ASUS A8V deluxe and 3400+

[brooksmd]

Ok so in case anyone else has heard about it, I got screwed over by www.tigerdirect.com. They were having a deal on a A8V deluxe and a 3400+ bundle for $299 after rebates. I guess I should have been curious why it was so cheap, and looked into it, but I didnt. They are bundling a motherboard and processor that do not work together. Asus has just put a BIOS upgrade on their site that allows the 3400+ to work but my mobo I got doesn't have this bios version. My question is that if the mobo wont POST with the 3400+ processor, and I dont have another processor to throw in there, is there any way to flash the bios? I have another working computer obviously, and I'm pretty handy with computer stuff so even if it's a complicated solution I can probably figure it out. I have looked all over Asus's site, but found not much help. My guess is Asus will tell me to just send them the bios chip and they will flash it for me. Does anyone have any experience with the turn around on that type of thing?

 

[Crashman]

How can you be certain the board's BIOS doesn't support the chip? What does your system do?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[brooksmd]

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

Only the latest BIOS version supports my 3400+. It was put on the site on November 1st, and I ordered my bundle the 30th of October, so pretty much guaranteed I dont have that bios version.

 

[Crashman]

This is a Newcastle core 3400+, correct? And the board supports Newcastle core 3200+ A64's, correct? There shouldn't be any problem whatsoever starting the system, it should operate normally, it might not report the proper speed at POST without a BIOS upgrade but that's not anything to worry about.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[brooksmd]

You would really think it should, since it supported higher and lower speed 64's but weirdly enough it doesnt. The system wont POST at all. The tech support at Asus has also told me that the my 3400+ won't work without a Bios upgrade. I'm not sure why. I think I'm just going to send the bios chip to them to have them flash the newest bios on there.

 

[pat]

Crash..people never learn...Asus +VIA...does that means trouble for you?...It does for me! Better ditch that Asus board for anything else...

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[snotling]

if you can't flash it yourself because you do not have a spare CPU, your friendly neighborhood computerstore surely has one.

there are two ways of doing it, one is to buy the CPU, flash the BIOS and return it to the store.

the second way is to actualy have them flash it for you, they'll charge of course, but it might not be THAT expensive.

oh and by the way, most online retailers make those mistakes every now and then.

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AOpen Micro-ATX Desktop 200W<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Snotling on 11/13/04 07:01 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[brooksmd]

Im using an Asus motherboard right now running an Athlon XP 1600+ and its ran perfectly for 1.5+ years, and this problem has nothing to do with the mobo being bad, just tigerdirect selling something that they shouldnt have been. If you have had problems with Asus I understand but I like them.

On to the other two solutions, most retailers will not let you return processors because they then can't legally sell them as new and will lose nice chunk of their profit. I couldn't find one that would let me return them atleast. And unfortunately, all the computer places I called were going to charge atleast an hour of labor to do the work, which in my area is around$66, which I'm not up for paying.

 

[Crashman]

Have you checked to make sure nothing else is causing it not to POST?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[wbost]

I wish I had read this post two weeks ago when I got this same bundle from Tiger! I too never, ever got it to post. Asus and I spent a lot of time on the phone together, although they never confirmed this board and CPU weren't compatible. They thought the 1008 bios should work with the 939 Athlon64 34000+ cpu. After going through 2 PSUs, 2 CPUs, and 2 mobos, I gave up and sent it all back to TD. My first build and the big lesson learned - don't trust a phone order salesperson to steer you clear of pitfalls, and do a bunch of research here first! I doubt I'll try to build again after this horrible experience.

 

[pat]

well, sometime it is better to post here before you buy something than after if you're a newbie.

You may receive good( and sometime not so good too) advice.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!