thanks for the advice.......
ive formated it loads of times.....still no effect...so i installed windows me over win 98se....which got moh working.....but still no other game will work.....even when i shut down...my pc re boots instead......the bar at the bottom of the screen i have on auto hide...goes altogether....im thinking of xp..but ive heard it wont recognise older stuff..(ill get a lot of unknown devices......so im basicaly stuck lol
thanks for your help anyway guys

Ok, I have had a read through this entire thread! (took a while )

It seems most people are blaming the board, and not looking seriously at other components in their systems. I have lost count of the amount of times I have read "this board is broken/damaged/faulty" only to read another post by the same person that says "my bad, not motherboard but vid card/memory/processor/fan/hard drive" ETC!!

I am no computer expert (only been around computers since I built my own ZX81).

The majority of the problems I have seen regarding no boot seem to be that some are overclocking straight out of the box, then trying to install XP/98/2k etc. Best thing is just get the system stable (default bios settings) then install O/S then drivers then try to crank her up a bit.

My system specs are as follows...

AMD XP2400
Thermatake Volcano 9+ (on full speed)
GA-7VAXP A Ultra
1 Gig DDR400 Ram
Audigy 2 soundcard
2x 80 Maxtor 7200 Hard Drives
Liteon 52x CDRW
Liteon DVD
Gainward Ti4800 Golden Sample 128Mb
350W Power Supply
Arctic Silver 3 cooling paste on ALL heatsinks (processor, vid + chipset)

I had an issue with graphics corruption when first setting the board and other components up, but after flashing the bios to F3c (after viewing the Gigabyte website for known issues) the problem is now solved.

This is not meant as a flame, rant or whatever, but it exsasperates me sometimes when all that is needed mostly is to read the manual, visit the manufacturers website etc to solve most problems.

To test your memory, use Memtest86 V.3 (industry standard test)

One thing, while I am here. I see some of you have flashed your bios with revisions not for your board (the only bioses listed on the Gigabyte website for this board is F3c and F4 depending on your revision).

Do you think this could have something to do with your problems?

And what advantages do you get from using , for example, the F12 bios? Sorry for the long post. This is not a rant!!! Honest

I totally agree. I have the Ultra board, which has more or less no differences to the non Ultra one and I have no problems whatsoever. Mys system looks like this:

AMD XP2000
Thermatake Volcano 7+
GA-7VAXP A Ultra
2 X 512 MB TwinMOS Winbond DDR400 Ram
60 GB IBM 60GXP (7200)
60 GB Samsung SV6004H (5400)
120 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 (7200)
Artec 52x CDRW
Mats**ta DVD
MSI Ti4600 VIVO 128Mb
300W Power Supply
Arctic Silver 3 cooling paste on processor

I have clocked my RAM:s more or less to the extreme (I run them @333 though) I have a CAS of 2 etc etc....I used Ultra settings in BIOS for the ram and optimized settings for the entire system...I've even run the FSB at as much as 147 MHz with no problems.......not even a hickup so I think most users have the wrong approach.......take it easy in the beginning, run default until you "get to know" your system and then start clocking....

Good luck mates!!!

Hello,
I recently purchased the GA-7VAXP mobo w/ an AMD Barton 3000+ processor. Whenever I boot my computer up it reads that my processor speed is 1300mhz, and in the my computer section of windows it reads that it is 1.31 ghz. My friend said I need to change my dip switch settings but I cannot find anywhere on the internet that gives the dip switch settings for the 3000+. I have updated my bios to the newest version, f13, which says it supports the 3000+. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I should do?

Welcome to this thread...

You should read your manual! You will see that the selection of 5 (6) dips up by the board fan should be left to "auto" and the 1(2) dips down near the Promise raid controler chip should be set to 166. I am unsure as to whether they should be on or off (as I have a 266fsb chip, not a 333fsb chip)

All is explained in the manual.

Again, not a flame, just a statement that most of these queries can be answered by a little research.

Peace

I've posted a few messages to this now lengthy thread - testament to a product that is not 100% working.

I've got my system stable and got the temperature of my CPU right down after much experimentation with thermal paste.
Turns out that most of the tutorials on applyling thermal paste are partially wrong, as they go on about using a credit card type object put put the paste on the die.

Well, the best thing to do is to first clean the heatsink and die with alchohol (as indicated in the decent tutorials) and then rub thermal paste onto the heatsink and rub in with your finger.

This is pretty much as per the tutorials, but the next bit that I tried was to also rub the thermal paste onto the die with your finger - this worked so much better than trying to get it on with a piece of plastic.

Anyway, I'm now sick of this board.

An intermittent USB problem has presented itself that simply won't go away - I'm dual booting Linux & Win2k and both of them suffer from the sudden failure to recognise my USB ports.

I've spent so much time getting the damn thing stable and now this !
I don't want to spend hours fiddling in BIOS - I want to use my computer, dammit.

First opportunity I get financially, I'm ditching this piece of crap board and getting something that actually enables me to use my computer.

Get rid of this board??

Then what?

I thought the asus nForce2 boards where good but they also seems to have the same problems.
So what is a good alternative board then?

What should a person buy to use a 2000+ - 3000+ cpu?

HI DEREK I HAVE A 2600XP CPU IN MY SYSTEM...AND I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM.....I SORTED IT BY SWITCHING THEM ALL TOWARDS THE CPU.....NOW IT RUNS AS A 2600
JUST GIVE IT A TRY M8
LES

This has probably been mentioned somewhere in this thread (and possibly others too) but here goes (there is a happy ending to this story):

System Specs:
AMD Athlon XP 2100+ (Palimono Core)
256 MB DDR 2100 RAM
GA-7VAXP Revision 1.1
GeForce2 200 MX 32 MB

I had the problem of not being able to run my machine at my processors rated speed. I could only get it to run at the Athlon XP 1500's speed. Also, I found that the cpu was getting incredibly hot. It was at around 80 degrees celsius at the underclocked speed. Many times it would restart by itself, freeze, or show the dreaded blue screen of death. I realized that my heatsink was seated improperly and so I reluctantly disassembled my machine and fixed it up. Now my machine is happy. I am happy. And I can finally use the power of my machine. I probably won't attempt to overclock this machine any time soon however. Any, thats my story with this mobo. At first I didn't like it much because of all the problems people seem to be having with it, but now that I got it to work it is a blast.

Moral of the story: check the installation of ALL your hardware on your machine. Also, one final tidbit of info, I was only able to get my machine to boot successfully by putting my RAM in the third dimm slot. I may attempt to put more ram when I can afford it, just to see if it will run successfully with more RAM. I read that some people had trouble with the RAM with this mobo and thought I'd give my experiences with it. Hope this helps someone.

Well judging by what I read in this thread I must be blessed as I've had had this board for 6 months now and the only problem I ever encountered is that both my HD's won't run at ATA/100 transfer rate even though they are certified ATA/100 and I'm using all the proper cables with everything properly configured in the BIOS they just stick to UDMA 4 (ATA/66). This is likely driver related and it's a very minor problem compared with the loads of issues I encounter with the other boards I use now and have used in the past, most of which being more expensive than the Gigabyte.

I've been overclocking all my systems ever since the first Pentium I hit the shelves a decade ago because I consider that it's the only way one can really get his money's worth and this has allowed me to observe many systems operating under considerable stress, Some fared very good, some got toast pretty fast and among the latters were some damn expensive equipment that turned out to be grossly overrated junk. My present system is based on the relatively modest XP 2100+ T-Bred overclocked to full 2600+ specs on a GA-7VAX rev 2.0 and it's rock-steady under any torture test you care to throw at it.

I noticed that some users insist on overcloking their CPU's at 166Mhz fsb and then complain of problems. Well what do you expect? Achieving reasonable overclocking results requires a gentle approach and a lot of fiddling, not to-hell-with-it flametheower tactics. There's a good reason why starting with Revison 2.0 Gigabyte removed the third dipswitch on SW1 that allowed direct hardware access to 166Mhz regardless of what CPU users had installed, they were losing money processing RMA's from people who had toasted their boards experimenting with hazardous settings bringing their Palominos to near-bubbling state, melting the socket in the process. There are other ways to force a 2.0 board to use 166 even if you don't have a 166Mhz CPU but making it more difficult is a damn good idea.

This a fine board as long as it's not abused and if you know what you're doing its overclocking possibilities are more than decent.

hi all.......
can anyone please tell me how i find out what bios version i have........
as im having loads of problems......like pc not shutting down(re boots)...games freezing......bloody mother board is wrecking my head...i had no problems with a crappy basic board that i had...as soon as i got this gigabyte board and a 2600 cpu.....all hell has broke loose......BIG MISTAKE ON MY PART........im running a 2600 cpu
a 80 gig 8 cache hd
512 ddr 333 memmory
and a prophet 4500 .tv out vga card
my heads batterd
thanks guys
les

BIOS version is displayed during POST (boot-up) along with PC Health Status just before drive detect. Bios version should be anywhere between F4 and F10, F10 being the latest.

You can also get bios version with system info utilities such as WCPUID and SiSoft SANDRA. WCPUID is freeware, just type it in your search engine to find download sites.

thanks jim ill give it a try mate
chears
les

hi jim
...i re booted my system and i think my bios is F11 would that be it...or am i looking at the wrong thing
chears
les

That's the number you are looking for and for the 7VAXP, F13 is the latest revision.

I've got some problem in mounting the heat-sink on CPU....pay attention...i used to make pc for a pc shop and i had to put on and of 4 or 5 time the heatsink before the correct position was found. Now i can enjoy. 2200+ running at 166Mhz FSB and 11.5x (1920Mhz) at a temp +14°C on ambient (44°C stable at 30°C). Running RAM 333DDR at CL2 and Ultra command (and other timing at lower rate). No problem with games. Also tryed to overclock to 2600+ (for now ) but needed a +5%overvolt causing temp to rise up to 51°C. In winter i will try higher rate(till i find money for a Water system or a peltier based T-Rex).

Still working at 2400+ with no overvolt...booting...but on 32 bit real mode a lot of irq losses and int leakage (also during installation).

I've got some problem in mounting the heat-sink on CPU....pay attention...i used to make pc for a pc shop and i had to put on and of 4 or 5 time the heatsink before the correct position was found. Now i can enjoy. 2200+ running at 166Mhz FSB and 11.5x (1920Mhz) at a temp +14°C on ambient (44°C stable at 30°C). Running RAM 333DDR at CL2 and Ultra command (and other timing at lower rate). No problem with games. Also tryed to overclock to 2600+ (for now ) but needed a +5%overvolt causing temp to rise up to 51°C. In winter i will try higher rate(till i find money for a Water system or a peltier based T-Rex).

Still working at 2400+ with no overvolt...booting...but on 32 bit real mode a lot of irq losses and int leakage (also during installation).

.............how do i check all this stuff on my fc ...where do i go etc....thanks
les

i mean pc not fc lol
les

hi all....i as you know have got this motherboard.....the thing is........im thinking of buying a nvidia fx5200.....off eBay ...its going for £56 at the mo......but will it work in this motherboard as my prophet 4500 is having problems...the 4500 is 4x while the fx is 8x......can anyone help me with this
thanks
les

Hi guys, haven't had any major problems with this mobo, the only one that I'm having now it's when I shutdown my system, it will give me a black screen with a cursor blinking, I have a multiboot system with WinXP, Win2K and Win98, and does it only with 2000 and XP, any help will be greatly appreciated...

Thx.