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Some P4C800-E Deluxe Q's and upgrade advice requested please



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 12th 04, 12:23 PM
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Some P4C800-E Deluxe Q's and upgrade advice requested please

In article , "Barry"
wrote:

I have just brought a P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, reading through the User's =
guide and I've got some questions; probably the 1st of many since I have =
never built a PC before. Sorry if these questions are rather basic.

The UG lists 3 fan connectors; CPU, PWR & Case. Do these connectors =
supply variable power to the fans depending on the case/CPU temperature? =
Or do they simply monitor the fan speeds? I've currently got 2 case =
fans; one at the front/bottom sucking air in and another top/rear =
blowing out. Is it possible to use a 3-pin fan splitter to =
power/control both case fans attached to the Case fan connector? Or can =
I use the PWR connector for the 2nd case fan? (It's not uncommon to =
have multiple case fans.)

I'm considering buying the Global Win SAF-Sapphire 450 PSU :

http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products.../sapphire.html

The users guide is here :

http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products...SAF_Manu_E.pdf

As with most modern PSU's it has it's own thermal fan control. It can =
also control 3 case fans. Would this be a better option to use the PSU =
fan connectors rather than the mobo fan connectors? I'd guess that if I =
do then I wont be able use MBM or AsusProbe to display the fan speeds.

I'll be upgrading my current PC and it's the only PC I have. So once I =
start I will be unable to use the net to download additional files or =
ask questions. I'm going to download the latest BIOS from the Asus =
website along with any other updates there. I'll also get the latest =
video card drivers, etc. Is there any other files that I will need =
before I upgrade?

I'll be installing 2 SATA HDD's on the Intel ICH5R (unless it's better =
to use the Promise controller), one of which will be my "C_Drive" and =
the other will be installed in a mobile rack.

Do I need to:

A) Install the drivers when installing WinXP Pro?
B) Are there updated versions available? If so, where?

My current PC has a 4gb HDD and I'm considering buying a Tekram DC-315U =
PCI SCSI card and use the 4gb HDD for the windows swap file, temporary =
files and the like. I seem to remember reading some posts that when =
using SATA you set the boot drive to SCSI in the BIOS. If so, is this =
going to cause a conflict?

I also have a 8gb HDD which I'm going to use to store the updates that I =
need during the install. Some time in the future I plan to use this HDD =
to dual boot with Win98 for some old games my son likes to play (I =
already know they wont work under WinXP.)

Any other advice/recommendations gratefully received.

TIA for your help
Barry...


A typical situation for three fan headers is: all three monitor
fan speed, but only the CPU header supports Q-Fan. I'm not sure
the manual always gives details on each individual model. Some
of the -X Asus motherboards have fewer capabilities in this
department.

Since an Intel retail fan has its own thermally controlled speed,
leave Q-Fan disabled. If you buy a third party CPU fan which is
single speed, then and only then enable the Q-fan. Combining two
control methods can leave you with a stalled fan (due to the fan
voltage dropping below 7 volts).

Many case fans have only two wires, meaning they have no rotation
(tachometer) wire. They cannot be monitored, so you can power
one of those from a drive power cable or one of those special fan
power cables that some power supplies have.

If you indeed have four fans with monitor signals and only three
headers to monitor them, do an analysis of which fan can fail
without screwing up the PC. In your case, the fan blowing into
the case on the front does not need to be monitored - when it
fails, the PS fan and back case fan will work together just
fine to keep the case cool (slightly warmer than normal but not
dangerously so - disconnect the front fan and test how hot
it gets while gaming). In the end, you may find the PS fan is
too slow to monitor, and the decision is made for you.

For a P4 motherboard, much of the power consumption will be
on the +12V output. Power supplies have current ratings on
their outputs, and you will want at least 12V@15 amps for
a basic computer with P4, one disk, and a video card. I've
posted before about doing a power estimate here, and there
are actually several web sites that give their own recipes
for estimating power needs. It isn't the total watts that
count, it is making sure there is enough current on each
output. There are some lousy supplies that tout high total
power, and they only have 10 or 12 amps of that on +12V.

Here is a sample calculation for +12V:

******
Processor
P4 3.2Ghz/FSB800/512KB cache = = 8.4A@12V
including 80% conversion efficiency by the mobo Vcore cct,
the required current is 10.5A for a top end P4.
Hard drive
2A during spinup of the disk, 0.5A while sitting in Windows desktop.
Allow 0.5A for a CD. If you don't have a lot of drives,
don't worry about spinup current, and concentrate on idle current.
Fans
Allow 1 amp for case and CPU fans.
Video card
Low end video cards use no +12V. An Nvidia FX5900 or an ATI9800
have a separate +12V cable. Estimated power is and 5V@10A
for one of those video cards while playing a 3D game.
Total = 10.5 + 3*0.5 + 1 + 1.5 = 14.5A on +12V (2 disk drives, 1 CD)
A 15amp on +12V supply is barely adequate, and maybe 17amps is
a good target. More if you expect other +12V loads. Generally
the other rails (+3.3, +5) are so massive, you don't have to
worry. (The Globalwin 450W has 22amps on +12V - plenty...)

******

As for other setup issues, you have picked one of the most
compatible motherboards around at the moment. If you had a
Via chipset and an ATI 9600/9800, then I'd be recommending you
download every file in sight. That shouldn't be necessary for
a P4C800-E Deluxe.

Personally, I'd leave the existing PC in working order, and
pick up a second case to go with your new power supply.
Either that, or use a PC at work to download or post to the
net. Not having a PC to "call for help" just sucks. Imagine
what happens if the motherboard needs to be returned under
warranty some day - a backup computer is worth the cost
of another case.

For OS install, there is a guide on Abxzone, by "Mr. Steveo".
About the only tricky part, is remembering to press F6 at the
appropriate time and install drivers for any "exotic" disk drive
types. You should plan in advance which drives are going on
which interfaces (i.e. the final disk layout), so you get the
drivers you need on the system disk now, rather than later.
Other than that, it should just be a lot of rebooting. I think
Asus provides some MAKEDISK files, which can be used to prepare
driver floppies, so check the CD to see what is on there.

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showth...in xp+install

Your motherboard will be delivered with a BIOS that works.
Something like 1011 perhaps. The latest beta BIOS may not be bug
free, so since your mobo is a good one, I'd do the install
with the BIOS that comes with it. If you are lucky, there will
be a sticker on the flash chip, stating what release of BIOS
is inside the chip, and you can then Google on the release
number, to see whether that BIOS is a good one.

For updates, I'd burn those on a CD, as you can use that CD
at a later date, if your system dies on you. I wouldn't bother
dragging any old disk drives over from the old system, because
you need a disaster plan, to escape from the P4C800-E install
if something is DOA. If you put a SCSI controller on there,
there may be issues getting the SCSI BIOS to behave with other
devices that use SCSI emulation (at least if you want to boot
from the SCSI drive). There have been issues with the control
of boot order in the BIOS, so if it was me, I'd use as few disk
drives as possible.

As for disk layout, I recommend keeping the boot disk simple.
For example, some people say not to put a boot disk on a
RAID stripe, as if one disk fails, you'll have a hard time
recovering from the problem. (A RAID mirror would be OK but is
still a headache and the owner of a mirror should practice
repairing the mirror, for the panicky day when a drive fails.)
Similarly, your idea of putting the swap on another disk,
assumes the SCSI disk has superior seek time or data rate, and
in the case of your 4GB disk, that probably is not true. Keeping
a "bog standard" disk layout for the system disk pays off later
when some piece of software is making assumptions about your system.

I like systems with either one or two disks. A one disk system
is good for surfing/business applications, as there is no
heavy disk I/O to speak of. You can partition the drive if you
want a dedicated data area. If you use software to do
transformations on a stream of data (video editing, video
compression, imaging the boot disk etc), having a second disk
reduces the seeks needed if you were only using one disk.
(One disk is your source and the other is you destination.)
More disks than this is overkill. Reducing the number of disks
means less risk of a disk failure per unit time, less noise etc.
Some people find, that while a RAID array gives great benchmarks,
sometimes a RAID array will drop frames on video capture that
a single IDE disk will handle just fine.

So, have a read though the "Mr. Steveo" guide, and pick up
another computer case. It doesn't have to be fancy - a beige
steel case will work just fine :-)

Keep track of what software you used to do the install (what
version of Catalyst, DirectX, Intel INF etc) and burn those
to a CD for a rainy day. When you need to reinstall the system
disk in a couple of years time, you'll never remember how it
is all bolted together.

With the older BIOS versions, the computer beeps once for
each USB interface it finds at startup. If this bothers you,
flash the BIOS after you've tested your system thoroughly.

Memtest86+ from memtest.org is a good program to use for
testing the memory, for example. You can test the memory
via the bootable floppy that the memtest program will prepare
for you - test the memory before installing Windows. Zero
errors is the only acceptable number of errors in an overnight
test.

HTH,
Paul
  #2  
Old April 12th 04, 02:37 PM
Anon Amous
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


You really put some effort into this -- well done.


"Paul" wrote in message
...
In article , "Barry"
wrote:

I have just brought a P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, reading through the User's =
guide and I've got some questions; probably the 1st of many since I have

=
never built a PC before. Sorry if these questions are rather basic.

The UG lists 3 fan connectors; CPU, PWR & Case. Do these connectors =
supply variable power to the fans depending on the case/CPU temperature?

=
Or do they simply monitor the fan speeds? I've currently got 2 case =
fans; one at the front/bottom sucking air in and another top/rear =
blowing out. Is it possible to use a 3-pin fan splitter to =
power/control both case fans attached to the Case fan connector? Or can

=
I use the PWR connector for the 2nd case fan? (It's not uncommon to =
have multiple case fans.)

I'm considering buying the Global Win SAF-Sapphire 450 PSU :

http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products.../sapphire.html

The users guide is here :

http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products...SAF_Manu_E.pdf

As with most modern PSU's it has it's own thermal fan control. It can =
also control 3 case fans. Would this be a better option to use the PSU

=
fan connectors rather than the mobo fan connectors? I'd guess that if I

=
do then I wont be able use MBM or AsusProbe to display the fan speeds.

I'll be upgrading my current PC and it's the only PC I have. So once I

=
start I will be unable to use the net to download additional files or =
ask questions. I'm going to download the latest BIOS from the Asus =
website along with any other updates there. I'll also get the latest =
video card drivers, etc. Is there any other files that I will need =
before I upgrade?

I'll be installing 2 SATA HDD's on the Intel ICH5R (unless it's better =
to use the Promise controller), one of which will be my "C_Drive" and =
the other will be installed in a mobile rack.

Do I need to:

A) Install the drivers when installing WinXP Pro?
B) Are there updated versions available? If so, where?

My current PC has a 4gb HDD and I'm considering buying a Tekram DC-315U

=
PCI SCSI card and use the 4gb HDD for the windows swap file, temporary =
files and the like. I seem to remember reading some posts that when =
using SATA you set the boot drive to SCSI in the BIOS. If so, is this =
going to cause a conflict?

I also have a 8gb HDD which I'm going to use to store the updates that I

=
need during the install. Some time in the future I plan to use this HDD

=
to dual boot with Win98 for some old games my son likes to play (I =
already know they wont work under WinXP.)

Any other advice/recommendations gratefully received.

TIA for your help
Barry...


A typical situation for three fan headers is: all three monitor
fan speed, but only the CPU header supports Q-Fan. I'm not sure
the manual always gives details on each individual model. Some
of the -X Asus motherboards have fewer capabilities in this
department.

Since an Intel retail fan has its own thermally controlled speed,
leave Q-Fan disabled. If you buy a third party CPU fan which is
single speed, then and only then enable the Q-fan. Combining two
control methods can leave you with a stalled fan (due to the fan
voltage dropping below 7 volts).

Many case fans have only two wires, meaning they have no rotation
(tachometer) wire. They cannot be monitored, so you can power
one of those from a drive power cable or one of those special fan
power cables that some power supplies have.

If you indeed have four fans with monitor signals and only three
headers to monitor them, do an analysis of which fan can fail
without screwing up the PC. In your case, the fan blowing into
the case on the front does not need to be monitored - when it
fails, the PS fan and back case fan will work together just
fine to keep the case cool (slightly warmer than normal but not
dangerously so - disconnect the front fan and test how hot
it gets while gaming). In the end, you may find the PS fan is
too slow to monitor, and the decision is made for you.

For a P4 motherboard, much of the power consumption will be
on the +12V output. Power supplies have current ratings on
their outputs, and you will want at least 12V@15 amps for
a basic computer with P4, one disk, and a video card. I've
posted before about doing a power estimate here, and there
are actually several web sites that give their own recipes
for estimating power needs. It isn't the total watts that
count, it is making sure there is enough current on each
output. There are some lousy supplies that tout high total
power, and they only have 10 or 12 amps of that on +12V.

Here is a sample calculation for +12V:

******
Processor
P4 3.2Ghz/FSB800/512KB cache = = 8.4A@12V
including 80% conversion efficiency by the mobo Vcore cct,
the required current is 10.5A for a top end P4.
Hard drive
2A during spinup of the disk, 0.5A while sitting in Windows desktop.
Allow 0.5A for a CD. If you don't have a lot of drives,
don't worry about spinup current, and concentrate on idle current.
Fans
Allow 1 amp for case and CPU fans.
Video card
Low end video cards use no +12V. An Nvidia FX5900 or an ATI9800
have a separate +12V cable. Estimated power is and 5V@10A
for one of those video cards while playing a 3D game.
Total = 10.5 + 3*0.5 + 1 + 1.5 = 14.5A on +12V (2 disk drives, 1 CD)
A 15amp on +12V supply is barely adequate, and maybe 17amps is
a good target. More if you expect other +12V loads. Generally
the other rails (+3.3, +5) are so massive, you don't have to
worry. (The Globalwin 450W has 22amps on +12V - plenty...)

******

As for other setup issues, you have picked one of the most
compatible motherboards around at the moment. If you had a
Via chipset and an ATI 9600/9800, then I'd be recommending you
download every file in sight. That shouldn't be necessary for
a P4C800-E Deluxe.

Personally, I'd leave the existing PC in working order, and
pick up a second case to go with your new power supply.
Either that, or use a PC at work to download or post to the
net. Not having a PC to "call for help" just sucks. Imagine
what happens if the motherboard needs to be returned under
warranty some day - a backup computer is worth the cost
of another case.

For OS install, there is a guide on Abxzone, by "Mr. Steveo".
About the only tricky part, is remembering to press F6 at the
appropriate time and install drivers for any "exotic" disk drive
types. You should plan in advance which drives are going on
which interfaces (i.e. the final disk layout), so you get the
drivers you need on the system disk now, rather than later.
Other than that, it should just be a lot of rebooting. I think
Asus provides some MAKEDISK files, which can be used to prepare
driver floppies, so check the CD to see what is on there.


http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showth...in xp+install

Your motherboard will be delivered with a BIOS that works.
Something like 1011 perhaps. The latest beta BIOS may not be bug
free, so since your mobo is a good one, I'd do the install
with the BIOS that comes with it. If you are lucky, there will
be a sticker on the flash chip, stating what release of BIOS
is inside the chip, and you can then Google on the release
number, to see whether that BIOS is a good one.

For updates, I'd burn those on a CD, as you can use that CD
at a later date, if your system dies on you. I wouldn't bother
dragging any old disk drives over from the old system, because
you need a disaster plan, to escape from the P4C800-E install
if something is DOA. If you put a SCSI controller on there,
there may be issues getting the SCSI BIOS to behave with other
devices that use SCSI emulation (at least if you want to boot
from the SCSI drive). There have been issues with the control
of boot order in the BIOS, so if it was me, I'd use as few disk
drives as possible.

As for disk layout, I recommend keeping the boot disk simple.
For example, some people say not to put a boot disk on a
RAID stripe, as if one disk fails, you'll have a hard time
recovering from the problem. (A RAID mirror would be OK but is
still a headache and the owner of a mirror should practice
repairing the mirror, for the panicky day when a drive fails.)
Similarly, your idea of putting the swap on another disk,
assumes the SCSI disk has superior seek time or data rate, and
in the case of your 4GB disk, that probably is not true. Keeping
a "bog standard" disk layout for the system disk pays off later
when some piece of software is making assumptions about your system.

I like systems with either one or two disks. A one disk system
is good for surfing/business applications, as there is no
heavy disk I/O to speak of. You can partition the drive if you
want a dedicated data area. If you use software to do
transformations on a stream of data (video editing, video
compression, imaging the boot disk etc), having a second disk
reduces the seeks needed if you were only using one disk.
(One disk is your source and the other is you destination.)
More disks than this is overkill. Reducing the number of disks
means less risk of a disk failure per unit time, less noise etc.
Some people find, that while a RAID array gives great benchmarks,
sometimes a RAID array will drop frames on video capture that
a single IDE disk will handle just fine.

So, have a read though the "Mr. Steveo" guide, and pick up
another computer case. It doesn't have to be fancy - a beige
steel case will work just fine :-)

Keep track of what software you used to do the install (what
version of Catalyst, DirectX, Intel INF etc) and burn those
to a CD for a rainy day. When you need to reinstall the system
disk in a couple of years time, you'll never remember how it
is all bolted together.

With the older BIOS versions, the computer beeps once for
each USB interface it finds at startup. If this bothers you,
flash the BIOS after you've tested your system thoroughly.

Memtest86+ from memtest.org is a good program to use for
testing the memory, for example. You can test the memory
via the bootable floppy that the memtest program will prepare
for you - test the memory before installing Windows. Zero
errors is the only acceptable number of errors in an overnight
test.

HTH,
Paul



  #3  
Old April 12th 04, 06:38 PM
Pluvious
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 23:35:00 +1000, "Barry" wrote:

SNIP

and *YESTERDAY* my 19" Mitsubishi Diamondtron monitor blew up
(almost literally, the house stunk for a while). Neither of these items were
in my original budget. Whatever spare cash I had has "walked out the door"
replacing them. Using a work PC isn't a option either. I'm asking these
Q's mostly because I don't have a backup PC that I can use.

||
||Thankyou very, very muchly
||Barry...


Check out the 19" NEC MultiSync FE991sb (super bright). It comes in
black too. Very nice monitor and relatively cheap. $250 at Newegg.com.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...roperty&DEPA=1

Pluvious


  #4  
Old April 12th 04, 07:52 PM
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article , "Barry"
wrote:

snip

replies inline

Thankyou Paul for another comprehensive and helpful reply.

Specifically,

Yes I'm going to buy a Intel box set.

I don't have the CPU yet but looking at the installation diagrams in the =
ASUS UG it doesn't show using any thermal compound between the CPU and =
fan. Is that included with the CPU or doesn't it need it?


On some of the processors I've purchases, there was a square of foil
glued on two edges to the bottom of the heatsink. On this foil is
a black powdery material, which is the thermal interface.

When you place the HSF on the CPU, that black stuff gets scratched
up, so if you only install the HSF once on the CPU, that should
be OK. If, on the other hand, you have to install/remove it
several times, it is time to remove the foil and switch to a
"thermal paste". Isopropyl alcohol can be used to clean the bottom
of the heat sink before applying paste, making sure to let the
alcohol residue dry before applying the paste.

There are a whole bunch of different kinds, and the kind to avoid
is the zinc paste (white in color, not very thick). The problem with
zinc paste, is it separates into an oily carrier and the zinc solids,
and the oil escapes from under the HSF. This tends to leave a dry joint.
I use Arctic Silver 3, but a lot of similar products keep the CPU within
a few degrees of the same temp as some AS3 would give you.

As with any thermal interface material, let the material "settle
in" for several days of normal operation, before recording the
CPU temperature at idle. This temperature is your "reference value".
Record the case and room temperature as well - subtract room temp
from the other temps to get a "delta-T" or temperature rise, for
the CPU. After a year or so, you may find the delta-T at idle is
5 or 10 degrees C higher than it used to be. At that time, you may
want to remove the HSF and refresh the thermal interface material.
A good guide for installing one of these products is he

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm


I haven't read all of the UG yet, but there's no section just on Q-Fan =
listed in the ToC. The "Special Features" states: "The ASUS Q-Fan =
technology smartly adjusts the fan speeds ...". Note the singular.


Q-fan sets fan speed, according to some temperature it is measuring.
The CPU socket has a temp sensor, so it is logical that the CPU fan
header is the one with the control on it.


I gather from what you said above the 3 fan headers on the MB can =
actually be used for what ever fans I want to use them for. Is this =
correct?


Always connect the CPU fan to the CPU fan header. Some BIOS will not
leave a computer running for more than a few seconds, if they aren't
seeing pulses on the CPU fan header rotation wire. The other two
headers can take any fan you want, subject in all cases to the
current limits specified in the manual. If a fan takes more than
a couple hundred milliamps, it is generally best to power the fan
from a disk drive power cable.


Given that my PC will eventually have:

P4 3.0C, Corsair TWINX1024-3200LL memory (maybe 512mb instead, see =
below), 2*120gb Hitachi 7K250 SATA HDD's (or SAMSUNG's if I can't get =
the Hitachi's), GlobalWin SAF450W PSU, GeXcube 9600XT Extreme, Plextor =
CD burner, Plextor SATA DVD burner (in a few months), Pioneer DVDROM, 2 =
case fans (Enermax, Evercool or similar). Lastly my old 8gb IDE HDD for =
Win98.

Which is why I choose the GlobalWin because of their good reviews, =
because it provided a few extra features over what other PSU's provide =
and plenty of grunt on the 12V.

As to buying another case, I have/did seriously considered that. I =
would love to do. However, about 3 weeks ago my Epson LX printer died =
and *YESTERDAY* my 19" Mitsubishi Diamondtron monitor blew up (almost =
literally, the house stunk for a while). Neither of these items were in =
my original budget. Whatever spare cash I had has "walked out the door" =
replacing them. Using a work PC isn't a option either. I'm asking =
these Q's mostly because I don't have a backup PC that I can use.


It doesn't actually take that long to pull a motherboard and put
another one back in. Keep the original system disk and original
motherboard to one side, and then you can swap them back in if there
is trouble with the new setup. Once you are used to the cabling
procedure, it goes a lot smoother. If your original computer doesn't
have a manual, _take careful notes of where the wires go_ .

As for monitors, there are a couple of weak points. The degauss
coil on some monitors, uses a thermistor type device to interrupt
the current after about 5-10 seconds. These devices are stressed
every time the monitor is switched on, and that could be what has
failed. The second weak point, is anything to do with the HV to
the picture tube. My flyback started to arc a few years ago, and
a professional should be consulted, on the best way to fix a problem
like that. In some cases, a little "corona dope" can provide a
temporary fix, but don't do that yourself - if you've been thrown
across a room by high voltage once, it is an experience you don't
soon forget (been there, done that).


For the time being I'll drop the idea of using my old 4gb SCSI HDD. =
Maybe I'll look at using it in the future. AUD$40 isn't much for the =
PCI SCSI controller. I had NO intention of booting from it. Just to =
provide a separate physical I/O path to the swap file.

Today I don't have a CD burner, I'm using the old IDE HDD as a =
substitute.

I'll read "Mr. Steveo" at Abxzone tomorrow.

Thankyou very, very muchly
Barry...


Every city has a junk or recycled PC shop in it somewhere. You could
find an old case, and move the old computer components and old PS
into it. That will give you some practice with cabling :-)

HTH,
Paul
  #5  
Old April 12th 04, 11:56 PM
Tim
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Barry,

Paul did mention it, but using a SCSI disc drive to swap is not a god idea
in your case as a 4GB drive is bound to be slower than a modern SATA drive
( I have SCSI on my server and modern SATA on this desktop: the desktop
thrashes the server in disc IO performance several times over). As Paul
said: keep it simple. I would recommend leaving out the SCSI discs and
controller completely.

Check up on anti static procedures before doing the build

- Tim






"Barry" wrote in message
...
I have just brought a P4C800-E Deluxe mobo, reading through the User's guide
and I've got some questions; probably the 1st of many since I have never
built a PC before. Sorry if these questions are rather basic.

The UG lists 3 fan connectors; CPU, PWR & Case. Do these connectors supply
variable power to the fans depending on the case/CPU temperature? Or do
they simply monitor the fan speeds? I've currently got 2 case fans; one at
the front/bottom sucking air in and another top/rear blowing out. Is it
possible to use a 3-pin fan splitter to power/control both case fans
attached to the Case fan connector? Or can I use the PWR connector for the
2nd case fan? (It's not uncommon to have multiple case fans.)

I'm considering buying the Global Win SAF-Sapphire 450 PSU :

http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products.../sapphire.html

The users guide is here :

http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products...SAF_Manu_E.pdf

As with most modern PSU's it has it's own thermal fan control. It can also
control 3 case fans. Would this be a better option to use the PSU fan
connectors rather than the mobo fan connectors? I'd guess that if I do then
I wont be able use MBM or AsusProbe to display the fan speeds.

-----

I'll be upgrading my current PC and it's the only PC I have. So once I
start I will be unable to use the net to download additional files or ask
questions. I'm going to download the latest BIOS from the Asus website
along with any other updates there. I'll also get the latest video card
drivers, etc. Is there any other files that I will need before I upgrade?

I'll be installing 2 SATA HDD's on the Intel ICH5R (unless it's better to
use the Promise controller), one of which will be my "C_Drive" and the other
will be installed in a mobile rack.

Do I need to:

A) Install the drivers when installing WinXP Pro?
B) Are there updated versions available? If so, where?

My current PC has a 4gb HDD and I'm considering buying a Tekram DC-315U PCI
SCSI card and use the 4gb HDD for the windows swap file, temporary files and
the like. I seem to remember reading some posts that when using SATA you
set the boot drive to SCSI in the BIOS. If so, is this going to cause a
conflict?

I also have a 8gb HDD which I'm going to use to store the updates that I
need during the install. Some time in the future I plan to use this HDD to
dual boot with Win98 for some old games my son likes to play (I already know
they wont work under WinXP.)

Any other advice/recommendations gratefully received.

TIA for your help
Barry...


  #6  
Old April 13th 04, 04:35 AM
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article , "Barry"
wrote:

"Pluvious" wrote...
On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 23:35:00 +1000, "Barry" wrote:
=20
SNIP
=20
and *YESTERDAY* my 19" Mitsubishi Diamondtron monitor blew up=20
(almost literally, the house stunk for a while). Neither of these =

items were=20
in my original budget. Whatever spare cash I had has "walked out the =

door"=20
replacing them. Using a work PC isn't a option either. I'm asking =

these=20
Q's mostly because I don't have a backup PC that I can use.

||
||Thankyou very, very muchly
||Barry...
=20
=20
Check out the 19" NEC MultiSync FE991sb (super bright). It comes in
black too. Very nice monitor and relatively cheap. $250 at Newegg.com.
=20
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...perty&DEPA=3D1
=20
Pluvious


NEC and Mitsubishi are the one company these days. I brought a =
Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 93SB which has "SuperBright" ... didn't have =
much choice on a Easter Sunday.

Probably the same monitor with a different name. In Australia it cost =
me AUD$400 about HALF the price I paid a few years ago for the =
Mitsubishi that died.

I really wanted to buy the new SAMSUNG 172X 12ms LCD but they cost =
AUD$800 and SAMSUNG Australia can't supply enough of them to meet =
demand. Even if I had the money to buy one it would have been 1-2 =
MONTHS before I it was delivered.

PS. If you have a relatively recent NEC or Mitsubishi monitor take a =
look at NaViSet he

http://www.necmitsubishi.com/naviset

(assuming you haven't already).

You need to fill in a form (you can give false name/email addy) and =
allow a cookie to get to the download page.

Cheers
Barry...


You will be much happier with a CRT based monitor than an LCD.

1) The CRT has a larger color gamut (for Photoshop)
2) On my LCD, it is too bright, even when turned all the way
down. You cannot see this problem in a brightly lit store.
3) The LCD monitor will not go all the way to black.
This could be related to (2).
4) There is the annoying aliasing effect when you scroll
a document, one pixel at a time. My screen is pretty fast, but
the intensity of the screen flickers while you scroll, which
doesn't happen with the CRT.
5) LCD only looks good at one resolution - the native resolution.
Fortunately, I'm happy with the native resolution of 1280x1024.
6) I am lucky that my LCD doesn't have the "blue cast" that
a lot of them have.

The only positive I can see from an LCD, is the power saving. My old
monitor probably was drawing 200W, and this LCD draws 30W or so.

What amazes me most, is I didn't detect the properties of the LCD
while viewing it in the store - even though I disconnected the
"movie" the store was displaying on the desktop, and tried some
word processing, to see how it would look doing business apps.
None of the annoying properties really showed themselves
while I was in the store.

Paul
  #7  
Old April 13th 04, 08:46 PM
Pluvious
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 09:48:19 +1000, "Barry" wrote:

||"Pluvious" wrote...
|| On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 23:35:00 +1000, "Barry" wrote:
||
|| SNIP
||
|| and *YESTERDAY* my 19" Mitsubishi Diamondtron monitor blew up
|| (almost literally, the house stunk for a while). Neither of these items were
|| in my original budget. Whatever spare cash I had has "walked out the door"
|| replacing them. Using a work PC isn't a option either. I'm asking these
|| Q's mostly because I don't have a backup PC that I can use.
|| ||
|| ||Thankyou very, very muchly
|| ||Barry...
||
||
|| Check out the 19" NEC MultiSync FE991sb (super bright). It comes in
|| black too. Very nice monitor and relatively cheap. $250 at Newegg.com.
||
|| http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...roperty&DEPA=1
||
|| Pluvious
||


||. If you have a relatively recent NEC or Mitsubishi monitor take a look at NaViSet he
||
||http://www.necmitsubishi.com/naviset
||
||(assuming you haven't already).
||
||You need to fill in a form (you can give false name/email addy) and allow a cookie to get to the download page.
||
||Cheers
||Barry...


Thanks .. I hadn't found that NaVisSet thing before.. score.

Pluvious

 




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