ASUS A8N-VM CSM

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:34 pm

I just ordered this motherboard. It looks perfect on paper.

- Integrated gf6150
- Integrated HD audio
- Integrated 1gb lan
- Firewire
- 4x sata2 with raid-0, raid1, raid0+1, raid5
- passive northbride cooling

All this for 100 euros. It will be a good base for a "clean" computer, no add-on cards necessary, not even graphics. Guess I will finally have to post pictures to general gallery when I recieve this and the 3800+ x2...

Edit: Just realised there was a link to this asus board in another thread already. Sorry...

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:03 pm

oh thats the new answer to ati's 200 chipset right?

goes fast from what I have seen. not good enough for gaming of course, but its good enough for older games and anything media function etc.

thatsa cool board.

Chang · Post by **Chang** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:00 pm

I saw it in stock here and bit the bullet too.

I have my doubts as to whether or not they really have it, so once I see it's shipped, I'll buy the processor. I'll probably just going with the least expensive (3000+ ?) from NewEgg.

This upgrade is getting expensive -- $100 mobo + $150 CPU + $100 additional GB of RAM (for dual channel) + $100 24-pin PSU upgrade (S12 430W) + $100 HD upgrade (Maxtor DM10?) + $150 OS upgrade (MCE?).

Chang · Post by **Chang** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:20 pm

Crud. They've still got it listed for saile but sent me an e-mail claiming it'll be delayed 'til the 28th. If they've charged my card I'm gong to be upset. That's what chargebacks are for I suppose.

I should have gone with another vendor when I saw the low overall reseller rating.

Weiman · Post by **Weiman** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 7:28 am

Nvidia pulls C51, Geforce 6150 motherboards

I wonder what this will mean for A8N-VM availability. I'm eagerly awaiting it too...

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:05 pm

Nvidia Statement On C51 Recall Rumor

So I hope this means that I will get my mobo in the following weeks.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:40 am

haha, any news?

Chang · Post by **Chang** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:30 pm

Last I heard the recall had a bit more evidence to it. True enough, it is largely coming from the Inq. They found a review site that found serious problems with the TV Out. Biostar didn't "recall" since there's only TV-Out on the 6150 and not on the 6100. Our board has TV-Out and it looks like they went back to be "fixed". Mid-late November is what most vendors are saying but who knows.

[edit-update]
I decided to give up on it and cancelled my order. Not that anyone but me cares, but I'm going with the updated version of the MSI board. Only good thing I guess is that CPU prices have dropped slightly.
[/edit-update]

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:11 pm

I care. I'd like to know if you make a good decision - I might copy you.

I'm thinking I might just wait till shortly after Christmas because a lot should be released soon for the Christmas market... right?

If I can find a great mATX board, great, but if not I'll just shelve my beautiful HTPC case and go with a cheap minitower case for a good but quiet ATX system.

Caudipteryx zoui · Post by **Caudipteryx zoui** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 7:59 pm

This is the board I would get if I was looking for s939 mATX today. For US residents, ZZF has it: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=247026

Unfortunately, I needed to build my PC back in August, so I went with Jetway's pro solution. It is increasingly likely that the Jetway board is responsible for random reboots I've been having.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:27 pm

sweet, it's out!

Now to search for some reviews.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:12 am

Yeah I'm still waiting for this board. It's been 3 weeks now since I ordered, but I'm patient. I knew it wasn't out when I ordered. Luckily AMD has dropped the prices of their processors. So at least I will save around 40e on it. I will prolly cancel my x2 3800+ order, if I'm lucky and opteron 165 is also out (for 290e) by the time this board arrives is sold here in Finland. 40e less for a processor with twice the cache and only 200mhz less is a bargain.

anaqer · Post by **anaqer** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:17 am

That SoundMax thing ASUS seems to be so fond of any good? I rather hate the idea of having to install separate drivers just because. (And wtf is up with *optional* S/PDIF connector?)

secretz · Post by **secretz** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:22 am

That SoundMax thing ASUS seems to be so fond of any good? I rather hate the idea of having to install separate drivers just because. (And wtf is up with *optional* S/PDIF connector?)

S/PDIF on a bracket. So you can choose whether to use it or not. Thus 'optional'.

anaqer · Post by **anaqer** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:01 am

I know what 'optional' means, thankyouverymuch.
I just find it infuriating that you have to pay extra for it (IF you can hunt it down someplace) because it's not included with the board. Same with the TV-out bracket.

Kinketsu · Post by **Kinketsu** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:52 pm

anaqer wrote: I just find it infuriating that you have to pay extra for it (IF you can hunt it down someplace) because it's not included with the board. Same with the TV-out bracket.

I agree completely. The part is worth next to nothing, but not included.

Instead, the buyer has to

(a) try to figure out what is the right part (I just checked: they don't include a part number for it in the manual ... and it's not mentioned anywhere on their website),

(b) locate the part from vendors, who usually make their money moving items in bulk, not specialty orders of cheap parts,

and then

(c) pay to get the damn thing delivered, if you didn't realize in advance that you needed it.

Total crap, IMHO.

Still, I may spring for this board ... it looks very promising.

Anyone have any idea yet if an XP-120 will fit on this thing? (I'll be in an ATX case despite the mATX form factor).

K

fred9 · Post by **fred9** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:10 am

I'm building a new PC primarily to get HDTV ota via DVICO Fusion card.
I was going to get a8n-sli prem but now I'm thinking A8n-vm csm will be ok.
What will I miss from the a8n-sli prem?
I'm not a gamer and won't need 2 gpu's.

I also plan to get antec 150 case and venice 3000.
and I'd aslo like to know if XP120 will fit on this mobo.
thanks,

winguy · Post by **winguy** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 8:02 am

anaqer wrote:That SoundMax thing ASUS seems to be so fond of any good? I rather hate the idea of having to install separate drivers just because. (And wtf is up with *optional* S/PDIF connector?)

I think you gotta install separate audio drivers for all 61X0/4X0 boards.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:04 am

The few forum comments about these boards don't seem very good...

Anyone used one?

NapalmDeath · Post by **NapalmDeath** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:31 am

I setup my A8N-VM CSM last weekend. Works great.
Can boot USB/SATA without needing floppy drivers.

I especially like the Asus Probe II software which will stay up inside my games so that I can monitor my temps and fan speeds adjusting with my fanbus as needed to keep the system quiet.

Not able to get the Quiet and Cool to work. May need a new bios update for it. Also the SW IDE drivers seem to cause system lockup when adjusting power management (ie. turning on quiet and cool).

Was a little leery of buying a first revision board, but I have faith in Asus.

winguy · Post by **winguy** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:50 am

How about some pics of the board as well as bios screenshots?

NapalmDeath · Post by **NapalmDeath** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 11:29 am

It's going to be a couple days before I have pics ready.

The manual lists a lot of the board layout and bios settings.
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/soc ... vm_csm.pdf

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 7:24 pm

I guess I will recieve my mobo also during this week. I have already checked the manual. Not that much options for overclocking. FSB max is only 240 and we can't know yet if the motherboard will be able to do it stable. Also there ain't much voltage controls. I will post some screenies and pictures of the case hopefully on next weekend (the shop says availability in 1-3 days). I'd really like to know, if this motherboards shares the same problems with antec neo he psu, that other A8N mobos have been having. It's really holding me back from buying P150.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:23 am

FSB 240 would be really nice on a board like this eh? I doubt it'd overclock much at all though...

I'd really like to know, if this motherboards shares the same problems with antec neo he psu, that other A8N mobos have been having. It's really holding me back from buying P150.

I've read reference to that in here, but I'm not sure what the underlying problem is. Any thoughts?

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:06 pm

So I finally put up this rig together yesterday. Can't say the installation went smoothly. I couldn't get this thing boot to windows so I had to reinstall. All my tweaks gone

, ok I was expecting this anyway, but my problems didn't end there. After the install, I installed the drivers and some programs, booted a couple of times, but on the second time I booted, I couldn't get back to windows, because after my computer POSTed my monitor went black and got a "VIDEO MODE NOT SUPPORTED" message on screen. First I thought it was some sort of glitch that I had caused in bios, so I tried to change the settings there - didn't work. I reseted the CMOS etc. and still kept getting the message on screen when my windows was loading. I had unplugged everything from my computer, reseted the CMOS, so I thought it must have been some kind of bug with nvidias drivers. So I decided to reinstall windows once again. OK, it worked... for a while. When I booted, it happened again. So now I was starting to think it must be the monitor. So I went under the desk and unplugged it from the power socket. I put it back and the problem was gone. Everything seems to be working now. I don't know much about the hardware in LCDs, but I have a theory of overflowing some kind of memory there. The windows boot screen is 640x480 @256 colors wich is not supported by my monitor. Well anyway just a theory. Next time I know wich part to unplug first if the same thing happens.

I had a brief attempt at OCing. At least I got to windows with 240x 10 on my x2 3800+, voltage was 1.39v. Can't say anything about stability though, since I didn't have time to test. Anyway I'm going to run this at stock speed so I don't have to run the zalman 7000b-alcu fan at full speed. Currently it's at 2150 rpm and the cpu is at 47celsius. Air coming from my psu seems a bit cooler then with my last set and HDD temps are also slightly cooler 42c compared to 44c. So it seems the noise level depend entirely on how high temps I can tolerate on the cpu. Atm the rig is a bit noisier then it was before the upgrade, so I might drop the rpm on the zalman just a little.

Despite the difficulties I'd have to say I'm happy with this motherboard. It is pretty good value. Only the bios is lacking.

Bean · Post by **Bean** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:07 pm

Erssa thanks for that and glad you got it sorted out. if down the road you have troubles, maybe this will help - quoting someone else here:

"I just checked with Excaliberpc on my order and this is what i was told: It seems there were some issues with the first revision mbs. Asus had halted further shipment of rev1 and are in the process of shipping out the rev2 boards that hopefully have fixed whatever issues they were having."

It does seem the 6150 supply has vanished/ spotty at best.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 12:15 am

Here's a link to my thread in general gallery. It has some pictures of this board in my case. Screenies of bios not really worth it. Overclocking wise this really isn't the board you are looking for. It has some issues. Cool & quiet not working etc... Hopefully they are just something they can fix in bios. At least they are selling the first patch of this mobo in quantities here.

Mikael · Post by **Mikael** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 6:03 am

Does this board support manual undervolting in the BIOS. It should be an obvious feature on a board targeted at this market, but motherboard makers seem to always make strange decisions...

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:51 am

No it does not, atleast not now. Hopefully it will be implemented with later bios versions.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:13 pm

I'd like to post couple words of warning to those considering this board about the bugs it has.

1) The bios is bugged and lacking. I knew there wouldn't be any voltage setting so I could undervolt the cpu.
2) Problems with the rear panel usb-ports. I posted earlier and told I had had issues with my logitech diNovo, that I didn't have with my 1700+ xp and epox mobo. "Mouse lagging" or acting like out of control. Today I connected an usb2 device from front of my case to the usb-port 5 in the motherboard. After an 3 hours of use, I haven't had any sort of issues with the mouse anymore. So I came to the conclusion that there has to be something wrong with the 4 usb-ports in rear. Some people in asus forums have reported that they have had to replug their wireless mouse & keyboard after every boot. I have had to do it to more then 50% of the times after boots, this might be somehow related.
3) Mobo making NOISE! Now after the weekend I have had more time to work around with the computer in a silent environment and I have noticed there is somekind of noise coming from the rear side of the case. Your computer has to pretty silent to even notice it. It's almost below the white noise threshold of my speakers, but it's there and I can hear it.

The noise comes when I move the scroll bar in my folders. I checked that it wasn't HDD related. I took the sides out of the case and listened to the HDD, dead silent after the suspension (at least below the noise level of the nexus fan blowing below it), then I put me ear right to the rear of the case. It's coming from the upper rear side of the motherboard. Where the VGA connector is. It is also pretty close to the power supply, but I doubt it is the PSU, never had any problems with it before. It's pretty hard to locate the direct source when I have everything running (I can't put my ear too close or my hair get's probably stuck in the zalman fan

). I disconnected the VGA cable from the back and it still makes the noise. It is pretty hard to characterize the noise. It is sort of an mix between scratching, rattling and squeling, maybe I should try to record it....

Anyway it is not the only kind of the noise that comes from there. When I resize a window (any window) by grabbing from the corner and dragging with my mouse it makes the same kind of noise. It makes the same noise also when I drag a program on the screen.

If I minimize, maximize or resize a window from the buttons on the upper right corner, it makes a kind of beeping sound. It doesn't make a sound, if I use Windows + M to minimize all screens at the same time. The noise is coming from the same source as the noise I explained previously. My guess it is something caused by the IGP or some part of it. I'd need a pci-e VGA to test it, but I can't get one in my hands to test this.

These noises aren't coming from the speakers or the internal speaker. I have tested this with them unplugged. I was testing this thing while I was writing this and the beebing noise dissapeared for a while, but it came back when I was away from my computer and tested it. It's not always present after boot, but at some point it just appears. God damn beebs driving be crazy!

This board needs a new bios to fix some of the issues. The noise issue might not be solved with a bios so I might have to RMA this board. I will contact asus to see if they can help with these issues, otherwise it might have to RMA this.

Edit: removed the sound samples and some other parts.

ASUS A8N-VM CSM

ASUS A8N-VM CSM

A8N-vm CSm or a8n-sli prem??