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[Diablos]

So I just put together an MSI nForce system (K7N2M/K7N2GM Series), MicroATX... 512mb of Kingston memory, 80gb hard drive, Athlon XP 2500+, 300W Antec power supply.

Even though I have tried two floppy drives, they always work as if you have the IDE cable plugged in backwards, when it actually isn't. This tells me something is wrong with a controller somewhere on the board...?

When trying to run Windows Setup (booting from the XP cd), after it loads all the drivers and files needed, and says "Setup is Starting Windows" or whatever at the bottom, it friggin' locks up. Sometimes it locks up right after the POST screen.

First I thought it was incompatible memory. So I removed the memory in the board, took a few DIMMs out of this board and tried them; same results.

Then I used this hard drive; same result.

Then I downloaded the latest firmware update and booted using the ultimate boot CD, then swapped discs and flashed the BIOS. Didn't do a damn thing to help. It successfully flashed, but it did not fix my problem... so it's gotta be something physical I'm guessing.

So it's either that or the CPU, right? Correct. I then took out the Athlon and put it in this A7N8X Deluxe board. Worked FINE.. Windows booted, and I even tried booting from the Windows XP disc I was trying to use on the other machine. No problems whatsoever.

The only other possbility is that a 300W power supply can't efficently power an nForce board, but I doubt that's the case. The mobo has onboard GeForce 4 VGA, and then there's the CPU, DVD-R drive, floppy, RAM... that's about it. A 300W (especially Antec) should be able to handle that.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments please help me out. Also, how long does it take to RMA with Newegg?

This sucks...

 

[Diablos]

 

[Gattsu25]

I then took out the Athlon and put it in this A7N8X Deluxe board. Worked FINE.. Windows booted, and I even tried booting from the Windows XP disc I was trying to use on the other machine. No problems whatsoever.

This sucks...

Spoiler

.

 

[Diablos]

Spoiler

.

WTF is that supposed to mean

 

[Synbios459]

I've been having a similar problem. I built a computer for a friend, and when I try to install XP it'll boot to the screen, and then tell me it's missing some DLL files, even though it never said so during install. Other times it will say it can't read them. The disc is scratch-free.

 

[shuri]

99.9% of chance that your ram is bad. I'll bet my delicious fanboy chicken wings on it, Diablo

 

[Diablos]

Why the hell would it be my RAM? I tired three other Kingston DIMMs -- two made by Hynix, one made by Samsung... they gave me the same problem. I know they're Kingston but they are also made by different companies, and the Kingston one I got for the MSI board is made by... yet another company, never seen their logo before.

It would've had to work with one of the DIMMs...

edit - Not to mention the other DIMMs I tried work fine in my A7N8X deluxe ever since I bought them over a year ago...

Fuck you MSI, fuck you up the ASS.

 

[SickBoy]

What speed is the RAM?

I've read -- on more than one occasion -- that the nForce boards with onboard video are picky with RAM and often may not run with faster specced RAM than the processor requires.

From the specs: Supports DDR266/333 with internal graphic core, DDR266/333/400 with external add-on card.

So if you're running PC3200, that could be the problem.

Also, the 1.1 bios apparently sucks, and if that's what it's running you need to upgrade.

-SB

 

[Diablos]

I updated the bios last night.

I am using PC3200 memory but I had it clocked at 166MHz and not 200MHz, so the board thinks it's PC2700... so that really doesn't matter, I don't think. Plus, the other DIMMs I tried were PC2700. Still didn't work. I hate MSI. I've been reading forums about their boards, and I see nothing but complaints of it not working with just about EVERY popular memory manufacturer.

 

[ElyrionX]

Uhhh, I don't get it. Are you asking for help or are you just simply venting?

Since you have already isolated the problem to the mobo, you should be getting an exchange for the faulty mobo.....

Anyway, yeah, MSI's mobos suck big time. I used one couple of years back and it had problems right from the start and crapped out on me totally after only 2 years.........

 

[teh_pwn]

I hear Asus makes the best AMD mobos, and Abit the best intel.

Sometimes you just screw up with mobos. Before I got my awesome rig, I screwed up and got an Asus P4R800V-Deluxe. Bad overclocking, terrible with SATA HDDs, and benched worse than a two year old mobo with a P4 2.0 A. Terrible mobo. Then I did some hardcore research and got an Abit IC7 Max III and couldn't be happier.

 

[Diablos]

Asus DID make the best mobos until they gave their MicroATX ones POS flash ROM. The bios always goes bad.

 

[Crispy]

Anyway, yeah, MSI's mobos suck big time. I used one couple of years back and it had problems right from the start and crapped out on me totally after only 2 years.........

:O My MSI mobo is tha best! I've had it for four, maybe five years now and my 350 mhz computer can still do everything high-end PC's can do, and pretty fast too. Except for games...but whatever. Anyway...I love my MSI.

 

[Diablos]

WELL then, perhaps they don't make 'em like they used to.

And yes, I am venting. From now on, MSI stands for Motherfucking Stupid Incompatibilities.

 

[Crispy]

Yeah probably, and I don't actually know that much about hardware. Good luck getting your comp to work though!

 

[Diablos]

Now some dude is telling me it's the PSU. Maybe I should try my 380W PSU.

 

[Incognito]

Haha. You're fucked.

Cheerio!

 

[Diablos]

Nah, I know what I'm doing.

Stop being a jerk; I don't bother you, stop bothering me.

 

[Incognito]

Nah, I know what I'm doing.

Stop being a jerk; I don't bother you, stop bothering me.

Where's the fun in that?

 

[DaCocoBrova]

MSI makes great mobos. Don't hate.

 

[Shompola]

SOunds like your POS MSI is picky about memory dimms. And to be sure test agp or pci graphics card and see what happens.

And yes MSI is POS.

 

[Diablos]

Get this.. I can only EXCHANGE IT. I want my money back newegg, you fuckers
I should've just bought that $55 Asus VIA board for athlon XP cpu's... prolly would have worked like a charm. And yes I did test it with an AGP card, and it did the same thing. However, the monitor did flicker before it locked up with the AGP card.

 

[The Bookerman]

DFI Lan Party Mobo's rule.

Go buy one now.

 

[Diablos]

Newegg owes me some money, first... bitches. I can't believe them.

 

[ElyrionX]

Why don't you try an exchange first. Maybe all you got was a faulty piece of mobo?

And no, I seriously don't think its the PSU. Like you said, a 300W (especially an Antec) should definitely have enough juice to fuel that system of yours.....

 

[Diablos]

Turns out it was the power supply after all... an Antec 380W PSU fixed my problem.

 

[Poody]

Alot of people dont know this but majority of the problems are from insufficient power or a bad PSU. I suggest try with another PSU first before doing anything else.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Quick question concerning RAM...

I currently use 1GB of PC2700 CL2.5...

I just got my hands on 1GB of PC3200 CL3...

Both Crucial brand.

Which do I keep? The CAS latency is what's holding me back.

 

[dem]

low cas is overrated
you wont notice shit

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Cool...

 

[LinesInTheSand]

Uhhh, I don't get it. Are you asking for help or are you just simply venting?

Since you have already isolated the problem to the mobo, you should be getting an exchange for the faulty mobo.....

Anyway, yeah, MSI's mobos suck big time. I used one couple of years back and it had problems right from the start and crapped out on me totally after only 2 years.........

I used an MSI board for my Athlon XP system and I'm using one now for my Athlon 64 system and both have been great...

 

[LinesInTheSand]

Turns out it was the power supply after all... an Antec 380W PSU fixed my problem.

LOL, Idiot... after all that shit talking you directed at MSI. Morons shouldn't build computers...

 

[Diablos]

Actually, 300W power supplies for even today's motherboards still works, especially if you are using onboard VGA instead of your own AGP card, which I ended up doing in this case. One of my friends from school has used a 300W PSU in his athlon xp system for over a year now, so shove it.

MSI boards use the 4-pin Molex Connector that a lot of boards do not use, and while I noticed that it did, I had no idea it would require a significant amount of extra power.

Besides, just because everything worked out for me doesn't mean anything. A lot of people have problems with MSI. I just got lucky

I take back a lot of things I said about this board - it runs cool, as does the CPU (28C). You can overclock it in Windows (but I have no desire to). Onboard VGA is great for general application and light game use. And it's compact; the MicroATX form factor should replace standard ATX. Why do you need 5 PCI slots?