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got it! Thanks

msi1337

msi1337

Diamond Member
In a bind, mistakenly bought a vid card that wont work in my current pc...so I am wondering about upgrading on a budget.

I need to know the best core 2 duo motherboard for the cheapest price? Under $100 preferably. Is there such a thing?

motherboard has to be pretty good... not an ECS junker that I will toss in 6 months.

Thanks!
 
i would rather have an ecs than a foxconn. they have the ecs p965 one for $79 after a rebate. the asrock is garbage, doesnt even have pci-e.

there is an ecs on using the p4m890 which is $49. it not very fast though, only single channel ddr2-533 max. but benchmarks put it jus tbarely behind a p965.

if you want a real brand name, the msi p965 neo is usually about $90 at many stores online. the intel branded p965 is also just barely over $100
 
Originally posted by: Kromis
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186102 -> Foxconn

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092 -> Asrock

Here's an article on the Foxconn board

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/foxconn-gigabyte-p965/index.x?pg=1

For the Asrock board, look for it around Anandtech.
Click to expand...

I just read that article and I must say that I am IMPRESSED.
That Foxconn board is really kicking up a storm.
Please check out these 2 threads and post your thoughts.

What is THE BEST motherboard sub-$100??
A Foxconn/Intel Question
 
ECS board suck pretty bad. I bought the ECS nforce 570 slit A and even though it boot up, I am gettign so much slow down and the lan is not working i end up using an asrock 775 and it is pretty damn good.
 
I know the ASRock is good. I had (still have) one. My BIOS is dead though. It got interrupted during a flash. That sucks.
Now i'm looking at getting the Foxconn board for $100.
 
Originally posted by: Cheex
I know the ASRock is good. I had (still have) one. My BIOS is dead though. It got interrupted during a flash. That sucks.
Now i'm looking at getting the Foxconn board for $100.
Click to expand...

It sometimes works to do a "blind flash" from floppy disc. This method requires a 2nd machine to set up a special boot floppy containing an autoexec.bat file which re-flashes the bios at boot up. Nothing will display on the monitor, but the flash program does its job, and on next reboot afterwards, the bios is back in operation. Whether this will work with any particular model of board is unknown.
Another option would be use a length of dental floss located beneath the bios chip of a working board, then pull out the working chip and swap with the "dead" chip (while still powered up). At this point, do a bios flash of the "dead" chip. For this to work, requires the "bios shadow" option enabled.
P.S. Get a UPS backup power supply, so the power doesn't go out while flashing.
Also, check www.badflash.com for either a replacement bios chip, or re-flashing of the "dead" chip.
 
How do i go about doing that?
My new comp (with the dead bios) doesn't have a floppy drive.
Can this be done from a usb drive? If so, how?
 
In theory, using a bootable USB drive may work. Haven't tried that, so can't advise on specifics.
Can you "borrow" an internal floppy drive, to be used temporarily with the ASRock board?
 
Autoexec.bat
Write your own file using Notepad; save file as "Autoexec.txt" ; then rename the file as "Autoexec.bat". Also needed on the floppy: a DOS-mode bios flash utility, which would be referred to in the Autoexec.bat file.
 
I'm not sure how to do this and i'm not finding the correct info when i Google it.
Can anyone provide me with a link?
 
A Google search of "blind bios flash" found this:
Text
BIOS recovery
Note: The ASRock 775Dual-VSTA uses an AMI Bios.
BIOS Recovery
AMI BIOS

AMI has an embedded recovery technique in the 'boot block' of the BIOS. In the event that the BIOS becomes corrupt the boot block can be used to restore the BIOS to a working state. The routine is called when the 'system block' of the BIOS is empty or corrupt. The restore routine when called will access the floppy drive (1.44Mb floppy disk drive) looking for a file named AMIBOOT.ROM.

This is the reason the floppy drive light comes on and the drive appears to be in use. If the file (AMIBOOT.ROM) is found it is loaded into the 'system block' of the BIOS to replace the corrupted information.

To restore your BIOS copy the most recent version of your motherboards BIOS file to a floppy diskette and rename it AMIBOOT.ROM. The diskette does not need to be bootable or contain a flash utility. It will access the floppy from 2-5 minutes the system will beep four times. Remove the floppy diskette from the drive and reboot the computer. if when you turn on the system it does not try to access the floppy, press and hold the 'CTRL' and 'HOME' keys at the same time. This will force the system (assuming the 'boot block' isn't corrupted) to access the flopy and look for the AMIBOOT.ROM file.

Step by Step:

1. Rename the desired AMI BIOS file to AMIBOOT.ROM and save it on a blank floppy disk. e.g. Rename 12345678.ROM to AMIBOOT.ROM

2. Insert this floppy disk in the floppy drive. Turn On the system

3. If no floppy access occurs press and hold Ctrl-Home to force update. Follow insructions on the screen and it will read the AMIBOOT.ROM file and recover the BIOS from the A drive.

4. When 4 beeps are heard you may remove the floppy disk.

5. Restart the computer.

Goto the FAQ's for more information!
Click to expand...
 
1. How sure are you that this works?
2. Of the downloaded BIOS files, which one of them is the .ROM file? (it doesn't say).
 
Originally posted by: Cheex
1. How sure are you that this works?
2. Of the downloaded BIOS files, which one of them is the .ROM file? (it doesn't say).
Click to expand...


The unzipped "775Dual-VSTA(1.90)" folder contains 2 files. The ASRFLASH.EXE file is the flasher utility, so the "75DVSTA1.90" is the .ROM file. Just rename "75DVSTA1.90" to "AMIBOOT.ROM".
At a command prompt (Start:Run: CMD) type in: "ASRFLASH.EXE /?" and you'll get some more information.
Since your board is non-operational, trying the procedure can't hurt. Whether it will work or not, depends on the condition that the 'boot block' isn't corrupted. Which therefore depends on the exact moment, during flashing, in which you lost power.
 
Please do not edit thread titles to meaningless "thanks" or somesuch. Others might seek help on the same topic, and will only be able to find old threads if they have a proper title. Thank you.
 
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