ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
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Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
same mobo, same BIOS... I looked it myself too if there is something different, I could see nothing... though this one is rev1.01 ... but I cannot remember if the previous was .01 too...
same mobo, same BIOS... I looked it myself too if there is something different, I could see nothing... though this one is rev1.01 ... but I cannot remember if the previous was .01 too...
Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
I will now add some thoughts after using the ION mobo for 1/2 day :ROTFLOL2:
I combined it with a 640GB sata 2,5" HDD (yeah 640gb! new stuff!
) and a pair of 2GB 667mhz Kingston DDR2 ram sticks , all working fine! So I hooked it via HDMI to my 37" 1080p LG lcd/tv.
So first I installed a streamlined win7 version, very fast and network usable BUT recent updates could not be installed. So I re-formatted and installed normal win7 professional , a little slower in booting, but I have not tweaked yet. Updates and all are OK.
I replaced the stock 40x40@6000rpm :nuts: fan with a 60x60@2500rpm one , so now the machine is silent. The cpu+gpu heatsink is ALWAYS cool to touch, after working the cpu temperature is ~35 degrees, and the 9400M GPU has the same temperature as far as I can tell... Certainly a HUGE improvement over intel's design with the awfull 945GC chipset , which is both TOO HOT at ~60 degrees and power consuming (it alone needs ~30-40W!).
So I tried MAME x86 0.134.... the gui is a bit on the slow side... 680x0 games and similar run at full speed, and I tried Psyvariar (consider it a 100mhz PS1 machine) , I was only getting ~70% speed on that. NOT bad at all, considering the 7W Atom cpu , the mame ps1 emulation that is not the fastest available and the 1920x1080 resolution I was running it
(switching to 720p resolution did not help much either) , so emulator-wise snes/nes/megadrive/sms/mame2D stuff are OK 
Also 2,5" HDD data transfers are ~45-50mb/sec (from 2 different hdd's) , which is quite fast for a little machine :nod:
The complete setup drains ~35W :woot: and is always cool ! I use it as a download/seeding server almost 24/7 , maybe some movie/cartoons viewing on the tv and maybe some retro-gaming combined with the xbox360_wireless_pc_receiver Though I must admit, the ION chipset looks a little limited with the dual-core 1.6ghz Atom cpu (that gets a 3.3 windows score and the 9400M gets a 5.4!) , so I hope intel releases an upgraded version in the near future :inlove:
I highly recommend it to everyone that wants a small machine for similar uses
I will now add some thoughts after using the ION mobo for 1/2 day :ROTFLOL2:
I combined it with a 640GB sata 2,5" HDD (yeah 640gb! new stuff!
) and a pair of 2GB 667mhz Kingston DDR2 ram sticks , all working fine! So I hooked it via HDMI to my 37" 1080p LG lcd/tv.So first I installed a streamlined win7 version, very fast and network usable BUT recent updates could not be installed. So I re-formatted and installed normal win7 professional , a little slower in booting, but I have not tweaked yet. Updates and all are OK.
I replaced the stock 40x40@6000rpm :nuts: fan with a 60x60@2500rpm one , so now the machine is silent. The cpu+gpu heatsink is ALWAYS cool to touch, after working the cpu temperature is ~35 degrees, and the 9400M GPU has the same temperature as far as I can tell... Certainly a HUGE improvement over intel's design with the awfull 945GC chipset , which is both TOO HOT at ~60 degrees and power consuming (it alone needs ~30-40W!).
So I tried MAME x86 0.134.... the gui is a bit on the slow side... 680x0 games and similar run at full speed, and I tried Psyvariar (consider it a 100mhz PS1 machine) , I was only getting ~70% speed on that. NOT bad at all, considering the 7W Atom cpu , the mame ps1 emulation that is not the fastest available and the 1920x1080 resolution I was running it
(switching to 720p resolution did not help much either) , so emulator-wise snes/nes/megadrive/sms/mame2D stuff are OK Also 2,5" HDD data transfers are ~45-50mb/sec (from 2 different hdd's) , which is quite fast for a little machine :nod:
The complete setup drains ~35W :woot: and is always cool ! I use it as a download/seeding server almost 24/7 , maybe some movie/cartoons viewing on the tv and maybe some retro-gaming combined with the xbox360_wireless_pc_receiver
Though I must admit, the ION chipset looks a little limited with the dual-core 1.6ghz Atom cpu (that gets a 3.3 windows score and the 9400M gets a 5.4!) , so I hope intel releases an upgraded version in the near future :inlove: I highly recommend it to everyone that wants a small machine for similar uses
Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
I've been quite impressed with the ATOM CPUs too.
Does this montherboard have the N330 Dual Core CPU then?
My Father wanted to buy his first every computer a couple of weeks ago. He has always been against PCs, not really understanding them, but he has become more and more interested as the Shooting and Fishing companies he buys from have increasingly gone online, making ordering much easier. He used to get my Mum to order stuff and look things up for him on her Laptop, but he likes to look through everything, which was frustrating my Mum who likes to read Sci-Fi Fan Fiction online. So he decided he wanted on of his own to use email and the internet.
I took him to PC World to try some machines out and he liked the little Netbooks and thought they were ideal for what he needed, so I ordered him a Samsung N130 and I was very impressed with it. For the size of the system they fitted a nice sized keyboard with well spaced keys that you can actually type on! And the Atom N270 processor with HT, running at 1.6GHz is more than enough to run XP SP3 on it. I wasn't expecting an Atom based system to be that responsive and usable.
I am now therefore also considering a Dual Core Atom based system to make a quiet download and seeding server like you are using your one for. It is very tempting.
I've been quite impressed with the ATOM CPUs too.
Does this montherboard have the N330 Dual Core CPU then?
My Father wanted to buy his first every computer a couple of weeks ago. He has always been against PCs, not really understanding them, but he has become more and more interested as the Shooting and Fishing companies he buys from have increasingly gone online, making ordering much easier. He used to get my Mum to order stuff and look things up for him on her Laptop, but he likes to look through everything, which was frustrating my Mum who likes to read Sci-Fi Fan Fiction online. So he decided he wanted on of his own to use email and the internet.
I took him to PC World to try some machines out and he liked the little Netbooks and thought they were ideal for what he needed, so I ordered him a Samsung N130 and I was very impressed with it. For the size of the system they fitted a nice sized keyboard with well spaced keys that you can actually type on! And the Atom N270 processor with HT, running at 1.6GHz is more than enough to run XP SP3 on it. I wasn't expecting an Atom based system to be that responsive and usable.
I am now therefore also considering a Dual Core Atom based system to make a quiet download and seeding server like you are using your one for. It is very tempting.
Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
Yep, it uses the N330 Atom cpu, you actually get 4 cpu meters in XP :jester: (2 cores , 2 threads each)
XP runs ultra-fast in those machines, I cannot really understand why! They boot faster than a C2D pc :nod:
I could use XP too, but wanted the nice gui 7 offers :drool:
I highly recomment this board _OR_ the Zotac one. Zotac has 2 versions: one with onboard 60W psu and the other with a normal ATX plug (ofcourse using a 120W or 150W PicoPSU is way better IMHO, I currently use the 120W one). One other difference is that the Zotac boards have onboard wifi, and NO PCI slot, whereas the ASUS mobo has onboard Bluetooth and a PCI slot. Also Zotac has HDMI/DVI/VGA connections where ASUS only HDMI/VGA . For me a PCI slot seemed a better choise , as the onboard Zotac wifi module is a 54mbps one...
too much confusing info , sorry being a long day in work... :shrug:
Yep, it uses the N330 Atom cpu, you actually get 4 cpu meters in XP :jester: (2 cores , 2 threads each)
XP runs ultra-fast in those machines, I cannot really understand why! They boot faster than a C2D pc :nod:
I could use XP too, but wanted the nice gui 7 offers :drool:
I highly recomment this board _OR_ the Zotac one. Zotac has 2 versions: one with onboard 60W psu and the other with a normal ATX plug (ofcourse using a 120W or 150W PicoPSU is way better IMHO, I currently use the 120W one). One other difference is that the Zotac boards have onboard wifi, and NO PCI slot, whereas the ASUS mobo has onboard Bluetooth and a PCI slot. Also Zotac has HDMI/DVI/VGA connections where ASUS only HDMI/VGA . For me a PCI slot seemed a better choise , as the onboard Zotac wifi module is a 54mbps one...
too much confusing info , sorry being a long day in work... :shrug:
Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
It is annoying when they remove useful expansion ports like PCI completely. I would definitely won't that in case of needing to install something later like a Wifi card, PCI graphics card if the internal one stops working, same for network etc... Or even an extra SATA or IDE controller to add more drives to make a NAS out of this little board. Now that is a good use for these low powered CPU systems. Combined with FreeNAS it would be ideal.
I can live without a dedicated DVI port as an HDMI to DVI or VGA to DVI adapter could be used. I've loads of those lying around.
It is annoying when they remove useful expansion ports like PCI completely. I would definitely won't that in case of needing to install something later like a Wifi card, PCI graphics card if the internal one stops working, same for network etc... Or even an extra SATA or IDE controller to add more drives to make a NAS out of this little board. Now that is a good use for these low powered CPU systems. Combined with FreeNAS it would be ideal.
I can live without a dedicated DVI port as an HDMI to DVI or VGA to DVI adapter could be used. I've loads of those lying around.
Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
yes, it seems Zotac aims at specific users that need a very small board and nothing else.. remember those cute boards go into mITX cases :inlove: (as a sidenote the single PCI slot of the ASUS board does work with a pci riser/extender , I have seen chaps with 2 pci cards installed)
This is the case I am using currently, if I install a PCI card it needs to be hacked, but a slot is a "future investment" :jester:
http://www.morex.com.tw/products/produc ... ?fd_id=118
2,5" HDD + slot-in dvdrw are in the "basement" under the motherboard I have also their 3833 and 3877 cases, they are more compact
yes, it seems Zotac aims at specific users that need a very small board and nothing else.. remember those cute boards go into mITX cases :inlove: (as a sidenote the single PCI slot of the ASUS board does work with a pci riser/extender , I have seen chaps with 2 pci cards installed)
This is the case I am using currently, if I install a PCI card it needs to be hacked, but a slot is a "future investment" :jester:
http://www.morex.com.tw/products/produc ... ?fd_id=118
2,5" HDD + slot-in dvdrw are in the "basement" under the motherboard
I have also their 3833 and 3877 cases, they are more compact
Justin
Active member
Re: ASUS ION AT3N7A-1 motherboard cannot use more than 768MB RAM
nice case
nice case