A8N-SLI dlx Woes

[StaticEel]

Hi everyone, I have been looking over the Anandtech forums and there seems to be a wealth of knowledge here. There have been several posts about the A8N-SLI Deluxe and I was wondering what any of you could make of my delimma. To get the basics out of the way I'll list my setup first followed by my problem...

A8N-SLI Deluxe tried bios 1001, 1003, 1004(current)
3500+ (stock speed)
Corsair XMS 2x512 sticks
MSI GeForce 6600GT (stock speed)
74gig WD Raptor
120gig WD
Pioneer 16x DVD
MSI CDRW drive
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Antec NeoPower 480watt
Windows XP SP2

Well here goes... My problem is that whenever I restart my PC within a minute of logging into windows my screen goes dark and my machine restarts. It can do this once or twice before it will stop. When it does my computer will run fine for several days. Then something will come up where I will have to restart it all over again. Sometimes it will restart after a few days but this is rare. I first purchased this board in the end of December and about 3 weeks after that it has been giving me this problem. I have updated my drivers, both chipset and video, to the most current as well as tried the 70x?(current) beta drivers. The most recent 71x? beta drivers cause my machine to freeze in games so thats out of the question. Like I mentioned in my setup I have tried many different bios.

Also my graphics card is only running at 8x. I have tried manually setting the card mode in bios as well as switch the selector card several times. I contacted MSI about it and they said it was the motherboard telling the card to run at that speed. Also whenever I log into the PC my screen seems to zoom in on a section which I have to log out then back in for it to go back to the normal size (probably a driver issue and hopefully unrelated). All that is, is an inconvenience.

I contacted ASUS a month ago twice and have as yet received no response and judging from so many posts that they might be backed up. I have checked my voltages as well as testing my ram with memtest86 I think it was and they are all fine. No errors in the memory. Just recently for which I am attempting to RMA my board is the Chipset fan refuses to spin and it is hot enough with the fan on.

In your opinions could it have been chipset fan failing over time that has caused this and could it have caused damage to any of my components on the motherboard? Right now I have a big two 2.5' x 2.5' fan blowing directly into my computer so it is fairly cool but frankly I shouldn't have to do this.

Thanks!

 

[sep]

Search the fourms..think others commented on the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card as a problem with this board.

 

[Thorsson]

Knowing Creative of old I put my Audigy 2 in the middle PCI slot and have had no problems with it.

 

[StaticEel]

Thanks I'll try that out tonight and see if it works. None the less I am still going to try and RMA my board seeing as how the chipset fan isn't working.

 

[FastEddie]

If the selector card is inserted wrong, you'll have the graphics card reported as 8X instead of 16x as it should be in single card mode. Make sure the single arrow on the selector card is pointed into the selector slot, and you are using the top PCI-E port for your 6600GT. Display properties should then show the card running in 16X.

With Corsair memory, you need to manually set the vdimm to 2.75v.

Lastly, the Antec Neo480 is a dual rail psu. Some work pretty well, some don't---depends on how strong the internal components are when the psu is made. you can't go wrong with a single rail psu with at least 25a on the 12v rail. That eliminates power as an issue.

 

[StaticEel]

Well I got home and went straight to my computer to change my SB Audigy 2 to the middle PCI slot and wow it's already there. So scratch that idea hehe. In regards to the selector slot, my card is in the top slot and I tried both positions and neither of them let it run at 16x.

I have also changed my vdimm voltage to 2.75 oh and I disabled command queuing on my raptor drive. Still no go...

On the power issue I hope it isn't my powersupply, I really like it and the reason I purchased it was because I was having similar issues on a single rail Enermax 431 watt PS that was installed in it so first thought that came to my mind was the PS.

 

[sep]

Pull the sound card and give it a try. On board sound isn't that bad to test.

 

[FastEddie]

Still no 16X with a single 6600GT? Try clearing the cmos, then enter the cmos setup and configure your system specific settings.

 

[StaticEel]

Well I RMA'd my motherboard today because of the chipset fan. When it gets back hopefully the problems will be gone... I am praying...

Thanks guys