Asus A7V

[Nighthand]

Ok, guys and girls, here is one for you. I have been reading in a lot of these forum posts that the Asus A7V is an outstanding board. So a buddy of mine goes out and buys one. I help him build system and everything is fine the day that I am there. Everything is cool. Now I call him last night (this is like three days later) and he is whining and griping about how nothing works right on the board. Hmm. What did you load after I left? WinAmp and Napster. Now this guy has an old PCI Banshee card that he used Quake 3's GlSetup to install. He is running Windows ME (because he read that it is wonderful and is convinced that it downloads faster). I did have him load Via 4in1 when I was there, and like I said it was fine. Now he says it locks up and sometimes the mouse will not work. My question is should I have him upgrade the BIOS, and if so to which version (Asus has like 50 versions for this board). Which brings up another question, if this board is so wonderful, why are there so many BIOS updates. All the parts are new (except video, NIC, and Modem but these worked fine in last machine) and it was a new Windows ME load. Any ideas?

[migel628]

I too have an Asus A7V. I would flash the Bios to the lastest one out (1005C). When I built my system, I first put Win ME on it. I ended up reformatting & putting Win98SE on. Now the system runs sweet. If it's a new system then reformatting shouldn't be too bad. Hope I helped in some way.

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MiGeL
"You're dating fingercuffs?"

[Nighthand]

Unfortunately, the guy is stubborn and wants to have ME, so 98 is not an option. Even still, the PC should not lock up like this.

[bohr]

Try changing the Banshee with another video card like a tnt2 or a good known working videocard. I have seen repeat problems with Banshee cards where they lockup a computer system with almost any motherboard maybe because of heat or instability issues.
That may be the culprit. Just because it worked in the older computer doesn't mean it will work with newer systems. Just like a 1mb Cirrus Logic pci video card will work with a BX chipset board -NOOOOTTTTT!

[xtac]

Try upgrading the Bios, ATA 100 drivers, and switching the Banshee and memory if possible.

[Shawn_bon]

When this board is working, it is sweet as hell!! But when theres problems its a pain in the ***. Like everyone posted earlier, make sure that you have the latest bios version. Also make sure that you have a 300 watt power supply. Another thing that I noticed about this board is that it is picky as heck on the memory. Its good to get a reputable memory brand like micron or kingston. Good luck..

[Nighthand]

Thanks guys. I'll update the BIOS and have him replace the Banshee (he was going to do so anyway, this will just move the process along). I'll let you know how it goes.