New Bulid with GB-K8NXP-SLI Mobo Question

[Nellinc]

Hi All,
I just got the board today and i'm still waiting on the Asus 6800GT i ordered to come so i hope to get some advice so i can do this right. this is by far the most advanced mobo i've ever used and i was wondering if anyone here has used it, and if so..any advice they have. for example, the k8dps (dual power system) do i need to use that? i have no idea....I'm using an antec neo ps, asus 6800gt,1024mb corsair xms 3200,athlonxp 3500 (90nm),wd raptor 74gb,300gb maxtor,audigy zs,nec 3520a,lite-on 52x. this one looks fun, but i hope i aint in over my head...TIA, Nell

 

[dark fiber]

If you do a search in these forums there are a number of threads about this board. I just put one of these together last week. For the most part it has been working fine. To answer your questions if you need to use the dual power system. I think you can go without it, but I decided to use it anyway. It seems like a good feature, whether if it is really worth (or just data sheet fodder) having I can't say.

Just take your time. Don't use the drivers that came with the mobo (except for the Marvell ethernet driver), use the nforce4 driver on Nvidia's site here...

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp_6.39

As for the video (forceware driver) you might want to try beta driver 67.66 as that seems to be the most stable.

Also, don't even bother overclocking anything until you board is running stable with the stock settings.

 

[Nellinc]

thanks dark,
so you've experienced no ill effects from running the module? i also notice you have very similar hardware...now, i have an antec neo ps, is there a special connector you need for the sli setup? i thought you just needed a connector? the neo actually comes with one pci express connector already and i thought i would order another. the other thing i hope is that my ram is ok...i didnt want to buy another gig of ram. tia,
Nell

 

[dark fiber]

I have been running with the DPS module for a week now with no issues.

As for PSU yes you need that PCI-E power connector. My PCP&C 550-SLI came with two of them. If you just have one them on the PSU then yeah you would need to order another one. My EVGA 6800 GT though came with an adapter that goes from 2 molex connectors to a PCI-E connector. Didn't your PCI-E video card come with an adapter?

 

[Nellinc]

didn't get it yet, should be here today. I've read through some of the other threads and some people were having issues installing windows. I don't use raid and am just going to use my 74gb raptor on one of the sata channels. will i need to install the sata drivers? i understood nfoce had native sata support. in my msi i need to use the drivers before i can install windows. i'm gettin very pumped about this, i just pray i do not get a doa board. any other useful tips before i begin? i'm gonna start it on friday morning.... Thanks! Nell

 

[sfanous]

For a clean windows installation you need to disable RAID from the BIOS. You also need a floppy with the nvidia SATA drivers. These drivers are available on the mobo CD. While installing Windows press F6 to add those drivers. You will either need a floppy or to slipstream the drivers into Windows.

 

[Nellinc]

Thanks sfanous,
that's strange, because with my k8ns pro the sata were not needed. i wonder why they changed it to this way with this chipset.