Dont get a K8N4-E(Nforce4) Asus motherboard!..

B

BES

Spaceman
I just got one recently and a PCI Express video card, had nothing but problems with it, my benchmarks sucked, only got 70fps on HL2 and Doom3, random crashing, then the keyboard stopped working and got a wierd error about a serious hardware problem, keyboard wouldnt work etc..was pretty mad. So I bought this K8VM800M(VIA K8M800) for 60$, and it royally smokes! and its not even PCI Express, running a Radeon 9800XT 8x AGP, and HL2 and Doom3 get over 130fps now...max graphics settings.
 
maybe i should just google the type up, but i think you might inform people better when you mention the manufacter of both boards.

also, please keep in mind that a superior board might become unstable or just performing poor because of poor quality components, while cheap boards just
work with them without problems.

My job is, amongst other things, adressing compatibility issues with memory, and i tried three different specs of memory before i got a quality combination for my athlon 64 x2, and yes, i work at a "cheap" DRAM company, that means i have to offer more support, and less quality products make my paycheck.
 
The K8N4-E is an Asus board, PCI Express 16

http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=14&l3=172&model=454&modelmenu=1

the K8VM800M is a Via K8M800 board made by Giga-byte

http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-K8VM800M (Rev 1.x).htm

The PCI Express one ran a Radeon X700Pro PCI express 16 graphics
Athlon 64 2.4ghz(1meg cache)cpu
2 SATA 10,000RPM Western Digital HDs on IDE config(onboard controller)
1.5gigs DDR400 Centon mem
onboard sound
Panasonic CD/DVD rom/burner(multidrive)
Samsung 52x cd rom

the K8VM800M has a Radeon 9800XT AGP 8x graphics
Athlon 64 2.4ghz(1meg cache)cpu
2 SATA 10,000RPM Western Digital HDs on IDE config(onboard controller)
1gig DDR 400 Centon mem(not 1.5, not enough slots)
Soundblaster Audigy soundcard
Panasonic CD/DVD rom/burner(multidrive)
Samsung 52x cd rom
 
It's been a few months since I bought this computer, so I don't remember for sure, but I'm 95% certain that I've got a K8N4-E motherboard. I'm also 100% certain I've had no problems whatsoever with it - so I'd say that as frustrating as your problems might have been, they don't mean that all motherboards of this type are bad.
 
BES said:
running a Radeon 9800XT 8x AGP, and HL2 and Doom3 get over 130fps now...max graphics settings.
Click to expand...

130 FPS in HL2 and Doom3 with a 9800XT with max graphics (Full AA and AF)?!
640x480?

Yeah right....post some screens dude.
 
It's probably a good idea to remember that this is the same guy who posted to the Y-Box thread saying the government was censoring the secret, satellite-destroying super-PS2s.
 
That's a good point. His post is so angry it's hard to tell if it's an actual hardware problem or that he might be too dumb to put a computer together and troubleshoot it correctly.

-Rance-
 
Quarto said:
It's been a few months since I bought this computer, so I don't remember for sure, but I'm 95% certain that I've got a K8N4-E motherboard. I'm also 100% certain I've had no problems whatsoever with it - so I'd say that as frustrating as your problems might have been, they don't mean that all motherboards of this type are bad.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've never had any problems with an ASUS board. They're about the best name brand in motherboards. Meanwhile, I have had at least one Gigabyte motherboard completely die on me. So this thread doesn't do anything for me.
 
There are just so many possibilities what might have gone wrong besides a faulty MB. Like bad/incompatible memory or a powersupply that is too weak (GF6xxxx and AtI X-Series need MUCH more power then prior ones, more then the CPU in many cases).
 
Also, i don't see why you would also trade in the graphics card for a far older model,
and step down from PCI-E, and resort to AGP these days.

the AGP-bus is being taken out of the market to be replaced by PCI-express,
graphic card manufacters encourage it by releasing the top models only on the
new interface. compare it to VESA local bus slots found on 486's or early pentium
models, they were simply phased out. eventually you will have to replace the mainboard to upgrade to a new graphics card anyway.
 
So, you had this computer which sucked, then you got an inferior one and it rocks?

It's painfully obvious to me that people should steer clear of all ASUS products altogether!

On a slightly more reasonable note, can anyone tell me what are the best AGP video cards around nowadays and how much they go for?
 
Its not an excuse to post specs im serious, the board ran like crap with a 480watt power supply, got crappy fps in HL2 and Doom3, then the board seemed to just crap out and not work anymore,even on the ASUS forums about the board alot of people had similar issues with it... I also just ran the video stress test for counter-strike:source and got 106.48fps(at 1024x768 all settings on high,reflect world and full HD in CS:Source) with 16% cpu load from another program and my vid card is set at AGP 4x at this time.It would be alot higher if I wasnt running this other program and I changed my AGP setting to 8x.This is the current screens , ill post new ones after I stop running my Encoder project and change the AGp back to 8X

http://groups.msn.com/BrianSp/showingfpsbenchresults.msnw
 
Still waiting for those amazing 130+ FPS in HL2 and Doom3 with a 9800XT, with full AA and AF perhaps

I opened that link, but there is no video, nothing, just some pics, none says 106 FPS (but i can see that is without AA, so it isn't all settings on high)
And all of that with another program running and AGP 4X?? :rolleyes:
 
Still think im BSing?, this is with same settings but at 8x AGP, and without running the Encoder program...it dont have to be full AA and AF, it was set on full HD though,its just under 130fps, but good enough for a Radeon 9800XT, it royally smokes the PCI Express 16 X700 Pro I had in the other board(the ASUS one just sux) ,in the 3rd post

http://groups.msn.com/BrianSp/fpsbenchmarkforcssource.msnw
 
U guys dont have to believe me, the pics arent doctored, was just trying to tell people to steer away from that certain motherboard cause It sux, and alot of people on the ASUS forum think it sux too...I dont lie, mybe exaggerate a tad(like about the fps its just under 130,big deal 123.64 is still quite fast for a Radeon 9800XT)
 
Eder: There are Nvidia 6600 VGA with AGP (models GS,GT IIRC)

At the other guy:

Doom 3 was capped at 60 FPS,so unless there is out there some file that ''uncap'' it you are a liar.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/456/456054p1.html

HL2 Benchmarks:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjkyLDI=
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2278&p=10

MAn, you are an OvErClooCk MaSta! 130+ FPS with your 9800XT AGP!! Woot

CS-Source Benchmarks

http://www.gdhardware.com/hardware/video_cards/source/002.htm

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source_3.html The machine
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source_5.html 980XT 1024 NO full graphics, reach 138 FPS
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source_6.html with AA and AF
81 FPS
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source_7.html More bs
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source_8.html and more, just change the html number to see more bs
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=1181&s=8
 
Ok then smart guy, show me YOUR bench of CS:source, If my PCI express 16 X700Pro cant even do 80fps with CS:Source, and my Radeon 9800XT smokes it with 123.64, then there is something wrong somewhere and It isnt me, since I been building comps for a while now, at least 10yrs,im A+ certified...im not overclocking my Radeon 9800XT, its using a stock heatsink and fan, I took it off and put arctic silver on the CPU and put it back on,and im running on overdrive all the time, technically that isnt overclocking it...
 
There WAS a way to get around the FPS capp in Doom3, but not now ..if u typed r_displayRefresh "100" in your console and disable Vsync it would work,but it was patched cause it had problems...like in one of your links above...my game would crash, but I still got above 60fps:D
 
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