Looking for advice on motherboard upgrade??

[ShiningDragon]

Just so you know its taken me three days to get windows installed using the SiS 741 mobo!!!!!

everytime the install would either give BSOD with IRQ_NOT_EQUAL etc or MEMORY_MANAGEMENT errors, or woul simply be unable to write files to HD to install.

I updated BIOS, used different RAM, different Processor (my old Duron) different HD and cable, different DVD drive and different WIN XP disk as mine might be a bit scratched... nothing worked dramatically apart from the RAM change which eventually allowed me to get through the instal and everything seems ok so far....

Its not left me confident to say the least! unless its perfectly stable for the next few days i might send it back!

Anyone know what might have caused this out of interest?

Hm, one question: Are you using OnBoard-Components, or AddOn PCI-Cards @ Installation? If yes, please tell me which card in which slots is.

[ShiningDragon]

You stated the problem right there.
Sis is made to be cheap, not good. Sis chipsets have given me grief on several occasions. I avoid them whenever possible. The money saved on the motherboard is quickly consumed by the labor hours and instability.

SiS is no "junk". It's cheap, yes... but no junk. Under normal conditions SiS MoBo's are rockstable.

[gEd]

nothing worked dramatically apart from the RAM change which eventually allowed me to get through the instal and everything seems ok so far....

Its not left me confident to say the least! unless its perfectly stable for the next few days i might send it back!

Anyone know what might have caused this out of interest?

well if it worked ok once you removed certain DIMMS, then I would be reasonable to assume that one of the memory chips is not compatible with this board, or is faulty. You could download memtest to a bootable dos disk and test the memory overnight.

Also, if the mobo requires specific drivers (check the SiS website) for the mobo, they might need to be added during the xp install process (F6 to add drivers i think).

My NF7-S would install XP ok (so not the same problem that you had) but if i then tried to install software (norton systemworks in particular) before adding the chipset drivers, I got loads of i/o errors. A friend of mine had exactly the same problem with an old VIA chipset mobo.

Hope it works out ok

[stu8080]

its been faultless so far, i was expecting it to be unstable but its fine. After i swapped the memory i still got a few similair errors but nowhere near as much.

The same memory stick is now running fine in my games PC, so no loss there!

Thanks for the advice

[ddrawley]

There is a nice free memory tester here:

http://www.simmtester.com/PAGE/products/doc/docinfo.asp

Prime95 is good for testing overall system stability

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

[soccerdad]

My main rig uses the Abit NF7-S (full size mobo) which was one of the best for the xp chip and I have been delighted with it. currently runs at 2.4Ghz from a mobile 2500 at 1.7v.

Sorry for kind of hijacking but I am also looking for a new mobo. I have an Athlon XP 2000+, socket A from my pvr box that just died. I have been looking at the NF7-S board. Is there anything that I need to know about it? I am not looking to overclock, I just want something good and stable to rebuild the box I have. Does that board need 2 sticks of RAM or can I use a single 512 stick of DDR266 PC2100 that I already have? It is going to be a dedicated PVR box so it really does not have to fly. I just like the nvidia graphics for playing around if I want. I am not a gamer so I don't need too much graphic horsepower. There also seem to be several versions of the board, NF7-S, 7-S2, 7-S2G, 7-2 2.0, Any suggestions? (or for any other good socket A full sized board)

[gEd]

No it doesn't require 2x sticks of ram unless you want to make sure it runs in dual channel which gives ~ 5% boost.

PC2100 - humm, a bit slow. Check with manufacturers site that the board you are looking at will run this slow (not being funny like!)

nvidia graphics ? - not sure what you mean by this. The NF7-S does not have onboard graphics. If you want low price graphics output for TV, look for an ATI 9600 pro.

I am not up to date on all the different revision of the Nf7-S mobo. Mine is the NF7-Srev2.0. Perhaps check the abit (which is the board that I use) website for details on availability and funtionality. Perhaps check out their forums for info on which board to go for. It depends on whether you plan to buy new of second hand. It might be worth looking on fleebay as there are bound to be people selling their rigs to move up to A64.

Things to look out for: If you use SATA disks, make sure blah blah discard time is set to 1ms otherwise you may get hard disk corruption.

Google for mantaray bios and get the D26 or D27 version.

Your CPU and RAM are pretty weedy, I would try and get a second hand board as you don;t want to invest too much cash in this rig.

This email has been send without warrenty as it is boxing day and I have drunk a large amount of fantastic Italian red wine........

It's also 01;30 and the wife will be coming to give me earache in a minute (which is fair enough)

[soccerdad]

gEd- Thanks, The NF7-M has on board graphics, it appears the other NF7's don't. I got confused with all the choices. Problem now is that board is about $95 which is more than I want to spend on this rebuild. I will keep following these threads as they seem to be going in the same place I am looking. A basic (but stable) socket-a board with on board video will do (usb 2.0 also). I just need to find the nicest of the cheapest!

[gEd]

ah onboard graphics. yes, my pvr mobo (asus A78NX VM400) does have onboard nvidia graphics which was one of the reasons that i got it. the picture quality from the svideo is terrible so i installed a 9600pro instead with passive heatsink. therefore i can't recommend an asus if u want to use onboard graphics.

the pictuare quality may be down to the unshielded slim ribbon cable that you have to use to connect the s-video output up. other manufacturers may offer better solutions.

hth