Chaintech VNF3-250 problems - bad board??

[SeaFoam]

Well I got my new board installed and it's running great, except I had some weird problems last night. First I was getting and error when it was on the post screen that said 'keyboard is unlocked - please unlock' or something to that effect. Then I was trying out desert combat and it was running very slow (3 FPS or so) and the sound was also distorted, then the keyboard and mouse locked up and the game ran fine. I put a USB keyboard/mouse on and it's working fine now, except in the games i'm having another problem - i'll be playing online and it seems like the network card/port just cuts out and keeps giving me 'connection problems detected' in my games. I tried sticking another network card in there and that seemed to fix it - until that card all the sudden gave me a 'network cable unpluged' error. So i'm leaning towards the board being bad - any ideas? I'm wondering if I should just get the board replaced or move up to the ZNF3-250 or the Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP or K8N Neo Platinum - at this point money is no object for the board. Anyone else had a problem like this? What's the best board out of those? Or should I try another chipset? All I want is a fast, stable board - what's the best out of any of the A64 boards?

I'm running A64 3000+, 2x 512 corsair 400mhz, radeon 9800 pro, 74 gb Raptor

 

[Qu1cK]

i recently bought the ZNF3-150 chaintech board and i basicly recieved the same problems u are getting now, i couldnt fix it so i just reutrned it and got an asus k8v se deluxe

its fast and stable and im running my 3200+ @ 2300mhz

 

[SeaFoam]

Originally posted by: Qu1cK
i recently bought the ZNF3-150 chaintech board and i basicly recieved the same problems u are getting now, i couldnt fix it so i just reutrned it and got an asus k8v se deluxe

its fast and stable and im running my 3200+ @ 2300mhz

Well sounds like i'm going to switch boards then - I dont know when the MSI Neo platinum comes out so I might get that asus for a bit and sell it, who knows. Thanks for letting me know, kind of frustrating now though since i'm not the only one with that issue....

 

[BlindBartimaeus]

There are a bunch of us who have the board and it is great...just get another...every manufacturer has bad boards. I have probably bought 40 or so motherboards in the last year...THEY ALL HAVE BAD ONES. DFI and ECS are the only two I have had consistent problems with.

 

[SeaFoam]

What are you running for components? Have you tried desert combat or bf:vietnam? I guess there's no harm in trying a replacement board - if it doesn't work maybe the new MSI will be out...

 

[BlindBartimaeus]

I have a 9800Se softmodded with one gig of PC 3500 and serial ata hard drives raid 0

 

[SeaFoam]

do you play battlefield by chance? I have also noticed in battlefield vietnam my joystick is all screwed up... :/

 

[BlindBartimaeus]

He said JOYstick

No man...CS, DOD, Painkiller, UT2004, Hitman demo

 

[shonuff27]

Hey, did you ever figure out how to fix that keyboard BIOS error (keyboard is locked, unlock)? I just installed the board last night and that's the only thing that's been wrong so far.

 

[Diogenes2]

Originally posted by: shonuff27
Hey, did you ever figure out how to fix that keyboard BIOS error (keyboard is locked, unlock)? I just installed the board last night and that's the only thing that's been wrong so far.

Yes he did.. He got a MSI Neo platinum ...

 

[SeaFoam]

Well I've heard if your not using a usb keyboard and mouse that if you disable usb keyboard/mouse in the bios it works - I don't have this board anymore, I dumped it and got the K8N Neo Platinum and had a K8T Neo before that. I can't tell you what to buy but i'd return that worthless MB and buy an MSI (i'm selling the K8T Neo BTW)

PS, when you said that's the only thing wrong 'so far' I cringed, good luck.

 

[djm68]

Hello,

I also had the keyboard error. This is how I fixed it:

In the bios leave "USB mouse: disabled" -- this will not prevent the use of a USB mouse in windows or Linux. I beleive this is for USB mouse support under DOS. I installed my board and setup a ps/2 mouse and keyboard. Installed XP and linux (suse 9), run all the XP updates -- there is a USB update for XP that addresses the USB mouse problem. After all the XP updates are installed, flash the BIOS to the beta 5/7, enter the bios and select "load setup defaults". Set the BIOS to your desired settings. Save and exit BIOS. I booted back into windows XP, then shutdown, attached my USB mouse, restarted and WinXP found and configured my mouse just. Been running with it for 2 weeks now, no problems at all.

My setup:
vnf3-250, a64 3200+, 2x512 OCZ 370eb, enermax 470 ps. Running 250x9, ddr500 1:1, 38-39 idle, 47-48 under load, swiftech mcx6400v heatsink and 80mm 2700 rpm fan.

Cheers,
DJM

 

[shonuff27]

Thanks djm68, I'm going to try that when I go home tonight. So far I just installed Windows XP w/SP1.

Seafoam, I cringed when I searched google for that error and came to your post. I really don't feel like returning this board. How long did you have the board before you started having problems?

 

[SeaFoam]

First day I had it - it was running windows fine but as soon as I started gaming with it online the network errors and lockups happened.

 

[Lionel]

I have had it little over a week, and it has been very good to me.

 

[Trips]

Do you have the 128Mb version of the 9800 Pro? I've got the exact same problem. Have you tried playing games in single player? I thought my problem was the onboard nic so I installed another with the same results. Decided to try Painkiller in SP mode and the lock ups are still there. Chaintech replied to an email I sent saying that they are working with ATI to resolve the issue. I'm wondering if it is isolated to the VNF3-250 or if it could be an Nforce3 250 problem.

They also said in the email that the 9800 XT tested out fine with this mobo but that the Pro series have been having trouble.

 

[djm68]

Hey Trips,

Try increasing you AGP voltage and see what happens. I am running a Sapphire 9800 Pro ultimate 128 with out a single problem. Check this thread here http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=327885&page=2&pp=15

If you continue to have problems with your 9800 pro I would RMA it for a new one...as the thread above indcates, the guys's board appeared to be bad...his new vnf3-250 workes fine with a 9800 pro.

Cheers,
DJM

 

[SeaFoam]

Originally posted by: Trips
Do you have the 128Mb version of the 9800 Pro? I've got the exact same problem. Have you tried playing games in single player? I thought my problem was the onboard nic so I installed another with the same results. Decided to try Painkiller in SP mode and the lock ups are still there. Chaintech replied to an email I sent saying that they are working with ATI to resolve the issue. I'm wondering if it is isolated to the VNF3-250 or if it could be an Nforce3 250 problem.

They also said in the email that the 9800 XT tested out fine with this mobo but that the Pro series have been having trouble.

Yeah it's a 9800 pro 128 - but i have no problems at all with my MSI board

 

[Trips]

Radeon runs fine on everything I have tested except this board. Could be that this board needs replaced but as soon as my MSI K8T-NEO gets back from RMA the VNF3-250 will be sent back to Newegg for refund and I'll get some more RAM or something. Was intending to keep the Chaintech board and sell the MSI board but after going 2 for 2 with bad boards from Chaintech I think I'll just stay clear of them from now on.

 

[Trips]

Tried increasing the AGP voltage and it didn't do a thing. I can't see the Radeon being at fault though because it runs fine on an older KT266A chipset board and also on my NF7-S.

 

[musickna]

I can add a little more information to this thread, if not a solution. I also have the VNF3-250 and a Radeon 9800 Pro, and had terrible problems with it - that particular combination would invariably lead to freezes and lock-ups in 3D games. I tried changing memory types, all and every kind of video setting - all to no avail.

This was with a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, bought about a year ago. However, I also have another Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, bought about 6 months ago when the prices dropped. This looks like a later revision judging from the layout of the card. This board works without any problem whatsoever. I also tested a Sapphire Radeon 9500 Pro and a Gainward GeForce 4400 - no problems with those video cards either.

So, it looks like the problem lies with the earlier versions of the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, and obviously not with all Radeon 9800 Pros.

 

[Don66]

Yep same problems when I had the VNF3-250.
Went back to my MSI board and all was good again.
Personally, I think that the mobo is a piece of $hit, they rushed it out the door without properly testing it.