Snoog, have you tried updating the USB 2.0 driver from control panel? After you double-click on the driver file and it extracts to the Abit folder, go into control panel and right click on the USB 2.0 listing with the question mark next to it, select update driver, and browse to the Abit folder and file you extracted. That's what I did and it worked like a peach.
I put the BE7 in last night but my girlfriend wouldn't let me stay up to reinstall XP and drivers (she made me an offer I couldn't refuse) so I got up early and started playing. So far, my 1.8A C1 is running totally stable at 2.88 (160 FSB) with XMS3200 512MB (single stick) running 4:5 at DDR400 2-2-2-5. I only bumped vcore to +5% and temps are solid at idle 42 CPU / 35 System. I love this Alpha 8942! I've got a quiet 32CFM fan that's sucking air away from the heatsink and it's doing a great job. I'm going to run some benchmarks at 2.88 and then see what I can get for a max OC. Wish me luck!
About the boot issues - only one warm-boot issue so far after a couple dozen reboots. No cold boot issues at all. The only time I lost video was on a reboot from a DOS prompt during setup when I pressed the reset button. I've probably restarted XP two dozen times with no probs. Have started up from a cold boot three times so far with no issues.
Thanks for all the great info Thugs, PJ, and everyone! I may start a new thread with my OC and benchmark results a little later.