[DBVanDyke]

My P4C800-E Deluxe POWERHOUSE

HARDWARE SETUP:
Motherboard: Asus P4C800-E Deluxe Rev. 1.02 / 1.xx SN:0123456789
CPU: Intel 3.2Ghz OC @ 5% to 3.37 w/ Hyper-Threading
Cooler: Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu
Memory: amnt & part# (2) Corsair XMS CMX512-3200C2 (1GB DDR400)
Video: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Case: They didn’t care to put their name on the back.
Power supply: Vantec Stealth VAN-520A 520 Watts, 3 silent auto-speed adj. fans.
CD Writer: LITE-ON LTR-48125W
DVD Writer: Sony DRU-500A F/W 2.0G
Floppy: Floppy
HDD 1: Maxtor 6Y120P0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, UDMA-133
HDD 2: Maxtor 6Y120P0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, UDMA-133
HDD 3: Maxtor 6Y120M0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, SATA-150
HDD 4: Maxtor 6Y120M0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, SATA-150
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Extigy
LAN: Embedded Intel running at 1Gb Full Duplex
SCSI adapter: None
Video capture: Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge (Fire Wire 1394)
Keyboard: Hewlett-Packard SK-5201K Internet Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech Cordless MouseMan Optical M-RM63
Network: ADSL @ 1.2Mb download, W2K Server as router, 1Gb subnet to Netgear 4 port Gigabit switch
Other:

HARDWARE Connections:
PCI slots: 1=empty, 2=empty, 3=empty, 4=empty, 5=5-Port USB 2.0 card.
Pri Master IDE: Sony CDU5221 52X CD-ROM drive
Pri Slave IDE: Not used
Sec Master IDE: Sony DRU-500A DVD R/W
Sec Slave IDE: LITE-ON LTR-48125W CD-ROM R/W
SATA1: n/c
SATA2: n/c
Intel SATA RAID1: 6Y120M0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, S-ATA-150
Intel SATA RAID2: 6Y120M0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, S-ATA-150
RAID Configuration: 240GB RAID 0 – Used for Applications and Data
RAID Software: Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition v3.5.0.2653

Promise Pri_RAID Master : 6Y120P0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, UDMA-133
Promise Pri_RAID Slave : 6Y120P0 - 120GB, 8MB Cache, UDMA-133
RAID Configuration: 240 GB RAID 0 – Used for XP OS. I will change to S-ATA drives later.
RAID Software: Promise FastTrack 378 v1.00.1.37 and PAM v4.0.0.18

Fans: 4 Vantec silent fans blowing on 4 drives
2 Vantec silent fans for exhaust
1 Vantec w/ purple light on Radeon 9700 Pro
1 Vantec large fan positioned over DIMMS
3 Fans in Vantec power supply
1 Vantec silent fan on removable side panel blowing in
The answer is no, “With all the silent fans is the system silent?” Just quieter, I think.

BIOS Setup:
Version. Important custom settings.
V1011

SOFTWARE Setup:
HDD formatting & partitioning.
1) Only OS RAID and installation source CD-ROM drive in system during installation. Other RAID and CD drives installed after.
2) Created RAID 0 and initialized.
3) Installed XP allowing it to format the RAID. That’s it.

O/S and any special setup of it/ tweaks.

:type:

1) Install XP, but MAKE SURE you only have ONE hard drive and ONE CD-ROM drive visible (installed) to the system. Install all other drives after the system is up and proven stable.

2) Installed the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility version 5.0.2.1003. THIS IS A MUST!!!

3) Installed SP1 (Not SP1a. SP1a is a DOWNGRADE from SP1. SP1a is minus the MS Java Virtual Machine and some Java based applications will not work without it, such as the Homestead Site Builder from Homestead.com.

4) Installed ALL Windows Updates, critical and non-critical. Skipped the .NET Framework stuff, MovieMaker, Jornal viewer and Windows Messenger, but installed everything else.

7) Installed Norton AntiVirus.

8) Installed only essential and reasonable drivers: Video, sound, NIC first. I only installed the latest versions. Went to each website and download the newest of new.

9) I didn't load up a bunch of progs and apps, instead I first tested the system with a minimum load for a while to prove system stability. I find the best test is to load up a good FPS game, (UT 2003 which used DirectX 9), installed updates or patches for it and then see how long you can play without any problems.

PURPOSE:
In preparation for DooM iIi :mdskull: !!! Gaming, video editing and any frickin’ thing I want to do!

COMMENTS:
Any observations, positive or negative.
I love this board. If I can solve the last problem with the USB 2.0 and if I can OC a bit more... well what comes after love?

I think the main reason so many people are having problems with this board is just due to the highly technical nature of it. There is at least 101 ways to shoot yourself in the foot.

PROBLEM SUMMARY:
1. No problems at first with 2.53Ghz CPU.
2. Had problems getting board to work after installing 3.2Ghz CPU. Cleared CMOS, updated BIOS, scaled back OC settings. Those problems gone.
2. Was able to OC 2.53Ghz CPU to 20% (3.02Ghz) without any problem! Was totally stable and I was totally amazed!!
3. Upgraded to 3.2Ghz expecting to OC to nearly 3.8Ghz, will only go 5% to 3.37 :sigh:
4. Everything works flawlessly except for my USB 2.0 problems. Plug in a USB 2.0 external Ximeta hard drive and I get “HI-SPEED USB Device Plugged into non-HI-SPEED USB Hub”. :knife:


====================================

:smash:
:spam:

:merlin: :gun: :guns: :swords:

 

[DBVanDyke]

Completing your system.

stock / auto at 2.5,4,4,8,8 / Sisoft score 4359 … should I try go to lower (2,2,2,6 or7)?

3). CAS at auto and Sisoft score is 4359 at 400FSB… should I try to go lower than 2.5,4,4,8,8. My OCZ memory can run at 2,3,3,7 @ 433 … so I thought I could get the CAS lower than that since I’m running stock.

Man, this thing is running sweet and FAST … without any tweaking memory is at 4359, 3D Mark 2001 = 18,934 and 2003 is 6489.

Hi Clayman... Nice to hear about someone else who got their board working. We started a thread for us P4C800 owners on overclocking. Their is a link to some free benchmarking software there. Check it out and then upload your PassMark Performance Test results and download others so we can all find the best config. Here is the link to that thread:
Successful Overclocking of the P4C800

Originally posted by clayman
BIOS Setup:
Version. v.1009. Hyper Threading Enabled …

1). Should I upgrade BIOS to 1010 or 1011? Should I upgrade at all with the way the 1009’s are running?

I recomend going to 1011. Here is a link that tells about the differences between 1009, 1010, 1011 and the mysterious 1013.
NEW P4C800 series BIOS releases!! Check it out for yourself and see if you want to upgrade.

Originally posted by clayman
SOFTWARE Setup: O/S: Windows XP Professional, Norton Sys Wks 2003 (Anti Vir & Ghost),

2). How much of an impact do the all the 4,283 critical updates and SP1 do to the system. Also SP1a or SP1.

BE CAREFUL WITH GHOST!!! It does NOT handle RAID drives well at all! ALWAYS run an integrity check on your Ghosted images. They will usually fail if a RAID is involved. Make sure you do Live Update to get the most recent version of SW.

The Microsoft Updates are MANDATORY. At least the Critical Updates certainly are. You will get hit with viruses and worms without them (such as Blaster and Welchia). There are also many which apply to system security and stability. Get in the habbit of keeping your system up to date with them ALWAYS. Set the Automatic Update Client to routinely check for updates, download them and install them. Don't put this off or someday you will be sorry.

Use SP1 over SP1a. SP1a is the same as SP1, except that the Microsoft Java VM was pulled due to the lawsuite with Sun. So SP1a has less functionality then SP1.

 

[DBVanDyke]

My P4C800-E Deluxe is DEAD!

It's true. My P4C800-E Deluxe is as of 11-22-03, now dead. :skull: R.I.P.

All I did was attach my CD-RW as slave to the Secondary IDE where my main CD-ROM drive was connected as master. I always, shutdown properly, turn off the power switch and even unplug the AC cord.

Tried to turn it on, fans all spin green LED on board comes on, but no beeps, no post and no monitor activation.

Unplugged everything, cleard CMOS (several times, as what else can I do), NOTHING!

I was having no problems what so ever. It was working flawlessly.

ASUS = A Soon Useless System

:reaper: