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Thread: OCZ DDR Booster on an Asus A8V -mini review

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  1. #1
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    OCZ DDR Booster on an Asus A8V -mini review

    First let me caveat this test bu saying that the current asus A8V 939 board that I am using has been somewhat ddr voltage FUBAR'ed since I got it. Any setting other than 2.6 or auto in bios for ddr voltage either won't post or will freeze screen quickly in windows. I have tried 2 FX53's and 2 sets of ram, 3700EB's and Corsair XL's. Same result. So since I know that at least some of the A8V's out there can run same ram at least 2.8v, I have to say that there is a voltage problem with this board. That said, the Booster does work in the A8V, with a couple of important buts.

    First off Ram MUST go in slots 2 and 4. his still provides dual channel and runs fine. Then the booster can either go in slot 3 which will more or less touch the back of the ram in slot 2 (keep in mind the heat sinks on the booster mofsets get way hot, so that may not be the best place to have heat up against. The other place and where I choose to place the booster is obviously slot 1. No at least on the A8V, there is a tall cap nearby and this results in a slight mod of the lower heatsink. Since they are only "taped on", it is no biggie, just replaced the stock sink with 2 smaller ones and moved it slightly up so that a bit of the lower right mofset is showing bare. You will most likely need a fan blowing on the booster which will help the ram anyway. Even at low voltage you can only touch the sinks for a few seconds.

    So all that done, the next thing is at first boot, the booster voltage comes to rest fairly slowly, so you have to wait till it settles to make any changes,. Then turn the knob very slowly just a bit at the time like any other vmod and wait a couple seconds for a reaction. It may need to be calibrated to match the voltage set in bios, or actual reading from meter, bu a slight turn of the tiny screw under the LED readout area. It reads only to the nearest tenth of a volt.

    So it does work and with a little creative replacement of the heatsinks, it probably can be fit on most boards. It probably needs anywhere form 3/8" to 1/2" clearance beyond the dimm slot for clearance, depending on the height of your ram. It will go in boards with heatspreaders removed easier than ones with however. It is laid out in the Intel and not AMD dimm slot style, but works fine with AMD as long as you can fit it.

    Lastly, it is probably my wacky board, but at bios set to auto and the booster set to just below 2.7v, I get a pin one read on the open dimm slot of 2.85 or so. Anyway, I have to test this on a board that isn't voltage limited. Even at only 2.6v I can still run this A8V at 252 sync ddr400 with the 3700EB sticks, which speaks well for how the EB clock at low voltage. I know you guys want to hear what it does at 3.3v+, but at that point I'm guessing it will behave just like any other vddr mod. The point is it works and like any other mod, you can kill hardware and the only thing that is warrantied is the booster itself, so be careful with this thing. more later..
    Last edited by xgman; 07-10-2004 at 07:05 AM.
    {2012 27imac-3.4i7-680mx-32gb ram-768SSD+External TB Samsung840pro ssd + TB velociraptors-Moto828mkIII/Marantz/Amphion Sound-HPzR30w 2nd monitor}

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