NEW OFFICIAL 9NPA series BIOS with Rev E cpu support

[bonzer]

It here............

http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/support.php?ps=335&type=1

2005-03-31
2005/03/22
9npa5322.zip
** Set BIOS default disabled for 'AMD K8 Cool'n'Quite' item.
** Add 'Delay For HDD(Secs)' item.
** Rev.E CPU support.
** Patch Windows XP SP2 + Cool'n'Quiet enaled, system hang at POST 01h after software reset.
** Patch system can't enter SETUP when PC health enabled and OEM error message showed.
** Set HT 4x for specific CPU ADA3400DEP4AZ

[motoolfan]

hhmm... I wonder where the new bios for 9NDA3J and + is?

[bonzer]

hopefully soon as I have one on the way myself.

Does anyone know if for example you were to install a rev E cpu in a prior bios release the board would allow you to boot up off a (dos) floppy and flash cpu support before installing windows???

Epox Tech ?

[Pt1t]

If mobo doesnt support cpu , u cant flash it ! you need to flash it before with a winchester or newcastel. Or buy a mobo with bios .

[jnansley]

I'd like to hear stories of people in the US who have ordered an A64 recently and received an E (or D!) - where from?

[bonzer]

FYI, I just actually read all of the xbit rev.E review and it appears as though this may not be a problem?? They indicated that the cpu's worked with 2 epox boards, likely good enough to get a DOS flash, check it out......

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...-venice_4.html

I gotta 9nda3j and 1 gig of gskill on the way and I'm hangin out for a Rev.E 3200 later this month???

pasted paragraphs from the x-bit article regarding venice 'compatibility' issues...

Before we pass over to the actual testing of the new processor on Venice core, we decided to check the compatibility of this processor with different Socket 939 mainboards. The thing is that there have been quite a few rumors about the compatibility issues Venice based Athlon 64 processors might have. Luckily, and our test session proved it, these rumors were too exaggerated. We checked a few mainboards on NVIDIA nForce3 chipset: MSI Neo2 Platinum and EPoX 9NDA3J, and a few boards on NVIDIA nForce4 chipset: ASUS A8N-SLI, EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra, DFI NF4 Ultra-D and MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI. There wasn’t a single case when the new Venice based processor wouldn’t work any of these mainboards at all. However, we still revealed a few issues (even though we reflashed the latest BIOS versions to all the boards in advance). On most mainboards Cool’n’Quiet technology of the new Athlon 64 3800+ didn’t work. In fact, the only mainboard where this power saving technology showed some signs of life was MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI. With the help of this board we found out that during low power consumption Athlon 64 3800+ on Venice core drops its clock frequency to 1.0GHz and Vcore to 1.1V, i.e. behaves just like any of its predecessors.

Moreover, we have also discovered some other minor problems. For example, ASUS A8N-SLI mainboard set the processor Vcore incorrectly, making it 0.1V higher, and DFI NF4 Ultra-D refused to work with the 1T memory timing when we installed the new Venice processor. Actually, you can see that all these issues are very specific for each mainboard and they will undoubtedly be eliminated when the new BIOS versions come out.

[Bring the Noise]

Mainly the Revision E cpu's seem to cause a reboot issue within windows on motherboards that have older bios. Sounds like Cool And Quiet kicks something off the wrong way...

Suggestion would be to disable cool and quiet (for a short period)...
Update Bios
Enable Cool and quiet

And you should be able to do those steps with the E revision chip in your board (E3 or E4).