GPL + A7V133 + V5500 PCI

Hello, I've recently built myself a system based around an ASUS A7V133 (1.05), Athlon C 1.2GHz, Voodoo5 5500 PCI, ELSA MicroLink 56k PCI, 256Mb PC133, Maxtor 40Gb ATA100, Fujitsu 10Gb ATA33, CD R/RW 2x2x24 and 300W PSU. The CD ROM runs of the IDE controller, while the two HDD's run from the Promise controller. The software installed in Windows 98SE, VIA 4-in-1 4.25 (INF driver 1.02 and GART only (for when I tried my old AGP TNT card)), Promise driver (from supplied CD), audio driver (ditto), USB patch for K7 (ditto), Saitek R4 Force Wheel driver, DirectX 8.0a, Voodoo5 5500 1.04 drivers. GPL was patched to 1.2 and had the disconnect fix applied. Generally, the system seems to run fine, but in GPL I get blue screens fairly randomly but regularly. Somtimes I can do a race or to (online or offline) before it fails, while other times it fails before even qualifying is over. The error I get is "Exception 0E at 0028:C000A4B0 in VXD VMM(01) + 000094B0". I've tried my ald AGP TNT card in DirectX mode and it fails too. More to the point, it doesn't seem to matter which graphics card I use (TNT in D3D mode or V5500 in 3Dfx or D3D mode), the error I get is always identical (even the address and offset!). I would conclude from this that it isn't a graphics card problem - do you agree? I've tried running in software rendering mode, and that seems reliable, though I need to use it more to be sure. I have a suspicion that it may be the motherboard that is at fault, as it was sealed with a piece of ordinary sticky tape and so may have been returned before already. I have tried many things, from different RAM modules, graphics cards, BIOS settings, 4-in-1 driver versions (4.25 and 4.28), reinstalled DirextX 8.0a, reinstalled drivers, and a whole lot of other things, but now I'm really stuck. Please, can anyone help me? In particular, if anyone has a similar system, could you please tell me what all your BIOS settings are and what drivers you have installed? Thanks, Andrew.

first off, there is a much newer 4in1 driver set available for your motherboard. you have 4.25 i think they are up to 4.31 or 4.32. Give those a try first. From my experience, Blue screens usually are the fault of one program misbehaving. Recently I have reformatted and re-installed windows several times on two different drives. If I try and run some programs that were installed while windows was on my d:\ drive...they will bsod often. if i go backwards and reinstall those programs so they are properly written into the registry to match which drive I have windows on, they seem to run fine. Try shutting down as many background tasks as possible, perhaps one of those is conflicting with GPL. Your 1.04 drivers for your V5 should be ok...check the date on them, Febuary 2000 is a good target to shoot for.(has it been a year & a half since the V5 debut'd??) voodoosource.com might have newer drivers for your card. Good luck..GPL usually is a pretty stable program. hope you get it figured out. dave henrie "Andrew Hollom" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:GlH%6.43887$[email hidden]... > Hello, > > I've recently built myself a system based around an ASUS A7V133 (1.05), > Athlon C 1.2GHz, Voodoo5 5500 PCI, ELSA MicroLink 56k PCI, 256Mb PC133, > Maxtor 40Gb ATA100, Fujitsu 10Gb ATA33, CD R/RW 2x2x24 and 300W PSU. TheCD

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> ROM runs of the IDE controller, while the two HDD's run from the Promise > controller. The software installed in Windows 98SE, VIA 4-in-1 4.25 (INF > driver 1.02 and GART only (for when I tried my old AGP TNT card)), Promise > driver (from supplied CD), audio driver (ditto), USB patch for K7 (ditto), > Saitek R4 Force Wheel driver, DirectX 8.0a, Voodoo5 5500 1.04 drivers. GPL > was patched to 1.2 and had the disconnect fix applied. > > Generally, the system seems to run fine, but in GPL I get blue screens > fairly randomly but regularly. Somtimes I can do a race or to (online or > offline) before it fails, while other times it fails before even

qualifying > is over. The error I get is "Exception 0E at 0028:C000A4B0 in VXD VMM(01)+ > 000094B0". > > I've tried my ald AGP TNT card in DirectX mode and it fails too. More tothe > point, it doesn't seem to matter which graphics card I use (TNT in D3Dmode > or V5500 in 3Dfx or D3D mode), the error I get is always identical (eventhe > address and offset!). I would conclude from this that it isn't a graphics > card problem - do you agree? I've tried running in software renderingmode,

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> and that seems reliable, though I need to use it more to be sure. > > I have a suspicion that it may be the motherboard that is at fault, as it > was sealed with a piece of ordinary sticky tape and so may have been > returned before already. > > I have tried many things, from different RAM modules, graphics cards, BIOS > settings, 4-in-1 driver versions (4.25 and 4.28), reinstalled DirextX

8.0a,

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> reinstalled drivers, and a whole lot of other things, but now I'm really > stuck. > > Please, can anyone help me? In particular, if anyone has a similar system, > could you please tell me what all your BIOS settings are and what drivers > you have installed? > > Thanks, > > > Andrew. > >

I wouldn't say that it's not a graphics card, despite the fact that you get the same problem with both cards. Is the system stable for other programs? Windows, internet, other 3d games? It may be caused by conflicting interrupts, as the AGP port shares it's irq with one of the pci slots. You mentioned an internal pci modem - any other cards? Sound is onboard? Try removing all pci cards, or at least swapping slots, so that different irq's are used, see if that has any effect. If it only occurs in 3d mode, then I'd suggest that it almost certainly is video card related, but not the actual card itself. Maybe the mobo or the AGP port. See how you go and report back! Rafe Mc On Sun, 01 Jul 2001 15:29:42 GMT, "Andrew Hollom" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Hello, > >I've recently built myself a system based around an ASUS A7V133 (1.05), >Athlon C 1.2GHz, Voodoo5 5500 PCI, ELSA MicroLink 56k PCI, 256Mb PC133, >Maxtor 40Gb ATA100, Fujitsu 10Gb ATA33, CD R/RW 2x2x24 and 300W PSU. The CD >ROM runs of the IDE controller, while the two HDD's run from the Promise >controller. The software installed in Windows 98SE, VIA 4-in-1 4.25 (INF >driver 1.02 and GART only (for when I tried my old AGP TNT card)), Promise >driver (from supplied CD), audio driver (ditto), USB patch for K7 (ditto), >Saitek R4 Force Wheel driver, DirectX 8.0a, Voodoo5 5500 1.04 drivers. GPL >was patched to 1.2 and had the disconnect fix applied. > >Generally, the system seems to run fine, but in GPL I get blue screens >fairly randomly but regularly. Somtimes I can do a race or to (online or >offline) before it fails, while other times it fails before even qualifying >is over. The error I get is "Exception 0E at 0028:C000A4B0 in VXD VMM(01) + >000094B0". > >I've tried my ald AGP TNT card in DirectX mode and it fails too. More to the >point, it doesn't seem to matter which graphics card I use (TNT in D3D mode >or V5500 in 3Dfx or D3D mode), the error I get is always identical (even the >address and offset!). I would conclude from this that it isn't a graphics >card problem - do you agree? I've tried running in software rendering mode, >and that seems reliable, though I need to use it more to be sure. > >I have a suspicion that it may be the motherboard that is at fault, as it >was sealed with a piece of ordinary sticky tape and so may have been >returned before already. > >I have tried many things, from different RAM modules, graphics cards, BIOS >settings, 4-in-1 driver versions (4.25 and 4.28), reinstalled DirextX 8.0a, >reinstalled drivers, and a whole lot of other things, but now I'm really >stuck. > >Please, can anyone help me? In particular, if anyone has a similar system, >could you please tell me what all your BIOS settings are and what drivers >you have installed? > >Thanks, > > >Andrew. >

On Mon, 02 Jul 2001 09:36:09 GMT, [email hidden] (Rafe McAuliffe) wrote:

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>I wouldn't say that it's not a graphics card, despite the fact that >you get the same problem with both cards. Is the system stable for >other programs? Windows, internet, other 3d games? > >It may be caused by conflicting interrupts, as the AGP port shares >it's irq with one of the pci slots. You mentioned an internal pci >modem - any other cards? Sound is onboard? > >Try removing all pci cards, or at least swapping slots, so that >different irq's are used, see if that has any effect. > >If it only occurs in 3d mode, then I'd suggest that it almost >certainly is video card related, but not the actual card itself. Maybe >the mobo or the AGP port. > >See how you go and report back! > >Rafe Mc

Another thought is that it may be bad RAM sector, or that the slot is no good. That may be why you can race for only a few minutes. or a couple of races. If you can get hold of some old RAM, or at least change the slots, that will at least rule out the possibility. Rafe Mc

Thanks for the reply Rafe. I'm using the onboard AC97 audio, so there's no sound card as such, though it does still count as a PCI device. The only other cards are the modem (PCI) and V5500 (PCI). There is no AGP card fitted normally, though I tried my old AGP TNT card just to see if it was the V5500 that was the problem. I've tried the system without the modem, but it still fails. I've also tried moving the V5500 around, but still no luck. The problem does only seem to be 3D related, as Windows has not had a single problem (yet!). I have this sneeking feeling that it is the motherboard or CPU, but probably the former. I have since found that it also fails in Nascar 4 too, again with exactly the same error at exactly the same address and offset. I'm going to try a friends CPU tomorrow to check that out, but please keep the replies coming. Andrew. Rafe McAuliffe <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> I wouldn't say that it's not a graphics card, despite the fact that > you get the same problem with both cards. Is the system stable for > other programs? Windows, internet, other 3d games? > > It may be caused by conflicting interrupts, as the AGP port shares > it's irq with one of the pci slots. You mentioned an internal pci > modem - any other cards? Sound is onboard? > > Try removing all pci cards, or at least swapping slots, so that > different irq's are used, see if that has any effect. > > If it only occurs in 3d mode, then I'd suggest that it almost > certainly is video card related, but not the actual card itself. Maybe > the mobo or the AGP port. > > See how you go and report back! > > Rafe Mc > > > On Sun, 01 Jul 2001 15:29:42 GMT, "Andrew Hollom" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >Hello, > > > >I've recently built myself a system based around an ASUS A7V133 (1.05), > >Athlon C 1.2GHz, Voodoo5 5500 PCI, ELSA MicroLink 56k PCI, 256Mb PC133, > >Maxtor 40Gb ATA100, Fujitsu 10Gb ATA33, CD R/RW 2x2x24 and 300W PSU. The

CD > >ROM runs of the IDE controller, while the two HDD's run from the Promise > >controller. The software installed in Windows 98SE, VIA 4-in-1 4.25 (INF > >driver 1.02 and GART only (for when I tried my old AGP TNT card)),Promise > >driver (from supplied CD), audio driver (ditto), USB patch for K7(ditto), > >Saitek R4 Force Wheel driver, DirectX 8.0a, Voodoo5 5500 1.04 drivers.GPL > >was patched to 1.2 and had the disconnect fix applied. > > > >Generally, the system seems to run fine, but in GPL I get blue screens > >fairly randomly but regularly. Somtimes I can do a race or to (online or > >offline) before it fails, while other times it fails before evenqualifying > >is over. The error I get is "Exception 0E at 0028:C000A4B0 in VXD VMM(01)+ > >000094B0". > > > >I've tried my ald AGP TNT card in DirectX mode and it fails too. More tothe > >point, it doesn't seem to matter which graphics card I use (TNT in D3Dmode > >or V5500 in 3Dfx or D3D mode), the error I get is always identical (eventhe > >address and offset!). I would conclude from this that it isn't a graphics > >card problem - do you agree? I've tried running in software renderingmode,

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> >and that seems reliable, though I need to use it more to be sure. > > > >I have a suspicion that it may be the motherboard that is at fault, as it > >was sealed with a piece of ordinary sticky tape and so may have been > >returned before already. > > > >I have tried many things, from different RAM modules, graphics cards,

BIOS > >settings, 4-in-1 driver versions (4.25 and 4.28), reinstalled DirextX8.0a, > >reinstalled drivers, and a whole lot of other things, but now I'm really > >stuck. > > > >Please, can anyone help me? In particular, if anyone has a similarsystem,

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> >could you please tell me what all your BIOS settings are and what drivers > >you have installed? > > > >Thanks, > > > > > >Andrew. > > >

Andrew... I had an ASUS A7v133.....finally had to get rid of it. Its a totally "buggy" board (so is their P3V4x as well). ASUS is pretty famous for putting crap product on the market...and never fixing it. There were some "workarounds" for your issue (I had it too....but don't remember them....this has been about six months ago). From what you wrote in your original post...it sounds like you've covered most of the bases with checking for bad RAM modules, etc. The only small thing I can add to try is try activating the "Memory Hole at...." in your BIOS (its probably set to "disable"....set it to "enable" and test run GPL). By the way, what is your 3DMark2000 scores with this box? (Don't bother with 3DMark2001.....it virtually won't run on your system.) 3DMark2000 is not only a very good 3D gaming box, benchmarking program....it will stress the hell out of your gaming rig and bring all those little problems to the surface. I use it even to burn in CPU's when I plan on overclocking them....it works great for this purpose (it was this fact that finally sent the A7V to the trash bin). As a general issue.....you've spent a fair amount of money to build a very fast gaming platform.....AGP4x, lots of RAM (doesn't that mobo take PC2100 RAM, though??? maybe not) and so forth. Why then, put a 3D card into that system that can't really use any of it? The V5 does not use the AGP port at all....its essentially a PCI card (operationally). You've invested good money....why not a little more for an GF2-ULTRA....and your system will S.C.R.E.A.M. As it is now...its just a "fast Volkswagen"....you know? Go "hog all out" and put in a GF3 (especially if you play other PC gaming....FPS stuff in particular)? Wish I could have been more helpful..... Regards, Tom

Tom, Thanks for your reply, but I cannot see the memory hole option in the BIOS. My old FIC VA-503+ had the option, and a friends ABIT KT7 has it, but I can't see it on this damned ASUS A7V133!!!! Is it called something else? By the way, I understand what you're saying about the V5500 (which IS a PCI card!), but I use GPL a lot, and I find that it performs the best of all cards for this game, though my only comparision is an almost identical system I built for my father that uses an AGP Radeon VIVO 64Mb. I'm sure one day I'll change it though! Thanks, Andrew. Tom Pabst <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Cf307.146661$%[email hidden]...

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> Andrew... > > I had an ASUS A7v133.....finally had to get rid of it. Its a totally > "buggy" board (so is their P3V4x as well). ASUS is pretty famous for > putting crap product on the market...and never fixing it. There were some > "workarounds" for your issue (I had it too....but don't remember > them....this has been about six months ago). From what you wrote in your > original post...it sounds like you've covered most of the bases with > checking for bad RAM modules, etc. The only small thing I can add to try

is > try activating the "Memory Hole at...." in your BIOS (its probably set to > "disable"....set it to "enable" and test run GPL). By the way, what isyour > 3DMark2000 scores with this box? (Don't bother with 3DMark2001.....it > virtually won't run on your system.) 3DMark2000 is not only a very good3D > gaming box, benchmarking program....it will stress the hell out of your > gaming rig and bring all those little problems to the surface. I use it > even to burn in CPU's when I plan on overclocking them....it works greatfor > this purpose (it was this fact that finally sent the A7V to the trashbin). > > As a general issue.....you've spent a fair amount of money to build a very > fast gaming platform.....AGP4x, lots of RAM (doesn't that mobo take PC2100 > RAM, though??? maybe not) and so forth. Why then, put a 3D card intothat > system that can't really use any of it? The V5 does not use the AGP portat

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> all....its essentially a PCI card (operationally). You've invested good > money....why not a little more for an GF2-ULTRA....and your system will > S.C.R.E.A.M. As it is now...its just a "fast Volkswagen"....you know? Go > "hog all out" and put in a GF3 (especially if you play other PC > gaming....FPS stuff in particular)? > > Wish I could have been more helpful..... > > Regards, > > Tom > > >

Sorry Tom.. have to totally disagree with you about ASUS products and their reputation. They are some of the most stable motherboards on the market and have a reputation as such. I currently have a CUSL2 that I have been using for almost a year and it is as solid as they come. I helped a friend build two P3-866 on P3V4X systems with the AGP GART driver 3.59 which worked perfectly fine. We upgraded to the 4.02 released back in May and gained a marginal speed increase, but still remained as solid as can be. Both systems run great and have not crashed on any Sandra or 3dmark 2001 test runs with GeForce 2 Ultra 64mb cards. Now of course there are better boards now available to do the job, since the P3V4X has been around for awhile.... the only motherboards I will build a system on are ASUS. -- Scott B. Husted ICQ# 4395450 http://www.Husted.cc "Tom Pabst" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Cf307.146661$%[email hidden]... > Andrew... > > ASUS is pretty famous for > putting crap product on the market...and never fixing it.

Sorry Scott, I'm agreeing with Tom on this one, Asus seem to have a "hit and miss" thing with mobos. My bro's a7v is quite buggy, sometimes it'll be fine, but one slight change and it'll be stuffed. Maybe it's just the a7v series, because I've quite a few complaints about them. Their irq sharing is very dodgy too, it leaves 3 free, them jams everything else onto 2 or 3 others. But I've also heard many ppl who are very happy with them, so I think their quality control is letting too many bad boards slip through the net. Rafe Mc On Mon, 2 Jul 2001 18:39:08 -0400, "Scott B. Husted" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Sorry Tom.. have to totally disagree with you about ASUS products and their >reputation. They are some of the most stable motherboards on the market >and have a reputation as such. > >I currently have a CUSL2 that I have been using for almost a year and it is >as solid as they come. I helped a friend build two P3-866 on P3V4X systems >with the AGP GART driver 3.59 which worked perfectly fine. We upgraded to >the 4.02 released back in May and gained a marginal speed increase, but >still remained as solid as can be. Both systems run great and have not >crashed on any Sandra or 3dmark 2001 test runs with GeForce 2 Ultra 64mb >cards. > >Now of course there are better boards now available to do the job, since the >P3V4X has been around for awhile.... the only motherboards I will build a >system on are ASUS.

Well at least that rules out the AGP issues, and irq issues. When you borrow that cpu, borrow his RAM as well and test that. I think you may simply have a dud mobo, unfortunately. I had a new Abit board not that long ago, seemed to crash for no reason every so often. I replaced it with an Iwill board, not one crash since! Another thing to look at may be your power supply. Those V5's chew a LOT of power, so maybe there's an intermittent problem there. What resolution do you run? Obviously the higher res settings will chew more power and stress the system more. The same address and offset could mean memory problems, so definitely test out your friend's RAM. HTH Rafe Mc On Mon, 02 Jul 2001 18:29:25 GMT, "Andrew Hollom" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Thanks for the reply Rafe. I'm using the onboard AC97 audio, so there's no >sound card as such, though it does still count as a PCI device. The only >other cards are the modem (PCI) and V5500 (PCI). There is no AGP card fitted >normally, though I tried my old AGP TNT card just to see if it was the V5500 >that was the problem. I've tried the system without the modem, but it still >fails. I've also tried moving the V5500 around, but still no luck. > >The problem does only seem to be 3D related, as Windows has not had a single >problem (yet!). I have this sneeking feeling that it is the motherboard or >CPU, but probably the former. > >I have since found that it also fails in Nascar 4 too, again with exactly >the same error at exactly the same address and offset. I'm going to try a >friends CPU tomorrow to check that out, but please keep the replies coming. > > >Andrew. >

In article <Cf307.146661$%[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom Pabst) wrote: > Andrew... > > I had an ASUS A7v133.....finally had to get rid of it. Its a totally > "buggy" board (so is their P3V4x as well). ASUS is pretty famous for > putting crap product on the market...and never fixing it. Hmm, I don't agree with this at all, maybe I'm biased cos I've got an ASUS A7V also, but mine works fine! (with GPL and every other game/sim/program I've ever thrown at it). And one of the reasons I built my system (Yes, I build my own systems) based on an Asus A7V, was because they were getting very good reviews (at Toms Hardware & AnandTech's websites) and have a very good reputation for reliability and their ability to be overclocked and be tweaked. I think the problem this guy is having is probably a set-up or driver issue. The hardware should work fine. (I personally would never have a m/b with onboard sound or graphics though). 8-) *Peter* - http://www.cix.co.uk/~peterpc/home.html

Scott.... A year ago......I would have agreed with you as well, I was a solid ASUS customer then as well. But in the last 6 months....ASUS has changed....or should I say, "they have failed to keep product reliability in line with their historic reputation." Both mobo's you refer to in your post represent "last generation" hardware. The current gen hardware from ASUS is buggy...and even includes the occasional "design flaw"....exemplified by the A7V133 being built as a "overclocking" mobo....but they put a resister so close to the CPU bay that you can not get anything but a "stock" fan/cooler to fit on the AMD chip! That's clearly a design flaw....and resulted in some 40% of those boards being returned the first week they were released. ASUS...did not stand behind them...would not allow them to be returned. They have since recanted.....but they did try to get away with it.....didn't they? Further, your CUSL2 mobo has IRQ assignment problems up the ass....check the boards! You are probably just "lucky" yours works. On the P3V4X you "helped a friend with"......I guess "help" is a relative term? If you are using the "AGP GART" driver...that's a generic AGP driver and its no wonder you aren't having problems...you're likely running the mobo in 1xAGP un-accelerated mode! None of us would have problems if we were doing the same! That mobo has a VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset on it (VIA northbridge chipset) and requires the VIA "4in1" drivers in order to activate the AGP acceleration functions of the board. Perhaps you are mistaken about this GART driver? Regarding your comments on "benchmarks" running with no problems/crashes.....Hmmmm? The SiSoft Sandra utility does not have a benchmark for video 3D acceleration....so what are you benchmarking? And, 3DMark2001 is designed and created to benchmark only systems with an Nvidia GF3 video card.......that's not what you have is it? You should be using 3DMark2000 for benchmarking your friends computer...its a complete useless waste of time to run 3DMark2001 on a non-GF3 system. Scott....you can "talk the talk"....but you can not "walk the walk".....and that's the same reason you and I had a falling out....business wise, nearly two years ago! Since then you have taken "shots" at me every time you get a chance.....particularly over the Tim McArthur issue...and I know for a fact you had no "facts" about that issue whatsoever! This post you made above is just another example of "taking shots" at me. I can not believe you are stupid enough to have actually helped a friend build two computer systems with the wrong drivers installed for the mobo. No, more likely....you just decided to "wank off" some fancy talk and look like you knew what you were talking about.....and hoping the average non-tech, "unsuspecting" r.a.s. reader would think you were right....and I was wrong! Crap Scott....you are too talented of a person to waste your time doing this junk! When you started your new website business....I encouraged you....even though it meant you would become in direct competition with me. When that venture failed....I never once took the opportunity to say "I told you so." Did I? No......I never had anything to say publicly about you except positive things. I'd liked it if over the last two years you'd taken the same tactic with me. But, you chose not to do that.......yet I have not once ever responded to your crap. But this time.....I have had enough of you. You represent such a complete waste of good talent....it such a shame. Tom Pabst

Tom Pabst wrote: > > Scott.... > snip > > But this time.....I have had enough of you. You represent such a complete > waste of good talent....it such a shame. > > Tom Pabst Yeah Scott, you're such a waste of good talent.......how dare you post something like that, what a waste of precious bandwidth your post was, I hope you're really proud of yourself now You capitalist pig you Beers and cheers (uncle) Goy "A woman is an occasional pleasure but a cigar is always a smoke" --Groucho Marx--

Goy....you're always such a kidder! ....lol... Tom

;) -- Scott B. Husted ICQ# 4395450 http://www.Husted.cc "Goy Larsen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Tom Pabst wrote: > > > > Scott.... > > > snip > > > > But this time.....I have had enough of you. You represent such a complete > > waste of good talent....it such a shame. > > > > Tom Pabst > > Yeah Scott, you're such a waste of good talent.......how dare you post > something like that, what a waste of precious bandwidth your post was, I > hope you're really proud of yourself now > > You capitalist pig you > > > Beers and cheers > (uncle) Goy > > "A woman is an occasional pleasure but a cigar is always a smoke" > --Groucho Marx--

Tom, Unlike you, I won't write 10 paragraphs to try and impress and make a simple point. You come off as a know-it all @ss who speaks condescending to just about everyone. Lastly, you really shouldn't speak about what you don't know and the reason we had a business 'falling out' was the fact I ended it with you for the above reason. Back to my original thread post.. I disagree with your assessment of ASUS and I think there are many websites run by individuals far, FAR more tech savy and knowledgeable than I who agree with me about ASUS products. That is not to say there may very well be problems with the model product you mention, that I do not know. However, every experience I have ever had with ASUS has been solid and my CUSL2 board(s), work perfectly fine. Thus, I DISAGREE. -- Scott B. Husted ICQ# 4395450 http://www.Husted.cc

Scott.... I spent a whole year not responding to you.....I thought "10 paragraphs" was pretty short! .....lol.... Tom