ASUS A7N8X-X board

Ok, here goes. I have built many systems in the past, but when I started looking into this board, it was the first time I have felt uncomfortable setting up a new system. I have the ASUS A7N8X-X board, AMD Athlon XP 3000 400fsb, and the twin pack of Corsair XMS 3200LLPT 512mb x 2 = 1 gig. I do obviously want to run it as dual channel and at 400 mhz fsb, but I am uncomfortable that I am not familiar with all the motherboard settings. I have read several of the posts on here and I think some of them answer my question here, but I would feel better if someone could specifically respond to this. What are the settings in the bios that are directly related to the memory and processor and what should they be set to to have my setup run at peak performance without over clocking the system over its specifications? I would appreciate all the help that I can get. Thanks in advance.

The CPU should be set at 10.5(mutiplier)x200(FSB) resulting in a 2100mhz clock speed. You should'nt have to mess with this though. The RAM timings should be set at 2-3-2-6 with a Dimm voltage of 2.7. These are stock settings with no overclock.

ok, thanks for a good start. Now, can you tell me what the AGP settings should be with either one of these cards: Geforce 4 TI 4600 128mb ram 8x or ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128mb Mainly the AGP frequency is what I am unsure of, but a refresh in AGP appeture would not hurt. I will post any other settings that I am unsure of, but thanks for the help thus far.

Ok, I am just going to make a list of settings that I could use help with please. CPU External Frequency [200 mhz]? CPU Frequency Multiple Setting [Auto]? CPU Frequency Multiple [10.5]? System Performance [Optimal]? CPU Interface [Optimal]? Memory Frequency [By SPD]? Memory Timing [Optimal]? SDRAM Active Precharge Delay SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay SDRAM CAS Latency FSB Spread Spectrum AGP Spread Spectrum CPU Vcore Settings [Auto]? CPU Vcore Graphics Aperture Size AGP Frequency System BIOS Cacheable Video RAM Cacheable DDR Reference Voltage AGP VDDQ Voltage AGP 8X Support [Enabled] I would assume for 8x AGP Card AGP Fast Write Capability Any of the settings where I put a [setting]? is my best guess at the setting. If I could get some help with this I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks very much for what you were able to help me with. Do you have any other sources that go into details of understanding what all these settings do. I am good for understanding all this if I just had a good source I could read. Thanks for your efforts thus far.

is "dimm voltage" and "DDR Reference Voltage" the same thing?

CPU External Frequency : FSB (Front Side Bus). 200 Is deft. for your chip CPU Frequency Multiple Setting : Auto for non o/cing. Manual for o/cing CPU Frequency Multiple : FSB Multipler (FSB x Multi = Clock Frequ.) System Performance : Automatic/manual preformance setting. I recommend leaving to Auto CPU Interface : Dont know. If it aint broke, dont break it :bomb: Memory Frequency : Memory Ratio. 1:1 is optimal for AMD cpus. Memory Timing : Auto/Manual for the next section. { SDRAM Active Precharge Delay : 6 SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay : 3 SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay : 3 SDRAM CAS Latency : 2 } Cant remember wut each stands for, but CAS plays the biggest impact. 2 Is that fastes (and deft for your memory). SDRAM Active Precharge Delay is (theoretically) suppose to be the closes total of SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay & SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay (eg: 3-3-6, or 2-2-5 [4 may be possible on some boards[). I listed defts for your memory (thanks to CMC_SAVAGE. { FSB Spread Spectrum AGP Spread Spectrum } Not sure. If it aint broke, dont break it :bomb: CPU Vcore Settings : Auto/Manual (again, overclocking/not) CPU Vcore : 1.65V - Should be deft for Barton Core (my 2500+ is). Just a warning: Unless you got [b]REALLY[/b] good cooling, dont go over 1.7V; The Barton Cores have been known to die faster at higher voltes then older CPUs - Due to the added 256K Cache. Graphics Aperture Size : Not sure what it means, but people are alwayz debating best settings. I use 128 personally. My Asus (a7v333) deft.s it to 64 for 'turbo' mode. AGP Frequency : [b]LEAVE SET AT 66Mhz[/b]. Do not mess with this, it will not do any good; except seeing your card go up in smoke if set to high (worst case), more likely you'll lose stablity and wont be able to post. System BIOS Cacheable : Not sure. If it aint broke, dont break it :bomb: Video RAM Cacheable : Not sure. If it aint broke, dont break it :bomb: DDR Reference Voltage : How many volts u put threw the memory. Listed above says deft is 2.7, JEDEC standards only require 2.5V thou; but 2.7 is safe. AGP VDDQ Voltage : Simiar to the DDR voltage. 1.5V is 4x/8x Standard. Shouldnt need to change, even when O/Cing (AGP Frequ is locked/set to 66MMhz) AGP 8X Support : 8X is actually one of the woste things to hit computers. I doubt you will notice a difference between 8x and 4x modes. - My good freind is a hardcore gammer, and sets his 8x card to 4x and has same 3Dmark01/03 and swears its useless. AGP Fast Write Capability : Disabled for ATi, Enabled for nVidia. -- Yes, DIMM voltage is same as DDR Reference Voltage. -- Both of those Video Cards are really good cars. Id personally go for the ATi. -- If anyone can fill in the blanks/correct me, feel free & id appresiate it. -- Remeber: If it aint broke, dont break it :bomb: :ar: :brick:

As I've said before, Thanks for all your help. You all have got me on a good start, so thanks for being such a great forum. I'm sure I can go from here now.