3700+ San Diego compatible with ASUS A8N SLI Premium?

[JohnK93]

Hey all,
I was looking to buy a 3700+ (939 socket) and a ASUS A8N SLI premium board to go with it. Newegg just put this board on sale, but upon reading the latest reviews, a few people say this is the only 939 processor that isn't compatible with this board, and that the deluxe will work. Other people say that they are running this board with this processor. This is totally confusing me, and I don't see anything specific on the AMD website.

Can someone shed some light on this for me?

Thanks,
John

 

[DonNagual]

It is true.

According to the ASUS website, the 3700+ IS compatible with the deluxe version of that board (it is on the supported CPU list), but if you go to the Premium version, that particular CPU is skipped on the list.

In fact, that is the ONLY reason I didn't get a Premium board, as if I have any problems, I was afraid I wouldn't get any support as it is not officially supported.

I have the A8N-SLI deluxe with the Athlon64 3700+.

But as you said, if you search around you can see that many people do have that combination and it is working fine....

 

[JohnK93]

Don,
Thanks for the info...after looking again I did find the info on the ASUS website. Now the question....upgrade to the 3800 or go with the Deluxe? I'll probably go with the latter, I was just trying to avoid any potential issues with the fan that reviewers have brought up. Hopefully I'll get a newer one with the problem resolved.

John

 

[DonNagual]

Well, don't be too surprised if you get a board with the faulty chipset fan. Mine was one of them, and I just got mine in August of this year. There are still many of them circulating around.

You can actually tell just by looking at the board. If the chipset fan is mounted so that it is square with the motherboard, it is the old type.

If the chipset fan is mounted so that it is a diamond shape (diagonal) on the board, you have the newer, stronger chipset fan. If that doesn't make sense let me know and I can upload a picture.

My deluxe board chipset fan died in the first month. Just got real noisy. You'll know if yours dies as the sound is insane. Asus sent me the replacement right away. Pretty straightforward to replace, but it does involve taking your motherboard out of the case again.

If you are getting the deluxe version, I'd recommend calling Asus the day you get it, and just saying that your chipset fan has died and have them send you a new one so you get it asap.

But on the other hand, why not get the premium version, and the 3800cpu? I know it has less L2 cache, but I think the extra 200Mhz outweighs that and will outperform the 3700 in most applications...

 

[JohnK93]

Good idea about getting the replacement, that's what I would do if I do go that route.

I'm new to computer building. Can you give me the short version of what the L2 cache means to me? When / how will I see what this does and how the difference factors into my overall computer speed? Or maybe you can point me in the direction of somewhere that explains it. In the mean time, I'll look around for articles.

Thanks for the help,
John