For those that are thinking of getting this mobo, I can tell you a little about what I've experienced so far with it.
Installation went okay. The screw hole at the top center on the board was a little off center, but I manged it get it installed. It almost looks like it was drilled just a little too far from the top. Once in, I got everthing hooked up and proceeded to start it up. I checked the BIOS and noticed it came with the release BIOS dated 5/16/03. I went ahead and tweaked the BIOS to my preferences and proceeded to install Windows XP. I installed the OS using the Highpoint IDE RAID 0 config that I had on a previous system. It installed fine. Running at stock speeds I ran a few benchmarks, including Sandra, and noticed the memory bandwidth scores were a little low. I'm using Crucial PC3200 in dual-channel mode. I'm sure LL memory from Corsair or Kingston would do better, so you may want to think about that before getting this mobo. Check Soyo's Web site for memory compatibility with this mobo.
I decided I would update the BIOS to the next one, dated 7/14/03. This is where I ran into a problem. No matter what I did, the mobo would not let me update the BIOS. I finally contacted Soyo tech support and they told me to try using the command line switch: awdflash p4cw4aa2.bin /f /sn /py. That did the trick and I was able to update the BIOS.
This BIOS features the 0.8 memory divider, allowing a 5:4 ratio. I didn't really buy this board with overclocking in mind, but I did manage to overclock my P4 2.8C GHz to 3.4 GHz, using the 5:4 option. It made it to the Windows desktop fine. You may need to up the core voltage to 1.6v to get a stable overclock. I didn't notice much improvement at stock speeds with this newer BIOS, but did notice better stability.
I have tried the new "overclocked" BIOS dated 8/01/03, and it did improve memory bandwidth but defaults the DRAM voltage to 2.8v. I suggest only using this BIOS if you plan to do some serious overclocking. For now, the BIOS version p4cw4aa2 seems to be the most stable but this board needs a little more work I think. I'd like to see Soyo release a new BIOS with the memory bandwidth improvements from the overclocked BIOS, while keeping the DRAM voltage at stock along with the other BIOS settings. I'm not much into overclocking at the moment, but would like to see some more performance improvements.
Overall this a great mobo if you're looking for a variety of storage options. The BayOne memory card reader works fine if you need it. I tested the USB 2.0 ports on it and they work fine. I did notice that having it hooked up uses 3-4% constant CPU usage. I haven't tried the SATA RAID option as I'm waiting to get the new hard drives for it. I've played several games on it (old and new) and it hasn't locked up on me yet. It's stable in the gaming dept. and damn fast!
I would love to hear from other P4I875P Dragon 2 owners on what their thoughts are on this fine mobo. I'll add to the discusson if any improvements are made to the BIOS and any other experiences.
Installation went okay. The screw hole at the top center on the board was a little off center, but I manged it get it installed. It almost looks like it was drilled just a little too far from the top. Once in, I got everthing hooked up and proceeded to start it up. I checked the BIOS and noticed it came with the release BIOS dated 5/16/03. I went ahead and tweaked the BIOS to my preferences and proceeded to install Windows XP. I installed the OS using the Highpoint IDE RAID 0 config that I had on a previous system. It installed fine. Running at stock speeds I ran a few benchmarks, including Sandra, and noticed the memory bandwidth scores were a little low. I'm using Crucial PC3200 in dual-channel mode. I'm sure LL memory from Corsair or Kingston would do better, so you may want to think about that before getting this mobo. Check Soyo's Web site for memory compatibility with this mobo.
I decided I would update the BIOS to the next one, dated 7/14/03. This is where I ran into a problem. No matter what I did, the mobo would not let me update the BIOS. I finally contacted Soyo tech support and they told me to try using the command line switch: awdflash p4cw4aa2.bin /f /sn /py. That did the trick and I was able to update the BIOS.
This BIOS features the 0.8 memory divider, allowing a 5:4 ratio. I didn't really buy this board with overclocking in mind, but I did manage to overclock my P4 2.8C GHz to 3.4 GHz, using the 5:4 option. It made it to the Windows desktop fine. You may need to up the core voltage to 1.6v to get a stable overclock. I didn't notice much improvement at stock speeds with this newer BIOS, but did notice better stability.
I have tried the new "overclocked" BIOS dated 8/01/03, and it did improve memory bandwidth but defaults the DRAM voltage to 2.8v. I suggest only using this BIOS if you plan to do some serious overclocking. For now, the BIOS version p4cw4aa2 seems to be the most stable but this board needs a little more work I think. I'd like to see Soyo release a new BIOS with the memory bandwidth improvements from the overclocked BIOS, while keeping the DRAM voltage at stock along with the other BIOS settings. I'm not much into overclocking at the moment, but would like to see some more performance improvements.
Overall this a great mobo if you're looking for a variety of storage options. The BayOne memory card reader works fine if you need it. I tested the USB 2.0 ports on it and they work fine. I did notice that having it hooked up uses 3-4% constant CPU usage. I haven't tried the SATA RAID option as I'm waiting to get the new hard drives for it. I've played several games on it (old and new) and it hasn't locked up on me yet. It's stable in the gaming dept. and damn fast!
I would love to hear from other P4I875P Dragon 2 owners on what their thoughts are on this fine mobo. I'll add to the discusson if any improvements are made to the BIOS and any other experiences.
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