Some questions about installing the Asus P5W DH Deluxe/WiFi

[bpatters55]

Hello Folks,

I just purchased the Asus P5W DH Deluxe/WiFi board from NewEgg which should arrive on Tuesday. I have downloaded the manual and I have a few questions on the installation.

First of all, the hardware I purchased is as follows:

CD ROM – LiteOn SH-16A7S, SATA, CD\DVD, etchttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2765019&CatId=1624

Hard Disk - Western Digital 250GB SATA-300 Hard Drive
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2179837&CatId=139

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Asus P5W DH
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025

Now for the questions:

1. The manual for the CD-ROM says that there is a DATA SATA connector and Power SATA connector. The manual says that the Power SATA connector is optional if the DATA SATA connector does not supply enough power. I always thought SATA devices were powered and connected to the motherboard via one connection. I guess the safe thing to do is to just try the one connector and see what happens?

2. Since my motherboard is brand new and it supports SATA devices, shouldn’t I be able to attach the hard disk to SATA1 and the CD ROM to SATA2? I am using Windows XP2 for an OS. I think I only need SP1 to recognize SATA.

3. The manual talks about an “Optional fan”. I am using a retail E6600 which comes with a fan and heatsink. Is this fan necessary? It says to only install the fan if you are using a passive or water cooler? I would think that the fan on the CPU is active, right?

4. The manual talks about a “Front Panel Audio Connector (10-1 pin AAFP). It says that the module supports either HD Audio or legacy AC ’97 audio standard. This sound to me like the connection for the speaker that is in the case?

5. Lastly, when installing the processor, I seen where some users use thermal paste to create a better bond\connection between the heatsink and the CPU. Is using thermal paste necessary for the CPU I have chosen?

Any other tips are very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[johnb35]

I'll try to answer your questions.

Answer to question #1

You need a power cable and a data cable going to your SATA hard drive. The power cable is the wider of the 2 cables, or you can use a 4pin molex if the drive is equipped with a molex connection.

Answer to question #2

Your connections will be ok. However, depending on the motherboard you might need a driver to install the SATA controller driver at the F6 prompt at the beginning of windows installation. And if I were you, I would slipstream SP2 into a new XP cd using a program called Autostreamer.

Answer to question #3

You need a heatsink/fan on your processor or you will fry it. You will probably have additional fan connectors on your motherboard for case fans or northbridge/southbridge fans.

Answer to question #4

The front panel audio is for the microphone and speaker connections on the front of the case, it's not the system speaker. There is a separate connector for that.

Answer to question #5

Most high end users do use Artic Silver 5 instead of the preapplied thermal pad that comes on the heatsinks. And usually it does do a better job at keeping the temps down. But others do use the stock heatsink and thermal pad and have had no problems whatsoever. If you plan to overclock, I would recommend getting a good heatsink/fan and using Arctic Silver 5.

Hopefully that answers your questions....