I'm sure you've all read my bitching about my motherboard... well... it just hit a new low.

Not only is my booting screens (the bios / cmos ones before windows starts loading) displaying like they're corrupt (random pixels filled for no reason), not only do my temp. sensors lie to me... not only does the onboard sound lock up my system when it works ever so slightly hard (mp3 + NFSU car & crashing sounds)...

Now my onboard sound is dead completely.. I found this out the "fun" way while playing CS...

Now, it could possibly be the drivers.. I have the reference ones from nVidia's website, because asus hasn't had new board drivers in forever, and the last ones they pushed out are crap..

I just installed those drivers perhaps a week or two ago..

Anywho.. any idea what could possibly be wrong.. drivers.. or just that the board is f***ed and I need to replace it w/ something else... ? I'm all out of thoughts..

Thanks in advance,

-Outcast

well if the board has given you this much ****, then replace it. no use in beating yourself cause of it. just replace it. cause in the long run you will be happier....less headaches.

I have that same motherboard and know a ton of people with it, it's a decent board I think. Do you have a spare PSU you could swap out because that very well could be a contributing factor to the problems your having...

But that would be the easy way out..

Or rather.. I work at McDonald's.. they pay in broken peanuts... then again, perhaps I'll spend a bit of the graduation money I got..

Good boards these days are the NF7-S (still), DFI Infinity, and um.. that's all that come to mind. Did I miss any / any suggestions?

P.S. No I don't have a spare PSU to test this with, except an AT one which wouldn't help in the slightest. Also, when did your friends buy the board? I'm pretty sure the rev. 2.0 boards are much better than the buggy pos rev 1.04 ones

Oh, man, I'm dumb with sleep dep. I thought you were talking about the rev 2, or the -e's. I haven't messed with the 1's, but I own a 2.0 and have 2 friends that have -e's. None of us have had any problems.

I still wouldn't rule out the PSU.

ahh hell with it, NF7 800some dollars at the Egg, overclocking king.....

I think you just made a funny, Chrome...

For starters: I've never OC'd anything but a 1.7Ghz Celeron (up to 2.4Ghz), and that was at school.. and I got busted by the teacher who was encouraging us to do such things in the first place... like he said, mess around and learn what things in the bios do...

Secondly: $800? Where? *looks around, grabs wallet and looks inside* Nope, not there...

I mean, hell, I would love to OC... take my "lil bitch" of a cpu up towards the big three-oh... but I'm not Zennz, lol.

Lessee... checklist time: NF7-S... [ ], 2500+ Mobile [ ], 1GB PC3500 (2x512) [ ], Zalman 7000 wtfever copper HSF [ ]...

At least as a stopgap til I find another job, that HSF would hold me to.. hm.. 2.4 prolly before I have "issues" ?

If you need a really decent, solid, board on a budget ...... grab the Shuttle A5N35-ultra.

Doesn't have sound\storm audio (just AC'97 codec) or SATA, so if you need those features, stick with the NF7-s.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...150-045&depa=1

Would this be close to what its like? I can't find the A5N35 there, and I'll end up ordering my stuff when I order the parts for my manager's rig as well so I save a bit on shipping..

That is it Bro. I just screwed up the name.

I have been using it about 3 months. Very pleased. Great board for the price. Several others around here are using them, I have heard no complaints.

The onboard sound is good enought to prevent my bothering to install my SB Live 5.1

Quote: Originally Posted by Chrome_Rust ahh hell with it, NF7 800some dollars at the Egg, overclocking king.....

You can get the nf7-s for a whopping $88 bucks at newegg right now....
Quality at an affordable price

Hey i was sleeping when i posted that.....hhahah but if i had the cho, i would pay 800 for that board. had a few of them (sold them, didnt blow them up, well there were those 2) great boards

I sure am sorry to hear your woes with your A7N8X. I have an A7N8X-DX Rev 1.04 as my main rig, and it's been nothing but reliable, if not an OCing king. I play all the latest demanding games with it, with a FX5600XT and now a 9800pro, and never had a mobo-related issue.

I noticed that you've posted a couple links from NewEgg....did you by chance buy the board through NewEgg? They have a great RMA program, and I've had a 100% success rate on returning items with them. I never have had to return this board, but if I did, I know they'd send the newest revision. Just something to think about.

Have you done all the free stuff, like BIOS updates? It sounds to me that if you eliminate all the drivers and BIOS as the cause of your problems, there's nothing left but a bad board. It's certainly worth the time it takes to check if it's still under warranty. If not....I'd definitely recommend the Abit NF7-s. I just built a rig for my brother with that board and it's great, especially for the price.

I sure hope you can get it worked out.

Quote: Originally Posted by DW You can get the nf7-s for a whopping $88 bucks at newegg right now....

To be honest Outcast, for a difference of $34 bucks, I would consider the NF7-s.

But, if cash is tight, the Shuttle is a really great board.

I'd be all over that if newegg didn't have that "limit 1..." attached to those boards right now...

Hm.. gonna have to poke around for a cheapo soundstorm board for the other guy..

I'll second that, I want another one...

I spose I could just pick up his in town, too.. or I could reg. my card and get one.. and use my moms and get another, lol.. bend the rules a bit, perhaps.. Ah well, thx for the help guys