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P4P800 Deluxe -- Bios and other Questions
Okay, I just got this motherboard (with a p 4 2.6 800 FSB processor), and
have completed installing XP (service pack 1). I have some questions. 1. Is there anywhere while IN the bios to see the bios revision number. Inside the bios it gives an 80009 number. But while booting (when boot logo is disabled), you see revision 1010. The 1010 number seems to make sense, but the other number does not. Where exactly is the bios revision number -- is it only in the boot/post screen? I don't see a 1010 number anywhere else. When you click on the mainboard icon while the ASUS CD is in, you don't see 1010 either. You see the 080009 number and a date of 8/20/03. So is the bios 1010 or is it 080009? Asus's website only gives numbers like 1010 or 1012. So I don't know what the other numbers mean. But 1010 only shows up during post -- not IN the bios, not using the ASUS CD or any other method (and it doesn't show at all if the logo is enabled). Also, assuming 1010 is my current bios, is there any real need to go to 1012 (the latest on Asus's website)? 2. With hyperthreading enabled in the bios, it shows 2 CPUs (both 2.6) in device manager. Is this correct? I only have one CPU, but does enabling hyperthreading cause 2 CPUs to appear in device manager? Should hyperthreading be enabled or not? Does it help or hinder performance to enable hyperthreading, if the applications you have don't currently take advantage of hyperthreading? Moreover, REGARDLESS of whether hyperthreading is enabled in the bios, the general tab on system properties shows what appears to be 2 CPUs -- one says 2.6 Ghz, and the other says 2.61 Ghz. What is going on here? Is this something wrong? Everything seems to work fine, but this is really weird. 3. In the Bios, you can configure "performance mode" under the Jumper Free Configuration menu. The default is "auto" but there is a setting for "turbo" and "standard". It is clear what turbo does, but what does "standard" do. Does standard give a performance boost above "auto" but less than "turbo" -- if so, how much? 4. Under the PCI/PNP settings in the bios you can set "plug and play OS" to either yes or no. I have it set to "yes" since I have XP (service pack 1) installed. But is it better to let the OS or the bios configure the plug and play devices? Should I change that to "no". Note that IRQ 16 currently has 2 USB host controllers AND my video card. Is this bad that my video card shares IRQ 16 with two of the USB host controllers? There are no other shared IRQs at all. 5. Under the USB configuration menu in the bios, you can set USB Function to 8 usb ports (the maximum), or to 6 or to 4. I only have access to 6 ports, since I have 4 in the back, and two in the front of my case. The other two are not currently available to me. That is fine (I don't need all 8), but should I set the USB function to 6? How does it know which 6? Or should this be left at 8, since the board supports 8? If I set it to 6, will it know to activate the specific 6 that are activated on my board? Will this save resources by setting it to 6? 6. Q fan control. Currently I have it set to disabled. Does it do any good to set it to some other setting -- and if so, which is the BEST setting. There is no guidance as to which setting is best if you have q-fan enabled. What do the different ratios do exactly? Is the sole purpose to save some fan noise? 7. 1394 Net Adapter? Why does the firewire connection show up as a "network adapter" in device manager and under network connections? Is this correct that it shows up as a "network adapter" where you can add tcp/ip and other protocols to it? Currently I have no protocols or anything set on this "adapter", but I thought fire wire was just a connection (similar to USB)? 8. Temperatures and fan speed: What are good temperatures for the CPU and the mother board? What is the range it should be before I need to worry? What good is monitoring this if ASUS doesn't tell you what is good or bad? Note that I don't overclock (performance mode is set to "auto"). I do have memory acceleration enabled. Also, what should the chassis fan speed and the CPU fan speed and the power supply fan speed be? 9. Finally, the mother board came with a cable that I don't know what it does. It has power plug on one end and two very thin and long connections on the other? I'm not talking about the SATA cables, this is something else. The thin connections are longer and thinner than USB. Anyone know what this cable is for? Thanks for any help. Sorry about all the questions. |
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On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:07:54 -0500, "Eric" wrote:
Okay, I just got this motherboard (with a p 4 2.6 800 FSB processor), and have completed installing XP (service pack 1). I have some questions. 1. Is there anywhere while IN the bios to see the bios revision number. Inside the bios it gives an 80009 number. But while booting (when boot logo is disabled), you see revision 1010. The 1010 number seems to make sense, but the other number does not. Where exactly is the bios revision number -- is it only in the boot/post screen? I don't see a 1010 number anywhere else. When you click on the mainboard icon while the ASUS CD is in, you don't see 1010 either. You see the 080009 number and a date of 8/20/03. So is the bios 1010 or is it 080009? Asus's website only gives numbers like 1010 or 1012. So I don't know what the other numbers mean. But 1010 only shows up during post -- not IN the bios, not using the ASUS CD or any other method (and it doesn't show at all if the logo is enabled). Also, assuming 1010 is my current bios, is there any real need to go to 1012 (the latest on Asus's website)? 2. With hyperthreading enabled in the bios, it shows 2 CPUs (both 2.6) in device manager. Is this correct? I only have one CPU, but does enabling hyperthreading cause 2 CPUs to appear in device manager? Should hyperthreading be enabled or not? Does it help or hinder performance to enable hyperthreading, if the applications you have don't currently take advantage of hyperthreading? Moreover, REGARDLESS of whether hyperthreading is enabled in the bios, the general tab on system properties shows what appears to be 2 CPUs -- one says 2.6 Ghz, and the other says 2.61 Ghz. What is going on here? Is this something wrong? Everything seems to work fine, but this is really weird. 3. In the Bios, you can configure "performance mode" under the Jumper Free Configuration menu. The default is "auto" but there is a setting for "turbo" and "standard". It is clear what turbo does, but what does "standard" do. Does standard give a performance boost above "auto" but less than "turbo" -- if so, how much? 4. Under the PCI/PNP settings in the bios you can set "plug and play OS" to either yes or no. I have it set to "yes" since I have XP (service pack 1) installed. But is it better to let the OS or the bios configure the plug and play devices? Should I change that to "no". Note that IRQ 16 currently has 2 USB host controllers AND my video card. Is this bad that my video card shares IRQ 16 with two of the USB host controllers? There are no other shared IRQs at all. 5. Under the USB configuration menu in the bios, you can set USB Function to 8 usb ports (the maximum), or to 6 or to 4. I only have access to 6 ports, since I have 4 in the back, and two in the front of my case. The other two are not currently available to me. That is fine (I don't need all 8), but should I set the USB function to 6? How does it know which 6? Or should this be left at 8, since the board supports 8? If I set it to 6, will it know to activate the specific 6 that are activated on my board? Will this save resources by setting it to 6? 6. Q fan control. Currently I have it set to disabled. Does it do any good to set it to some other setting -- and if so, which is the BEST setting. There is no guidance as to which setting is best if you have q-fan enabled. What do the different ratios do exactly? Is the sole purpose to save some fan noise? 7. 1394 Net Adapter? Why does the firewire connection show up as a "network adapter" in device manager and under network connections? Is this correct that it shows up as a "network adapter" where you can add tcp/ip and other protocols to it? Currently I have no protocols or anything set on this "adapter", but I thought fire wire was just a connection (similar to USB)? 8. Temperatures and fan speed: What are good temperatures for the CPU and the mother board? What is the range it should be before I need to worry? What good is monitoring this if ASUS doesn't tell you what is good or bad? Note that I don't overclock (performance mode is set to "auto"). I do have memory acceleration enabled. Also, what should the chassis fan speed and the CPU fan speed and the power supply fan speed be? 9. Finally, the mother board came with a cable that I don't know what it does. It has power plug on one end and two very thin and long connections on the other? I'm not talking about the SATA cables, this is something else. The thin connections are longer and thinner than USB. Anyone know what this cable is for? Thanks for any help. Sorry about all the questions. 1. Your BIOS is 1010. It only shows up during boot. 2. No need to go to 1012 unless you are having problems with 1010 or you need a feature that 1012 provides. 3. Yes, with HT enabled, it is supposed to appear as if there were two processors. Nothing is wrong. 4. Not sure on this one. Try them all and see if you notice or benchmark any difference. 5. The ports are numbered in pairs (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8). The BIOS starts with 1/2 (two ports) then adds 3/4 (four ports) then adds 5/6 (six ports) and finally adds 7/8 (8 ports). if you set the BIOS to six ports, it will disable ports 7/8. 6. I don't use Q fan either. I would leave it disabled. 7. My IEEE 1394 shows up under Network Adapters and also as a IEEE 1394 Bus Host Adapter. This is normal. 8. Lower temps are better, naturally, but it depends on a lot of factors. Somewhat dependent on CPU fan speed, room temperature, and airflow through your case. My CPU varies between 90-120 F, depending on what I'm doing. Once you know what is 'normal' for you, you monitor it to be sure it doesn't go much higher than what your 'normal' is. With fans, the faster they spin, the more noise and the more air. Again, they are monitored to make sure they don't stop or go appreciably below their 'normal'. Fan speeds can vary all over the place (from about 2000 to 6000 RPM), depending on brand, size, and how much air they are designed to move (CFM). 9. I can't tell from your description what the cable is. Pete |
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Good answers Pete, Short and to the point.
Locust On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 23:29:23 GMT, Pete Gray wrote: On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:07:54 -0500, "Eric" wrote: Okay, I just got this motherboard (with a p 4 2.6 800 FSB processor), and have completed installing XP (service pack 1). I have some questions. 1. Is there anywhere while IN the bios to see the bios revision number. Inside the bios it gives an 80009 number. But while booting (when boot logo is disabled), you see revision 1010. The 1010 number seems to make sense, but the other number does not. Where exactly is the bios revision number -- is it only in the boot/post screen? I don't see a 1010 number anywhere else. When you click on the mainboard icon while the ASUS CD is in, you don't see 1010 either. You see the 080009 number and a date of 8/20/03. So is the bios 1010 or is it 080009? Asus's website only gives numbers like 1010 or 1012. So I don't know what the other numbers mean. But 1010 only shows up during post -- not IN the bios, not using the ASUS CD or any other method (and it doesn't show at all if the logo is enabled). Also, assuming 1010 is my current bios, is there any real need to go to 1012 (the latest on Asus's website)? 2. With hyperthreading enabled in the bios, it shows 2 CPUs (both 2.6) in device manager. Is this correct? I only have one CPU, but does enabling hyperthreading cause 2 CPUs to appear in device manager? Should hyperthreading be enabled or not? Does it help or hinder performance to enable hyperthreading, if the applications you have don't currently take advantage of hyperthreading? Moreover, REGARDLESS of whether hyperthreading is enabled in the bios, the general tab on system properties shows what appears to be 2 CPUs -- one says 2.6 Ghz, and the other says 2.61 Ghz. What is going on here? Is this something wrong? Everything seems to work fine, but this is really weird. 3. In the Bios, you can configure "performance mode" under the Jumper Free Configuration menu. The default is "auto" but there is a setting for "turbo" and "standard". It is clear what turbo does, but what does "standard" do. Does standard give a performance boost above "auto" but less than "turbo" -- if so, how much? 4. Under the PCI/PNP settings in the bios you can set "plug and play OS" to either yes or no. I have it set to "yes" since I have XP (service pack 1) installed. But is it better to let the OS or the bios configure the plug and play devices? Should I change that to "no". Note that IRQ 16 currently has 2 USB host controllers AND my video card. Is this bad that my video card shares IRQ 16 with two of the USB host controllers? There are no other shared IRQs at all. 5. Under the USB configuration menu in the bios, you can set USB Function to 8 usb ports (the maximum), or to 6 or to 4. I only have access to 6 ports, since I have 4 in the back, and two in the front of my case. The other two are not currently available to me. That is fine (I don't need all 8), but should I set the USB function to 6? How does it know which 6? Or should this be left at 8, since the board supports 8? If I set it to 6, will it know to activate the specific 6 that are activated on my board? Will this save resources by setting it to 6? 6. Q fan control. Currently I have it set to disabled. Does it do any good to set it to some other setting -- and if so, which is the BEST setting. There is no guidance as to which setting is best if you have q-fan enabled. What do the different ratios do exactly? Is the sole purpose to save some fan noise? 7. 1394 Net Adapter? Why does the firewire connection show up as a "network adapter" in device manager and under network connections? Is this correct that it shows up as a "network adapter" where you can add tcp/ip and other protocols to it? Currently I have no protocols or anything set on this "adapter", but I thought fire wire was just a connection (similar to USB)? 8. Temperatures and fan speed: What are good temperatures for the CPU and the mother board? What is the range it should be before I need to worry? What good is monitoring this if ASUS doesn't tell you what is good or bad? Note that I don't overclock (performance mode is set to "auto"). I do have memory acceleration enabled. Also, what should the chassis fan speed and the CPU fan speed and the power supply fan speed be? 9. Finally, the mother board came with a cable that I don't know what it does. It has power plug on one end and two very thin and long connections on the other? I'm not talking about the SATA cables, this is something else. The thin connections are longer and thinner than USB. Anyone know what this cable is for? Thanks for any help. Sorry about all the questions. 1. Your BIOS is 1010. It only shows up during boot. 2. No need to go to 1012 unless you are having problems with 1010 or you need a feature that 1012 provides. 3. Yes, with HT enabled, it is supposed to appear as if there were two processors. Nothing is wrong. 4. Not sure on this one. Try them all and see if you notice or benchmark any difference. 5. The ports are numbered in pairs (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8). The BIOS starts with 1/2 (two ports) then adds 3/4 (four ports) then adds 5/6 (six ports) and finally adds 7/8 (8 ports). if you set the BIOS to six ports, it will disable ports 7/8. 6. I don't use Q fan either. I would leave it disabled. 7. My IEEE 1394 shows up under Network Adapters and also as a IEEE 1394 Bus Host Adapter. This is normal. 8. Lower temps are better, naturally, but it depends on a lot of factors. Somewhat dependent on CPU fan speed, room temperature, and airflow through your case. My CPU varies between 90-120 F, depending on what I'm doing. Once you know what is 'normal' for you, you monitor it to be sure it doesn't go much higher than what your 'normal' is. With fans, the faster they spin, the more noise and the more air. Again, they are monitored to make sure they don't stop or go appreciably below their 'normal'. Fan speeds can vary all over the place (from about 2000 to 6000 RPM), depending on brand, size, and how much air they are designed to move (CFM). 9. I can't tell from your description what the cable is. Pete |
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9. that is the power cable for sata drives. It splits a normal molex into 2
power connectors used by sata drives. HTH "Eric" wrote in message ... Okay, I just got this motherboard (with a p 4 2.6 800 FSB processor), and have completed installing XP (service pack 1). I have some questions. 1. Is there anywhere while IN the bios to see the bios revision number. Inside the bios it gives an 80009 number. But while booting (when boot logo is disabled), you see revision 1010. The 1010 number seems to make sense, but the other number does not. Where exactly is the bios revision number -- is it only in the boot/post screen? I don't see a 1010 number anywhere else. When you click on the mainboard icon while the ASUS CD is in, you don't see 1010 either. You see the 080009 number and a date of 8/20/03. So is the bios 1010 or is it 080009? Asus's website only gives numbers like 1010 or 1012. So I don't know what the other numbers mean. But 1010 only shows up during post -- not IN the bios, not using the ASUS CD or any other method (and it doesn't show at all if the logo is enabled). Also, assuming 1010 is my current bios, is there any real need to go to 1012 (the latest on Asus's website)? 2. With hyperthreading enabled in the bios, it shows 2 CPUs (both 2.6) in device manager. Is this correct? I only have one CPU, but does enabling hyperthreading cause 2 CPUs to appear in device manager? Should hyperthreading be enabled or not? Does it help or hinder performance to enable hyperthreading, if the applications you have don't currently take advantage of hyperthreading? Moreover, REGARDLESS of whether hyperthreading is enabled in the bios, the general tab on system properties shows what appears to be 2 CPUs -- one says 2.6 Ghz, and the other says 2.61 Ghz. What is going on here? Is this something wrong? Everything seems to work fine, but this is really weird. 3. In the Bios, you can configure "performance mode" under the Jumper Free Configuration menu. The default is "auto" but there is a setting for "turbo" and "standard". It is clear what turbo does, but what does "standard" do. Does standard give a performance boost above "auto" but less than "turbo" -- if so, how much? 4. Under the PCI/PNP settings in the bios you can set "plug and play OS" to either yes or no. I have it set to "yes" since I have XP (service pack 1) installed. But is it better to let the OS or the bios configure the plug and play devices? Should I change that to "no". Note that IRQ 16 currently has 2 USB host controllers AND my video card. Is this bad that my video card shares IRQ 16 with two of the USB host controllers? There are no other shared IRQs at all. 5. Under the USB configuration menu in the bios, you can set USB Function to 8 usb ports (the maximum), or to 6 or to 4. I only have access to 6 ports, since I have 4 in the back, and two in the front of my case. The other two are not currently available to me. That is fine (I don't need all 8), but should I set the USB function to 6? How does it know which 6? Or should this be left at 8, since the board supports 8? If I set it to 6, will it know to activate the specific 6 that are activated on my board? Will this save resources by setting it to 6? 6. Q fan control. Currently I have it set to disabled. Does it do any good to set it to some other setting -- and if so, which is the BEST setting. There is no guidance as to which setting is best if you have q-fan enabled. What do the different ratios do exactly? Is the sole purpose to save some fan noise? 7. 1394 Net Adapter? Why does the firewire connection show up as a "network adapter" in device manager and under network connections? Is this correct that it shows up as a "network adapter" where you can add tcp/ip and other protocols to it? Currently I have no protocols or anything set on this "adapter", but I thought fire wire was just a connection (similar to USB)? 8. Temperatures and fan speed: What are good temperatures for the CPU and the mother board? What is the range it should be before I need to worry? What good is monitoring this if ASUS doesn't tell you what is good or bad? Note that I don't overclock (performance mode is set to "auto"). I do have memory acceleration enabled. Also, what should the chassis fan speed and the CPU fan speed and the power supply fan speed be? 9. Finally, the mother board came with a cable that I don't know what it does. It has power plug on one end and two very thin and long connections on the other? I'm not talking about the SATA cables, this is something else. The thin connections are longer and thinner than USB. Anyone know what this cable is for? Thanks for any help. Sorry about all the questions. |
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"Pete Gray" wrote in message ... On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:07:54 -0500, "Eric" wrote: ... snipped 9. Finally, the mother board came with a cable that I don't know what it does. It has power plug on one end and two very thin and long connections on the other? I'm not talking about the SATA cables, this is something else. The thin connections are longer and thinner than USB. Anyone know what this cable is for? Thanks for any help. Sorry about all the questions. Pete's good answers here 9. I can't tell from your description what the cable is. Pete That cable is for USB device. You can find 2 USB header ports somewhere on the right side of PCI slots to connect that cable to have 2 more plugs for external USB at the back of the case, like any PCI card. See page 2-30 of the manual for P4P800 DLX. HTMH Max |
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