SB Live problems on Epox 8K7A+ (AMD/VIA)

[SteveC]

Hi all,

Since getting my new mainboard/cpu/ram, I've noticed an annoying problem with my SB Live 1024:

If I have audio playing (Wav or MP3) and something happens on the PC (like receive an email), I think basically when windows want to read a hard drive in the background, then the sound skips. My A7V/1gig/384Mb PC133 never did this.

I now have an Epox 8KA7+/1Gig@1.4/512Mb DDR. HDDs are an IBM 75GXP 30Gb Deskstar and a Western Digi 17Gb - each on thier own RAID controller channel (non RAID setup, but using the highpoint controller).

Also, the mouse pointer skips at the same time too.

Any ideas?

[Wombat]

Okay, I looked up the 8K7A, since I'm not familiar with it. It's a bastard board, with AMD on top and VIA on the bottom. This may not be fun.

First: IRQs. Is everybody on their own? If this isn't possible, then we can probably still manage a more favorable arrangement.

What OS? Have you installed any of the AMD patches? Any of the VIA patches?

[Greebe]

Rob I'm sure he has all the latest patches installed... running win2K if I''m not mistaken.

[DosFreak]

If you can't solve these problems I suggest borrowing a Hercules Game Theater XP from your nearest store and giving that a try. I replace my SB Live! Platinum 5.1 with one and I am happy.

[Greebe]

http://www.overclockers.com/

Checkout Aug 3 news

[SteveC]

Hi all,

Yeah, I've been following that low 5V thing (since http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27521) - mine's never dropped below 4.82V with everything running (now I have the athlon at 1.4, 2xHDDs, 1xCDRW, 1xDVD, 1xDAT, 1xPD Drive, and all the cards and some big fans.

It's not that the board's unstable, it's just that the the mouse pointer and sound seem to skip every now and then. I've replaced the default win2k drivers with the liveware 3 drivers (I haven't actually installed LW3 though), and updated the Highpoint drivers to the latest. It seems a touch better. If I get a chance later then I'll try moving the drives to the Via's chipset's IDE controller.

IRQs? Free Beer on IRQ11 (ACPI, Win2k SP2 here). Latest AMD/VIA Patches installed.

[ayoub_ibrahim]

SteveC, I wonder if the SB WDM drivers from here could help!

[Indiana]

For this reason (AMD/VIA mix, which is disapproved by AMD) I got the Epox 8KHA (KT266). Guess what: I have some audio clicks every now and then as well (seldom, but it's there if you wait long enough).
But then a friend of mine has a BX board and he had no problems with his SBLive 5.1 until he switched to Win2k recently. Even he does get clicks occassionally when there's high CPU/HD activity.
Seems the SBLive line simply doesn't want to behave very well in Win2k, having a VIA 686B based board only makes it worse, but it' not the (sole) reason.

I'm getting rid of my SBLive as soon as I a can (and find a suitable relacement that has both, quality-sound and gaming-capabilities), but mostly because of it's inferior audio-quality, at least under Win2k - can anyone explain to me how a soundcard can suffer from lower sound-quality (hum, low SNR, non-linear output,....) just because of the OS?!? I mean the chips spec are the same, or?

[The PIT]

It sounds like found the bug with the highpoint controller and the latest driver and bios.
Most poeple fix this by flashing back to the earlier 1.03b version and using the appropiate drivers. You may need to find a hacked Bios to do this though.

[Fred H]

Anybody tried a Santa Cruz with the Epox 8K7A+ ?

Fred H

[DuRaNgO]

goin' to an AMD platform

Well, this kinda worries me, I was going to order a new setup based around the 8K7A+ last week, but decided to wait until getting back from vacation today (Mt. Washington and beyond! )

The system would include:
Epox 8K7A+
AMD 1.3333333333333333333333 :P @ much higher
Biga$$ Swiftech fan
dual 30gb IBM's
256 mb pc2100 DDR
SBLive Value
and a vid card
any thoughts on the mobo or a better choice?
jim

[EchoWars]

Fred...

Read here for my experiances with the Epox and the Santa Cruz. All kinds of problems on the Abit board, virtually none on the Epox.

I'm not crazy about the AMD/VIA mix either, but a lot hinges on whether the MB manufacturer can figure out how to write a decent BIOS. Epox seems to have it down.

[Fred H]

Thanks, EchoWars.
An 8K7A+ rev 1.1 lies already on my desk, waiting to be assambled (and a T-B 1,33 AYHJAR + a Taisol 706092), but I am very nervous until I'll see it working
I decided to buy a Santa Cruz, called VideoLogic Sonic Fury, here in Europe.

Fred H

[SteveC]

Originally posted by Fred H
Thanks, EchoWars.
An 8K7A+ rev 1.1 lies already on my desk, waiting to be assambled (and a T-B 1,33 AYHJAR + a Taisol 706092), but I am very nervous until I'll see it working
I decided to buy a Santa Cruz, called VideoLogic Sonic Fury, here in Europe.

Fred H

Hey Fred - you'll be fine. Just give the Epox a nice PSU and it's a fantastic board!

However, I never realised the santa cruz is videologic's card! Looks like I'll be ordering one of these then!

[Fred H]

Just give the Epox a nice PSU and it's a fantastic board!

Chieftec TX-10W Scorpio Super MidiTower 340 W (Chieftec PSU)
Hope it'll work.
Fred H