OK... so I want a P4P800 Deluxe, in the new rig, but I have a couple of questions....

[AnitaPeterson]

Hi there,

After doing some research and trying to play with the budget, I`ve come to the conclusion that I`m going to upgrade my older system (with a dead motherboard) to the following setup:

ASUS P4P800 Deluxe (I need that FireWire)
P4-2.8 GHz, 800 FSB
Samsung PC3200 - one stick of 512 MB

however, there are some issues that need to be ironed out.

My current rig has (well, *had*, since it`s out of commission)

- CD-RW, a DVD and a DVD-RW on IDE.
- a HD with the operating system on it (used to be Master on the first IDE)
- two more HDs (which were both operating as masters, each on a different channel, on a Promise 100 controller)

I`m running W2K Pro SP4.

So... I need to know if I can just put the peripherals the same way they were on the old machine - since the P4P800 has also an ATA controller onboard - WITHOUT having to reinstall Windows... I just had it reinstalled last month (who`d have known the damn thing`ll die??!) and it was a hassle I`d rather not go through anytime soon.

If anyone`s got some tip about getting the OS to recognize the new hardware, please post it. I saw there`s a possibility to choose `Repair`and let Windows recognize the new components, but I`m not very sure how to do that.

Also, are there any other issues I need to be aware of?

For instance, is one stick of 512 OK, or do I have to go 2x256?

 

[Budman]

Helping Windows Survive a Motherboard Upgrade

 

[dexvx]

The P4P800 DLX's onboard IDE PATA RAID controller is based on some obscure VIA chipset. It sucks, period. You can use it as a regular IDE controller, but I strongly advise using the RAID functionality.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Cool, thanks!

Any other suggestions?

I forgot to add that my power supply is a brand new Enermax 350W...

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Yeah, I wasn`t planning to use RAID, as I`m more afraid of data corruption than I am eager to get speed (which is subjective, in any case), so I will just use the onboard controller as a simple way to get more HDs and storage space.

 

[tweeve2002]

I agree that the VIA Raid on the board SUCKS, Im using it and wish that I wasnt now. but I have too much on the RAID just to diable it and start again. I guess Im stuck with it untill something dies.

 

[gsaldivar]

I believe your system will run faster with 2 sticks of 256MB memory (dual channel mode) rather than 1 stick of 512MB (single channel mode).

Good luck!

 

[AnitaPeterson]

The thing is, I`d rather buy another 512 stick in a couple of months.... right now, I must cut some sorners.

 

[gsaldivar]

In that case - stick with the single 512MB DIMM.

When you buy the second stick of 512MB a few months from now, just be sure to get the same brand/speed/timing as the stick you already have. This should ensure reliable dual-channel performance.

:beer:

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I've found some Infineon, Corsair and Samsung, at the same price - which one should I buy?

 

[First]

So... I need to know if I can just put the peripherals the same way they were on the old machine - since the P4P800 has also an ATA controller onboard - WITHOUT having to reinstall Windows... I just had it reinstalled last month (who`d have known the damn thing`ll die??!) and it was a hassle I`d rather not go through anytime soon.

Well.....generally I'd highly advise against swapping your board and putting in a completely different one. If your previous motherboard was an ASUS and you're now installing an ASUS P4P800 Deluxe, then it could work. If not, probably not, but you may get lucky, I have in the past. Here's a few quick tips...

First, I suggest you install all your PCI cards and peripherals that were used in your last system into this system (the new board). Don't install any new ones, use the same video card. Secondly, if your system even boots into Windows, then Windows will do everything on its own, and it'll probably ask you to restart at some point when it's reinstalling drivers, and if it doesn't just restart yourself. After you restart go to Device Manager and see which devices aren't installed (if any) and use your ASUS P4P800 Deluxe driver CD (that comes with your board) to install anything you're missing. Just click on the device where the question mark is and click "Reinstall drivers" with the ASUS P4P800 Deluxe driver CD in one of your ATAPI drives.

If that all goes well, you still may encounter problems in the future, like major slowdowns or just plain instability. If that happens, you really don't have much choice but to reinstall. There may be other ways to remedy this, but I don't know them.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

hmmm... so I need to reinstall... crap, I was hoping to avoid this... I'll be needing to unload all my documents before, first...

 

[Boogak]

Originally posted by: tweeve2002
I agree that the VIA Raid on the board SUCKS, Im using it and wish that I wasnt now. but I have too much on the RAID just to diable it and start again. I guess Im stuck with it untill something dies.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, but I'm curious as to why some feel the onboard Via RAID controller sucks? I'm using it with both a RAID1 and RAID0 array (4 80gb drives total) and I'm not having any problems.

To keep this on topic, reinstalling is the optimal and favored choice. If you're really not wanting to reinstall, here's a pretty detailed guide to swapping motherboards w/o having to reinstall Windows.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
hmmm... so I need to reinstall... crap, I was hoping to avoid this... I'll be needing to unload all my documents before, first...

NO, not always.

I did a COMPLETE hardware change and my O/S (Win2KPro) managed the change perfectly.

Try it . . . you never know. HOWEVER, first BACK-UP everything important!

It is not "ideal" to ignore a reformat when changing MBs - performance may be compromised; however, sometimes you can get lucky.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

hmmm... I wonder if I'd realize there's a performance hit, considering I'm upgrading from a much slower system, though.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
The thing is, I`d rather buy another 512 stick in a couple of months.... right now, I must cut some sorners.

If you don't think you're going to go over 1GB, get 2 x 256 now and 2 x 256 later. The mother board will run four sticks in dual channel with no problems. Just make sure you get the same RAM.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
hmmm... I wonder if I'd realize there's a performance hit, considering I'm upgrading from a much slower system, though.

Chances are, you're gonna have to reformat . . . anyway.

Just (following the link Helping Windows Survive a Motherboard Upgrade link) will give you time IF it works. . . . you can do the reformat/reinstall at your convenience, that's all.

It worked for me - perfectly - I was in an interim upgrade and loved not having to do everything all over again and it worked for months until I recently built my new rig. (In fact, I did it by mistake, being too slow to hit the "delete" key when Win2K simply set itself and it's hardware up without a single hitch - infact, perfdormance took no hit, according to benchs).