A7V133 + T-Bird 1,2 + Elsa Gladiac Ultra = Problems?! HELP!

Hi,

I am new to this forum and hope there is anybody who can help with my problem!

Hardware Setup:
===============
Asus A7V133 Bios V1.04
AMD T-Bird 1,2 GHz Revision C (266 MHz FSB)
1 x 256 PC133 CL3 Infineon
Elsa Gladiac Ultra 64 MB DDR
SoundBlaster Live Player 1024
IBM Deskstar 75GXP DTLA307030
Adaptec 2940U SCSI Contrl.
Pioneer DVD, SCSI
Pioneer CD-RW, SCSI
400W Leadman PSU
Alpha 6035 CPU cooler
2 x 80mm case fans

PCI Slot#1: empty
PCI Slot#2: network
PCI Slot#3: Adaptec SCSI
PCI Slot#4: SoundBlaster Live
PCI Slot#5: Hauppauge WinTV-PVR or empty


Software:
=========
Win2k SP1
VIA 4-in-1 V4.29v
Detonator V11.01
DirectX V8.0a
Microsoft VIA AGP Patch installed
Microsoft Athlon AGP Registry Patch installed

SiSoft Sandra2001se
3DMark2001
United Devices Client (Think - Numbercrunsher)

Bios Settings (measured):
=========================
CPU Multi: 10,5
Core Voltage: 1,85 (1,91)
FSB: 133 (134,28) MHz
Memory: 133 (134,28) MHz
CPU Speed: 1400 (1410)
Memory automatic timing (3-3-3)
Memory Interleave enabled
AGP 4x enabled
AGP fast write enabled
AGP sidebanding enabled
Video Uncached

CPU Temp Idle (1400MHz): 48 C
CPU Temp Full Load (1400MHz): 55 C


My Problem:
===========
The System is brandnew and runs stable for hours with full CPU load using Sandra BurnIn (CPU, Multi Media and Memory) + UDClient

3DMark Demo can loop for hours without problems.

I also ran Black&White and Baldurs Gate from time to time - no problems.

BUT when I try to run the 3DMark2001 Benchmark the system crashes almost every time before starting the 4th test (Game 2 Dragothic - High Detail). The loading screen is visible but when it should switch to the test the following can will happen:

- black screen, HDD LED on, system locked
- no video signal, HDD LED on, system locked
- reboot

There is never a BSOD or other error messages.
It does not mather if I run the CPU with standard settings (1200MHz) or OCd.
Switching to AGP 2x did also not help.
Installing the 2 Microsoft patches was useless.

Is there anybody out there who can help me? I spent the last couple of days working on this - ran out of ideas now.

Thanks in advance!

MikeZ

Did all kinds of tweaking last night - trashed also the ACPI management of Win2k - no success!!

Back to default settings, AGP 1x, fastwrite disabled, sidebanding disabled .... still crashing!

Anybody??

MikeZ

Status Update:

3DMark2001 - default benchmark - crashes when loading test 4 (Dragothic high detail). It does not start
the test, either it hangs on the loading screen, or black screen or restart....

Often I can run a single benchmark without problems (restarted PC), but then when looping or running
a second one it will crash


Last night's action:

Flashed Bios to version 1004.02d -> nothing
HDD connected to Promise Chip Primary now -> nothing

AGP 1x, NFW, NSB -> nothing
AGP 2x, NFW, NSB -> nothing
AGP 4x, NFW, NSB -> nothing

AGP 2x, NFW, SB -> nothing
AGP 4x, NFW, SB -> nothing

.... nothing, nothing and again nothing!

VIA 4.29v, Detonator 11.01, 3DMark2001 re-installed -> nothing

Win98SE + VIA 4.29v + DirectX8.0a + 11.01 + 3DMark2001 -> nothing

The funny thing is that 3DMark2000 - default benchmark - seems to run without a glitch (tested a
loop of 1,5 hours)

Then I had the idea to install the WHQL V7.58 driver for Win98 - and it seemed that I could run some
loops of the 3DMark2001 benchmark!

So I was happy, let the loop running and went to bed (03:45 AM) - Came back this morning -> black screen, locked!!!!


My test for today:

Remove GF2 Ultra and test it on P3 board
Test a TNT2 on the A7V133

I fear that both systems will run stable and I don't have a clue again....

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

MikeZ

I had the same thing happen to me.I thought it was DX8 but after i uninstalled it ,same thing happened.So i uninstalled all drivers- sound, video and DX8 then i reinstalled the VIA drivers 1st then video-DX8-and the soundblaster last.Seemed to fix it for me! Its worth a shot.

Update of last actions:

Made Double-Swap-Test(TM)

A7V133 + 1,2TB + TNT2
NoName MoBo + P3 + GeForce2 Ultra

Changed only GFX Card, no other changes in the configs.
Both systems running Win2k SP1, VIA 4.29v, Detonator 11.01, DX8.0a

Result:
3DMark2001 ran for hours on both systems without a single glitch!!! How could it be different! Grrrrr

I can now be sure that no HW defect is causing the troubles - there is just this tiny little incompatibility issue to solve!

Suggestions?
Ideas?
Anybody?

So long

MikeZ

Update:

It seems that my system runs stable now..... I will do more tests and when I have it 100% stable and tested I will make a detailed post of my configuration/settings!

Happy tweaking

MikeZ