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Old October 20th 04, 03:02 AM
Littleberry
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John, I also got one of these boards (848P-A) with a 3.00G (Prescott)
P4 and it is working OK with some irritating problems. One, I cannot
get USB2 installed on Win2000 SP3. The supplied CD just won't install
for the USB2 drivers. Their website (www.ecs.com.tw) has new drivers
for Win98 or WinME only, and I am wondering if there is any way at all
to get USB2 to work. I tried to use the USB that is working with a
USB2 device (an IDE-USB2 adapter),
but it wouldn't work). If you are able to get USB2 working, either on
Win2000 or on Win98SE, please tell me how. I also couldn't find any
writeups on how to interpret the bootup beeps (I had trouble at first
with boot up beeps - I never figured out what it was, but, after
re-inserting everything they went away) - I emailed ECS but so far no
response. Do you know where they tell about the bootup error beep
codes? Any experience you have with this board - I am all ears -
littleberry


(John Lewis) wrote in message ...


At Fry's this weekend there is a sale of the 3.2GHz Prescott
(478-pin, boxed) and the ECS 848P-A motherboard bundled for $189.

The ECS 848P-A in the bundle is Prescott-compatible -- there
is a large label on the box saying "Intel Prescott CPU Support"
Don't let anybody pawn off an older version. 2-channel SATA
(non-RAID) and normal dual-channel PATA ( up to 4 devices)
It should also include 10/100LAN and integrated Realtek audio.
Check the label on the side of the box for these includes.

The Intel 848 is the single-channel DDR version of the 865 chip-set,
and the board will only accommodate 2 DIMM, so do not
get a DIMM of size less than 512Meg --- Kingston Value-ram
PC3200 512Meg, normally $79.99, goes on sale frequently
@ $59.99 after mail-in rebate. Since the board is single-channel,
you only need buy 1 DIMM to start.

I got this bundle 3 weeks ago ( on sale at $199 then) to upgrade
a computer for my son. Works like a dream. You may need to
upgrade your power-supply for Prescott, particularly the +12V,
which should not be less than 18A total for CPU, GPU and
peripheral demands. And if you ever intend to upgrade to the
6800, get a PS with at least 20amps available on +12V.

You will need a power-supply with the +12V 4-pin square
Molex connector to supply the CPU regulator power.

John Lewis