ASUS A8N-E Install Question/Advice

[Wookie]

I'm going to build a new system with the A8N-E next weekend, I'm still
waiting for my CPU Cooler to come in the mail.

During the Software Install .. is it better to use the ASUS Disk for Drivers
and what not or use the latest NVidia Driver set?

I plan on using the MS IDE drivers instead of the NVidia IDE drivers as I
believe that the MS drivers are better ....STILL (I have an NF2 board and
that is the case, and read in some forums that is what they had done).
On a Forum some one had mentioned not to install the Firewall option to, as
it had made his system unstable .. that makes sense as there is no Firewall
on the A8N-E.

I already got a replacement NB fan from ASUS and it is the newer bigger
better fan.

Are there any Install gotcha's, that people might have had?

I've built many systems before from scratch, but new to this board and the
NF4 chipset.

My system will be: .. I have all the parts except the CPU Cooler :-(
ASUS A8N-E
OCZ PC3500 Plats - 2x512
PSU - PC Power & Cooling 470 Watt
Seagate SATA 300 Gig
WD 200 Gig - ATA
Sapphire X800XL - Ultimate
Antec 3000B case
DVD - LG 4163
CPU Cooler - XP-90 with Panaflo 92 mm fan (Medium)
SoundBlaster - Audigy Value
Floppy - Mitsumi
Windoze Pro - (SP2)


Thanks for any words of advice.

 

[Mark A]

I'm going to build a new system with the A8N-E next weekend, I'm still
waiting for my CPU Cooler to come in the mail.

During the Software Install .. is it better to use the ASUS Disk for
Drivers and what not or use the latest NVidia Driver set?

I plan on using the MS IDE drivers instead of the NVidia IDE drivers as I
believe that the MS drivers are better ....STILL (I have an NF2 board and
that is the case, and read in some forums that is what they had done).
On a Forum some one had mentioned not to install the Firewall option to,
as it had made his system unstable .. that makes sense as there is no
Firewall on the A8N-E.

I already got a replacement NB fan from ASUS and it is the newer bigger
better fan.

Are there any Install gotcha's, that people might have had?

I've built many systems before from scratch, but new to this board and the
NF4 chipset.

My system will be: .. I have all the parts except the CPU Cooler :-(
ASUS A8N-E
OCZ PC3500 Plats - 2x512
PSU - PC Power & Cooling 470 Watt
Seagate SATA 300 Gig
WD 200 Gig - ATA
Sapphire X800XL - Ultimate
Antec 3000B case
DVD - LG 4163
CPU Cooler - XP-90 with Panaflo 92 mm fan (Medium)
SoundBlaster - Audigy Value
Floppy - Mitsumi
Windoze Pro - (SP2)

Thanks for any words of advice.

I used the drivers supplied on the CD and everything is rock solid. I
personally would only use drivers posted on the Asus web site.

 

[Wookie]

Did you install the NVidia HD drivers or go with MS?

 

[Mark A]

Did you install the NVidia HD drivers or go with MS?

I installed windows XP with Service pack 2 included (which has newer drivers
than original XP base install) and then all the motherboard drivers on the
CD that came with the Asus A8N-E motherboard. I don't recall doing anything
special to get Windows to recognize the drivers I am using.

Device manager says the following for NVIDIA nForce4 Controller on my A8N-E:

Driver Provider: NVIDIA Corporation
Driver Date: 1/17/2005
Driver Version: 5.10.2600.482
Digital Signer: Not digitally signed

If I were you, I would just follow the Asus instructions in the manual for
installing Windows and the Asus drivers. That is what I did. If you can't
read and follow the directions as a matter of principle (machismo), maybe
you can get your girlfriend/wife/sister to do it when you are not looking.

If there are any new drivers, Windows Update should download them for you.

 

[milleron]

Did you install the NVidia HD drivers or go with MS?

Are you referring to the nVidia IDE drivers? If so, I have the same
question. I went with MS drivers, and on HDTach, I got sustained-read
rates of 64 MB/s with burst rates of 125 MB/s. After installing the
nForce IDE SW drivers, the read rates dropped to about 58 MB/s and the
burst rates dropped to 115 MB/s. I do NOT have a RAID setup, and I'm
thinking that these nForce IDE drivers should be installed only in
systems in which the nVidia SATA controller is being used for RAID, IF
EVER.
However, I'm not sure that just because the HD benchmarks dropped with
the nForce drivers it means that the MS drivers are preferred for
non-RAID computers. Real-world situations are often different from
benchmarks. I'd love to hear from someone who knows about these
drivers, because I haven't a clue even after Googling the situation to
death.


Ron

 

[Wookie]

Yes, the NVidia IDE drivers .. they were not very good for the NF2 boards
and it was recommended that you just use the MS drivers .. if you used the
NVidia IDE drivers your performance would decrease . also problems with CD's
and DVD's. I would think that it is the same with the NF4 chipset/boards.
I did not have a SATA drive with my NF2 board, but I will with this NF4
machine.

 

[Wookie]

Have a look in "Device Manager". Click on Start, right click "My Computer",
Properties, then the Hardware tab. Now click on "Device Manager". Under IDE
ATA/ATAPI controllers; make sure all devices connected to the Primary and
secondary channels (Master and Slave) are set for Ultra DMA Transfer Mode.
If any (especially your HDD on Primary Master) are set to PIO mode, then
there is your problem. Windows, in trying to be helpful, down grades to PIO
mode when transfer errors occur. Right click on the offending controller and
uninstall it. Restart the PC and Windows will re-install Hopefully this time
in Ultra DMA mode.

 

[Wookie]

I only read instructions if it doesn't work the first time.

 

[milleron]

Have a look in "Device Manager". Click on Start, right click "My Computer",
Properties, then the Hardware tab. Now click on "Device Manager". Under IDE
ATA/ATAPI controllers; make sure all devices connected to the Primary and
secondary channels (Master and Slave) are set for Ultra DMA Transfer Mode.
If any (especially your HDD on Primary Master) are set to PIO mode, then
there is your problem. Windows, in trying to be helpful, down grades to PIO
mode when transfer errors occur. Right click on the offending controller and
uninstall it. Restart the PC and Windows will re-install Hopefully this time
in Ultra DMA mode.

No, I checked that, and the Raptor is in DMA mode 6. I think the
problem was just the nVidia IDE drivers. I ditched them and went back
to the MS driver. The performance of the SATA drive was restored to
it's previous level.

Ron

 

[Mercury]

Mark,
There is one thing that one should never do and that is let Windows Update
install drivers for you.

This is a widely held opinion - no one understands why MS hosts drivers like
this as far far too often the driver updates are a really bad step.

I must admit I have done it and never had problems, but then I do so knowing
well how to get out of strife in such situations.

2 cents.

 

[Wookie]

I wonder why all these great reviews of the motherboards never mention that
the IDE drivers suck on the NF boards ... don't you think they could include
that in their reviews? It would not make a difference as VIA
chipsets/drivers are just as flakey in other respects, but the reviewers
never mention those IDE drivers. Many have had problems with the Firewall
to for NF boards.

 

[milleron]

I wonder why all these great reviews of the motherboards never mention that
the IDE drivers suck on the NF boards ... don't you think they could include
that in their reviews? It would not make a difference as VIA
chipsets/drivers are just as flakey in other respects, but the reviewers
never mention those IDE drivers. Many have had problems with the Firewall
to for NF boards.

They may not mention them because their installation is optional. The
review authors wouldn't want to list the nVidia drivers as a "con"
because the motherboards run perfectly fine with the IDE drivers that
are installed by Windows Setup. Also, I don't have a RAID setup, and
they may work better than Microsoft's for RAID users. I really don't
know.
As far as nVidia Firewall and Active Armor, I read so many bad things
about them that I didn't install them. I like the idea, but it's not
mature. Several reviews do mention the problems with the firewall.
Ron

 

[Wookie]

Well .. I've got a router and SP2 that does a pretty good job for a Firewall
... I don't think I'll be installing Nvidia's Firewall or IDE drivers..