New SLI-DR, a few questions!

[TicTacBlAsT]

Hi all, I am new to these forums.

 

I have picked up an x2 3800+ Toledo (the ones that hopefully clock to 2.8ghz+ on nearly stock voltage) so will not be going to Conroe/Am2 yet.

 

My Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe wasn 't really cutting it, so I saw a good deal on eBay for a Lanparty SLI-DR (£68 with PandP) so I went for it. (I'm in the UK)

 

It seems like a great motherboard and I am loving playing with it, however I ahve a few questions:

 

1) The silver heatsink (PWMIC I belive?) nearest the edge of the motherboard at the top gets REALLY hot. All the other silver heatsinks are only just warm but I can't put my finger on this one for 2s without burning it. Is this normal? I'm currently running caseless so don't have any fans on top of it although there should be a tiny bit of moving air around it. Is this safe? Normal? Is it just the fact this is a hot area and I don't have a fan blowing over it, or somthing more? My PWMIC hasn't gone over 44C and normally ranges around mid thirties.

 

2)On my Asus A8n-Sli Deluxe I could get my blue heatsink GEIL value RAM (this stuff - http://www.geilusa.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=55) to about 238mhz memtest stable at 3,3,3,7 1T, but on my new DFI I can't get it past 225mhz without errors. I have tested nearly every timing possible and loosened the secondary timings (something I don't even think I did on the Asus board). With everything on auto except the main timings Prime failed at about 211mhz which shocked me. . I have tried some different Bioses but that doesn't change anything. The sticks are in the orange slots, I tried the yellow slots but my board wouldn't even post. So is this motherboard variation due to compatibility with the RAM or does it sound like I am missing something?

 

3) When I set my VID/Vcore and leave 'special voltage increase' or whatever it is, my board undervolts by about 0.04v which the bios and all utilities show. I need to use the VID*104% to get it up to what I select. Is this undervoltage normal, and I am just not understanding how it works?

 

I am sure I will be back with more questions once I come accross them

 

Thanks in advance for any help

[lowboy]

Please make a sig as per the rules you agreed to.

[TicTacBlAsT]

I have now got a sig, so sorry for forgetting to include one when I first registered.

 

Any comments on the above? - I seem to be having problems getting 213mhz stable for my RAM now in Prime. . .

 

Thanks