question for TForce P965pt owners

[quest55720]

I ordered a TForce P965PT this weekend and was wondering do you need a floppy drive to install the sata drivers during the windows install? I do not have a floppy drive right now and will order one if I need it. Also does biostar have a nice easy windows based bios flasihing tool? This is the first non asus or abit mother board I have owned I hope it serves me as well as my retiring A7N8 deluxe. What sold me was the anandtech round up and the fact it does not have the horrible jmicron IDE controller. I use love my DVD burner and use it almost every day no way I was going to risk it not working well.

 

[DoodieBody]

I'm not sure about the SATA drivers, I don't have a SATA drive.

They do have a winflasher, but I'd suggest a floppy. I've flashed many BIOSes and have only had one mess up on me, and that was using a Winflasher. It'll cost you 10 bucks and I guarantee you'll use it at some point. I thought I wasn't going to buy a floppy...and I just ordered one. It makes me sad that the floppy isn't dead yet, lol.

 

[Termie]

Hey quest - I set up a 965pt, and did not need to use a floppy (didn't even have one). My WD sata drive worked after just plugging it in. I didn't set up a RAID, though, which does require installing software, I believe.

I did not try to use the winflash for the BIOS, even though the 965pt had a 9/06 bios - wasn't going to overclock, but I know the newer BIOS would improve overclocking. Actually, I think the BIOS allows for flashes via USB drives, so that's another option.

I will say that my DVD burner didn't work, but I have a feeling that it was my NEC 7170's fault, not the motherboard's fault.

One more thing - the built-in ethernet was very unreliable - replaced it with a PCI card. Probably just a fluke, but not worth getting upset about.

 

[quest55720]

Thank you I am glad I don't need a to load sata drivers to install windows. I will pick up a pci ethernet just in case.

 

[dermotti]

Nope no floppy required.

 

[quest55720]

I got all the parts and the computer up and running. Once I figured out my DVD rom was also bad and replaced it with a spare all is great. The systems knock on wood has been rock solid the first 24 hours at stock speeds. I really like the motherboard a lot it is a good no frills just does it job well at a reasonable price. I have not run in to once issue so far knock on wood. I was really woried after reading so many people having so many problems with C2D motherboards.

 

[DaveLazell]

Hello,
You mentioned dvd burner problems. I recently put together a system with this motherboard for a friend of mine and his dvd burner would not work either. I tried using my burner and the system would burn, but the error rates were through the roof. I have been putting together systems for quite a while now and have tried everything I can think of, but still cannot get the burner to work. I am about to RMA the board because of what I think is an unreliable PATA port, unless perhaps someone else has something I can try... So far I have tried 1)letting the system cool down (no heat problem), 2)replaced cable, 3) verified his dvd burner was good and that my burner was also having problems, 3) reinstalled nero, 4)updated bios to newest bios, 5) installed newest IDE drivers from the biostar website (as the software on disk would not work correctly). 5) made sure Windows XP had all the updates installed that were available, 6) made sure that the IDE drivers were operating in DMA mode, 7) probably more that I cant think of at the moment.
So.. test the burner that you think went bad in another system.. It may still yet be good, and please let me know the result. Also if anyone else may know of something I can try please let me know.

Dave.

 

[Doomguy]

Try this IDE driver http://www.viaarena.com/Driver/via_pata_sata_+ide_v160a(20061101140444).zip

It works well for me.

 

[DaveLazell]

Doomguy: thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and unfortunately nothing has changed. I have posted a thread of my problem here http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=27&threadid=2010020
I think I am going to end up RMA'ing the MB
Quest: Were you able to test the suspected faulty burner in another computer? I am interested to see if it will work in that case?