need a7n8x-vm help or suggest another board

[TP]

first i got an asus a7v8x-mx for a system that i want to put an athlon 2800+ cpu and windows 2003 small business server onto, but it wouldnt go.. it would take xp pro fine but wont take windows 2003 small biz..

so i talked to a tech at asus who said this board wouldnt work, and that an a7n8x-vm would.. so i got one.. it was giving me the same problems as the previous board when trying to install windows 2003 small biz, so i tried flashing and now I'm getting check sum errors no matter what bios i try.. it doesnt recognize things right either and I'm sick of this shat now and just want a board that will work.

anybody have a bios that i can try that they know works? or suggestions on how to fix the bios?

anybody recommend a solid motherboard for this setup? thanks...

 

[Doomer]

FWIW, I bought a A7N8X VM and after fighting with it for a couple of days, I sent it back to Newegg and ordered a Biostar M7NCG 400. The problem I had was extreme flakiness. I could not get WinXP to install properly due to the extreme instability of this board.

The Biostar worked without issues.

I love the A7N8X Deluxe but the VM is a totally different animal.

 

[mechBgon]

I've installed Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition on an Asus A7N266-VM/AA before, as well as an old Asus CUV4X with a 466MHz Celeron. No problems other than me trying to enable DNS before I had fed Windows the NIC driver. I used the nVidia 2.45 UDP driver package for WinXP, worked like a charm.

Thought I'd add that I've owned two A7N266-VM's myself and we have about 30 at work. Judging by that sample, I can say they're quite reliable and trouble-free, if you want some reassurance

edit #2: obviously the 2800+ will not work, or not at full speed anyway, on the A7N266-VM/AA. A 2400+ would be just right.

 

[Kenazo]

I've liked the A7N266-vm too. No experience w/ the A7N8X version though. have you tried a different brand, with similar specs? MSI makes an nforce w/ onboard video that seems to work well, and is a fullsized board for about the same price as this mATX one.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Used two of those for customer systems (A7N8X-VM) with Barton 2500s and XP.

No issues so far after eight months.

- M4H