*** Official ASUS A7S333 thread ***

[AndyHui]

Leave Plug and Play off.

Under the ACPI scheme, all the resource allocation and power management are handled from the OS instead of the BIOS.

Please read the FAQ: ACPI vs APM.

 

[razel]

I am having the same exact problem. My a7s333 cannot get past the first BIOS screen when "plug and play OS" is enabled. I thought it was my configuration, so I reduced my setup to just the following:

AMD APPROVED POWER SUPPLY
AMD XP1700
CRUCIAL 256MB DDR PC2100
HERCULES GEFORCE2MX 32MB
KEYBOARD

And still cannot get past the first BIOS screen. I tried swapping power supply, but no luck. Only thing left to do is combinatorics for the BIOS settings. But no way. . . Has anyone else been successful at booting with "plug and play OS" enabled?

 

[AndyHui]

You don't need Plug and Play enabled, as its functionality is taken over by ACPI in the OS.

 

[Hendrik]

Just ordered one from Mwave - will post more when I have it.

 

[Eagle17]

Ok first overclocking results...

moved it to 137/35 (or 137/34) ran a few benchmarks and everything seems stable .. Ran Prime 95 for about an hour and no problems... I did notice one thing ... I am using the asus tools and my temp never moves on my processor... there has got to be something wrong.. I have not downloaded another tool yet.


so far this motherboard has been rock solid .. And like are friends with the p4s533 there has been no VIA like issues with the bus (yet).......


I also have a k7s5a from ecs and it does its job just fine also... (no overclocking)

My system temp will go up when in heavy use ...

 

[razel]

Interesting Eagle. . . I too own an ECS K7S5A and am having the same 'Plug and Play' enabled problem. Hmmm.... The K7S5A was giving me intermittent problems upon rebooting. WIN2K will sometimes not finish getting past the WIN2K screen. The K7S5A will also not Suspend to RAM, which I use often on other machines.

The K7S5A was my first venture back into 'budget' motherboards since my last Pentium I Triton based PC-CHIPs (aka ECS) board. Ever since then I only have been buying ASUS and ABIT boards. I thought that ASUS would be able to release a trouble-free budget board and EXCEPT for this 'Plug and Play enabled' boot-up problem, the A7S333 is a solid board.

Even though I understand that the OS does it's own thing with 'Plug ang Play' I still would like to have and hopefully with some help from the forum here help ASUS (if any engineer there are reading this) work out that issue so that the A7S333 is a solid and relatively bug-free board.

 

[Hendrik]

I set mine up yesterday. I ran into severe problems with BIOS Version 1002 (the one it came with) trying to run my Athlon XP and Crucial DDR RAM at FSB/memory 133 MHz (constant rebooting) - no problems at 100 MHz. After flashing the BIOS to Version 1003 these problems went away.

The system now seems very stable - no crashes after several hours of normal operation. Performance is very good, a bit better in benchmarks than my other system (based on ECS K7S5A), but no noticeable difference outside benchmarking.

 

[Binky]

Mine is running flawless but I cant complete the POST with plug&play enabled in the BIOS.

 

[razel]

Rejoice!

The latest beta BIOS has solved the unable to bootup with 'Plug and Play enabled' issue. Wow. The things we early adopters put up with.

ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM/BIOS/Socket_A/SIS_Chipset/SIS_745/A7S333

 

[Binky]

Excellent. That P&Play thing was annoying, especially when building from scratch before figuring out what was causing the lockup at POST!

I'm having sound issues while transferring data between HD's under WindowsXP. HD to HD copy speed is also a bit out of whack (slow). Anybody have these issues? Anybody install SIS IDE drivers (I didn't)? I'm sure I'll get it resolved and so far the board is great.

 

[kennysdead]

Anyone have any info on the PCI dividers? I've read that there's no 1:5 divider, so if you run at the max FSB (166MHz) the PCI bus is at 42MHz. Anyone know if there's likely to be a BIOS revision that could add this (as well as the voltage controls)? While on the subject, there's a 1004 beta001 on the ASUS site. Unfortunately it's described as "The latest BIOS", anyone know what the changes from 1003 are with this version?

 

[mechBgon]

No offense, but you guys should be listening to AndyHui. You do not need "Plug n Play" enabled. Maybe if you were running Windows 3.11 it would be beneficial. Leave it off.

 

[Binky]

Update: Hard drive speed issues solved. Sound issues also solved. Both were uninstalled and reinstalled and all is well now. The 1.004 beta bios has been said to fix the plug&play issue, but I haven't tried it.

Overall - the K7S5A is a better board because it is slightly cheaper, slightly faster, and has nice onboard LAN. Both boards are top-notch in stability (far better than VIA) and that is what is most important to me. Although the A7S333 has adjustable FSB, it can't even overclock as well as the K7S5A (which isn't a good overclocker either).

 

[edaskew]

More Stuff

So far I have gotten best memory results with settings at;
1:1 (async sucks 4:5)
spd off
cas 2t
cas to delay 2t
precharge 3t
active to precharge 6t
fsb set to 137

I have xp2100+
1 gig (2 512 of samsung pc2700)
This is as fast as I can get it to run without stabilty issues. In fact it has been rock solid at
these setting( Seti CLI 7 24)

ED

p.s. running Beta 1004 bios

 

[mechBgon]

edaskew, interested in joining the AnandTech SETI team at all? If so, pop over to the Distributed Computing forum and say hi! We are working on overtaking Hardware France, they're about 216000 WUs ahead. Daily stat report!

 

[Marrkks]

Gonzo2k said
-----------
Tip: Crazy glue the nylon nuts to the bottom of the board when you install the 8045- this will permit you to remove HSF without having to remove the motherboard-
----------
dang it why didn't I think of that!!

any new info about this board? anyone got the fsb higher than 137(stable)?

I am kind of surprised that the Asus site is bragging about voltage adjustments and yet there are none.:Q

I'm in the market for a new mb, my main comp is a k7s5a(xp1600@146fsb) runs 24/7(seti) zero problems. I have recently been playing with a kt266a(msi pro2 ru). pretty board but I think my next mb will be a SIS. or maybe a nvida. 95% sure it will not be a via.

 

[Marrkks]

....almost forgot dies it support the tbred?

....almost forgot2 any more info on the internal diode support. someone mentioned the temp not updating??

 

[NabiCat]

What a load of BS.
Bought an A7S333, after trying unsuccesfully to find any reviews, based almost entirely on the marketing crap on asus' website.
Get the thing installed and Vcore adjustment does'nt exist. Send an email and get a "so sorry" response. Vcore adjustment is not a feature and will not be implemented. They've even started removing mention of it from their website.
Luckily I saved a copy of the site before it was removed because this board is definately not offering the "Extreme Overclocking" it promised.
That plus the non-functioning Plug and Play Aware OS feature leads me to believe that there are some undisclosed problems with this board that they are not telling us about.
Anyone with an A7S333 that hasn't raised the issue with Asus about the missing, but claimed Vcore adjustment better do so before the matter is swept underneath the rug.
Good luck
Nick

 

[mechBgon]

I agree about the claims on the web site. If there is no voltage adjustment, they should not say there is. :| Maybe a case of the marketing department and the engineering department going two separate directions?

However, I'm mystified why everyone suddenly wants to set Plug-n-Play to Yes in the BIOS on this board. I think the people doing this have some misconceptions. Fer gosh sakes, listen to AndyHui and leave it off. The man knows his stuff.

 

[NabiCat]

I confirmed with Asus that Core Voltage adjustment will not be implemented with the A7S333. They claim that the info was a mistake, and it has now been removed from their website. To bad, so sad for the consumer, you have to live with their "mistake".

The only problem with the PnP Aware OS is that it is on by default, and the system will fail to post with it enabled. It may not be an optimal setting, but the first introduction you get with this board is that it will not boot. Some would suggest that this is a serious flaw in the bios....

 

[mechBgon]

Ohhh, I get it now. I can relate somewhat, since my A7V333-R will not boot if I select the Turbo settings in the BIOS, which enables UCSW on the video card (my card doesn't support it). Instead, I have to manually set the settings one by one. Sorry for my ranting about PnP, I'll knock it off now.

 

[holdencommodore]

I am thinking of getting this motherboard. Does it allow overclocking of the FSB in 1MHz steps??

cheers

 

[Regalk]

I just replaced my A7S 333 with a KT3 Ultra from MSI - tested, burned in and stable. I even put AS 2 under the chipset for better stability. 1 month old. I just saw the last post and thought hey why not sell it rather than scrap it, I am not going to put in the hot deals/sale forum since I a not really that keen anyways. Bios is 1004.001

 

[NabiCat]

Returned this board for the KT3. Gotta say, didn't end up getting any more out of the xp1800 even with Vcore, but at least I don't have to deal with Asus any more.
KT3 is nice and stable and has substantially better overclocking features, ie. Vcore, AGP and Memory voltage mods.
Good luck folks!