Please Help! Asus P3V4X MB

[rnj5688]

I need help. I have a Asus P3V4X MB and I'm trying to install the following items to prevent bottlenecks. I need help because I am noticing slow gaming performance.

Basically, in which slots do I put the following:

-AGP ATI All-In-Wonder 128 Pro 32mb (I know, the AGP slot)
-Sound Blaster Live Platinum
-Adaptec 2940 Scsi PCI
-3Com NIC PCI

What my system consists of:
OS - Windows 98SE
PIII 500mhz
256mb SDRAM
(2) 10K rpm Seagate HDs
(1) IDE 14gb HD
(1) IDE DVD rom
(1) IDE 50x cd-rom
(1) IDE HP CD rewriter

Also, are there any specific settings in the BIOS I should know about? Thanks in advance for all the help.

 

[AndyHui]

PCI 2 Sound Blaster Live Platinum
PCI 3 Adaptec 2940 Scsi PCI
PCI 4 3Com NIC PCI

Make sure that you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard.

Ensure that you disable ByteMerge in the BIOS before updating your BIOS, and then re-enable after flashing. There was a previous BIOS version that killed boards if this was enabled, although it shouldn't affect you. Better safe than sorry though.

Although overclocking results are generally excellent on the P3V4X, note that with your 2940 SCSI card, you will probably have some difficulties with higher non-standard PCI bus speeds.

 

[jkersenbr]

I have a P3V4X and a SBLive and a 3c905c nic.

I used to run the 3c905c in PCI 4 and the SBLive in PCI 2 but had problems with the NIC. Every once in a while on Windows98 boot, I'd get some sort of driver loading error message.

I swapped the slots they were in and haven't had a problem since.

Just a thought...

 

[rnj5688]

Should I let the BIOS assign the IRQs by leaving the Plug & play OS as NO or let Windows assign the IRQs by setting it to yes?

 

[AL77]

I second what AndyHui said. PCI slot 1 shares an IRQ line with the AGP card. So the best you can do is to use slots 2, 3, and 4. These can technically be assigned their own interrupts.

I say technically because in my experience Windows 95/98/ME often does not do a good job in assigning interrupts, often leaving available IRQs open while doubling or tripling up on others (regardless of how you populated your PCI slots). Also, you may not get your video/sound card on a high-priority interrupt, such as IRQs 9 to 11. For this reason, I would disable Plug and Play OS in the BIOS - let the BIOS manage it. OTOH, if Windows has managed the IRQs properly, might as well leave it.

If you also use slots 5 and 6, they will share with 4 and 3 respectively. Finally, the USB shares with IRQ 4.

Edit: Just wondering: In what games and what resolutions are you experiencing "slow performance". It may be your ATI Rage 128 Pro AIW, not exactly a screamer in new games, especially high resolutions.

 

[jkersenbr]

I (and ASUS) recommend setting it to NO. Don't let Windows Plug-n-pray manage IRQ's unless it is really having a fit about something.

I set a board (not my P3V4X) to YES once and Windows assigned the NIC a difference IRQ every time it booted. Somtimes it was 9. Sometimes it was 10.

 

[rnj5688]

Well, the game that I noticed the most slow down is in the NFS Porsche Unleashed. I like playing at 1280x1024 32bit becasue of the nice backrounds but I've also played it at 640x480 16bit and still experienced slow gaming. As if it was in 1280x1024 32bit mode.

I forgot to mention before that I have been having trouble playing games. My system keeps locking up when starting games. I'll probably get to a menu screen then it will lock. Can't do a ctrl+alt+del, just a cold boot. The only way to prevent this, I noticed, is after I install Win98, I install the VIA 4in1 driver (4.25a), Directx 8.0, then the video driver, then the sound driver. The problem with this is that I can't play my DVDs through the ATI DVD Player. I get "Unknown General Error". If I use a software decoder, I get alot of snow throughout the movie. I'm sorry to dump all of my problems on you guys but I been battling these issue for a while now and I can't think of anything else to do.

 

[jkersenbr]

Sounds like a driver/software problem to me and not a hardware problem.

Did you have these problems before getting DirectX 8.0? A lot of people have had a lot of trouble with DX8. I'm sticking with 7.0a in 98.

Some people have problems with the Via 4-in-1 driver. I read somewhere that the only part of it you really need is the AGP GART driver. I'm running Windows2000 and only installed the AGP portion. Not sure if 98 needs the others or not. The AGP driver version you need is 4.04 (the same as comes in the v 4.25 & 4.26 4-in-1's.) It's available HERE.

I don't know what your DVD problem is. I have 0 DVD experience. But I'd suspect a DirectX problem and/or a ATI driver problem.

 

[rnj5688]

Ok thanks. I'll try the Directx 7.0a and the AGP Gart only. I forgot to menton that the only Ati driver that works for me is the original driver from the cd. When I say works, I mean I can play games otherwise it'll just lock up if I use the newer drivers.