has the word on Via changed?

B

Basslord1124

New member
Well currently, my supposed recording PC that I had just finished is at a friend's house (one who is knowledgable about computers) trying to get the damn thing to work. Apparently what is happening is after saving changes in BIOS the whole thing powers down. He says he even tried installing Windows 2000 but it freezes up. He also said he's never had a problems like this with other motherboards he has worked on. Currently this is what the system looks like:

Asus A7S333 (SiS 745 chipset)
Athlon XP1800 w/ Taisol cooler
256MB PC2100 DDR
ATI XPERT 2000 Pro 32MB 4x AGP video card
2 40 gig Seagate (7200RPM) hard drives
Sony 48x12x48 CDRW
Sony Floppy Drive
Antec case & power supply (300W)
2 case fans

My friend told me that he recommended replacing the current motherboard with a different brand or whatever. If I do happen to replace the motherboard with another from the same retailer I bought it from (monarch computer) that leaves me with mainly Via motherboards. So should I take a chance on Via or not? Any other suggestions for motherboards (I don't want RAID and preferably something at a max of $100)? And I'm sure I have mentioned this before...the soundcard I'm going for is the Audiophile 2496. Thanks again. ;)
 
I think anything now a days from via is gonna be fine.....however i'd send an email to m-audio, asking them to suggest some good tested versions with the audiophile - i did that when i was buying a new comp and a delta 44...they sent me a list, i bought one on the list - works great.
 
Just use the latest 4-in-1 VIA drivers, and you'll be allright (is my experience, anyway)... :)
 
Basslord1124 said:

Asus A7S333 (SiS 745 chipset)
Athlon XP1800 w/ Taisol cooler
256MB PC2100 DDR
ATI XPERT 2000 Pro 32MB 4x AGP video card
2 40 gig Seagate (7200RPM) hard drives
Sony 48x12x48 CDRW
Sony Floppy Drive
Antec case & power supply (300W)
2 case fans

My friend told me that he recommended replacing the current motherboard with a different brand or whatever.
Click to expand...

Asus = A+ and the SiS 745 is a very good performing chipset.
Your motherboard may be defective and if so, just go and claim a new one (warranty). I find it very hard to believe that Asus would put a bad design on the market.
 
Re: Re: has the word on Via changed?

christiaan said:
Asus = A+ and the SiS 745 is a very good performing chipset.
Your motherboard may be defective and if so, just go and claim a new one (warranty). I find it very hard to believe that Asus would put a bad design on the market.
Click to expand...

Yeah my impression was that Asus was an excellent product and I've almost thought of just replacing the board for another one rather than a different one. While surfing the net I did happen to find this which I thought was rather interesting:

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/1758/

This has got me concerned to some degree but then again I know someone else who has had zero problems with that board, and actually his system specs are very similar to mine (same processor as well as 2 hard drives). So I'm not really sure what to do at this point.
 
Some advice in general that may or may not apply to you: People often don't plug their computers in grounded wall sockets. I've come across stability problems with computers that disappeared when the computers were properly grounded.
 
VA issues

I have an Athalon with VIA KT266A chipset - I recently bought an Audiophile - installed it all all kinds of issues came up (fast recordings, Cakewalk freezes, loosing sound card, etc.) - I figured it was the chipset - took the card to work and installed it on and Intel system at work and all was fine - processed and RMA number with ZZounds (nice company) but wanted to try one more time - took it home and started from scratch - the Audiophile installed without a hitch and worked - then I installed the latest 4 in 1 drivers form VIA website - been recording fine since - as mentioned earlier - computers are strange creatures - keep it simple - one poster recommended keeping video acceration down a bit - I run XP and choose the option for less graphics - I'd rather be lean and mean instead of pretty. i.e. Try it again with the idea of sticking to basics.
 
christiaan-yeah I was under the impression Asus made good products and that SiS chipset was a good chipset. But I am able to get the motherboard replaced with the same one so all is good there. However, read my update part for something I discovered that could possibly be the reason for the problems I was having (which has nothing to do with the mobo). And yeah, I'm using a grounded outlet and a surge protector.

Here is an update on the situation though. Now I obviously just mentioned that I am replacing the mobo with a new one. While removing the old mobo I noticed what "might" (I really indicate might because I'm not really sure if this would cause the problem or not) be the potential source for the problems I was having. While removing the heatsink from the CPU (which was a pain to remove anyways) I noticed that it appeared that the heatsink was installed on backwards. The bottom of the heatsink is not entirely flat but does have a main flat area that fits over the CPU, while another flat area fits over the remaining area of the socket. The way it was installed (which my friend installed BTW) actually had the ledge between the 2 parts cutting into the CPU a little bit. So right now there is some surface damage to the CPU and a small but slightly deep cut partially into the CPU's core. I'm not sure if this was the problem or not but it doesn't appear like it'd be a good thing.

I figure when I get the new mobo I'll see if the old CPU will still work in it, if not, I'll just order a new CPU.
 
So if I picture it correctly, the cpu core wasn't touching the heatsink on its whole surface.

Bad thing.

Very bad thing.

Really.
 
christiaan said:
So if I picture it correctly, the cpu core wasn't touching the heatsink on its whole surface.

Bad thing.

Very bad thing.

Really.
Click to expand...

Bad in what sense? Give me some details please. I was more concerned with damaging the CPU due to the ledge actually cutting into the core (I don't know how much physical damage an AMD processor can take before finally going to poo) but the way you make it sound it seems as if I should be concerned over heat damage or something. From the times we had it running the hottest it ever got was around 92 degrees but keep in mind I didn't check the temp all the time. Or is there more here I need to know about? Thanks again. ;)
 
If you are lookin for a new mobo, I would suggest the A7N8X. The N stands for Nvidia chipset. Then you dont have to worry at all aboot VIA. There is a twin to that mobo, the A7V8X. V for Via. I wonder why there is two?.

I'm fairly positive it will work with everything you have listed there. As well to note, I have the delta 66, soundblaster, and onboard sound enabled. Everything is peachy.
 
Basslord1124 said:
Bad in what sense?
Click to expand...

The heat indeed. You should keep in mind that nowadays if you start up a PC without a heatsink on the cpu, the cpu is dead in a matter of seconds. 92 degrees is really pushing it.

It is VERY likely that the poorly mounted heatsink is the cause of all the crashes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top