*** Official ASUS P4G8X Thread ***

[jhites]

Originally posted by: Rich3077
Thanks again for the help.
P4G8X it will be, I already have all the other needed stuff.
Thanks
Peace
Rich

Read the Thugsrook Thread. Link posted above.
Long read but many answers and tweaks are there.

 

[WeirdScience]

I'm thinking that this is the mobo for me. The processor I'm going to put with it is the Pentium 4 3.06Ghz. So I have a few of questions.

• Is this one of the best boards for a 3gig P4? (or is there a better one)

• What sort of memory should I go for, speeed/brand? (I've no wish to overclock)

• Has the Deluxe got onboard sound that's any good, or should I think getting a soundcard? (don't need surround)

• What wattage power supply will I need for it? (with 1x hd, 1x dvdrom, 1x cdrw and 9700pro gfx)

 

[Rich3077]

Okay.. I got the board and been running it for a couple of days now @172 FSB.
I am very happy because I have not had any stablility issues at all with this board, well.. some at 180
FSB but that was my chip and not the board.


WeirdScience
I don't know if this is the best board for you or not, are you planning on overclocking??
Even if you do not plan to overclock this is still a very stable board with a ton a features.
The only con I can think of is it's price, but in this case I do believe that you get what you
pay for.


Peace
Rich

Edited to add:
I am using a 400 watt Antec Smart Power power supply so far with no issues..
I may need a better power supply later on when I get up the cash to add the 3 more hard drives
I want.

I am also using PC2700 RAM from crucial.com, but if you check the overclocking forum it seems like the board is compatable with almost any PC2100 and higher RAM.

 

[WeirdScience]

Thanks for the reply Rich

Overclocking is not what I'm about. I'm in the lucky position to be able to afford the processor at the speed I want to run. The board price is high but like you say, you get what you pay for and with this board you do get soooooo much!

I'd be interested in anyone else's opinion. I'd especially like to hear from owners of this mobo and also P4 3gig users (a rare breed I know!), as I have heard there are some issues with Win XP and the P4 3 gig.

Cheers,

Weird

 

[Kowan]

WeirdScience
I'm running a P4 3.06 WinXP Pro and other than disabling Fast writes for my ATi 9700 Pro, no problems at all.
Running stock speeds right now. I'll see what FSB I can run without having to increase the vcore voltage too much later.

P4G8X-DX (1004twk BIOS)
Retail P4 3.06 HT enabled stock HS with ASIII
Corsair TWINX512-3200LLPT
Retail ATi 9700 Pro/Omega 2407a/DirectX 9
Audigy 2
HighPoint Rocket133
USR 56K PCI modem
LiteOn 48x24x48
LiteOn 16x DVD
100MB Zip
Teac Floppy
30, 40GB Maxtor
80 WD SE
Enermax EG651P-VE FM(24P) 550watt PSU
WinXP Pro SP1
Sony G420 19"
Creative Inspire 6.1

 

[WeirdScience]

Kowan, that's my kind of machine!

 

[RRocket]

A couple of points to note on the P4G8X-Deluxe

There have been many reported issues with the ATI 9700 Pro,
but there is a work around. Turning off fast writes and not enabling write combining.

Also, the Gigabit Lan has compatability issues with several cable modems.
Mine included. Toshiba PCX1100

The two above may be able to be corrected with a BIOS or Driver update
but this has not happened as of yet.

Can anyone tell me if the issue with the PCX1100 has been resolved. I have that same setup & don't want a hassle to make it work. Obviously I am a noob. I am looking at this board, gasp now, but I am not OC ing it. Just want a feature packed board for a P4 2.66 for some gaming & photoshoping. Any input from people to this choice is welcome.

 

[THUGSROOK]

jhites would know the answer to that ~ i use a pci nic.
last i heard, no.

 

[RRocket]

Thanks for the reply.

I didnt think you came out until after dark ?????

 

[RRocket]

Thugsrock,

Care to help a noob choose a mobo ?

 

[RRocket]

Thugsrook, not rock, although your reviews rock

Please forgive my fat fingers

 

[THUGSROOK]

RRocket ~ just start a thread listing your needs and wants, youll get plenty of opinions

 

[jhites]

Can anyone tell me if the issue with the PCX1100 has been resolved.

Nope - and I have tried different Beta Bios and different drivers for the onboard lan. Still having to use a 10/100 nic.

 

[THUGSROOK]

Mikki's P4G8X PCI geiger counter testing thread.

an excellent post with very interesting results.

 

[Boyne7]

I got mine a week ago
my sig tells all


by the way what are some of the problems the 9700pro has with it?
If it can cause major artifacting at default speeds i may be very happy as i thought i had accidentally chipped one of the capacitors off of the top of the gpu when i took off the retail hsf to put on my waterblock. and that would mean i dont have to buy a new 9700pro

 

[jhites]

Boyne7

Do a search on the 9700. There are several posts at AT
the issue and the fixes.

 

[WeirdScience]

I've ordered my P4G8X Deluxe and P4 3.06Ghz which will be with me early this week. I am remembering what is was like to be a child on christmas eve

 

[Thor86]

New beta bios is out for the P4G8X

You can get it from the link in the thread over at Asusboards Forums.

 

[anonboy]

i was having problems with my 9700 radeon on my setup so its nice to know theres a fix...once i get the vid card i actually ordered from monarch im going to have some fun with my system

 

[WeirdScience]

I received my P4G8X Deluxe two days ago. It has been an absolute breeze to install. I must have built a dozen PCs in the past three years and not one has been as easy to setup as this. I fixed it into my case, wired it up, installed the gfx card, processor and ram, started with a clean hard drive, popped my XP disk into the drive and it worked. Not a problem, not an error, not even one!

My current rig is this:

Computer Name: Beast (on account of the 600mm high 20Kg tower case)
Operating System: Windows XP with service pack 1
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.06Ghz with hyper threading enabled (running at stock speed)
Heat Sink/Fan: Intel Retail mounted with Cooler Master Premium thermal compound
Motherboard: Asus P4G8X Deluxe (well duh! )
Ram: 2x Crucial 512MB DDR PC2100 - part CT6464Z265 (cheap! may add 2 more later)
Hard Drive: IBM 120GXP 80Gb 7200RPM 2Mb cache
Graphics Card: Chaintech GeForce 4 MX440SE 64Mb DDR*
CDRW: Liteon 24/10/40
DVD: Panasonic SR8586 16xDVD 48xCD
PSU: generic 300watt**

Planned upgrade after pay day
*replace with Radeon 9700 Pro OR a 9800 if available by month end
**replace with 400watt

 

[Kowan]

WeirdScience
Nice setup except for the video card!
People are picking up 9800 Pro's off the shelf at Fry's already.
They should be easy to find by the time you decide to upgrade.

 

[WeirdScience]

Originally posted by: Kowan
WeirdScience
Nice setup except for the video card!
People are picking up 9800 Pro's off the shelf at Fry's already.
They should be easy to find by the time you decide to upgrade.

Dammit! There goes next month's beer money. Guess I'm gonna have to start drinking tap water.

 

[wirejockey]

Lost sound! :frown:

It seems that I lose sound after running some programs such as RealPlayer, etc. & can't seem to pinpoint a specific program.
When I boot up sound works fine. Then after a few days I notice that I'm not getting sound.
I'm using the onboard sound (P4G8X) only (no add-in card). Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[WeirdScience]

Originally posted by: wirejockey
Lost sound! :frown: ...

...I'm using the onboard sound (P4G8X) only (no add-in card). Any ideas?

The onboard sound is pretty poor. Great for windows sounds and the vocal post messages but little use for anything else.

I quickly decided to install the SoundBlaster Live card I had left over from my previous machine. The only drawback is that when not using onboard sound you lose the opportunity to hear the vocal post messages. Not really a great loss as, with onboard sound, once your system is correctly configured you hear the same message (and loudly) every time you boot. Call me old fashioned, but a discrete single beep from the internal speaker tells me all I need to know.

 

[wirejockey]

WeirdScience, thanks fir the input. My use of sound on the PC is pretty limited, so I just need it to listen to radio clips, or other short soundbytes. I'll go to my Home Theater for real listening.
I had a Soyo board before this and it had a very good on-board sound card. Never had a moments problem w/ it. However, I suspect that what's happening with the P4G8X is that Real Networks, or some "player" is mess'n w/ it.