Let me just say that despite the problem I encountered, things are back to normal now, and I still think it's a good board, it just has a few pitfalls which you need to be aware of.
It all began really great, the build was very easy and everything worked flawlessly, I didn't even need to modify anything after turning it on for the first time. I updated to the latest beta bios (1003.005) which has the pci lock option, and also proceeded to overclock my 3000+ winchester to 9x265 and had a prime 95 stabe system (with a single 6600GT). This continued for about a week.
The problems started when I decided to open the box to add a USB connector, I noticed the stupid EZ selector thingy is actually plugged in the dual card position. So I decided to switch it to single. I also remembered that initially I disabled the ez-plug warning in the bios, so I thought maybe that would no longer be required now that the selector is on single.
Anyways, afterwards the system had lots of problem booting, sometime it would hang at the POST screen, sometime not even display the POST screen (no video), but occasionally (especially after powering down the PSU and up again) it would post and load the OS. I tried moving the stupid EZ card back to dual mode, also tried to plug a molex power cable into the EZ plug (didn't do that before because I thought it's only for SLI setups) but it still persisted with its POSTing problems. Also tried reducing the overclock (when it did POST which was rare) but that also didn't help.
Finally I cleared the CMOS and now the system boots just fine. So it's quite clearly a BIOS issue. I plan to go back to the stable non-beta BIOS version 1002, but I am disappointed with ASUS for putting out a BIOS with such problems. It looks like the beta bios is buggy and doesn't like when too many things are changed, Also this whole EZ selector card and EZ plug thingy is idiotic, there must be an easier way to set up SLI without all these switches. I thought we're supposed to be jumper free these days. I guess they call it EZ to dupe people into believing it's easy, but compared to what people expect today as far as setting up a board, it's anything but "EZ".
Update: I think I figured out the cause of the POSTing problem with the 1003.005 bios !!! At least the external reason....well here it goes, as you know everything was fine until I opened the box and TURNED OFF THE PSU (either disconnect from power outlet or shut it off using the PSU switch). When you turn off the PSU, the green LED on the mobo turns off as well. After you turn the PSU back on - YOU WILL START HAVING PROBLEMS WITH POST !!!! You will need to clear the CMOS to be able to POST normally again. So bottom line is that the 1003.005 bios has a bug which causes it to corrupt the CMOS when the PSU is turned off (not when the computer's front panel power switch is pressed).
It all began really great, the build was very easy and everything worked flawlessly, I didn't even need to modify anything after turning it on for the first time. I updated to the latest beta bios (1003.005) which has the pci lock option, and also proceeded to overclock my 3000+ winchester to 9x265 and had a prime 95 stabe system (with a single 6600GT). This continued for about a week.
The problems started when I decided to open the box to add a USB connector, I noticed the stupid EZ selector thingy is actually plugged in the dual card position. So I decided to switch it to single. I also remembered that initially I disabled the ez-plug warning in the bios, so I thought maybe that would no longer be required now that the selector is on single.
Anyways, afterwards the system had lots of problem booting, sometime it would hang at the POST screen, sometime not even display the POST screen (no video), but occasionally (especially after powering down the PSU and up again) it would post and load the OS. I tried moving the stupid EZ card back to dual mode, also tried to plug a molex power cable into the EZ plug (didn't do that before because I thought it's only for SLI setups) but it still persisted with its POSTing problems. Also tried reducing the overclock (when it did POST which was rare) but that also didn't help.
Finally I cleared the CMOS and now the system boots just fine. So it's quite clearly a BIOS issue. I plan to go back to the stable non-beta BIOS version 1002, but I am disappointed with ASUS for putting out a BIOS with such problems. It looks like the beta bios is buggy and doesn't like when too many things are changed, Also this whole EZ selector card and EZ plug thingy is idiotic, there must be an easier way to set up SLI without all these switches. I thought we're supposed to be jumper free these days. I guess they call it EZ to dupe people into believing it's easy, but compared to what people expect today as far as setting up a board, it's anything but "EZ".
Update: I think I figured out the cause of the POSTing problem with the 1003.005 bios !!! At least the external reason....well here it goes, as you know everything was fine until I opened the box and TURNED OFF THE PSU (either disconnect from power outlet or shut it off using the PSU switch). When you turn off the PSU, the green LED on the mobo turns off as well. After you turn the PSU back on - YOU WILL START HAVING PROBLEMS WITH POST !!!! You will need to clear the CMOS to be able to POST normally again. So bottom line is that the 1003.005 bios has a bug which causes it to corrupt the CMOS when the PSU is turned off (not when the computer's front panel power switch is pressed).
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