Gigabyte nForce 3 GA-K8NS PRO 250 BIG issue

Requiem · 09-13-2004, 02:13 PM

First off, here are the specs for the computer I built about a month ago:

Gigabyte nForce 3 GA-K8NS PRO 250
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256
160 GB Seagate SATA HD
2x512 Mushkin PC3200
Lite-On Combo Drive 16x/52x/32x/52x
Lite-On Dual Layer 8x DVD/RW

From the get-go I've had issues, but I was able to get around them all until all went to hell. Randomly, the computer froze. It would work for all of 5-10 minutes and freeze everytime I used it. I reinstalled everything I could, reformatted, updated all drivers/BIOS... but the problem was never fixed. Fed up and tired, I took it to a local repair shop. They told me it was a faulty motherboard. Fine. I RMA'd it and got a brand new one a week later. Unfortunately, the problem was not solved. The only way I can get it to work is by taking a stick of RAM out and running on 512 (DOOM3 just isn't the same anymore...). It doesn't freeze now, but I feel violated having to take a nice stick of memory and place it in a plastic bag.

I've researched endlessly, but I cannot find anyone else with such a problem. Some people tell me it might be driver issues... things aren't working together very well. So maybe I just need to wait for updated drivers (all are updated as of now).

So, I am on my knees. I have tried most everything, and I have run into a wall. Can anyone give me suggestions or possible reasons for this evil occurance?

g.w. · 09-22-2004, 03:41 PM

Hi. Brand new here, was coming on to hopefully find some info for another computer I am setting up, but saw your thread and figured I`d peek as I`m going to build yet another system with the GA-K8NS PRO which I got a few weeks ago at a computer show.

Bought the board from some great guys out of Tennesse, I`m in Ohio, they travel. Anyhow in looking for a new Vid card, they suggested an update as all of my cards DID NOT go AGP 8X.

They say with this board 8X is important issue, and they said N-Vidia was the one to look for here. They also said NOT to use an ATI card with this system. Don`t know why, but they said it would be very unstable. They said due to the N-Vidia chip on mobo, and something about a "pi--ing contest" between ATI, and N-Vidia.

Noticed you said you had an ATI, haven`t had an ATI for years so don`t know what your card is, but if not 8X maybe is a problem in that, but thinking if you have a friend or way to swap in another non ATI card it would let you check to see if it was the ATI vid card.

Hope this helps, good luck, I`m hoping not to run into any problems, but, well crossing fingers here.

g.w.

09-13-2004, 02:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
Requiem Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Gigabyte nForce 3 GA-K8NS PRO 250 BIG issue First off, here are the specs for the computer I built about a month ago: Gigabyte nForce 3 GA-K8NS PRO 250 AMD Athlon 64 3000+ ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256 160 GB Seagate SATA HD 2x512 Mushkin PC3200 Lite-On Combo Drive 16x/52x/32x/52x Lite-On Dual Layer 8x DVD/RW From the get-go I've had issues, but I was able to get around them all until all went to hell. Randomly, the computer froze. It would work for all of 5-10 minutes and freeze everytime I used it. I reinstalled everything I could, reformatted, updated all drivers/BIOS... but the problem was never fixed. Fed up and tired, I took it to a local repair shop. They told me it was a faulty motherboard. Fine. I RMA'd it and got a brand new one a week later. Unfortunately, the problem was not solved. The only way I can get it to work is by taking a stick of RAM out and running on 512 (DOOM3 just isn't the same anymore...). It doesn't freeze now, but I feel violated having to take a nice stick of memory and place it in a plastic bag. I've researched endlessly, but I cannot find anyone else with such a problem. Some people tell me it might be driver issues... things aren't working together very well. So maybe I just need to wait for updated drivers (all are updated as of now). So, I am on my knees. I have tried most everything, and I have run into a wall. Can anyone give me suggestions or possible reasons for this evil occurance?

09-22-2004, 03:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
g.w. Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 154 OS: Win 2000 pro Trying XP Trying a few Linux distros also	Ga-k8ns Pro Hi. Brand new here, was coming on to hopefully find some info for another computer I am setting up, but saw your thread and figured I`d peek as I`m going to build yet another system with the GA-K8NS PRO which I got a few weeks ago at a computer show. Bought the board from some great guys out of Tennesse, I`m in Ohio, they travel. Anyhow in looking for a new Vid card, they suggested an update as all of my cards DID NOT go AGP 8X. They say with this board 8X is important issue, and they said N-Vidia was the one to look for here. They also said NOT to use an ATI card with this system. Don`t know why, but they said it would be very unstable. They said due to the N-Vidia chip on mobo, and something about a "pi--ing contest" between ATI, and N-Vidia. Noticed you said you had an ATI, haven`t had an ATI for years so don`t know what your card is, but if not 8X maybe is a problem in that, but thinking if you have a friend or way to swap in another non ATI card it would let you check to see if it was the ATI vid card. Hope this helps, good luck, I`m hoping not to run into any problems, but, well crossing fingers here. g.w.