*Abit IN9 32X-Max: Help me fix my pile O' crap!*

[Skrips]

OK, I have had this board and this setup for a long time, ran it under Vista64 for months before I gave up and went back to XP SP2, and oddly enough that is when most of my major problems started hapenning.

I did a fresh install of XP SP2 in the interest of having a clean platform to run with my brand new and ultra pricey BFG 8800GTX OC2's, and that was a mistake. Problems, crashing, BSODs, and I am not even running anything OC'd yet! Ok, no problem, I decide I am finally going to flash the BIOS on the board, now moving to the 1.3 version (the official release, not the beta BIOS), and now my problems have multiplied. I was getting unknown devices in my device manager, random crashes, the system was haning in boot loops, and worst of all, Windows decided I haven't registered my CD key and locked me out.

Reformat #2: I wiped the HD, reinstalled the OS clean, patched up to SP2, and the SP2 installation crashed half way through. Now, I still can't register my CD key, windows still has a list of unknown devices, and I still can't install the drivers for the "mass storage controller". I am also, BTW, running the new chipset drivers from Nvidia (the 9.53 drivers), not that it really seems to be worth anything one way or another.

Now, I am stuck. I even went so far as to remove half my Dominator 6400C4D (now running 2x1GB sticks) and am only running with my one 800GTX OC2 card. Unfortunately, I cannot verify that both cards are working as, for some reson I CANNOT figure out, only one of the two cards wants to seat in the main PCIe slot. In the interest of not breaking it out of sheer frustration, I gave up getting the other card into the slot, and now I am contemplating reformatting ONCE AGAIN.

I NEED ADVICE!

I am at my whitts end. I have spent 8 months on an off trying to get this box running, I have spent litereally thousands of dollars on these "high end" parts specifically to build the most powerful gaming box on the planet. And it doesn't work...

Should I RMA the MoBo?
Is it time to get a new MoBo?
Should I drop 680i altogether?
Is it even worth it to bother, since the new stuff is coming out so soon and I haven't even gotten this junk to work yet? I mean, the x48 / 780i / 790i stuff is coming out soon, Penrynn, 1600MHZ FSB, DDR3, and a partidge in a pear tree to boot!

Is it just me, or are we being scammed into buying this crap that doesn't work just so they can make a buck? Then, when it doesn't work, they string us along with promises of driver updates and hotfixes reputed to make it work! Then, when it doesn't, they string us along again. After a long enough time period, they finally state that they have this new hardware, and it will make it all better..."Please deposite abother $350 for a MoBo...Thank you, have a nice day!"

I am sick of it, absolutely SICK of this crap! $5000 for a box, I expect my parts to all work, PERIOD. No "ifs", "ands", or "buts" about it. And I sincerely wish it did work, I really, really do, but the facts don't lie. This pile of crap doesn't even run at stock speeds!

So, I ask again: If you were me and you had a pile of soon to be outdated ultra expensive hardware that doesn't work through no fault of your own, WHAT NOW?

What would YOU do?

/rantoff

--Skrips

[Skrips]

So, no one has even a small bit of advice to offer? Cus I have been tinkering with it, decided to clear the CMOS again....and guess what? Now It hangs with a "CMOS checksum error -- Defaults loaded" and wont post.

GG?

[Tony]

Simple things that should work.

Boot with 1 memory module and 1 video card in any of the 16X mechanical 2x16 or 1x8 physical slots...yes that is right the video will work in any of them

if you get no monitor signal reset bios and try again, the board has to look for the slot the card is in then initiate it, so it may on occasion get confused..resetting helps.

if the card gives no output try it in another slot untill you have tested all 3...then swap to the other video card.

outcome is both cards should output video in any of the 3 slots, if they do not then either the cards are faulty or the board is not seeing the cards and not initializing them.

If one card works ok in all 3 slots but the other does not test that card in another board..if still no video RMA the card.

regards the ram my old mate yellowbeard at corsair will help you if you PM him...best is to test 1 module at a time in all 4 slots, this will test the modules and the memory slots to make sure they are all ok.

lastly, 680i boards have unwritten rules, rules which will allow things to work well one way but sucketh large another...specially with 4GB whether 4x1024 or 2x2048 configs...the IN9 is actually one of the better boards with regard to ram though as long as you get a 40mm fan on the chipset using the clips supplied and make sure if needed you push the NB voltage to 1.4V.

[Speederlander]

Sounds like you have any number of problems but that board has been a real ballbuster for a lot of people.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=130375
Start reading deeper into the thread where people are chewing off their hands and spontaneously combusting.

[Skrips]

Sounds like you have any number of problems but that board has been a real ballbuster for a lot of people.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=130375
Start reading deeper into the thread where people are chewing off their hands and spontaneously combusting.

9 months of work on this box....9 god damn months. I have scoured that thread, and every other thread on the net. As for testing ram, I have, in all slots, 1 at a time and in pairs. Likewise, I have tested both video cards.

I think I am ready to spontaniously combust right now...

[Jon Boy Deluxe]

I'm not being funny mate but you have tried for 9 months to fix these problems? Why?

Like you said things should just work, if they don't after a reasonable amount of effort on your part then you should RMA.

The list of errors you are having really sounds like a faulty mobo so if I were in your position I would start with exchanging that. Once the replacement arrives you can re-test your ram and vid cards. If nothing still works RMA that lot too, try exchange the gtx's (if they are faulty) for gt's and get some store credit for future upgrades...

Good luck

[jcool]

You could try flashing back to 12.b03 which is still the "best" bios for this board.
Stay away from the "final" 13. If 12.b03 doesn't get your board up and running again at stock speeds, you really should RMA it.
And maybe also switch to another mobo.. since you have SLI you'll be pretty much stuck with 680i right now, I can recommend the D00 rev of evga 680i. Some people also state that the lately revised Striker extreme runs great (also with quads) - the IN9 doesn't run well with any QC except QX anyway (~320 was the limit on mine for any quad).
Or maybe you just want to wait for 780/790i... but it's essentially the same crap so I wouldn't bother waiting if you don't need the extra PCIe 2,0.
Only alternative is getting a "decent" board with Intel P35/X38 but that would seriously cripple your GFX power so I wouldn't go for that either.

[Skrips]

As a little update, I worked for several hours last night, and I still can't solve the problem of the unknown devices in the device manager. Luckily, on the installation of windows I did last night, I had no crashes and no boot loop errors. Likewise, SP2 finally installed right, but still those unknown devices...not to mention the mass storage controller I just can't seem to install correctly.

In terms of real world tests, and not just the stress tests we all like to run, it seems as if the system is lacking as well. Hellgate london now absolutely refuses to run. Before, I used to be able to play it for a few minutes up to a few hours without a crash. Now, as soon as I turn it on the whole system hard locks, forcing me to manually reboot.

I hate this platform...

[Speederlander]

I hate this platform...

I would have RMA'd everything within 2 weeks of problems. Waiting and slugging your way through is not a good policy. Get rid of the board and get a new one. And to be honest, I would probably switch out the RAM at this point as well if such a thing is possible. 99% of every problem I have ever had can be traced to mobo or RAM. Can you run memtest for a day without errors?

[MrToad]

I bought one of those on January. Don't waste any more of your time. RMA it. Now.

I tried everything imaginable to stabilize it. Nothing anyone in the abit official forum, these same forums, the OcUK forums and many other sources suggested sorted it out. And we're talking people like JohnnyBravo and many others, which together sum up about a thousand years of experience with computer hardware, apart from the "regular" computer enthusiasts.

You are eight months and two weeks late with your RMA.

[Skrips]

I bought one of those on January. Don't waste any more of your time. RMA it. Now.

I tried everything imaginable to stabilize it. Nothing anyone in the abit official forum, these same forums, the OcUK forums and many other sources suggested sorted it out. And we're talking people like JohnnyBravo and many others, which together sum up about a thousand years of experience with computer hardware, apart from the "regular" computer enthusiasts.

You are eight months and two weeks late with your RMA.

I am rapidly beginning to agree with you. The RMA is on the way, though I have been quite busy the last few days. I should get a fre minute to handle it tomorrow afternoon.

Here is hoping for the best!