Am buying a GA-P55-US3L: which newest drivers and BIOS do I need?

[forumjoe]

I've homed in on (but not yet bought) this particular mobo as the one on which to base my new Windows machine that I'm about to build. It'll run under WinXP 32-bit.

I've been researching this mobo for several weeks but, being new to Gigagyte mobos, am unfamiliar with Gigabyte's conventions and methods for adding mobo drivers. Several queries have arisen regarding this GA-P55-US3L:-

1) I contacted the online retailer to ask which Revn. no. of this that he currently stocked. I was told Revn. 2.1 but, as far as I can see, Gigabyte has never produced a version 2.1, albeit that the latest is 2.3. The one before was Revn. 2.0. Anyway, with Gigabyte mobos, what's the difference between one revision and another? Is it hardware on the mobo, or is it simply the BIOS, or maybe drivers that come on the mobo's CD that are more up-to-date?

2) From the BIOS compatibility tables at Gigabyte's website, I've noticed that the Intel i5-650 LGA1156 3.2GHz Clarkdale CPU is listed twice (absolutely identical) but wiith different BIOS versions ( 'BIOS since' column). How do I know which one of these two BIOSs is the most appropriate to use? The thought has crossed my mind that this might be a website mistake by Gigabyte. If I later need to update the BIOS to one of those two, I don't want to choose the wrong one!

3) I've seen the downloadable up-to-date drivers at the website. Are these downloadables all standalone drivers? That's to say, do I need to install any previous drivers beforehand, or can I just install them immediately following my installation of WinXP and SP3, as the files downloadable from the website?

4) I won't be using the onboard audio; instead, I'll be using a third-party PCI sound card (PCI, not PCIe). Therefore, I'll be disabling the onboard audio via the BIOS. Will I still need to install the Microsoft UAA driver, though? I've no idea what that MS UAA driver is all about.

5) I intend using the built-in Realtek Ethernet port on the board but I don't want to bother with the Realtek diagnostic utility. So, can I safely ignore the Realtek diagnostic driver? And I do I still nevertheless need the PCIe LAN driver?

6) Do I need to install the Gigabyte SATA2 Preinstall driver update if I intend never to use the computer in the AHCI/RAID mode and instead just use Native IDE mode for my SATA HDD?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

Well I will try and deal with your questions in numerical order.

1) The most modern revision of the motherboard on our site is rev 2.0 so I can't help you much there. Most rev are hardware based.

2) Just flash your BIOS to the newest version. If it is a huge jump between then do it in a couple of steps for safety. For rev 2.0 it is FH now.

3) Standalone. Just use the latest ones available.

4) Install the UAA driver anyway as it is used for compatibility with any audio device.

5) You will need to use the LAN driver and I am not sure if you cna split them.

6) I think you will need to install the Gigabyte SATA driver as this is a seperate chip from the Southbridge port controller.

[forumjoe]

Many thanks for your reply, DM.

According to the Gigabyte global website - and depending on where you look there as well - the versions of the board produced thus far have been Revn. 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and 2.3. Obviously, I'd like to get the 2.3 version but with the retailer saying that the version they have is none of these, the chance seems very thin. I tried asking a second retailer but they gave me yet a different answer. I don't want to get into the scenario where I have to send the board back no sooner than I receive it, or I get a board in a box that's already been opened and the board's already been handled by someone else.

As for the BIOS, I've carefully looked at the global website and it shows TWO different BIOSs as being appropriate, when this board's used in conjunction with a Core i5-650 3.2Ghz Clarkdale  - FB and FG. It's not possible to know which is the LATEST one (unless I'm missing something). See here:-
http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3502

Right, the various board drivers are standalone drivers, then? So, if later I have to update one of them, I'll need to first uninstall the existing one? Or can I simply install over the existing driver?

Re the Preinstall AHCI driver, okay I'll install that one even though I'll not be using AHCI or RAID. I suppose it'll do no harm.

[Dark Mantis]

It would appear that so far in the UK we only have up to rev 2.0

The BIOS update are in alphabetical ordere therfore FG is newer than FB but if you install the FH that is the newest one at the moment.

Yes you can just install the newer versions of the drivers over the top.

[forumjoe]

I've now seen that there is a difference between the two ostensibly identical Intel CPUs. One is Stepping C2, the other is Stepping K0. Apparently CPU C2 was updated by Intel to K0 and, accordingly, a new BIOS was advised. On the global website I see no mention of an FH BIOS for this board/CPU combination, but I'll have a scout around the UK website. I suppose I'll have to wait until I get the CPU before I can really decide on the BIOS version. Hopefully, the CPU will be stamped with the stepping code.

[Dark Mantis]

The BIOSes and other downloads are available here: http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/support-downloads/download-center.aspx?kw=GA-P55-US3L
I think maybe you are misunderstanding here regarding the BIOS versions and the motherboard/CPU combination. The BIOS version number quoted in the list for the CPUs is from the BIOS. So if for instance you had XXX CPU and it said from BIOS FD it simply means that as long as the motherboard has at least that FD BIOS version installed it will be compatible. It would still be compatible if FH was installed.

The CPU should have the stepping printed on it and the box it comes in.

[forumjoe]

Thanks. All I could see in that CPU table, even on this website, was FB and FG. But yes, you're right. It looks like the BIOS version has been updated since that CPU table was published, and it's now FH. There's no mention of the Stepping version in the BIOS/driver link you gave me, though, is there?

Looking again, the BIOS table in your link is open to different interpretations. The lefthand BIOS version column could mean that if you already use that version, you should download and use the file from the apopropriate server over to the right and that that file will consequently be an update to the one in the lefthand column. Alternatively, you can interpret the top-most BIOS in the lefthand column as always being the latest available version. D'ya see what I mean?

[Dark Mantis]

All the BIOSes for this board rev2.0 are here: http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3347&dl=1#bios
Just install the latest one FH and you will be fine. Drivers are the same just use the newest available.

[forumjoe]

Yeh, thanks.

It's finally dawned on me what "BIOS version from" means, in that CPU/BIOS compatbility table that Gigabyte publishes on the website. I now realise that it means that you can safely use any BIOS since the version in the column. Sorry it took me so long to twig that. Being not used to the way Gigabyte do things, it's 'all chinese' (heh, heh, heh, sorry for the dreadful pun) when you first start looking in detail at the motherboard and the CPU you want to use with it

Unfortunately, when it comes to the CPU, Intel made a significant revision of the chip last July; they changed it from Stepping C2 to Stepping K0. That's one heck of a set of CPU changes! A really huge jump.  Curiously, though, it seems that the only version currently on sale in the UK is the C2 version. Is this perhaps another instance of where the UK deliberately gets one version of the product (in this case the CPU) but the rest of Europe gets another? Could this be for plausible reasons, such as differences in keyboards, language, etc?

[Dark Mantis]

More likely for retail reasons of getting rid of old stock

[Wonderwrench]

Not to butt in but here is my 2 cents on questions 4 , 5 and 6.

Q4) If you are installing from an XP CD that contains SP3 as far as I know you do not need the UAA driver. I would venture a guess that you would not need it if installing an older version say, RTM, SP1 or SP2 as long as you install SP3. If your going from RTM (original XP) to SP3 you need to install SP1 or SP2 to allow the installation of SP3. In other words SP3 has the driver built in. In any case use the latest driver for the sound card you will be using.

Q5) All you need is the driver the utility is optional. The latest drivers are available direct from Realtek here.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false
I tend to use the non exe version as I like to manually install them. Just extract the zip file to a temp directory. Then from the properties of the network device in device manager choose to update/install the driver manually and browse to the WinXP folder inside of the folder you extracted the files to. This is not word for word as I have not used XP for some time. If you feel uncomfortable using this method use the self installer. Note you can update the network card driver when newer drivers comes out without uninstalling the existing driver first. Either by using my method or using the installer version. Its best not to uninstall and reinstall network drivers because each time you do its added as another network. So the network name ends up with a 2 after it. Each time you uninstall and reinstall it goes up by one so network, network2, network3 etc. Normally this causes no problem it just looks funny and pisses me off. I have seen some firewall programs freak out then uninstalling and reinstalling drivers though its rare.

Q6) I would guess you are going to use the Intel SATA ports for your drives. The Intel SATA ports are preferred as they should be faster and more compatible. As long as you set the controller to IDE mode in the bios before installing windows if not already set so. You do not need to install drivers for the Intel storage controller during the install <F6>. <F6> is for AHCI/RAID only. You should not need to install drivers for the Intel Storage controller after the install either as long as your XP install disk is at least SP2. You can install a non RAID/AHCI driver if you like but should not be needed. If you are not using any IDE drives and have six or less SATA drives you can disable the Gigabyte IDE/SATA controller all together. If you need the Gigabyte controller my guess is you will not need drivers for it as long as its configured in IDE mode. Reason being the Gigabyte controller is most likely a Jmicron controller and windows should have native support when the controller is in IDE mode. You may also install the non RAID/AHCI driver for the controller after windows is installed if you want or its needed.

Looking over the downloads available for your board all you should need is the Intel INF and the Realtek LAN driver. If you use the Gigabyte IDE/SATA controller, though unlikely you may need it the "GIGABYTE SATA2 Driver" but I doubt it.

So plan of attack. Once you have the new system up running have a look at the PC health status page in the bios and make sure temps and such look OK. Update the bios if needed or wanted to the latest. Once done and before the OS install boot and enter the bios and load optimized defaults then save and exit. Jump back in to the bios and set the clock and make sure the Intel controller is in IDE mode. Disable or if using the Gigabyte SATA controller set to IDE. Disable the on board sound since your not using it and any other needed changes you may want. The Printer port and Serial port would be good candidates to disable if you do not need them. Floppy if not used also. Enable smart as its most likely disabled. Set the first boot device to CDROM and the second to the Drive you are going to install windows to. You may want to leave the sound card out until after you install windows and have SP3 and all other drivers loaded. You should be good to go. Install windows followed by any service packs. Once complete install the Intel INF then reboot and install other needed drivers.

Other thoughts: If you end up getting the later stepping CPU you may or may not have problems if the board has an older bios that does not support it. Safe bet unless you know the board comes with the bios that supports the newer stepping is to get the older stepping CPU. Unless someone else knows better. Also if your XP CD is not SP3 I would recommend slipstreaming SP3 into it and burning a new install CD. This can be done with autostreamer available here. http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/223562-autostreamer-1033/
If it were me I'd get Windows 7 64 bit unless you have software that only runs in XP.

Good luck

Bill

[Dark Mantis]

All good points Bill, and the suggestion about moving to 64 bit Windows is certainly a good one even though there are many die hard XP fans (I was one myself) out there still Windows 7 is, dare I say it, better.   

[Wonderwrench]

All good points Bill, and the suggestion about moving to 64 bit Windows is certainly a good one even though there are many die hard XP fans (I was one myself) out there still Windows 7 is, dare I say it, better.   

Windows 7 is not perfect but neither is XP. I can hardly use XP after running Vista/W7 for several years. XP feels like windows 95 did after XP came out.
The only thing I really miss is the classic start menu option XP and Vista had. My favorite toy is the snipping tool, it rocks! Native support for most AV codec's is very nice also.

Bill

[forumjoe]

Bill,

Thanks for all that advice. I'm printing it out so that I can read it properly and take in everything you pointed out.

I normally partition the HDD at the time of running the XP Setup, later adding further partitions. It's actually XP SP2. I then add SP3, followed by whatever mobo chipset drivers are needed. I'm assuming that, in that regard, this new Gigabyte mobo (new, for me) will be no different to other mobos I've dealt with in the past.

I did consider very carefully a possible move to Windows 7. Indeed, I spent weeks and weeks on it, on the Web, finding out all the pros and cons. Unfortunately, Windows 7 will not be fully compatible with most of my apps, and I'd also lose the POP3 e-mail client. Also, I don't need the much extended memory allocation that Windows 7 64-bit would give, so continuing to work in 32-bit in Windows 7 would be a bit of a waste. But the fact that I'm planning to get this particular mobo means that I'll be able to move to 64-bit working in the future, if I ever feel that it's necessary.

[Wonderwrench]

Bill,

Thanks for all that advice. I'm printing it out so that I can read it properly and take in everything you pointed out.

I normally partition the HDD at the time of running the XP Setup, later adding further partitions. It's actually XP SP2. I then add SP3, followed by whatever mobo chipset drivers are needed. I'm assuming that, in that regard, this new Gigabyte mobo (new, for me) will be no different to other mobos I've dealt with in the past.

I did consider very carefully a possible move to Windows 7. Indeed, I spent weeks and weeks on it, on the Web, finding out all the pros and cons. Unfortunately, Windows 7 will not be fully compatible with most of my apps, and I'd also lose the POP3 e-mail client. Also, I don't need the much extended memory allocation that Windows 7 64-bit would give, so continuing to work in 32-bit in Windows 7 would be a bit of a waste. But the fact that I'm planning to get this particular mobo means that I'll be able to move to 64-bit working in the future, if I ever feel that it's necessary.

Wow what programs do you use that will not work in windows 7? I found I have nothing that will not run correctly once I got rid of Nero 7. It was a POS anyway. By POP3 email I take it you mean the loss of Outlook Express. I personally never used it as I use Thunderbird. There are many good free replacements for OE.

Windows 7 64 bit runs fine with 4 gigs of ram. If you get W7 pro or ultimate you can install XP mode that should allow running most programs that will not run in Windows 7. Games are out though as GPU performance sucks in XP mode.