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Rebuilding my system with a VIA based MB using WinXP.

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  • Rebuilding my system with a VIA based MB using WinXP.

    My trusty old Abit BF6 bit the dust about a week ago.

    I ordered a Soyo SY-6VCA that is due in today as a replacement. My quesiton is, what if anything, do I need to do besides replace the MB to get things to work?

    Do I need to install the 4in1 drivers available from the VIA site?
    What about that AC97 thingy. I have an Ensoniq sound card already.

    Anyway, here is what I have. Please advise as to wht I need to do.


    MB: Soyo SY-6VCA
    CPU: Pentium III 850E (100 Mhz, slot 1)
    Mem: 256MB PC133 on one chip, 2 other chips with 64MB each
    Vid: PowerColor TNT2 based AGP card
    Snd: Ensoniq PCI sound card
    OS: Windows XP Home Edition


    Thanks.

    Darrin

  • #2
    Hopefully you have a fresh backup of critical data, because you're gonna have to format the hard drive and install the OS fresh. With the huge difference in chipset, the current install of WinXP will have no idea how to properly communicate with your new motherboard and the peripherals hooked to it. Other than that, all of your components should work nicely in the new system.

    As for the sound, if you like the sound quality of the Ensoniq, then you can simply disable the onboard sound from within the BIOS.

    And yes, you will want to install the latest 4-in-1 drivers if the new Soyo board uses a VIA chipset. I believe that 4.37 is current at the moment.
    Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill
    My Toys

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    • #3
      I have upgraded from Abit BH-6 to the Asus TUV4X, so it was the same situation. I was a bit afraid of the Via chipset for stability, but I have for 6 month, and it performs great.

      I also needed a new processor, and I switched to the Via C3 800 MHz. It is enough for stability reasons.

      When changing the motherboard, the OS should be reinstalled in case of Windows. I have tried to boot, but did not work, simply stopped with a lot of errors. In safe mode it pop-up so many error messages, that there was no way to go.

      The 4-in-1 driver must be installed for the Via chipset. It is better to download http://www.viaarena.com the latest. It enables the ATA100 driver, the PCI busmastering, etc. Without installing it, the machine is very slow.

      The AC97 sound is good for mp3 listening and gaming, and for windows sounds, if you have the usual to simple computer speakers. However, on our Supermicro 370SSA board, the AC97 did fail after a year, and we had to buy a new soundcard. Anyway, it has to be disabled: usually there is a jumper on the motherboard to switch between on-board/PCI sound card, and you have to manually diasble the on-board game-port, audio-port, codecs, etc.

      Overall, the Asus TUV4X with the Via chipset and the Via C3 CPU performs very stable, I had the least problems with this machine. We use it in suspend-to-ram mode (S3 state standby mode). So it is never truly switched off, and it works great.

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      • #4
        WHY are some ppl afraid bout VIA chipsets, really are there ne other alternatives? SIS...no thxs, AMD...erm yer...

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