mobo refuses to work properly -RMA?

[x-anime]

i've decided to list all the problems i'm encountering in a systematic way -if anyone has the time to read through these i would greatly appreciate a bit of help.

 

here are the symptoms (if you will):

 

1) internet connection problems -sometimes msn/bitdefender fails to connect to servers. occasional dropouts of firefox/opera/ie. ---> nothing to do with my isp/modem as my laptop is still working fine.

 

2) selected tasks (e.g. shutting down windows) fails to produce any sort of action. the desktop remains as it is, not locked up, just failing to do anything.

 

3) in bottom right hand corner of taskbar there is a little yellow triangular box with an exclamation mark inside it. moving the cursor over it doesnt do anything, nor does single/double clicking it. it eventually disappears after about a minute.

 

4) xp occasionally takes ages to restart or shutdown, most of the time, i have to power off or reset it.

 

5) xp occasionally fails to boot up -i get to the logon screen and then it hangs, or takes a very long time to load.

 

 

steps taken to resolve these issues:

 

1) memtest86 ran for 8 hrs -no errors

 

2) reformatted hard drive (wd raptor)

-installed nforce 6.53 (cd version) -1st time

-installed nforce 6.70 -2nd time -> have yet to try 6.66

 

3) updated bios using tMod bios update cd v6.5 to latest ver

 

4) increased ram timings to 2.5-3-3-6

 

5) increased cpu voltage to 1.425 / mem voltage to 2.7

 

6) tried running the system just with bare essentials so as not to stress the psu (mobo/cpu/ram/raptor/dvdrw -no other hds)

 

7) checked device manager -no irq conflicts

 

8) didnt install the sata/raid drivers as i'm not using an array (only found this out the other day on this forum -unless you're using a raid array there is no need to hit F6 during xp install? wow.)

 

9) nvidia network access manager / nvidia firewall not enabled

 

10) installed ms dual-core cpu hotfix

 

according to smartguardian my system temps are as follows:

 

cpu - 27-31C idle

system chipset - 44C

panel - 36C

 

 

here's what it could be:

 

-my firewire audio card? -> problems were still apparent before i installed it

 

-windows nemesis v4.0 -> tried using my original windows home etd -didnt work either

 

-someone mentioned buying a pci network adapter -> should i really have to do this? isn't this negating one of the advertised 'working' functions of this product?

 

-my corsair twinx -> don't all manufacturers use the same components at the end of the day? this ram has been working perfectly for over a year now in my old rig.

 

-my wd raptor? -possibly, i have to admit, western digital is now on my hate-list, i've had about 5 hds die over the last 5-6 yrs. no seagates, no maxtors, and one lonely ibm/hitachi. but this raptor has been working fine for the last 18 months...admittedly it has started to whine a little though -good for a RMA or not?

 

 

basically i'm at my wits end. i knew before purchasing this motherboard that DFI boards were notoriously tricky to setup and configure correctly. i dont know, maybe i should have stuck to a safer brand like asus or msi in keeping with my technical know-how. but i'm surprised that looking through this board, just how many problems DFI users encounter. just my 2 cents. i cant help but feel i'm a total idiot and have made a mistake here somewhere -but i've been building pcs for the best part of my life now -about 15 yrs and i've never come across a board as tricky as this one.

 

either that, or the board is f*cked and i should RMA it.

 

i'm sorry to rant and i'll be surprised if anyone actually reads down this far but i'm angry and i dont know why, or at what. (probably myself)

[Redbeaver]

3 things: (yes i read all of it)

 

1. 8) didnt install sata raid. regardless with raid or not, its not the F6 when u load windows etup from the CD. Theres never a need to hit that F6 unless u wanna install RAID when u want to install fresh Windows.

What the forum meant is when u install the Nforce driver package. Click on NO on "Install Nvidia IDE SW?". Thats the nforce's IDE driver that are highly recommended not to install unless ur using RAID. here's the quote

NOTE: NF2/NF3/NF4 OWNERS - DO NOT INSTALL THE SW-IDE DRIVER IN THE NF2/NF3/NF4 CHIPSET PACKAGE UNLESS USING RAID!!! PLEASE UNINSTALL THE CHIPSET DRIVERS AND RE-INSTALL AND TELL THE SW-IDE DRIVER PROMPT TO "NO" AND DO NOT INSTALL THEM!!! SW-IDE DRIVER IS WELL KNOWN FOR HOSING/LOCKING/FREEZING/NO-BOOTING ETC AFTER INSTALLING!!! (it is also well known to make CD-RW/DVD-RW drives not function correctly!)

 

2. do NOT install nvidia active armour firewall.

 

3. windows nemesis 4.0 ?? use normal windows! u said u try windows home too? original? still has the yellow icon with exclamation? thats a hardware instalation failure from windows. -> either ur hardware died or ur nforce drivers screw things up. look at no.1 and 2 above.

 

4. corsairs. regardless some components been working like a charm for the last 200 years, if DFI dont like it, it jsut wont work. its been notoriously known, Corsair is NOT recommended. try another RAM. yes, in the end of the day, most manufacturer use the same package,but differnet chip, differnt PCB, different architecture, different different different. Corsair + DFI = bad.

 

5. install windows not on the Raptor. use the Caviar (dont use the maxtor. look at #4. Maxtor is on DFI's hate list as well.). disconnect everything else. just to see if that Raptor is the problem. ur Raptor probably FUBAR.

 

6. use 6.53 driver set downloaded from nvidia.com, not from CD. and again, no IDE SWE driver, no firewall.

 

7. use other windows CD. Dont use nemesis, dont use strange pirated stuff. use Original. if u still cant get original, piratebay.org, -> windows XP SP2.

 

8. get Beta BIOS from dfi's site.

 

i truly doubt the board is fubar. if i have to take a wild guess, its probably (from most probable to least probable)

a. Windows.

b. Harddrive.

c. Corsair.

[KaollaSu]

Take out all your Hardware except for your system hard drive, optical drive, video card, and memory.

 

You can go ahead and put your memory back at XL speeds of 2-2-2-5 but set the voltage to 2.8. I used the same memory in an Ultra D system and it worked perfectly well.

 

Reinstall XP Pro SP2, nForce 6.70 drivers, and Forceware 81.98 drivers.

 

Play around and test the system for a while.

 

Then install 1 piece of hardware at a time. Test XP performance after each piece of hardware is installed.

[x-anime]

forgot to mention that i managed to get everything working last night -after a reformat, stripped to the bone system running with just the raptor, nforce 6.70, forceware 83.40, had all the windows updates, virus updates etc, all my programs installed...and then i decided to install azureus....and it all f8cked up. after about 2 mins of using azureus, the internet froze and then crashed. i had to switch off the computer and now it doesn't log back on to the net no matter what i do. could THIS be the source of all my problems? surely not...

 

 

i have an original windows xp home etd -but have been using nemesis for over a year now and never had any problems with it. but nuff said, i'll take the advice. probably a tweak in there that DFI doesn't like.

 

-i didnt install the SW driver

 

-or the nvidia active armour

 

i'll give all those other suggestions a go as well, is it also worth taking out one of my sticks of RAM and moving it to slot #2 etc? i read on a few posts but not sure if that was only for the lanparty boards

 

-also having problems with the computer freezing before booting up at the bios load screen. might have to clear the cmos to fix this.

 

 

thx for the advice