*** Official ASUS P4P800/Deluxe (865PE) Thread ***

[bernse]

I just wanted to give a little bit of input from my end of it:

I just built a 2.8C with a P4P800 (non-deluxe) 1GB Infenion (2x512 sticks approved on the ASUS site) ATI 9500 Pro (rev 00, ATI branded) and it is rock solid. Runs at Dual Channel 400 by default, no sweat.

I have done no tweaking yet (heck, I probably wont bother!), but it runs like a champ. I briefly tried the 20% overclock option from the BIOS and it worked fine.... although I turned it back down to 2.8 after an hour or so as I really didn't need it overclocked (2.8 is fast enough for me now!). Not one lock up or crash yet. I've run 3Dmark 2001 and 2003 for an hour each with no problems, and most of the Sandra benchmark utilities. It benchmarks right where it should.

I just wanted people contemplating this board that not everyone is having problems... I was expecting a far worse time setting it up by reading some of these posts!

 

[asadovsky]

Hmmmmm I was just reading some RAM info.. Some people seem to think the Corsair 3200LL ram doesnt work well with this mobo, but I just got the 1 GB twin pack XMS 3200LL and its working great @ 2/2/3/6/8 with MAM off... Do most of you guys run your systems with MAM on or off? It's not stable for me at 2/2/3/6 with MAM on, but I did some testing with MAM, and Sandra has given me higher memory bandwidth scores with it off. Can I get some input PLEASE!

 

[gramboh]

I tried a gig of TwinX1024-3200-LL and found it to be mediocere. It would work at DDR 400 2-2-3-6 (3 being RAS-to-CAS) at default settings (P4 2.6 @ 2.6) but when I changed the ratio to 5:4 (333DDR) and overclocked to 250 FSB it would lock up (ram still at DDR 400) and I know the CPU is stable at that speed.

I have had better luck with XMS 3500.

Strangest thing is I initially had TwinX512-3200LL and it was awesome, 2-2-2-5 100% stable at DDR 408 (~3.3GHz) but I realized 512 wasn't enough.

About the Intel INF drivers above: the latest version is included on the Asus CD, so you can install from there or Intel's website.

 

[asadovsky]

I just messed with overclocking, and it seems to run stable at 240 FSB with a 5:4 ratio, so the CPU runs at 3360 mhz and the RAM at 196 FSB. This is with the 3200LL ram (2x512 MB) The timings are 2/2/3/6. Do you think I could hit 250 FSB with different RAM? Why would changing the RAM allow me to go higher? The RAM *should* work at 200 FSB (250 with the 5:4 ratio) shouldn't it?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: asadovsky
I just messed with overclocking, and it seems to run stable at 240 FSB with a 5:4 ratio, so the CPU runs at 3360 mhz and the RAM at 196 FSB. This is with the 3200LL ram (2x512 MB) The timings are 2/2/3/6. Do you think I could hit 250 FSB with different RAM? Why would changing the RAM allow me to go higher? The RAM *should* work at 200 FSB (250 with the 5:4 ratio) shouldn't it?

with my system there are other components that probably don't like the FSB above 245. I ran 250 for a while but it didn't stay consistently stable.

 

[ajvitaly]

Hi everyone! While I'm no stranger to Anandtech (been a loyal visitor since well before 2000!), I am new to the forums here. I hope I can help out a few and also receive some help at the same time.

I've just built my latest rig, and this one is causing me more problems than I thought possible. My initial order (from newegg) consisted of bad RAM (kingston hyperx), and a bad mouse (creative labs optical). After replacing those two items, everything seemed to be running great. I installed XP and the latest service pack, a few small programs, and I even flashed my P4P8000 bios to 1007.

At a random reboot about an hour into my computer's new existence, I got a "Bad BIOS checksum. Starting BIOS recovery..." screen. I inserted the P4P800 CD into the drive and it finds and reads the P4P800.rom file, but then it says "Start flashing.... flash failed!" (for the record, I tried about 20 times, but the flash always failed)

I put in a case at asus, and they told me to send it back to newegg. So, from my originial order, I had bad memory, a bad mouse, and a bad P4P800 motherboard. Well, I finally got my replacement from new egg yesterday........................................
After the second boot up with my replacement I got the SAME ERROR.

I am EXTREMELY frustrated right now. I've spent $20 so far in shipping for the bad products, and if I have to ship this it will be another $10. I would sincerely appreciate any suggestions/help that anyone could give me on this. My system specs are as follows:
P4P800
2.4C CPU
512x2 corsair XMS memory
80gb Western Digital HD (8 mb cache)
onboard sound/LAN
BFG Asylum GeForce Ti4200

 

[ajvitaly]

Thanks for the reply... I am using DirectX 9.0a as well, but I just ran the 3DMark03 update (it was build 320, now it's 330) and the test still crashes. Do you think there's any other explanation? Or maybe the revision number issue is the cause? (my power supply is 430W, and I'm using Corsair XMS 3200LL ram)

Does your video card have the latest bios version? And do any other programs crash on you besides 3dMark?

 

[asadovsky]

Are you able to get into Windows at all? If you are, then maybe you can use Asus' utility to flash the newest BIOSD onto your mobo through Windows. Otherwise, you might want to download the newest BIOS, put it on a bootable floppy, and flash it like that.

 

[asadovsky]

Originally posted by: ajvitaly

Originally posted by: asadovsky

Originally posted by: shinobi

Originally posted by: asadovsky
I'm having some trouble with a P4P800 Deluxe and a Radeon 9700 Pro. Whenever I try to run the 3dmark 2003 benchmanrk, the airplane game starts, and then my computer crashes and i have to reboot. In the P4P800 manual, it says that you shouldnt use the mobo with radeon 9500 or 9700 unless they are above revision PN xxx-xxxxx-30. Mine is revision 11. I'm thinking this may be the problem. I also read somewhere that the P4C800 has the same problems with the Radeon 9500/9700. I'm thinking of just getting a Radeon 9800 Pro, but this would cost me about $100 (after I return the 9700) so I want to make sure that this is indeed the problem. Any ideas?

I had this problem too (freezes in the first game test) even though the part no. I have is 30 for my R9700PRO. I fixed this by updating to build 330 for 3Dmark03. The reason why it kept freezing is because I had DirectX 9.0a installed, and the version of 3DMark03 I use is the very first release that only supports DirectX 9.0. Build 320 and up supports DirectX 9.0a, I hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply... I am using DirectX 9.0a as well, but I just ran the 3DMark03 update (it was build 320, now it's 330) and the test still crashes. Do you think there's any other explanation? Or maybe the revision number issue is the cause? (my power supply is 430W, and I'm using Corsair XMS 3200LL ram)

Does your video card have the latest bios version? And do any other programs crash on you besides 3dMark?

I thought maybe just 3dmark was bugged with my system, but when I tried to play Warcraft III, it crashed too. So then after messing with settings, I finally figured out that if I turn off fast write in the AMD settings panel, everything seems to work. I haven't tested it much yet, but both 3dmark and Warcraft seemed to work fine after I made this change.

Where do I get the latest video card BIOS, and how do I flash it onto the video card? I do have the latest drivers, but I haven't touched the video card BIOS.

 

[ajvitaly]

Originally posted by: asadovsky
Are you able to get into Windows at all? If you are, then maybe you can use Asus' utility to flash the newest BIOSD onto your mobo through Windows. Otherwise, you might want to download the newest BIOS, put it on a bootable floppy, and flash it like that.

It doesn't boot up. It displays the basic video card information (that is shown immediately upon turning on the computer) then says "Bad BIOS checksum..." right away.

I JUST WANT TO USE MY COMPUTER!

 

[weasal42]

Originally posted by: ajvitaly
Hi everyone! While I'm no stranger to Anandtech (been a loyal visitor since well before 2000!), I am new to the forums here. I hope I can help out a few and also receive some help at the same time.

I've just built my latest rig, and this one is causing me more problems than I thought possible. My initial order (from newegg) consisted of bad RAM (kingston hyperx), and a bad mouse (creative labs optical). After replacing those two items, everything seemed to be running great. I installed XP and the latest service pack, a few small programs, and I even flashed my P4P8000 bios to 1007.

At a random reboot about an hour into my computer's new existence, I got a "Bad BIOS checksum. Starting BIOS recovery..." screen. I inserted the P4P800 CD into the drive and it finds and reads the P4P800.rom file, but then it says "Start flashing.... flash failed!" (for the record, I tried about 20 times, but the flash always failed)

I put in a case at asus, and they told me to send it back to newegg. So, from my originial order, I had bad memory, a bad mouse, and a bad P4P800 motherboard. Well, I finally got my replacement from new egg yesterday........................................
After the second boot up with my replacement I got the SAME ERROR.

I am EXTREMELY frustrated right now. I've spent $20 so far in shipping for the bad products, and if I have to ship this it will be another $10. I would sincerely appreciate any suggestions/help that anyone could give me on this. My system specs are as follows:
P4P800
2.4C CPU
512x2 corsair XMS memory
80gb Western Digital HD (8 mb cache)
onboard sound/LAN
BFG Asylum GeForce Ti4200

Ive been having problems with mine also! Asus' tech support totally sucks, so dont put all the blame on new egg. Asus techs will only answer one question per email for some reason (unwritten guideline) and I tried to get a tech on the phone and they were to busy to answer my call so they took my number and said they'd call back. But of course they didnt! Ive had my P4P800 deluxe, and 2.6c for about 2 weeks now and still have not seen a BIOS boot screen! Ive been duking it out with Asus throughout the time and finally one of the techs told me to do a "no memory boot" and it fried the board! I was able to get an RMA on it, but now Im just waiting to get it back.

 

[ajvitaly]

Originally posted by: weasal42

Ive been having problems with mine also! Asus' tech support totally sucks, so dont put all the blame on new egg. Asus techs will only answer one question per email for some reason (unwritten guideline) and I tried to get a tech on the phone and they were to busy to answer my call so they took my number and said they'd call back. But of course they didnt! Ive had my P4P800 deluxe, and 2.6c for about 2 weeks now and still have not seen a BIOS boot screen! Ive been duking it out with Asus throughout the time and finally one of the techs told me to do a "no memory boot" and it fried the board! I was able to get an RMA on it, but now Im just waiting to get it back.

If I have to replace this board again (making it 3 new boards within one month) I think I may end up going with abit or gigabyte. But I would really like to get this working.

 

[ChefJoe]

Originally posted by: ajvitaly

Originally posted by: asadovsky
Are you able to get into Windows at all? If you are, then maybe you can use Asus' utility to flash the newest BIOSD onto your mobo through Windows. Otherwise, you might want to download the newest BIOS, put it on a bootable floppy, and flash it like that.

It doesn't boot up. It displays the basic video card information (that is shown immediately upon turning on the computer) then says "Bad BIOS checksum..." right away.

I JUST WANT TO USE MY COMPUTER!

I've done two bios flashes... maybe three, this last time I did it with the asus windows based util and I got the same checksum error in the corner after reboot - then it continued to boot up without issues. that error never appeared again.

I think it has happened after the previous two flashes... it updates the bios, but something with the reboot causes it so launch that checksum error (error says my checksum is different than the last time I was booted ?).

 

[ajvitaly]

I've done two bios flashes... maybe three, this last time I did it with the asus windows based util and I got the same checksum error in the corner after reboot - then it continued to boot up without issues. that error never appeared again.

I think it has happened after the previous two flashes... it updates the bios, but something with the reboot causes it so launch that checksum error (error says my checksum is different than the last time I was booted ?).

I just got off the phone with asus tech support, and they think I have a bios virus. The useage life for my computer was approximately 2 hours. Half of that time was spent installing Windows XP. If they are right, and a virus copied itself onto my hard drive and infected both motherboard's BIOS, that has to be a record setting time for getting a virus.

 

[asadovsky]

What can I say ajvitale, that is just unfortunate. The P4P800-Deluxe has been working great for me... :-(

 

[hrapbrown]

I'm at a total lose of what ram to get. On the ram compadabilty (sp) chart
it says kingston hyper 3500 256mb stick is good, should i get two sticks of that, or can
i just get one stick of 512?

 

[ajvitaly]

Originally posted by: hrapbrown
I'm at a total lose of what ram to get. On the ram compadabilty (sp) chart
it says kingston hyper 3500 256mb stick is good, should i get two sticks of that, or can
i just get one stick of 512?

I had stability problems with kingston hyperx 3200 ram. I replaced it with corsair and my system was then stable. NOTE: I've been having major problems with my motherboard, so the stability may not have been because of kingston.

I cannot set memory/bus speed dividers on the nondeluxe p4p800. The maximum memory speed my regular p4p800 will run at is 200mhz (400mhz dual mode). You would be spending extra money for the pc3500 modules w/o using the higher memory frequences. I do not know if you have memory dividers or set speeds with the p4p800-deluxe.

 

[hrapbrown]

What exact model do you use?

 

[gramboh]

Re: BIOS checksum error, have you tried clearing CMOS by removing the battery and switching the jumper over per directions in the manual?

Also, try downloading the 1007/1008 BIOS files from the Asus website, and copy them onto a floppy using the filename P4P800.ROM (try 1007 first) and then try the recovery that way. It never worked from the CD for me, always had to use a floppy. No idea what could be causing that problem right off the bat, could assume anything (power supply, CPU etc) .

About the 5:4 250 FSB setting, you would think since the RAM is operating at 200MHz that you would be able to run the same latencies at 200 1:1 and 250 5:4 right? For some reason it doesn't hold true. I can run my ram at 2-2-2-5 at 200 1:1 stable but it is not stable at 250 5:4 2-3-3-7 for some unknown reason. I know the CPU is stable because I tested it running at 250 3:2 ratio with 3-4-4-8 timings to rule out memory. This is really frustrating, I'm probably just going to try to max out 1:1 at around 440 DDR 2-3-3-7 for 2.86GHz.

 

[Elvis2]

*

 

[weasal42]

Has any one else used Hyper X 3200 on their boards? Any problems? Im gettin ready to get some, so if anyone can tell me about any problems I'd be greatful.

 

[ckn]

Hi,

The BIOS version 1009.004 beta is available now.

ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BI...00/1009__04.zip. Quite stable.


ckn

 

[ckn]

Originally posted by: ckn
Hi,

The BIOS version 1009.004 beta is available now.

ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BI...00/1009__04.zip. Quite stable.


ckn

Sorry. The download link should be: ftp://ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BIOS/Socket_478/INTEL_Chipset/i865pe/P4P800/1009__04.zip

 

[ajvitaly]

Originally posted by: hrapbrown
What exact model do you use?

I have the regular p4p800, but I am RMAing it back to newegg. I will probably get the deluxe version... we'll see....

 

[asadovsky]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Re: BIOS checksum error, have you tried clearing CMOS by removing the battery and switching the jumper over per directions in the manual?

Also, try downloading the 1007/1008 BIOS files from the Asus website, and copy them onto a floppy using the filename P4P800.ROM (try 1007 first) and then try the recovery that way. It never worked from the CD for me, always had to use a floppy. No idea what could be causing that problem right off the bat, could assume anything (power supply, CPU etc) .

About the 5:4 250 FSB setting, you would think since the RAM is operating at 200MHz that you would be able to run the same latencies at 200 1:1 and 250 5:4 right? For some reason it doesn't hold true. I can run my ram at 2-2-2-5 at 200 1:1 stable but it is not stable at 250 5:4 2-3-3-7 for some unknown reason. I know the CPU is stable because I tested it running at 250 3:2 ratio with 3-4-4-8 timings to rule out memory. This is really frustrating, I'm probably just going to try to max out 1:1 at around 440 DDR 2-3-3-7 for 2.86GHz.

I ran into the same problem when I was messing with this. However, eventually I decided to use 5:4 with 230 FSB, since this provides a nice amount of overclock without going high on voltages, and my system is extrememly stable (running 2 instances of Prime95 for 12+ hours). I am using stock cooling... if I was using a different HSF and maybe added some active northbridge cooling, I would try to OC further. If you really want to OC though, you should probably get 3500 or 3700 RAM. Mine is the Corsair XMS 3200LL... the advantage of this is that I can clock 5:4 at 230 FSB with 2/2/3/6 timings.