System requirements?

Hawky89

Hawky89

Hawky89

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Joined
23 Jan 2008
Posts
220
I am building a system:

E8400
Asus P5E mobo
2 3870s in crossfire
3gb pc2-5300 ram
320gb Hitachi hard drive
Basic combo drive
Antec nine hundred case with 5 120mm fans and a 200mm fan

My question is that i already own an OCZ 600w power supply and i would like to know if this would be sufficient to run the above system

Thanks, Hawky
 
600wchart.JPG


ANd how would this affect my overclocking headroom?
 
Really? cool, i was just concerned that crossfired 3870s might take it too high, and id still like to do a bit of overclocking if possible :)
 
Because the P5Es two PCIe lanes can do crossfire but not SLI plus they are cheaper and cooler and i can only afford about £150 on a card atm will get the other later.
 
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I'm thinking...will the P5E work with the E8400?

Yes I know it's compatible, but you don't know what BIOS it ships with.
Seen a couple of people get them to boot and be told to flash the BIOS.
They ignore it, and it wont boot again.

I would suggest you have the BIOS update ready if you don't have another CPU.

Why 3gb pc2-5300 ram?
 
Ive already got the bios ready, but not sure how to install it when the time comes.

The ram is stuff i already have that i want to try and overclock or ill just get some Ballistix

AND if the P5E wont take the E8400 is there an alternative mobo that will? got around £150
 
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AND if the P5E wont take the E8400 is there an alternative mobo that will? got around £150
Click to expand...

Until we see people do it, nothings guaranteed.
The ASUS BIOS should be easy to do from USB key using ALT + F2 at boot.

I just read....Cons: e8400 will not work "out of box" but I dont know if thats true. It maybe on the BIOS his board shipped with.

Now go look here..

I may have some good news for you. My p5-e that arrived yesterday from (american shop) had bios 203, but posted first try with my e8400. At post it gave an error message saying the proc needed the newest bios "to unleash its full potential", then went on to look for an OS. I flashed the bios to 502 from a cd ( it wouldn't recognize my flash drive ), ran memtest with no errors and installed windows. All is well.
Hope it goes as well for everyone else.

Same forum here....

Wow i have taken a new distaste for Asus i order the p5e for my 8400 and it did the fans spin but no video post or anything. And then i read that asus was kind enough to advertise on there box that the board supported the chip, but alas they lied. Anyway i put my old p4 prescott in there to try and boot to bios so i could flash it and still no video. i have just barebones, videocard ram and proc/hsf. Everything turns on and whatnot but just like before no video no beeps no nuthin cept spinning fans...any sugestions?

EDIT: alright so i got it to boot...lol duhr missing connector....i flashed the bios, and now with the e8400 back in im still gettin the no video no beep issue

It doesn't look plain sailing does it?
Also note...the BIOS chip on the ASUS board is soldered on, and can't easily be replaced. Get it wrong, and the board has to go back.
I had to add the last bit to have a dig at ASUS.
 
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So do you recommend getting a different board? what about the Rampage formula thats coming out soon? i know its still ASUS but anyway suggestions would be appreciated. also would it be possible to ask overclockers to flash the new bios in before they send it to me???
 
Hawky89 said:
So do you recommend getting a different board? what about the Rampage formula thats coming out soon? i know its still ASUS but anyway suggestions would be appreciated. also would it be possible to ask overclockers to flash the new bios in before they send it to me???
Click to expand...

They won't.
If you wanted to be sure.....one of these I guess then sell it.
You need a P38 board though I guess as you have dual graphics, so your need to be in this section.
 
so its pretty much unknown about what boards it works with then, i have an E6550 atm that i was going to leave in my old board and give to my dad. could i use that cpu for a bit then update the bios, then put the new cpu in and return the E6550 to the old board? still not sure how to go about updating th BIOS though.
 
Hawky89 said:
so its pretty much unknown about what boards it works with then, i have an E6550 atm that i was going to leave in my old board and give to my dad. could i use that cpu for a bit then update the bios, then put the new cpu in and return the E6550 to the old board? still not sure how to go about updating th BIOS though.
Click to expand...

That would work. Use the E6550 to get it to boot, then you need to hit ALT + F2 to bring up EZ flash.
Go here and down to "Using ASUS EZ Flash to Update BIOS"
It's best to do it from a USB key formatted FAT32.

Also look here if you have problems with USB.
Some keys just dont appear.
 
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With those instructions it doesn't say anything about usb it says use a floppy, i don't have a floppy drive, will it still work with a usb stick? my usb sticks for mat just says FAT not FAT32 does this matter? thanks for your help split :)
 
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You can't use a floppy cos the BIOS file is too big.
The problem with USB can be its not seen....may depend on key, but you can do it from CD.
Your USB key can be either FAT or FAT 32 NOT NTFS.
See this post.
He can see the USB in the BIOS, but not in EZ Flash.

It could well have been his C: drive looking at that.

Just burn the BIOS file from here to CD...doesn't have to be bootable.
Nice to have the option should you not be able to see it on USB.

Just dont do it in windows with the ASUS updater....that has messed many boards up!
 
yep got that, now one last question ( i hope ) when i first install the motherboard with all the new hardware im gonna have to install the OS, is it best to update the bios first and then install the OS or install the OS using my E6550 and then reboot and update the BIOS?
 
If it was me, I wouldn't bother with an OS.

You could even do it with the board out of the case as this board has power button on it.

Just be carefull it doesn't short underneath like say this.

makes it easier to change CPU :)
 
Ive got an Antec 900 so space inst an issue, so ill update the BIOS first and then put the OS on, sorted, thnaks Split youve been a great help ;)
 
Just emailed over clockers and got this reply:

"Yes it will work straight out of the box no flash required."

So who knows, would it be worth sticking the E8400 in straight away or should i play it safe and update the BIOS first.

Also just had a thought, does anyone have any recommendations for a good hard drive, have around £50 and need 250 to 320GB, thanks.
 
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