New Asus P5W DH w/Intel Core2D and sales pitch?

[Bradley1234]

hi

Time for a new computer, wanted the Core2D systems, none in stock so went to buy motherboard/cpu and put one together.

Without saying which retail store, I went to get an Intel m/b but the sales guy talked me into the Asus one, and it has a remote control and more things?

he said I MUST buy 2 video cards, they can ONLY be ATI. it will not work with just 1 video card. why? because it will work a little while then burn up, so he "strongly" recommended getting 2 cards, must be ATI, the Nvidia might work but not very well.

Memory, I wanted 800Mhz, this brand, OCZ? DDR2
sales guy said no, he cant sell it, its flaky and doesnt work. not the manager but the big boss told sales people they must not sell this to people building a full system, but okay to sell to folks just doing an upgrade. that changed to have to warn people building a full system that OCZ is not very good.

I ended up getting a single video card; Ive built systems for years (since 1985) but stopped keeping up with the newest trends in 2001; am clueless about which company is good, didnt know what crossfire was, okay so you use 2 video cards? cool. dont need it.

Almost walked out of the store but wanted the system for this weekend. havent had time to open the boxes yet. motherboard was 299.00, seemed pricey

was that good sales advice or hot air?

tia

 

[muffins]

heres the first problem.....u listened to a guy trying to sell you stuff from a retail store.

Hes full of s**t. OCZ is good ram
no you dont need 2 cards and ati and nvidia will work just as well(im guessin he gets a bonus of some sort if he sells ati cards)

the only thing he was right about was the mobo.

 

[shadowduck]

Sounds like Best Buy.

They are trained to sell what makes the company the most money and trash everything else.

 

[Sean618]

I have heard OCZ not working with the P5W MB but that doesn't mean it's not good ram.

he said I MUST buy 2 video cards, they can ONLY be ATI. it will not work with just 1 video card. why? because it will work a little while then burn up, so he "strongly" recommended getting 2 cards, must be ATI, the Nvidia might work but not very well.

I hate this kind of stuff. I just think of all the people who listened to him because they don't know about it.

 

[Bradley1234]

Yep, thanks. I put the mobo together and it booted up fine with the ocz, just one dimm, starting off careful.

whenever a sales person strongly recommends a thing and cannot give a technical reason? its suspicious.

and not that its a problem but he referred to every thing as 'she', shes a good motherboard, this video card? she will go really fast

saying a single video card would 'burn up' ? lets see, the card fits the slot, so its assumed the power/ground match up; the voltage spec is correct? digital lines should all work together just fine?

and that its okay to run with ONE card for a while? but not for too long?

havent got all the memory put in, and havent checked the cpu speed/settings yet.

then I just noticed that win2000 pro doesnt support the dual core features? well as long as it runs fast, that will be okay for now

but so far so good

 

[mangemd]

He's on crack about the single video card. This board can do either/or...sounds like he wanted a big sale. As far as the OCZ...they make sweet memory, but some of their modules aren't compatible with the P5WDH. I have mine at stock speeds and get benchmarks just above the ones in Tom's CPU Charts. I am using Crucial Ballistix ddr2.800 ram, and an x1900xtx video card (one).

 

[Logicsequence]

hi

Time for a new computer, wanted the Core2D systems, none in stock so went to buy motherboard/cpu and put one together.

Without saying which retail store, I went to get an Intel m/b but the sales guy talked me into the Asus one, and it has a remote control and more things?

he said I MUST buy 2 video cards, they can ONLY be ATI. it will not work with just 1 video card. why? because it will work a little while then burn up, so he "strongly" recommended getting 2 cards, must be ATI, the Nvidia might work but not very well.

Memory, I wanted 800Mhz, this brand, OCZ? DDR2
sales guy said no, he cant sell it, its flaky and doesnt work. not the manager but the big boss told sales people they must not sell this to people building a full system, but okay to sell to folks just doing an upgrade. that changed to have to warn people building a full system that OCZ is not very good.

I ended up getting a single video card; Ive built systems for years (since 1985) but stopped keeping up with the newest trends in 2001; am clueless about which company is good, didnt know what crossfire was, okay so you use 2 video cards? cool. dont need it.

Almost walked out of the store but wanted the system for this weekend. havent had time to open the boxes yet. motherboard was 299.00, seemed pricey

was that good sales advice or hot air?

tia

This guy certainly tried to sell you the brooklyn bridge. That or he truely doesn't know what he's talking about... which is also completely possible.

ok, here we go:

ASUS P5W DH = Great board, as you can see in my sig, i have one myself. Tho you paid about $50 more for it in a retail store.

It MOST CERTAINLY DOES NOT require 2 video cards. It has the CAPABILITY of using 2 video cards for enhanced graphics performance. Now the only ring of truth to what he said was that if you want to use 2 video cards with the ASUS P5W DH they have to be ATi cards in Crossfire mode. Currently nVidia does not allow boards with Intel chipsets to user their dual-graphics solution, called SLI. But if you only want to use one video card, which is COMPLETELY FINE, feel free to choose and brand you wish, they will all work fine and nothing is going to "burn up". Love how this guy is using scare tactics.

OCZ is an ok memory brand, not the best, not the worst. I've heard some stories of OCZ memory not working with the ASUS P5W DH, but that may or may not be true. If it turns out not to work for you, i'd consider brands like Corsair (the brand many consider to be #1, including me), or Kingston, Crucial, or Patriot.

As for video cards, it really depends on what you're going to use the computer for. Games? go with an nVidia 7600GT or higher; or an ATi X1800XT or higher. Using it for home office and PC work? Just drop in a cheap DX9 compliant card.

 

[Logicsequence]

and that its okay to run with ONE card for a while? but not for too long?

It will run fine on one card, indefinately... that kinda falls under the "duh" category (not for you, the sales guy). It's designed to use one OR 2 cards.

then I just noticed that win2000 pro doesnt support the dual core features? well as long as it runs fast, that will be okay for now

This is a tough question. Normally i'd tell you to get windows XP right away (2000 is severely outdated now). But windows Vista *should* be released sometime next year... HOWEVER that's still a ways off, and with all the delays, who knows. Are you even going to be willing to format and install a new OS in less than a year? Personally, if i were you, i'd get windows XP for your computer if you don't want to wait a year for Vista, or have no plans to upgrade your OS soon. One thing is certain, DON'T rely on 2000 longer than you have too, EVER. It's outdated, and it's going to hinder you A LOT.

 

[pyrix]

That Asus Board is great, sales guy sounds like a retard. Either that or a genius on commision. I have to disagree about the above post on Windows 2000. Granted, XP is better, but not that much better. May as well wait for Vista, especially if you are actually paying for your operating systems, and not just is net bandwith

 

[BustedSony]

ALL OCZ memory DOES work with P5W DH, as with other 975 chipset boards, several people in this thread said otherwise and have got it wrong. I've read the threads where these rumours started, and it is misinformation on top of misinformation. No one has actually said that OCZ does not work but something else does in their P5W. The P5W DH is the benchmark motherboard for most online hardware sites, and they have not yet had ANY trouble with OCZ in their testing platforms.

It's the Intel 965-chipset Asus P5B that fails to boot with most OCZ DDRs, being optimized for the timing of a particular model of Kingston ram and not starting with a high enough voltage.

 

[mangemd]

Go read the OCZ reviews of various sticks at newegg.com. True most of them work fine, but then you see a couple of versions with replies like this:
"Pros: It looks pretty.

Cons: It won't work with my Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard. And since I already sent it the mail in rebate, I can't get an RMA now. Fun times.

Other Thoughts: I've had good luck with OCZ in the past but I'm definitely disappointed with this product."

So is this just misinformation too? I didn't read the threads where these 'rumors' started, I read reviews of the RAM on other sites. It apparently does not ALL work with the P5WDH.

It appears to only be a problem with a couple of their types of DDR2. If you check with OCZ, I'm sure they'll tell you what is compatible and what isn't.

 

[BustedSony]

Go read the OCZ reviews of various sticks at newegg.com. True most of them work fine, but then you see a couple of versions with replies like this:
"Pros: It looks pretty.

Cons: It won't work with my Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard. And since I already sent it the mail in rebate, I can't get an RMA now. Fun times.

Other Thoughts: I've had good luck with OCZ in the past but I'm definitely disappointed with this product."

So is this just misinformation too? I didn't read the threads where these 'rumors' started, I read reviews of the RAM on other sites. It apparently does not ALL work with the P5WDH.

It appears to only be a problem with a couple of their types of DDR2. If you check with OCZ, I'm sure they'll tell you what is compatible and what isn't.

Well ok, but historically there have always been certain runs of memory that don't work with certain runs of motherboard, even if the type and specs would indicate otherwise. The memory that specifically does not work at all with the P5B, revision 1 and even revison 2 of OCZ DDR2-800 2 X 1 Gig Titanium, DOES work just fine with the P5W DH. That's what I have in my P5W DH system, and that's what some seem to be saying is unreliable in that combination.