Replacing Motherboard; how should I proceed?

comfortable

Hi!

This is my first post here @ Short-media. As my user-name suggests, I feel very comfortable @ this site. The layout is soothing, and navigation seems straightforward. The Folding-Team seems like an interesting venture, as well. More on that at a later date

Okay, this is the situation:

I recently received an Abit Nf7-s v2.0 motherboard for free, and I'm considering replacing my a7n8x-deluxe. Judging from the overwhelming number of happy campers, this seems to be the right move (I would like to mod/oc the hell out of this board.) My a7n8x-dx will play its part in a different network setting.

My question is as follows:

• Should I consider reinstalling WindowsXP SP2 onto my harddrives- with the new mobo in place? Or would a simple mobo-switch suffice?

I'm not too familiar with any possible hardware-detection-related b0rks that could result from the easier method.

• Additionally, is there any prep needed for the Abit mobo? Will the Manufacturer-provided Bios version suffice with Windows XP SP2?

I would like to play around with a raid-0 array in the not too distant future.

• Which Sil3112 chipset driver should I get? Are there any disadvantages in using the latest addition as opposed to using the one from Abit's site?

I apologize in advance if this post seems a little long-winded. I've been lurking @ this site for the past few weeks, and it seems as though I'm in good company. You guys seem to appreciate most of the relevant facts up front, rather than having to coax the user into adding much needed input.

~Le Fin~

Edit: I came across a few stickies and nf7-s related threads. I'll take a look at them later tonight.

bothered

I had to reinstall windows after installing my NF7s. It was to big a change for the original install, it wouldn't even boot. That was from a KX7r though.
And welcome to SM, the folding venture IS interesting and very worthwhile.

primesuspect

You won't necessarily have to do a full reinstall.

What I would recommend is this:

Repair install, reboot
Chipset drivers, reboot
Windows XP SP2, reboot
rest of drivers, etc.

Thrax

I agree with Prime. That course of action would suit you rather handily.

Tex

You can actually add all the chipset drivers into a XP/SP2 cd and it will come out slicker then snot after the install.

tex

Mt_Goat

You could actually get away with just swapping boards and installing the required drivers since both boards are based on the same chipset (NF2). But I would take Primesuspect's advice and do exactly as he suggested as that would eliminate potential conflicts and still keep all (or most) of your programs and all your files intact.

comfortable

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I encountered a problem when I switched motherboards. After relocating components and making sure that all the connections were made, I decided to powerup the system.

Here's a breakdown of what occured:

• Pressed Power-On switch
• Monitor received a signal, and went out of standby mode
• Fans operational, DVD + CD drives showed activity
• Green Led (situated next to the red led) was lit- indicating successful power-up
• Single 3 second beep
• Monitor went back into standby mode
• No Display and activity; System is still powered up

I've tried to clear the CMOS (methods 1-3 in manual) many times, to no avail. I've tried disconnecting all peripherals besides a single stick of ram, video card, and cpu. I've tried reseating the video card/cpu/ram, but no luck there.

I then proceeded to surf the web for more info on error codes. Out of the various beep-types, "One long Single Beep" seemed to be the closest match. The only difference is that my system doesn't shutdown immediately after the long beep, as opposed to the immediate shutdown indicated by the website.

I don't know how else to proceed.

TheLostSwede

Does the videocard require an external powersource a 'la Radeon 9700 etc?
Have you tried a single stick in all the slots? Does the heatsink's fan spin? (i have forgotten to attach the hs's fan a million times)
In the end, take out the mainboard from it's case, but it on an antistatic bag on the desk and start troubleshoot from there.

Omega65

remove the memory and reinstall it - press down hard!

A swap between the Asus and the Abit should be no problem. I did a similar swap between a NF7-S v2 and a DFI NF2 Ultra with no problems. Win XP just installed drivers for the new devices and kept on going.

muddocktor

Definitely check to see if there is a mobo standoff in that case that the A7N8X used that the NF7-S doesn't use and might be shorting something on the motherboard out. I seem to remember that when I switched out my A7N8X to a NF7-S, but I might also be thinking of another board too, since it's been around a year since I did that.

EDIT: Also, welcome to the forums and by all means, come fold with us. We have a lot of fun running the project here with our team mates and it just might help save some lives in the future.

comfortable

Quick Update: It turns out that the video card was dead. Apparently, my younger sibling decided that it was fashionable to spill alcohol (of the iso-prop variety) on the workbench. According to him, he remembered getting several computer components completely soaked.

I didn't realise this until I got back from a 3-day vacation.

I eventually purchased a cheap Geforce 440 as a temporary solution. My computer booted up fine, I made the basic bios changes, set up a 16K Striped Raid-0 array, and proceeded to install windows on to a spare partition. Once I got that up and running, I installed the latest si3112r drivers, and formatted it as 16K.

Prior to switching the mobo, I'd already slipstreamed an unattended install dvd with the latest raid/chipset/graphics; the Windows SP2 installation was a trouble-free.

All I need to do now is figure out which bios I should use in my o/c attempts

Omega65