Asus p4s800

[Waylander]

hi all,
looking for aquick bit of advice, looking to upgrade a system, currently an xp200+ on a abit kx7-333, 1Gb crucial pc2700 (2x512), pny geforce fx5700ultra, 2x 80Gb maxtor 6l080j4 drives, audigy 2 platinum
toying with going to asus p4s800 along with P4 3.2 800fsb + above vid/sound

question, obviously, this is seriously quicker, but
1. do I go with this now for around £300 uk, (including hsf& nec dvd rw) or am I better waiting for athlon 64s to come down abit..
2. will my ram work ok with this chip.mobo combo?

cheer

Mike

 

[jliger99]

I just installed this board on Tuesday, with a P4 2.53 CPU and Crucial PC2100, and the board had no problems with either. It was the first MB I've used where the computer booted up on the first try after installing (Usually I forget SOMETHING).

It actually booted up TOO fast, as I didn't reach my keyboard in time to enter the BIOS (which I took to be a GOOD sign).

The one thing I recommend ig getting active cooling for the northbridge. I use the Vantec IceBerq, as it cools nicely and is very quiet.

 

[Zap]

All this is assuming you're not going to overclock...

The P4S800 is a decent board. Does not need active Northbridge cooling if you're not overclocking. Asus claims it has a PCI/AGP lock for overclocking, but my testing suggests otherwise (unless it needed a BIOS revision or setting I missed).

Since you have a matched pair of RAM, I suggest a board that supports dual-channel memory mode, such as those using the VIA PT880 chipset (great for non-overclockers, just avoid the Abit board until they iron out the bugs) or one using the Intel 865PE chipset. Just checking on Newegg, the Asus P4S800 is $65, free shipping. Same price/shipping for the MSI PT880 board. Two bucks less for a Matsonic i865PE chipset board. The MSI is a pretty good board. I've never used Matsonic before, but you can get a Foxconn or Chaintech board for $10 more. I think it would be very worth your while to get a dual-channel capable motherboard, especially since you have a pair of the same DDR.

 

[Waylander]

Changed my mind, after some discussions with a guy I know who does systems for trade, I've ordered the gigabyte 8IK1100 with a P4 3.2 800fsb, anybody know anything about this board?

Cheers

Mike

 

[MichaelZ]

if running stock speeds. then it's just fine. gigabyte tends to be pretty fast at stock speeds.

 

[hewittd]

Good day. I just both this board and I'm pretty happy with it. No heating problem and it fast when compared to my old 400 MHz set up.

I do have a slight problem though. I think it is in my BIOS set up. I'm using the SoundMax on board audio system, I i'm pretty sure I screwed something up in the BIOS set up.

I have a problem playing music from the CD ROM or from the DW-U18a DVD device. After installing and loading what drivers I can, both of these units will play mp3 files, but I can not get any pre recorded CD music disk to play. WinAmp Windows Media 9 sense the files but come up with various errors.

The DVD/CD burning software says it cannot find my DVD but the mp3 music plays. What have I mess up?

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks
Don