a7v8x-mx mobo unstable?

[rajaiitm]

This mobo A7V8X-MX has been a problem. It keeps hanging whenever possible. If i play quake its dead in a few minutes without doubt. Initially i thought the problem was with the unstable internal graphics -- VIA Unichrome. But the problem of hanging persists even after getting agp graphics card.
I got a small P1 fan (i couldnt get a chipset cooler here in chennai)and fixed on the chipset heatsink. This got my mb temps down to 33 from 38. Now it doesn't reboot that often. But a another problem. Windows applications start crashing one by one as time passes. at one point of time windows wouldn't recognise a .exe file!!!! it asked me what app to open the exe with!! had no option but to reinstall windows for the nth time.
Finally i did a memtest(86+). It failed miserably with a lot of errors and then hung!! This kept happening. I redid the tests with my ram on another comp and lo.. it works just fine. I got a good stick of ram and tried it on my mobo and it fails. ------ So .. is it this or just a bad unstable chipset which needs getting a new motherboard...
btw, my ram passes memtest at 200mhz (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa its supposed to be running at 333mhz). so right now my computer is underclocked by 33%, my 2600+ running at 1250mhz ( . right now i want a stable system (

What could be the problem... and will I get a warranty for the mb..

config:
a7v8x-mx
amd 2600+ tbred 333
ati radeon 9200 se 128 mb
512 mb 333 hynix
80 gb samsung ide 7200 rpm

 

[etherealgrifter]

I wish I could help, but I'm having the exact same problem. my MOBO is underclocking my 2600 chip to 1250 mhz, and it wont let me alter the front side bus in the BIOS. DSW jumpers dont do anything. I'm thinking it has something to do with video card or ram. radeon oem 9600 and 512 respectively.


mine: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=50&threadid=1511847

pretty sure this is my memory:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-026&depa=1

 

[mechBgon]

I bet it would work if you could boost the memory voltage a bit. Unfortunately Asus's microATX SocketA boards don't typically have that option. Can you simply change to a full ATX-sized motherboard? If so, the Shuttle AN35N Ultra is a good budget board with memory-voltage tweaks and a pretty good overclocking capability too.

 

[etherealgrifter]

whats the difference between a full sized and the one we use? different bios options?

is that an nForce board and will it work with an ATI video AGP card?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: etherealgrifter
whats the difference between a full sized and the one we use? different bios options?

is that an nForce board and will it work with an ATI video AGP card?

Full-sized ATX motherboards are "taller" and can have as many as six PCI slots plus an AGP slot. MicroATX boards like the A7V8X-VM can have a maximum of three PCI and one AGP.

If the case has seven card slots, then it's full-ATX and can handle either full-sized ATX boards or microATX. If the case has four card slots, then it's a microATX case and can only take microATX motherboards (or smaller, like flexATX for example).

The Shuttle AN35N Ultra is a basic nForce2 board with no frills. It will work with an ATI AGP video card, my AN35N Ultra is running a Radeon 7500 for example.

 

[etherealgrifter]

thanks. will probly go for one of those and keep the A7 for a budget computer or RMA it. I like ur biginners guide to comp building too.

 

[rajaiitm]

thanks guys, i think i'll go ahead and give the mobo for a check, if those guys replace it i'm lucky or else i'm getting a new one, probably a7n8x-vm, or if i can put some more money, then a7n8x-e + fx-5700. guess that shud be fine till i go for a new comp.

 

[etherealgrifter]

yea ive got an A7N8x-x on my other comp which works great and now sells for around the same 50-60 dollar price I payed for this other crappy board. shoulda done more research. Can probly get an ever better one by different manufacturer for less... sigh... whoa... just checked that AN35N Ultra... lil pricey... any cheaper recommendations?

 

[rajaiitm]

One clarification, right now i've set my jumpers for 100mhz for stability, but it does work at 166mhz. I dont have the same problem as you do, etherealgrifter. The only problem is it reboots often at 166mhz in windows and thanks to that, i need to keep reinstalling windows every 2 or 3 weeks when the errors due to random reboots pile up and totally corrupt the installation. Moreover, the reboots occur more often when i play games
i guess my ram is fine, it passed memtest on another computer. moreover as i said my friends ram didnt pass it on my comp.