times when we set reasonable overclocks and the board failed to boot the first time. In this case, power down the board and restart, and your settings will likely work. Similarly, a bad overclock almost always requires that you turn off the power and restart for recovery. Fortunately, the Asus normally recovers, but often you will need to power off first with overly aggressive OC settings.
The 1T command Rate, which was an issue on the A8R-MVP, is definitely working as you would expect on the A8R32-MVP. We confirmed with memtest86 on boot and Systool in Windows that we were setting and maintaining a 1T Command Rate in high overclocks. We did find that Asus is using a very clever tool to protect the board when settings outside the board's capabilities are detected. If we set values (Ratio and Clock Speed) that would result in an HTT higher than the board's capability of about 1500, the board would read 1T Command Rate in memtest86 (prior to Windows boot) and then change to 2T in Windows. Apparently, Asus is lowering the Command Rate to allow a boot under impossible circumstances - after the BIOS initialization. This was never a problem if you kept the resultant HTT within the board's very wide capabilities, but you should definitely find out where HTT fails to effectively overclock the A8R32-MVP.
Asus has also introduced a very unique and effective new means of dynamically adjusting memory timings for the widest possible compatibility. Asus has developed a means of dynamically controlling memory clock skew to achieve better memory compatibility and better overclocks. The best way to illustrate this feature is with a diagram.
The Asus A8R32-MVP does appear very flexible in handling different memories at default settings, and the overclocking performance at 1T is outstanding. These are certainly indications that Dynamic Clock Skewing is working as claimed. However, some overclocking purists will not be happy with any scheme that second guesses their overclocking settings. For maximum manual control Asus has included BIOS switches for turning off the auto memory clock skew.
Those who don't understand overclocking or who don't want to bother will find automatic overclocking options in the Asus BIOS. This allows you to set an overclock and have the board adjust the related settings. These work well for moderate overclocking, but they will not allow the extreme results achieved manually on the Asus A8R32-MVP.
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ocyl - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
Page 4 mentions that there is an Asus board called "A8N32-MVP." Does anyone know where to find more information about this board, if it does exist?Gary Key - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
It should have read A8N32-SLI and has been corrected. Thank you.Darthb0b0 - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
I'd like to see numbers of both X1800 and X1900 Crossfire, on both the A8R and A8R32 (four sets of numbers for those who are math impaired). I am much more interested in how this new board, and its price premium, affect Crossfire performance.nicolasb - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
Can we have some comparable benchmarks for 7800GTX 512 as well as 7800GTX? And 7800GTX 512 in SLI mode too.whippingboy79 - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
**"The NVIDIA 7800GTX and ATI X1900XT are readily available for purchase in the marketplace. Since the 7800GTX 512 is not available for sale anywhere and has not been available for weeks, it seemed unfair to compare x1900XT results to products that are not available for purchase."**Please don't take this personally Anandtech but your reviews are seriously flawed...
This article should of only been written if the proper hardware was available for testing.
If that was the case then the article should review a X1800XT Crossfire vs the 7800gtx 256 SLI in the A8R32-MVP.... These cards are based on competing technologies 2-3 quarters ago..... The X1900 series cards are based on current technologies as are the new 7900 from Nvidia and some might throw in the 7800gtx 512-
Back in december the 7800gtx 512 was readily available on launch- give the 1900xt another 2 months and we will see what the availability of the product looks like. Even now the 1900xt is in low quantities.. give it another 3 weeks and well you get the picture.
I have been finding that some of the Anandtech writers are not objective enough. They have a habit of allowing thier personal views and tastes on hardware flaw their testing and results. Sadly I can still recall the days when Anandtech was a viable resource.....
dali71 - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
That's funny, I just checked three of the main reputable online vendors and found that they all appeared to have plenty of the X1900 series in stock and priced reasonably as well (reasonable being a relative term when referring to high end video cards). I then checked the same three vendors for the 7800GTX 512. Only one actually had listings for the cards, but they were all backordered and ridiculously overpriced as well. So since you are obviously a biased Nvidia fanboi, why don't YOU give it another 3 weeks to 2 months and see if you can extract your foot from your mouth when X1900s are still readily available.Sh0ckwave - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
Seriously you guys need to stop flaming every article Anandtech publishes. Get over it, if you don't like their reviews don't read them. IMO Anandtech is still the best and always has been.Matthews316 - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
I would have liked to see a side by side graph comparison of these two boards with crossfire enabled. That way we could get an idea if the dual x 16 PCI-E slots on the A8R32-MVP made any significant gaming performance improvement over the dual x 8 PCI-E slots on the A8R-MVP. Otherwise I really enjoyed the review, and I'll probably be purchasing one of these boards once the price settles down a little.Beenthere - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
Well, well, well - the disappearing Asus Mobo Hype. I lost count is this the forth or fifth hype posting in the past ten days that has been up, down, up, down, up, down and a real jerk around?After the abortion A8R-MVP Asus shipped as a designed for "serious overclockers" piece of garbage, they can stick the A8R32 where the Sun don't shine. The A8R-MVP was the most over-hyped under performing mobo ever sold and IMNHO a fraud as it doesn't come even close to delivering the advertised performance Asus claims.
I find it amazing how Asus feeds Anandtech all the info. they desire but Asus can't or won't fix the defective A8R-MVP mobos that have documented memory incompatibility issues, 1T timing issues, vcore voltage issues, MVP card issues and more. Asus has the balls to dump the defective A8R-MVP mobo into the marketplace and then flat refuse to even support this malfunctioning mobo or even discuss with their customers any solution to the long list of problems. Asus completely ignores its customers and has provided no BIOS upgrades that fix any of the listed problems above. Once upon a time we had good Asus mobos but for the past several years Asus has been unable to deliver any reliable, properly functioning mobos. It took them four different SLI models to get an SLI32 mobo that performs equal to every other mobo companies SLI X16 mobo, so you gotta believe Asus has engineering issues.
As if to illustrate how gullible some consumers are the A8R32 addresses some but not all of the problems on the A8R-MVP that according to Anandtech and Asus were not problems at all. This must be like with MICROSUCKS where bad security code isn't a defect it's a "feature". It's amazing the B.S. that is published to suck up to unscrupulous manufacturers. The disguised damage control is for the naive who don't have a clue. If a S939 mobo can't run standard industry DIMMS in 1T and the vcore voltage varies 100 mV or more, the mobo is a problem child. The fact that Asus still deletes the proper vcore voltage options in BIOS on the A8R32 tells me they still have engineering problems IMNHO.
Sorry Wes but these Asus reviews are not objective scientific tests any more they are just marketing hype. It looks like you're way too close to Asus to tell the whole story instead of regurgitating the glowing marketing hype. When Asus recalls all of the defective A8R-MVP mobos and replaces them with properly functioning A8R-MVP mobos, then they'll prove they have their act together and that they care about their customers. Otherwise IMNHO they are just an unscrupulous company dumping defective goods into the marketplace to defraud consumers.
Looks like there is little value in reading Anandtech any more as it's become unreliable just like THG did after Tom left. We ain't buying the hype and Asus can shove their entire product line where the Sun don't shine. They may have made short term profits by defrauding A8R-MVP buyers with defective goods, but in the long term they will lose a lot of customers to other mobo makers.
theprodigalrebel - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
i was almost paying attention to your post, but you lost me when you wrote 'microsucks'.stupid troll.