OT Anyone get a ASUS P4P800 Deluxe MB yet?

BillyBoy wrote on 6/14/2003, 1:40 PM
I'm leaning towards it for my next one along with a P4, probably a 2.8 to save a few bucks, then overclock a little. Also anyone try either the new "extreme" somtimes called match set DDR 3200 memory? The idea is because the memory sticks are "matched" you can squeak out a bit higher bandwidth. I'm skeptical, but all the review sites seem to be saying you can.

Comments

seibu1 wrote on 6/14/2003, 2:12 PM
is that an 800 FSB??

If so, wow!

Seibu
Alliante wrote on 6/14/2003, 3:34 PM
Ordered but not arrived or installed :)

The reviews I've read are top-notch and Asus is a solid choice for a motherboard.
BillyBoy wrote on 6/14/2003, 3:44 PM
Yep, the one with the 800 FSB. If anyone is planning on upgrading be very careful you read the fine print for both the motherboard and CPU. There are some MB's that support the faster CPU, but have the older chipset so 'slower' FSB if you consider 555 slow. Ditto, with Intel, playing its usual games releasing all kinds of different versions of the P4. The original P4 with the 800 FSB cost an arm and a leg and uses a still different chipset. A newer version (i865PE chipset) runs as fast and is hundreds cheaper. The frist is designed for workstations, the second for high end destops. There are two versions with the same name of the motherboard too. One is Deluxe. You want the deluxe version which has built-in firewire and other goodies. Well, I do anyway <wink>

I didn't really want to upgrade now my current MB in this pc (one I'm on now) is a Iwill and it apparently is starting to fail. I can't even reflash the BIOS. It is locking up several times a day for no reason. During boot, right after boot, Vegas runnning, not running, on the web, not, no matter what application and I already swapped out everything, hard drive, power supply, video card, even CPU, so got to be the MB.

Back to ASUS I guess.
Bill Ravens wrote on 6/14/2003, 4:30 PM
ASUS' mobo's actually have somewhat of a shaky rep. I'm using a p4PE without any complaints, tho'. The tests show little to no advantage, when it comes to video rendering, between a FSB800 and a FSB533 chipset. On my own setup....P4PE, crucial FSB400, 3.o6 P4 with HT, vegas 4 scored 1:35 with DSE's render test
BillyBoy wrote on 6/14/2003, 7:07 PM
Interesting comment... most reviewers rate ASUS as the best. I've build several and they were rock solid. Of course you can always get a lemon. Only reason I went with IWill the last time (wish I didn't now, already crashed 5 times just today) was I couldn't find another board in stock at the time that supporrted faster DDR.

Tell us more about DSE's render test... like how it tests, do they have test file or VEG you download? Details please.
Bill Ravens wrote on 6/14/2003, 7:29 PM
ASUS seems to have rather glitchy BIOs's...not just my opinion...it's common knowledge. I'd give you a reference if I could find it...suggest you may want to read a few reviews on Anandtech.com.

Douglas Spotted Eagle's rendertest is available from hs website at www.sundancemediagroup.com
Back when he was moderating the COW, there was a rather extensive data base of mobo's and V3 tested against this rendertest. I beleive he may still maintain the database at SMG.
Bill Ravens wrote on 6/14/2003, 7:47 PM
Billyboy...

here's one ref:http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030519/i875p-31.html
most reviews, these days, seem to lean towards Albatron or Epox for the canterwood chipset
BillyBoy wrote on 6/14/2003, 9:00 PM
I took your advice and looked up a review of ASUS on the site you recommened.
First one at top says in part

"ASUS has, in part, made a name for themselves by having a great track record for reliability, time to market, and cutting edge features. ASUS has produced some problematic desktop motherboards in the recent past (e.g. P4S8X and the P4T533 to an extent), but all in all enthusiasts and OEMs alike look at ASUS as the industry leader in the desktop market "

SPOT's site: www.sundancemediagroup.com The link to tutorials and files is in blue text in the upper left hand corner. Kind of easy to miss if you haven't visited before.
Bill Ravens wrote on 6/14/2003, 9:13 PM
toss the dice and take your chances, I guess. one man's heaven is another man's hell...or something like that
BillyBoy wrote on 6/14/2003, 9:26 PM
Sure... I'm just saying its surprising you found reviews with problems since most reviews I've seen always give ASUS high marks. But then again, like you said, it depends. Like now this IWill I'm using (trying to anyway) which I have raved about here and elsewhere this week suddedly without any warning has been driving me crazy, crashing at least 50 times this week. Up to six times already just today. Ah computers... they can drive you nuts.
kilroy wrote on 6/14/2003, 9:32 PM

Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Ultra...a *very* loaded alternative to the Asus that you may find intriguing, especially for high end SCSI users.
BillyBoy wrote on 6/14/2003, 9:40 PM
I'm still reading the reviews for ASUS... won't get to the "G" till next week unless I stay up all night. <wink>
seibu1 wrote on 6/14/2003, 11:04 PM
FWIW I just built a new machine a couple of months ago and bought the P4T533 from ASUS, rock-solid so far, fingers crossed of course.

Seibu
Bill Ravens wrote on 6/15/2003, 7:49 AM
well, despite my complainings, I have to admit my ASUS P4PE is pretty dependable. Once they figure out their BIOS settings, the ASUS boards seem to be OK, BillyBoy, I had an Iwill 1 gig duallie for a while....kinda funky and moved on to an AND/TYAN duallie...also funky...*sigh*. There's always Intel...hehehehe.
BillyBoy wrote on 6/15/2003, 1:33 PM
You know what I wish... that somebody would make a better BIOS interface. I think that they're all so clumsy to work with. I know you can't get too fancy because you're outside of the OS, and it isn't something you do every day which is the point. You think it would have advanced more than it has. And while I'm ranting, flashing the BIOS now with the latest version of Windows because its missing DOS, is a royal pain in the butt requiring you look for your old Windows 98 startup disk or some kludge version of DOS.

OK... now I feel much better. :-)