New build questions - Asus A8N-Sli Premium

[bgc99]

Hello,
I will be building a new system with an Asus A8N-Sli Premium and X2 4200 Processor pretty soon. I've built 3 or 4 systems in the past, but once I've had them running I don't do upgrading until I build a new one. So, it's been about 4 years since I built one and I pretty much forgot much of what I did. Now, a few questions. LOL

1.) When the processor is installed, do you have to manually set the specs for it in the bios or do the newer boards do this automatically?

2.) I will have 2 SATA hard drives, are there any problems to watch for or tricks I need to know to install Windows XP?

3.) What is the proper sequence for installing the drivers? I'm pretty sure I won't install the Nvidia IDE drivers. My DVD burner will be the only IDE device in the system, at least in the beginning. I may stick a loose IDE hard drive in it after it is all setup. I think there is also a special X2 processor driver to be installed. Would that go before or after the mobo drivers?

Thanks,
BGC

New system specs:
Antec P180 case
Antec TPII 550 Power supply
Asus A8N-Sli Premium mobo
Evga 7800GT vid card (just one)
2x250GB SATA HD (brand undecided)
AMD A64 X2 4200 processor
OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 1GB(2x512)
Thermalright XP-90 Heatsink
w/ Thermaltake Silentcat Fan
Benq DW1640 DVD Burner

 

[kman79]

1. I didn't install an X2 processor, but even with the 1005 BIOS that came with the mobo, it said it supported the new procs. So it should be just drop in and go, with no manual setting from the user end

2. If you use the NVIDIA SATA connection, no extra installation of drivers are required during windows install Very simple actually.

3. If you can, you should go ahead and download the flash utility for the BIOS and the new BIOS file, the new NVIDIA Drivers for the board and the On-Board sound drivers and the new Video Card drivers and burn them on a disk. That way you have all that you need and won't be scrambling over the internet looking for stuff.

Nvidia Chipset Driver - http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/nvidia/Chipset_WINXP32_V665.zip
Asus Flash Utility - http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/flash/Asusupdt60701.zip
Asus BIOS - http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket939/A8N-SLI%20Premium/A8NSP007.zip
Audio Drivers -http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/audio/ALC850/ALC850_64bit_5781.zip
LAN Marvel Yukon Drivers - http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/lan/marvell/8053/8053_Windows72113.zip
Nvidia Video Card Driver - http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_78.01.html

Update the chipset driver first before you update the Asus Board BIOS. I would install the video card driver next, then the rest.

Hope this helps. I've had no problems with this board at all. Everything runs fast and great. Good luck

 

[ElTorrente]

Don't bother with the flash utility and making a DOS boot disk and all that stuff in order to flash your BIOS.

All you have to do with this board is hit alt-F2 during POST, and it has a built in flash utility that will run automatically. Just make sure you have the latest bios.bin file on the floppy, then hit alt-f2 during boot up.

This way is trouble free and works perfect every time. Most people don't even know about this feature.

 

[kman79]

Originally posted by: ElTorrente
Don't bother with the flash utility and making a DOS boot disk and all that stuff in order to flash your BIOS.

All you have to do with this board is hit alt-F2 during POST, and it has a built in flash utility that will run automatically. Just make sure you have the latest bios.bin file on the floppy, then hit alt-f2 during boot up.

This way is trouble free and works perfect every time. Most people don't even know about this feature.

Yup, you could do that. I hardly ever turn the system off though, so I figured windows flash utility would be easier for me