Dungeon Siege + 875P Motherboard Issue

[jmmijo 1]

Hmm, I seem to have a poser here with my gaming rig. I thought the OS was hosed so I backed up any important data to my server then flatlined the RAID array and reinstalled XP Pro. Well it didn't help in this case

 

I think I may have an issue with one of these parts, the soundcard, an Audigy 2-ZS. The motherboard, an Aopen AX4C Max II. The matched pair of ram, Apacer 512MB, DDR400, CL3 or perhaps even the power supply, a Channel Well Tech ISO-500D.

 

I just uninstalled the drivers for the Audigy 2 card and rebooted the machine, went into the BIOS and enabled the AC97 codec. I then went into the device manager and disabled the Creative Labs stuff as it wants to redetect it of course.

 

I thought this resolved the issue but it only lasted longer before the system spontaneously rebooted I will remove the sound card as I left it in the PCI slot just in case the extra power draw and/or the fact that it's plugged in maybe causing some kind of compatiblity issue

[jmmijo 1]

Since I can't edit my own post I'll have to reply instead

 

Here's a possible solution to my issue. After some more testing it appears that there is a BIOS setting that can cause some issues with memory timings in conjunction with the motherboard. Aopen calls this feature PBE (Performance Boost Engine). Basically it's a way for the BIOS to tweak some memory timing settings on the fly to wring out the most performance out of your dual-channel board. Well I had it set for Fast and there is even a Turbo mode which gives a warning about stability. Hmm, so Fast mode could also have issues with stability but you may not realize it until something demanding is going Well I set this to disabled instead and things seem to be going ok without incident, however the soundtrack will still eventually go out, with either the onboard AC97 or the Audigy 2 card

 

I'll talk to Aopen America about this on Tuesday and see if there are any other possible compatbility issues.