EPoX "EP-9NPA+Ultra" NVIDIA nForce4 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard

[imported_Leporello]

might find thids link interesting

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?PHPSE...7612d6&topic=57472.msg381397#msg381397

 

[swamyg1]

Does anybody know about this newest Bios I found in Magic Bios?

It says 9NPA5C06.BIN and it is a 12/06 2005... but on the epox site they only go up to October. Any info at all would be great... I want to flash the bios to see if that USB fix from. I'm sure this should work fine but I just want to know what I'm flashing.

Thanks

 

[DrewCU]

12/6/2005 Bios
Enhancements & Fixes for this BIOS release:
1.Added Speical I/O and USB park mode item.
2.Support FX-60 CPU.
3.Fixed boot block code overwrite.
4.Added 'DRAM Bank Interleaving' and 'Burst Length' item.

I am currently running the 12/6/05 bios, without incident so far... This is reported to be latest official BIOS, and sadly I don't think Epox actually fixed the USB 2.0 problem since I don't see "USB 2.0 issue solved," just a few more options. With the beta bios, Epox told me to "disable park mode" to cure the USB 2.0 ills, but that didn't work, so I don't know if it's going to work with the official one, but I doubt it.

You are all welcome to try that and report here, but I decided to just go and buy an $11 PCI USB 2.0 card, so I do finally have USB 2.0 enabled in the BIOS, I just don't plug any of the troublemakers like my network card into the motherboard ports.

 

[Mem]

Just flashed to the lastest BIOS via Magic Bios(6th Dec 05) and no problems to report,USB 2.0 devices still working great .

 

[swamyg1]

Ok, but do you guys know what the following means from the 10.12 bios:

** Add CPU ratio X.5 support. ** USB KB still hot plug will hang up USB KB in COMS.

I thought that might be a fix for the USB issue is it not?

 

[brzrkr0]

It took some work, but I am finally starting to get back to a decent overclock using 2x1gb sticks of Corsair Value. I'm now running my Venice 3000+ at 315x8, which is the same overall speed as I had with 1gb. I dropped the ram down to 1:2, so it's running at 157mhz. With the lower ram speed I was able to tighten the timings a bit, so now I'm at 2.5-3-3-7 1T. This is at auto Vcore and 2.9 Vdimm, 3x HT. With these settings I was able to pass one run of memtest86, and I've been running prime95 for about 3 hours now. I'll let that run a few more hours and then try some performance tests.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Is it safe to try connecting 3-pin fans to the board's fan power pins? I know that's what they're there for, but is it really a good idea to do it? Would there be any danger of frying the motherboard?

 

[Thuban]

Hey guys, I order this board on ZZF a couple of days ago. It's my first time building a computer and buying stuffs online. A lot of people and sites reccommended this board and it was cheap so that why I got it. I realized just now, reading the reviews on newegg.com, that this board seem to be pretty hit or miss. People who got a working board seem to like it but there seem to be a lot of dead boards and issue installing OS and with the USB 2.0 port (will this be a huge problem?). I'd rather not have to deal with returning stuff and it seem Epox support is horrible also. So my question is should I cancel my order and get another board?

Another question. This board seem to require a floppy disk drive to upgrade the BIOS. I though today computer doesn't require a floppy anymore so I didn't order one. Can I buy a USB flash drive and update the bios that way? If not can I remove the floppy drive from my other comupter, update the BIOS and remove it afterward? I'd rather not buy it to use only a few times.

 

[Mem]

his board seem to require a floppy disk drive to upgrade the BIOS. I though today computer doesn't require a floppy anymore so I didn't order one.

You can use Magic Bios to update your BIOS from within Windows,it is supplied on the Epox CD.

 

[DrewCU]

You can actually use a CD-R or CD-RW as I have done to update the BIOS. You can either make a bootable CD using UltraISO and a template called "flashcd" or you can burn the files to disk and then use the AWD flash utillity at startup (alt F2) and even though it looked for a floppy, it seemed to work using a CD containing the Bios file.

If the board is dead, you can always RMA it, and if it works, it is pretty decent board for most things. It allows you to put on a passive HS on the NB without getting in the way of your video card, while most other boards do not, unless they already come with a passive HSF but there aren't many so far.

USB 2.0 works and won't crash your computer as long as you don't use high speed USB devices like network cards or harddrives. If you do, then your options are either wait for a fix, only enable USB 1.1 in the Bios and whine, or go out and buy a cheapo USB 2.0 PCI card which I have done and is a good temp. solution until a true fix is found.

Peace.

 

[Mem]

USB 2.0 works and won't crash your computer as long as you don't use high speed USB devices like network cards or harddrives

My external USB 2.0 DVD burner is still working great in USB 2.0 mode and I have yet to have any problems with any USB device, I have just purchased a USB 2.0 wirless LAN for my backup PC but will give it a try in my Epox to confirm everything is working fine.

 

[RobbyG]

I have a USB 2.0 Harddrive connected that I use for backups and it works great.

Thuban - this is a great board and as long as you are using quality components you should be ok. Don't let the bad reviews scare you away from this board - every board out there comes with it's own set of imcompatiblities so just do as much research as you can and then give it a go. Good luck and let us know how it works out!

 

[Ultralight]

Thuban, I can't answer your floppy drive/BIOS question, but one thing I can say is that I spent 6 solid weeks with more hours than I want to think of researching for my new build. One thing I can tell you and that is go to any motherboard forum sites and you will see every board out there will give you something to worry about. For example, the DFI Lanparty boards such as the Ultra-D and Sli versions are the hottest boards out there, but I challenge you to go over to their official DFI-Street.com and read all the troubles people are experiencing with these boards. The same goes with Asus, MSI, etc., etc., etc. What I am trying to say is that no board and no manufacter is exempt from problem boards.

My research through many site reviews, reads, and personal messenging led me to choose this board. I am still in the midst of a build, but I am confident that any problems I have people here can help.

 

[Krogoth255]

Hello, I have to say that this thread has provided me with good information on my motherboad. Kudos for everyone's effort.

I have just experience the infamous "USB 2.0 and External HDD" bug. The werid part it work fine for me when I hook the drive to one of the expandible USB ports. The BSOD occured when I try to do a read/write operation while it was hook-up into one of the USB ports on the backplate.

 

[RideFree]

1 question...
do you have s.m.a.r.t. enabled in the BIOS?
Try disabling it and see if it has an effect.

 

[RideFree]

You should see how high the EPoX boards are rated in the review at this German site!
Yes, I know that the review is not about the EPoX. EPoX is used (along with several other boards) in the comparisons, however.

 

[sgtdic]

i just tried updating my bios using magic bios. no matter how many times i try it won't even connect to see if there is a new one out. i've used this several times before and have had no problems. anyone else had this happen lately?

 

[Thuban]

Hey guys, I got the board and installed it and it's working OK so far (knock on wood). Window is formating the drive right now.

One question though, the mb came with little blue heat sink in a bag. What is it for and where do I put it? Is it important? I don't think I came accross anything that say "put the little heat sink here". I totally forgot about it until I had finished installing everything and saw it when I was cleaning up.

PS. It was my first build and installing the CPU heatsink (really tough to put on, I though I was going to crack the board) and turning it on for the first time was the most nervewracking thing ever. When I first turn on the fans and the lights went on but the monitor was blank. I kind of panic a little bit until I realize the power cord of the monitor was loose.

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: Thuban
One question though, the mb came with little blue heat sink in a bag. What is it for and where do I put it? Is it important? I don't think I came accross anything that say "put the little heat sink here". I totally forgot about it until I had finished installing everything and saw it when I was cleaning up.

The heatsinks are for the mosfets all over the board. If you don't plan to overclock, you shouldn't need to put them on.

techfuzz

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: sgtdic
i just tried updating my bios using magic bios. no matter how many times i try it won't even connect to see if there is a new one out. i've used this several times before and have had no problems. anyone else had this happen lately?

It's on their website, why not download it and put it on disc?

techfuzz

 

[Mem]

One question though, the mb came with little blue heat sink in a bag. What is it for and where do I put it? Is it important? I don't think I came accross anything that say "put the little heat sink here". I totally forgot about it until I had finished installing everything and saw it when I was cleaning up.

FYI in the Epox power pack there is a little booklet that shows where they go,yes you don't have to install them but they are easy to put on,just peel and stick on the mosfets,real simple.

 

[teddyv]

It was my first build and installing the CPU heatsink (really tough to put on, I though I was going to crack the board) and turning it on for the first time was the most nervewracking thing ever. When I first turn on the fans and the lights went on but the monitor was blank.

I had a lot of apprehension about it too, mechBgon's guide has a great little video showing how easy it is for a pro

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/AMD64.html

 

[sgtdic]

lol, that's great

 

[thesurge]

Does the 9npa+ have any LED ports? I have a twopin LED wire from my front blue LED fan (Antec SuperLanBoy). Where do I plug it in? HD_LED and PWR_LED are taken up???

 

[Boris teh Spider]

I have asked this many times in many different threads but I can never seem to get an answer so can someone tell me if you have to take the entire motherboard out to install an XP-90, or is it possible to just take off the stock retention bracket and put on the new one? Also does anyone know of an aftermarket chipset fan that is somewhat quiet that is compatible with this board, because the stock one is pretty annoying.