ASUS P4PE

[Intelman07]

Is this motherboard a good buy? There are so many choices!

 

[touchmyichi]

Yeah i feel a lot like you right now. I just got a pentium 2.53 and i honestly haven't a clue on what to buy. So far here's the buzz for good p4 mobos-

Gigabyte 8SG667 (SIS 648 chipset great board, great price)
Asus P4PE- another winner
The asus and gigabyte granite bay boards might also be worth the wait, they seem very very nice.

 

[PSULion]

I did a lot of research and got this board last week. It's loaded and it provides a great upgrade path IMHO. The only problem I am having is running this undr win 98 there's a sneaky problem with Win98 running P4's > 2.1 MHZ. You need a hotfix. I need to upgrade to XP but I am running under 98 (you can't install the onboard audio drivers in Win 98)

 

[shchong2]

This is definitely the mobo to go for.
It's good for over-clocking
and it has plenty of good features.
also a very stable mobo.

It comes in 3 versions :-
(1) Plain P4PE (no SATA, no IEEE1394 .....)
(2) P4PE with SATA, IEEE1394, onBoard Lan, .....
(3) P4PE with SATA, IEEE1394, Gigabit Lan, .....

Happy shopping for it.

 

[Sharpedge]

I too am interested in this board. What would be the best memory choice? 2 sticks of 256mb or 512mb and is there one manufacture better than the other? Considering Corsair or Samsung at PC2700 or higher for future upgradability.

Thanks again for all your support and help

 

[PSULion]

Go for 1 512 IMHO. Like many DDR mobos if you use double sided DDR you can use only 2 slots (I think). I got the Samsung 2.5 CAS from NewEgg and it is a dream. Have not tried O/Cing it yet.

This board is the bomb!

 

[LouPoir]

The Asus P4PE is a super board. Running my 2.8 at 3.1 with it. Best board I have owned in awhile.

Lou

 

[shchong2]

Originally posted by: Sharpedge
I too am interested in this board. What would be the best memory choice? 2 sticks of 256mb or 512mb and is there one manufacture better than the other? Considering Corsair or Samsung at PC2700 or higher for future upgradability.

Thanks again for all your support and help

Get a 512MB instead of 2x256MB.
This is especially true if you r interested in OC.
Get memory with lower CL (CL=2 is faster than CL=2.5)
Beware with some brand. I think Asus board don't support Mushkin RAM.
(Correct me if I'm wrong).
Happy trying.

 

[Sharpedge]

Thank you for your input to my question. I checked with the ASUS site to see what they say and here is the skinny on double sided ram.

Problem Can I use Double Sided modules on P4PE / P4GE-V motherboards?
Answer Yes, you may, but please also note that since DIMM2 and DIMM3 are sharing the same row, you may only choose to install one single sided DIMM on DIMM2 and DIMM3, or only install one double sided DIMM on DIMM2, and ensure the DIMMs installed are not double sided X16 DIMMs, otherwise the system will not operate as expected.


Thought I would pass this along to others who may have simialr questions.

Also would it be worth the extra $20 to get this Corsair Ram CMX512-3200C2 versus the CMX512-2700C2. I realize no standard has been set for DDR 400, but if it would give better upgradeability in the future I would consider it.

Thanks again

 

[chrislong]

Hi All
I, too am about to get this motherboard--the flavor with everything but the Gigabite LAN. I was curious about something PSULion had said a while back--

"The only problem I am having is running this undr win 98 there's a sneaky problem with Win98 running P4's > 2.1 MHZ. You need a hotfix...."

I'll be running under Win 98, too, and using a Pentium 2.4 on the board...My question is--what is a "hotifx"? Will I need it with th 2.4 that I'll be using?

Thanks!

 

[PSULion]

The problem is with Win98 original. If you are running Win98SE you are OK.
Win98 can't run the faster chips without a hotfix from Microsoft. I had to call tech support to get it. There is a knowlwdge base article describing the problem (If I can find the number I will post it). There's also a link on the Intel support site. The hotfix allows Win98 to boot with the faster chip.

I ran into the problem after I had installed the P4PE 2.5Ghz. The machine worked fine but I ended up having to reinstall Win 98 (I had an older Win 98CD) and had purchased the Win98SE update separately. When I reinstalled Win 98 I hit the error because I had not installed the 98 updates yet. I didn't check to see if I could have installed the SE updates in safe mode. Perhaps that would have worked. The hotfix is just an .exe file that fixed Win98 and after I ran it I was OK. I am thinking if you are running Win98SE now don't reinstall Windows unless you absolutely have to (or want a clean install)

 

[CraigRT]

there are other boards out there other than just the freaking Asus!

BE7 is nice..
Gigabye, EPoX...

silly Asus lovers...

 

[shchong2]

Yield,
Well, I don't know what experience you have with ASUS mobo
but "silly Asus lover" sounds harsh .....
----

Sharpedge,
Well, P4PE is definitely highly recommanded.
it worth the price for it stability
and many small little features are available too
to name one, Asus update allows you to update BIOS in windows
you don't even need to boot from DOS.

I've been using P4PE for the pass 2 weeks
and I'm absolutely happy with it
brilliant design, with so many features squeezed into a small board, yet so stable

To give you some other variety,
you may want to take a look at "Iwill P4ES i845E "
this mobo has been getting some good reviews too.

as for DDR RAM, yesm you are right
it's noted that

RIMM1 == SS/DS -or- SS/DS
RIMM2 == DS -or- SS
RIMM3 == None -or- SS

As what PSULion said, the problem is only with original Win98.
So don't worry about it. Great that he managed to find out the root cause.
I use it with Win ME and no problem at all. (but soon I'll upgrade to XP + Linux).

Hope you manage to find the one that you like the most.

 

[Sharpedge]

Since this was an ASUS thread I posted my concerns and questions accordingly. I don't know if I could be considered an ASUS lover , as I have only owned one other the P3V4X. I like the layout of the P4PE and feel that the others IWILL,ABIT, etc are going to give similar performance. I have been following the BE7 thread and am also considering that board. I do appreciate Yield bringing up the other manufacturers, I think choice in part has to be what is on the board and its layout, adding to the determining factors as to which to choose.

Is the stock heat sink and fan good enough or would something else be better? I have looked at the cooling forums and see alot of people talk about the Y Tech fan being good since it has variable speed. As you can tell though I have built several systems I fall into the category of nooobie.

Thank you for your support and input.

 

[pookguy88]

i got this board too... amazing board...
very fast and easy setup... good placement of power connectors and such...
overall, your typical Asus board... very stable, good choice.. i picked mine up for $200 CAN
so thats about $120 US... not a bad deal..

 

[shchong2]

P4PE has the Q-fan feature.
If you get a fan with variable speed, that'll be great for you.

 

[shchong2]

Originally posted by: pookguy88
i got this board too... amazing board...
very fast and easy setup... good placement of power connectors and such...
overall, your typical Asus board... very stable, good choice.. i picked mine up for $200 CAN
so thats about $120 US... not a bad deal..

Emmm.....pookguy88
is your board with SATA/Firewire/OnBoard LAN/ .... ???
If yes, the price is good.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: shchong2
Yield,
Well, I don't know what experience you have with ASUS mobo
but "silly Asus lover" sounds harsh .....

Well it's more of a joke than anything.. I use their boards a lot and see nothing in any way special about them other than their extra price tag, which I really hate.. I know there are tons of equal if not better boards out there..
i suggest some other people take a look sometime too!!

 

[chrislong]

Thanks PSULion--I understand now. I have Win 98SE, so I'll be fine. Thanks!

 

[Sharpedge]

I have another querry concerning this board. I realize this is not the case forum, but in getting this board I was considering also getting a new case. I like what antec offers would one with a 330 watt true power supply be sufficient with two hdd, a dvd player and cd burner, or would higher be better?

Thanks again all

 

[oldfart]

That Antec Plus660 with the TruePower 330 PS is a nice case. 330 (quality) Watts is more than enough.

 

[Sharpedge]

Thank you very much oldfart I thought it was the 660 but I knew it had the 330 watt ps. I like its size too.

Take Care

 

[gonzo2k]

I have an MSI K7T Turbo2(being RMAed), a Soltek "Purple Ray", a "DEAD" Epox 8KTA3,an MSI K7T-Master/SCSI, an Abit KT7A, a "DEAD" Asus A7V133, an Intel 845PE MB in a Dell & my flagship "Asus Lovin" P4PE with the works!

Asus P2B-B, P2B-F & P3B-F boards were the best BX boards around!

What was the question again?

Oh, yeah: I "heart" my P4PE!

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

 

[corkyg]

Just finished the initial build of a new system using the P4PE/LAN/RAID/1394/USB2/Audio/SATA model - w/P4 2.53 GHz CPU, and 1024 MB of Corsair XMS PC 3200 DDR.. It went together easily - good fits and tolerances (like all Asus boards I have built on) and it is now fully loaded with software, drivers and customizations. I just added the Romtec Trios II multi-drive selector, and this thing is solid. So far, not the slightest hiccup or lockup.

I think I'll build another to replace my main system. It's good to be back to Award BIOS.