P4C800 E-Deluxe...

  • Thread starter Thread starter jayson
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J

jayson

I just bought this board; is there anything quirky, kooky, finicky
that I should be aware of about it before I jump in and start to
build? I've read generally very positive reviews of it but you all
know how that goes. Thanks...
 
Of course, if you asked the same question on the Abit site, they may have
something different to say!!!
I too, have two machines with this board, running about a year, one is
pretty basic and the other has four hard drives, raid, and assorted other
stuff, both run great... Have fun
 
jayson said:
Thanks, Its good to hear you've had a positive experience with the
board; I was starting to feel I made a mistake not getting the Abit
IC-7 max.
Click to expand...

The CPU input clock can be pushed on that board, from 200MHz to
300MHz. It is a good board for overclocking.

The only thing I've noticed, is the temperature of a couple of
MOSFETs just below the DIMM sockets. With a digital thermometer,
I've measured 45C operating temperature for those two MOSFETs.
There is nothing wrong with that, except to suggest that if you
are attempting any monster overclocks with the board, check those
devices occasionally. If they become so hot you cannot touch them
for more than 1 second or so, I would consider either adding a
little cooling air for them, or backing off on the overclock.
(Most people running DRAM at insane speeds, fit a 80mm fan over
top of their DIMMs, and the air from that fan would likely help
the MOSFETs as well.)

(Note: If you stick your finger over top of the MOSFETs, your
finger is an insulator, and after 5-10 second, you'll get the
impression the thing is burning hot. It just needs to be exposed
to the air again, for it to cool off. Holding a finger over the
thing for extended periods of time, is not a valid test. A quick
touch, without getting burnt, is all the proof you need that
everything is OK. Using a digital thermometer, which doesn't cover
the device, gives a more accurate indication of the temperature
under real operating conditions.)

Other than the "USB latchup/burnt Southbridge" problem, the
board is a winner. (Compared to some other choices, I guess
I would buy the board again.) The best preventative measure for
that potential problem, is to buy a USB2 PCI card, and connect
all your USB devices to that card. (This is a workaround intended
to keep you from introducing static electricity into the normal
motherboard USB ports, which can cause the Southbridge to burn
up on failure.) To access the BIOS while using such a PCI USB2
card, your best choice would be a PS/2 keyboard.

Paul
 
Paul said:
Other than the "USB latchup/burnt Southbridge" problem, the
board is a winner. (Compared to some other choices, I guess
I would buy the board again.) The best preventative measure for
that potential problem, is to buy a USB2 PCI card, and connect
all your USB devices to that card. (This is a workaround intended
to keep you from introducing static electricity into the normal
motherboard USB ports, which can cause the Southbridge to burn
up on failure.) To access the BIOS while using such a PCI USB2
card, your best choice would be a PS/2 keyboard.

Paul
Click to expand...

Paul,
Do you have to go into BIOS to disable onboard USB when adding a PCI USB2
card?
Thanks,
Bob
 
"Bob" <[email protected]> said:
Paul,
Do you have to go into BIOS to disable onboard USB when adding a PCI USB2
card?
Thanks,
Bob
Click to expand...

There is no reason to worry about the USB setting of the Southbridge.
The OS is quite comfortable with more than one hardware device
offering USB. (And the BIOS setting makes no difference to the
sensitivity to static of the Southbridge in any case.)

Here is a picture of a Device Manager, on a machine with an Intel
Southbridge and a separate NEC USB chip.

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checki4.jpg

HTH,
Paul
 
There seems to be another issue with the 1394 (Firewire) ports too.
You can search for some previous posts about this in this newsgroup.
Basically, I have fried 2 video cameras trying to get them to work with
the motherboard ports for digital captures. The cameras still work,
except they won't show up on any computer connected to the firewire
ports. I just do analog captures now with my ATI AIW card. They come
out good enough for me. Needless to say, I have disabled the 1394
ports in Bios! Now I have just read about the possible USB Southbridge
frying problem too! This board seems to me to be a time bomb. I
decided to get this board (P4c800-E Deluxe) after I fried an Abit IC-7G
when my power supply blew one night. When upgrading to a P4 system a
few years back, it was between the Abit and the ASUS board. The Abit
was $50 less, so went with that. All boards have "issues", but I
think Abit was a better bang for the buck. I do overclock, and some of
the issues for me, may not be issues for you. But a couple of other
"dissapointments" in the ASUS for me are:

Qfan only works with the CPU fan connector..cannot manage any other
motherboard fan connector.

This board has a very unstable CPU voltage under high CPU loads . There
is a simple mod that corrects this, but Bye Bye Warranty! May not be
an issue if you don't overclock, however, it is a factor of system
stability in any event.

There is no "readout" of Vdimm (ram voltage) for any hardware monitor.
Again, not a big deal if you don't overclock.

Other gripes I have are about the audio connectors on the back (Too
few) and the board layout of the IDE connectors (hard to get to).

For such a "Flagship" P4 motherboard at a premium price when compared
to others, I would have to say I am dissapointed with the P4C800-E
deluxe. While now very stable for me, if it ever fries or blows, I
will go back to Abit.
 
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