P5B Deluxe Question

[Seraph95Zero]

I am about to purchase the P5B Deluxe, but looking through the manual( 2-28 ) I see that they say that you need to have SP1 or 2k 04 for you to use the sata hdd's. Now I have extra ide hdd's and my sata hdd's and yes i have both SP1 and SP2(been collecting parts for a while), but I really don't want to go through the hassle of putting SP1 on and getting everything up on my satas after that and would like to know if anyone has gotten SP2 to install on this board using sata hdd's.

This confuses me because in the review put out by toms today, it says that they are using SP2, even though they use the wifi board the manual for both boards is the same, and says the same thing.

If someone could either confirm that it will all be gravy, or if it will be like a frog in a blender I'd greatly appreciate it.

Much thanks,
~Seraph

 

[rwpritchett]

Seraph,

I installed Win XP SP2 on my P5B-Deluxe without any problems at all. It went very smooth actually. Just remember that you will probably need to "F6" the SATA controller drivers during install. I had to, but I'm also using a RAID setup. I don't know if single SATA setup requires this too.

 

[Seraph95Zero]

Awesome, thanks a bunch you just made my night! I was pretty settled on this board for features, but doing my homework saw that in the manual and was like crap, that is gonna suck if its that limiting. Thanks, rw

~Seraph

 

[rwpritchett]

I love this board too. Its the first time I've never needed any addon cards (besides video of course) because it has everything. ASUS still needs to work out some driver issues with the SoundMax HD audio, but its not bad.

What CPU, RAM, VGA, etc. are you planning on running on this board?

 

[Seraph95Zero]

Well i had decided on the E6300 b/c i already have everything to oc it beyond the 6400's stock speed so im saving money there. I couldnt resist trying out the Supertalent 4-4-3-8 ddr2-800 mem(2gb kit, going for 4 later), just hoping that it works, might have use an older stick of ddr2 to get it up and running(no prob though). For my gc I was waiting for the DX10 cards but seeing as the price per performance of them is not quite what i hoped for im going with the X1900 Pro.

I really wanted this because I run multiple monitors(4 currently), and wanted alot of room to upgrade(quad core, hdd space, extra pci-e slot for other gc to run more monitors), and I have to say that I am very happy with what this will give me, compared to my current board. Its been a few years since I've upgraded the system and after a few months of research and waiting for C2D and DX10 think that i am satisfied with the decisions ive made. I cant wait to see 2nd gen dx10 cards and the game to go with it 8)


~Seraph

 

[rwpritchett]

Sounds like a good setup. I went with this:

CPU: Intel E6300 Allendale
RAM: Patriot 2x1GB DDR2-667 (800MHz @ 4-4-4-12)
VGA: Gigabyte Geforce 7600GT Silent-Pipe II
HDD: Seagate Barracudas 7200.7 2x160GB (RAID 0), 7200.10 320GB
DVD: Plextor PX-708A, NEC ND-3550A

Great system, does everything I need and more.