A8V vs. A8V deluxe, use of Zallman 7700 cooler with Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PT

A. First, other than additional features (WIFI) are the A8V and A8V Deluxe
the same board? Or is the Deluxe superior in construction overall or its
electronics? Is the Deluxe worth the more than $25 usd increase in list
price?



B. I have some specifc questions re: using the Zallman 7700 cooler, Corsair
ram and the Antec P-180 midtower as noted below.





1. re: http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/7000_A8VDeluxe_eng.html Is
the capacitor issue the same on the both the A8V or A8V deluxe? The
workaround is recommended only for the deluxe. Given the similarity of the
board layout is it applicable to both boards or only the deluxe?



2. Why would capacitors on the other side of the board present a problem?



3. Also it is not clear from your diagram or description or flash film what
this sentence means:



"Remove the retention frame only, and place our CPU cooler at the center of
the CPU."



What retention frame are you speaking of and what is the rest of the item
that is being left.



4. According to the Monarch Computers custom barebones fill in sheet using
your 7000 or 7700 cooler limits the height of the dimms that can be used. Is
this true for both sets of sockets on only the pair closest to the the CPU
on the A8V? I would like to use Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PT. Can those
macthed dimms be installed in the back set of slots (furthest away from the
CPU)?



5. Given that the fan will hang over the side of the board, is the type of
case an issue, namely the Antec P-180 midtower?



Thank you.



Richard

 

I think the WiFi is a separate option board, it wasnt on my A8V Deluxe.

The Deluxe has the Firewire ports, it has the extra Promise disk controller,
and it has a header for a second serial COM2 port, none of which the
non-Deluxe has.

 

To verify what another poster wrote:

If you go to the FAQs at support.asus.com, the differences between the A8V
and the Deluxe are:

The Deluxe includes the Promise 20378 SATA/Raid controller.

The Deluxe has two COM ports, vs. 1 for the regular A8V. (If memory serves,
one of these is a header rather than a back panel connector.)

The Deluxe has two firewire (IEEE 1394) ports, while the regular A8V has
none.

I'd have provided a direct link to the page, but Asus support site uses Java
and I don't know how to link past that.

I expect that the two boards would have the same clearance problems, but I
don't know from personal experience.


Standard Socket 939 mainboards use a retention bracket that has pieces on
both sides of the board. I guess that the Zalman hestsinks use some sort of
custom bracket.

If you don't like the work-around on the Zalman coolers, you could consider
one of the Thermalright units (www.thermalright.com ) instead, like the
SI-120, or one of the XP-90 family units. These replace the upper part of
the A8V's retention bracket with an adapter for an Intel Socket 478
heatsink. The Thermalright units don't come bundled with fans, so you get to
make your own noise/cooling trade off.

I have an XP-120. It works well, but the clearance for the first DIMM slot
is a little tight. Large heat spreaders or built-in LED displays would
probably cause interference. (The newer SI-120 is supposed to fix that.) I'm
using an adjustable-speed Enermax fan with it, which I had to modify to fit
the mounting clips of the XP-120. The whole package fits in an Antec Super
Lanboy case (mini-tower). One of the nice things about the XP-120 is its
weight: less than 370 g (less fan).

I wouldn't dream of trying to install the heat sink with the mainboard in
the case, though, especially because its spring clips require a fair amount
of force to use. A P-180 must have more space.


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.