VGA mode to debug instability?

[BlaqC]

Ever since I got my new KT7-RAID based PC in November, it's been quite touchy, crashing about once a day. This week, a problem forced me to reinstall Windows and updated drivers. I'm still running in VGA mode, and an idea came to me. I'd like to run it by you kind people.

All this time, I've assumed crashes were caused by the Matrox Marvel G400-TV driver. Why don't I find out just how stable my system actually is, by enduring the default MS VGA driver for a few days? If my machine still crashed, wouldn't it indicate a problem outside the Matrox card? Sounds quite logical, but I need confirmation from experienced users. Thanks for your help.

[Dr Mordrid]

My bet is that it's the ABIT KT7-RAID causing your problems.

That thing has been a mess in the RT-2000 beta series and to this day is one of only three mainboards on the "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!" list.

The other two are the SuperMicro PIIISCD and one of the cheap Attrend's.

Just one of the problems with that board is that putting more than one stick of PC-133 memory in it can make it unstable. It also doens't like multiple sticks of double sided RAM regardless of speed.

Another thing is the presence of the HighPoint RAID chip. Every time I've tested one of those it's introduced instability into the system. The KT7-RAID's chip is a version advanced from what I've used before, but trust it I do not.

ABIT needs to get off their buns and do some serious work in its BIOS, at the very least....

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 10 February 2001).]

[Fred H]

...and what about the newer KT7A-RAID
or KT7A + Promise ?

Fred H