For some early adopters (like me), this motherboard shipped with a BIOS that is incompatible with the Intel Core 2 Duo processors. It requires either a BIOS flash using an older Socket775 processor (follow standard Asus BIOS flashing procedure using the older processor), or a new BIOS chip (see below).
To determine which BIOS your motherboard shipped with, without turning the system on, find the BIOS chip towards the bottom of the motherboard. It's located immediately to the right of the second-from-the-bottom PCI slot. It should have a sticker on top saying which BIOS revision it is. The BIOS chip lies in a socket, so you can replace it.
To have Asus ship you a new BIOS chip if you cannot flash the BIOS with an older LGA775 processor (i.e. you don't have one like me), contact the Asus RMA department via email, and give them the information listed below for quickest service. Ground shipping is free, overnight is $20. I know this for sure, as they're shipping me a new BIOS chip via the free ground shipping option tomorrow.
rma@asus.com
- "The motherboard does not work as advertised without a newer BIOS than what it shipped with. I need a newer BIOS revision to work with my Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I do not have a spare processor to flash the BIOS with. Please send me a new BIOS chip with revision 0801 or newer using the information below. Thanks in advance."*
- name
- street address
- phone number
- model number & serial number
- ground(free) or overnight($20)**
*supposedly 0801 is compatible with ALL Core 2 Duo processors, but if you want the beta revision 0901 (as of 8/9/06), specify that here
**for overnight, give them your credit card info as well (account number, expiration date, and CSV)