The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Hmm weird Sam as I have used it, seen it used, and even installed it for friends several times on Windows 7 without a single issue. Maybe give that specific one I linked to a try? There are several versions and it's easy to get them mixed up. That specific one might be your hot ticket????

Of course with XP you can use stock Creative drivers because they work fine. AFAIK that specific Daniel K driver was released just for Vista and 7 users with an Audigy SE.

 

Seems to be running very good now. I'm now trying to figure what the heck to do about the bios now. It's not right LOL! Asus support site speaks of the bios in 1001, 1002, 1003, etc for names. Where as mine calls itself, "Phoenix technologies 3.08". So it's like HP decided that was best for it? Should I worry about which one I use. As long as its Phoenix bios, I should be fine right? Anybody have any ideas. I don't wanna brick my board
A7M266-M although asus site does not refer to the -M in the title. In fact, in the past it has been some what of a challenge finding the exact model name...perhaps not now though...

 

Actually I'm pretty sure a forum link from you is how I found it in the first place... :S

Omega: With Asus of all brands, don't flash the BIOS unless necessary. If there's no need to update it, don't.

 

Since it's a 2001 bios 08/31/2001, im assuming it's too old to support Athlon XP. I think I have a working Floppy drive. I'll definitely test it first though LOL! File transfers or something. I guess I could slap the new processor in, and see what happens. At worst, it'll probably just beep at me... Thoughts?

 

Don't forget CPU support is about more than just the BIOS. It can also be hardware limitations, such as power regulators, which if you exceed, could be dangerous.

 

According to asus site, it is supported, WITH the proper bios.

 

Oman7,
Google just the model of the motherboard, without a manufacturer's name and request drivers & bios for it!

Russ

 

Hp offers 3.34 on their site. Im wondering if I should go for that, or the actual ASUS bios for the board. I'll do more google-ing though

It would appear, that simply calling it an A7M266, isn't correct. My board is rather specific to HP. They call it a Bora Bora.
A7M266-M

 

Thanks anyway russ It was the HDD. I have a seagate 80Gb drive running in her. Not as good as the Western Digital was, but it'll do for now. The seagate is only 4Yrs old...Sure does click a lot though LOL! I'm hoping this 1800 Athlon XP cures all the blues she's having

 

It might take some looking but try version 1.5

I know I'm really on about it but I know what a difference a decent sound card makes for quality...

Also are you still on the RC or the final now? It might not hurt to add that every copy I've installed it to was an RTM 7600 final copy. Maybe something to keep in mind if you make the step???

 

I'm laughing my A$$ off here LOL! I can't find any friggin Floppy discs. Wonderful. I suppose buying them will probably be difficult too. I know I had some too...

Ha ha! My brothers bringing one over

 

Oman7,
You can generally find them at the local 99 Cent store, if you have any by you. They are like 5 for 99 Cents! That's where I found the last ones I bought.

Russ

 

Thanks russ. I'll probably be checking now. The one my brother brought over is incapable of being formatted. Probably came into contact with a magnet or other vulnerability. I definitely need one. I don't believe using a flash drive is an option. I think this board is right outside that league unfortunately.

 

tbh i prefer win7 to XP. its out of box support is great, as is its interface.

But i get you russ that yuo dont want to change when there is no need. me i have a habit to stay upto date, liek when i upgrade my gpu drivers, even though i dont see more improvement in COD4 lol.

 

Shaff pretty much hit the nail on the head. For you Russ, there probably isn't much of a reason to change to Windows 7. For us, there is. That doesn't make Windows 7 bad per se, it just makes it unsuitable for your purposes, which is fine.

I'm still trying to consider which OSes to use on my PCs (and more things besides).
Windows 7 for gaming PC is a sure thing, that's not likely to change. Now I have a lightweight PC that needs a new OS to become any use (I've since replaced its HDD and will need to start again) with an HD4830 and my file server with its X1900.
I'm going to put Server 2008 R2 on my file server to replace XP, as it's more suitable to use the LAN file transfer client we use at our LAN events, among other things. However, the X1900 is as far as I'm aware, unsupported in 2008 R2, and will need to use the standard driver. Perhaps not too much an issue, but it could prove problematic. On top of that, the server is also an HTPC, and sadly, the X1900 does not support DXVA, so I'm reliant on the CPU to decode HD video - fine 95+% of the time, but in some cases, the CPU usage can reach 100% and the video playback will lag severely, since the stock E4300 isn't really powerful enough. Rather than change the CPU over, it would make sense to stick the HD4830 in there for 3 reasons - it's DXVA compatible, it has 2008R2 driver support, and it's also not passive, unlike the X1900, which can go in the other PC to make it even quieter. Trouble is, the lightweight PC is my backup gaming system, and an X1900 is much weaker than an HD4830.

 

still have a 3870?

 

No, I sold it to someone. Am Glad to be rid of it to be honest, the Asus card had horrible DirectX problems my other 3870s didn't exhibit.

 

Haha the 3870 was never that good IMO. Decent, for sure, but even the 8800GT stomped all over it. And more often than not the 9600GT too. The only edge it had was IQ and honestly only in a few games.

 

Ha ha! Officemax had a pack of floppy disks 10 for 2.99! Not bad. I suppose a thrift store would be cheaper, but I pretty much new that officemax had them. And this way I KNEW they were new.

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