I am a first time builder who has some questions about the motherboard I?m about to purchase. For reference, I?ll list the other parts I?ve selected below in addition to the MB. Some of these questions may seem silly to the pros here, but please remember, I?m a total n00b at this.
Here?s the parts list:
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB
WD Caviar SE16 SATA 300MB/s 250GB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Computer Case
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Yesterday I went to Asus?s website and downloaded the instruction booklet for the A8N-E. I have nearly finished reading it and I developed these questions from the parts of the booklet that confused me.
First, the ?Managing and Updating your bios? section of the book seemed very confusing. All this stuff about creating bootable floppy disks and ?booting the system in DOS mode? worries me. Can I just wait until I have Windows XP installed and then save and update the BIOS using the ASUS Update utility that runs in Windows?
The MB has onboard audio with drivers on the included CD. I assume that I can just skip installing them and install whatever comes with my Audigy 2 card. True or False?
Smiliar question about the firewall that comes with this MB. Doesn?t Windows MCE come with its own firewall? Which of the two should use? Or should I use both of them?
There?s one setting in the BIOS Boot ----> Boot Settings Configuration sub-menu that looked really weird. It?s called ?OS Select for DRAM > 64MB [Non-OS2]?
The instructions say: ?Set this item to OS2 only when you are running on an OS/2 operating system with an installed RAM of greater than 64KB. Configuration Options: [Non-OS2] & [OS2]? What does this mean and do I have to worry about it?
And one last question that?s not quite as obscure: one of the connectors on the rear panel is for an LAN (RJ-45) port. In my old computer I had to install Linksys ethernet card to be able to connect to the Verizon DSL/router set up in my apartment. Does this connector mean I won?t have to purchase a separate card this time?
Thank you in advance for any answers you have.
Here?s the parts list:
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB
WD Caviar SE16 SATA 300MB/s 250GB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Computer Case
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Yesterday I went to Asus?s website and downloaded the instruction booklet for the A8N-E. I have nearly finished reading it and I developed these questions from the parts of the booklet that confused me.
First, the ?Managing and Updating your bios? section of the book seemed very confusing. All this stuff about creating bootable floppy disks and ?booting the system in DOS mode? worries me. Can I just wait until I have Windows XP installed and then save and update the BIOS using the ASUS Update utility that runs in Windows?
The MB has onboard audio with drivers on the included CD. I assume that I can just skip installing them and install whatever comes with my Audigy 2 card. True or False?
Smiliar question about the firewall that comes with this MB. Doesn?t Windows MCE come with its own firewall? Which of the two should use? Or should I use both of them?
There?s one setting in the BIOS Boot ----> Boot Settings Configuration sub-menu that looked really weird. It?s called ?OS Select for DRAM > 64MB [Non-OS2]?
The instructions say: ?Set this item to OS2 only when you are running on an OS/2 operating system with an installed RAM of greater than 64KB. Configuration Options: [Non-OS2] & [OS2]? What does this mean and do I have to worry about it?
And one last question that?s not quite as obscure: one of the connectors on the rear panel is for an LAN (RJ-45) port. In my old computer I had to install Linksys ethernet card to be able to connect to the Verizon DSL/router set up in my apartment. Does this connector mean I won?t have to purchase a separate card this time?
Thank you in advance for any answers you have.