GA-P3-DS3L? setup/bios?

[SorryImLate]

Im planning on finishing my 1st build here in the next week or two and i have a few questions because i have never done this before. Im not going to be overclocking at all. Im just interested in putting it together and getting it to work. I will be reading the manual to make sure i do everything right. Im wondering if there will be anything that i have to do in bios before installing windows XP 32bit. Will it recognize everything (sata dvd, sata hd, 5-5-5-15 ram timmings etc.) and then i can throw on xp.

What i have so far is
Centurion 5 Case
Cooler Master 650 PRO
Seagate 320GB SATA II
Sound Blaster Audigy SE
ASUS 20x SATA
ZeroTherm CF900

What im planning on buying to finish it

1. GA-P35-DS3L
2. E6550
3. 8800GS
4. G Skill DDR2 800
5. Windows XP

Once i get to windows ill be ok with everything else i think but just a lil clueless on the first part.

thanks for help

 

[SorryImLate]

any help i know alot of people have this motherboard. Just looking for some tips

Besides first boot and second boot.

If i have sata hooked up will that be recognized automatically or will i have to select SATA for the HDD and the DVD drive??

 

[schizoid77]

I'm new to building also, only built 2 machines so far. As far as I know, once all the hardware is together and plugged in, and as soon as you can successfully get into the BIOS, assuming everything works when you hit power, you have to go into the BIOS to set your boot priority. Then you pop in your OS disk and reboot.

If everything is working, all your drives will be automatically detected.

On my last build though, the first thing I did was flash to the newest BIOS, THEN I set the boot priority and installed XP.

 

[andrei3333]

Flashing the bios is not necessary with that CPU you are using, it is supported out of the box, nut once you install xp and the proper software that comes with the mobo on a dvd use the @Bios program by gigabyte to updat your bios to F8a ( i think that one is still the latest

Yeah sata should be recognized without problems, but check the boot sequence just in case

i duno what else just make sure you plug in everything in the right spot and make sure the ram is nice and snug in the slots, i had a problem with that once where i thought it was all the way in and it was not,,,

 

[SorryImLate]

Boot priority would be First boot DVD Drive and Second boot HDD Correct?

Just was worried about SATA cuz i heard something about it going into IDE mode? I got the SATA II so dont want it running as slow as IDE if that is possible?

Also downloaded the manual to read before to get a heads up and just wasn't able to determine what was necessary and what wasnt in my case.

Seems like there was just so many things you could alter and i dont want to mess with them if i dont have to.

 

[SorryImLate]

Also how did the @bios work for you cuz thats probably what i will be using since i wont have a floppy drive for Q-flash. Thanks

 

[andrei3333]

install @bios from dvd that comes with the mobo or try downloading the latest version from the gigabyte site...if using the cd version first clikc the button that will update that software to the latest release before doing bios updates...

then there is a button that asks permission to connecto to gigabyte and find the latest bios ofr your mobo....it will show you a list that SHOULD consist of ONE choise ( THE latest bios)

it will also show which mobo is THAT particular bios for (just double check that it says GA-P35-DS3L and nothing else)

The click update bios... blah blah, dont shut power off do not reset, it takes about 30 secods i think but the mouse and everything will freeze when you do this... people say its best to upgrade bios the old school way from within dos with a jumpdrive or floppy or whatever they use these days, but it worked for me, restarted the computer, went into bios and it read F8a.. you can also download freeware CPU-z and it will also show al lthe info about your PC and bios included

was that enough info ?

PS: bios priority should be CD/DVD drive, then the PROPER HDD< if you have mor ethan one you have to tell which one, and also if its ide or sata,, but i dont think you are using more than one drive

 

[SorryImLate]

Sorry was asking how to use @bios just wondering if it worked well for you cuz i know many people update bios with the floppy. thanks

 

[andrei3333]

dont say sorry - i was not being sarcastic or anything, just asked

 

[rizorith]

Stupid question but maybe you all can answer. I flashed the bios with this board using the windows utility and everything is fine. Do I need to reset the CMOS jumpers? I've always flashed with a floppy drive and the crappy "manual" that came with the program is horrible in explaining how/what to do.

 

[SorryImLate]

Good question hopefully they can answer it cuz I just ordered this motherboard today.

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Personally, @BIOS didn't work for me when I tried flashing to F8a

I ended up using Q-Flash which, in my opinion, seems like a safer way to do BIOS flashing. It's essentially the same as the old floppy disk method but instead you can just use a thumb drive.


You don't need to clear the CMOS. Just load up the optimized defaults the next time you go into the BIOS after flashing

 

[superstition]

One thing to remember is that the northbridge doesn't have good cooling so you'll need to point a fan at it or have some air flowing on it from a CPU sink.

 

[SorryImLate]

When you select First boot CD and second boot as HDD, you would want to hit f10 and save theses settings correct?

 

[rizorith]

Originally posted by: SorryImLate
When you select First boot CD and second boot as HDD, you would want to hit f10 and save theses settings correct?

Are you trying to reorganize the boot order? Then yes, you would do this and put your windows cd in your drive. When it reboots your cd drive will load up and windows will install. When it reboots you'll have to reassign your hard drive to boot before your cd rom so windows can finish.

F10 works but you can just exit and save also. It's just a shortcut.

 

[SorryImLate]

Sweet thanks so much for the info. So after windows installs and the computer reboots just hit delete and reset it back to First boot HDD, Second boot DVD.

Also i was wondering did yours post with a PCIe cuz i thought i read in the manual that pci was set to default not PCIe

 

[rizorith]

Originally posted by: SorryImLate
Sweet thanks so much for the info. So after windows installs and the computer reboots just hit delete and reset it back to First boot HDD, Second boot DVD.

Also i was wondering did yours post with a PCIe cuz i thought i read in the manual that pci was set to default not PCIe

Yeah it will be fine that way. And you're correct about the windows installation. If worst comes to worse you'll just end up at the screen where it asks if you want to install windows. Instead of doing it over just reboot and get into bios and make sure your hard drive is your first boot device

 

[SorryImLate]

Sweet man you've been alot of help. I should be puting it together by friday just waiting on my 6550.

 

[SorryImLate]

Originally posted by: superstition
One thing to remember is that the northbridge doesn't have good cooling so you'll need to point a fan at it or have some air flowing on it from a CPU sink.

Ive heard about that i will direct a fan at it.

Just Linking my Posts
GA-P35-DS3L LAN Problem

Other posts that i used for refrence.

8800GS

P35-DS3L Bios Pics

 

[SorryImLate]

I put it all together and so far everything has been working perfectly. To answer my own question both my SATA II HDD and my SATA burner were recognized by the motherboard. Also as posted above only changes in bios was changing first boot to CD Second boot to HDD and Third boot do Disabled. Then i installed windows and after windows was done installing the computer rebooted so i had to switch First boot back to HDD and Second Boot to CD.

Only other change i had to make in bios was changing Initial display from PCI (default) to PEG which is PCIeX16. PCIeX16 was recognized and did display before i changed it to PEG which was good.

Also had to change the smart fan mode from AUTO to PWM for 4 pin fan on cpu heatsink

If i have any question i will post them but thanks to everyone for the help in answering my questions.