First impressions of P5P800 motherboard

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael W. Ryder
  • Start date Start date
M

Michael W. Ryder

I just upgraded to this motherboard with a 3.4 GHz CPU and 1 GB of
Corsair RAM (2 x 512 MB modules). My main problem with this board is
that the CPU is right at the top of the board and with the other
components around it made it very hard to properly mount the fan,
especially as it uses push pins to secure it and the power supply was
right above the CPU. The fan is supposed to be mounted after the board
is in the case so there is no easy way to tell if it is mounted correctly.
Other than the minor installation issues the new board works very well.
My 3DMark 2003 score went up almost 1000 points from my P4T-E with a
2.0 GHz CPU. Later I will perform some more tests and maybe try
overclocking.
 
I always install the cpu before installing the board in the case. Otherwise
you have to push so hard that i think the board can be damaged.
 
Driekes said:
I always install the cpu before installing the board in the case. Otherwise
you have to push so hard that i think the board can be damaged.
Click to expand...

I did install the cpu first, but the instructions from Intel and ASUS
both said to install the fan after installing the board in the case.
Maybe so the board had more support against flexing. I just followed
the instructions to avoid warranty problems.
 
I also saw it. I cannot understand why. I have to press so hard before
hearing the "click". I can't be good to stress all the leads and all. I just
take the board in my hand (we have an antistetic floor in the workshop) and
this works fine to me. After say 30 systems now with the new socket never
had any problem.

Maybe Paul does no the answer.

Werner
 
"Driekes" said:
I also saw it. I cannot understand why. I have to press so hard before
hearing the "click". I can't be good to stress all the leads and all. I just
take the board in my hand (we have an antistetic floor in the workshop) and
this works fine to me. After say 30 systems now with the new socket never
had any problem.

Maybe Paul does no the answer.

Werner
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what the instructions say. A board should be
supported, if you are pressing on it. Bending does put stress on
the solder connections, so work out the way that is best for your
board. When a board has fine pitch BGA devices, with high pin counts,
the board should not be allowed to bow too much.

I don't have any info on LGA775, and I haven't built one (the
P4C800-E was my last P4), so I don't know how much force you guys
are talking about.

In my experience, assembling the HSF outside the case, allows you
to verify the mechanical details. You can examine things and make
sure everything is installed properly. The only downside of
assembling outside the case, is if the case is a tight fit, you may
have trouble getting the assembly into the case. There are a few
third party HSF (like the tower style coolers), that there is no
way they can be fitted outside the case, so they have to be done
in the case.

Common sense will provide the best instructions. And the same
common sense should guide your purchase of third party HSF. If
a HSF is so big, that you cannot install it safely, it is hardly
worth the money.

To me, the fitting process should be guiding your purchase of
computer cases as well. Some cases are very unfriendly, when it
comes to assembly. You should look for features that make
installation easy. For example, I reused my oldest PC case
recently (it was sitting in the basement unused). It is an
older style case, with poor ventilation. But, it doesn't have
that annoying crossbar rivetted across the case opening. That
crossbar is put in cases, to give them rigidity. But, it should
have machine screws on it, instead of rivets, so you can remove it.
I found my old, decrepit case was a pleasure to install into,
because without that bar in the way, I could drop my assembled
board (with Zalman 7000) into there with no problem at all.
It only took me an extra day to do fan mods on it, to get some
decent ventilation.

HTH,
Paul
 
Paul said:
It doesn't matter what the instructions say. A board should be
supported, if you are pressing on it. Bending does put stress on
the solder connections, so work out the way that is best for your
board. When a board has fine pitch BGA devices, with high pin counts,
the board should not be allowed to bow too much.

I don't have any info on LGA775, and I haven't built one (the
P4C800-E was my last P4), so I don't know how much force you guys
are talking about.

In my experience, assembling the HSF outside the case, allows you
to verify the mechanical details. You can examine things and make
sure everything is installed properly. The only downside of
assembling outside the case, is if the case is a tight fit, you may
have trouble getting the assembly into the case. There are a few
third party HSF (like the tower style coolers), that there is no
way they can be fitted outside the case, so they have to be done
in the case.
Click to expand...

I think maybe another reason for the instructions saying to assemble the
fan in the case is fact that the pins and their expanders (much like how
some feet are attached to the bottom of cases) protrude maybe an 1/8 of
an inch and assembling on a desktop may not work unless done carefully.
The Intel fan is about 3" high and 4" in diameter so it takes a lot of
room. On this motherboard it was crowded by other components making it
hard to get enough pressure to properly seat the fan. And the
instructions say to rotate the pins once they are in which loosens them
unless they are properly inserted. Overall the design of the fan
mounting did not seem very user friendly or secure.
 
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