OT - Gigabyte mainboard warning

[Guest SD Sim]

Dear All,I know this is best posted in the hardware forum (and it has been), but seeing as there are many more users of this forum, and many questions regarding computer upgrades, I thought it would be worth reposting here.For those looking for the fastest system, and planning to do it yourself, you will likely consider a motherboard based on the VIA KT333 chipset. If so, then be very careful when considering a Gigabyte GA-7VRX or GA-7VRXP board when used in combination with a GF4 videocard. This board is highly rated by Tom's hardware, and based on this rating, I bought one myself. I spent at least four miserable days trying to get this board to work before ultimately returning it for a refund. Today, I discovered (somewhat to my relief) that the problem turns out to be faulty core voltage regulation. You can learn more here. This problem has been solved, and the modified (version 2) boards should soon be available retail (if not already). But do your homework if you decide to go this route, as I picked up one of the earlier version 1.1 boards, and this version is certainly still out there. What was my solution - I picked up another ASUS A7V333 MB (which, at the time, was the only VIA KT333 based board I could find in the San Diego area). I was able to get this board up and running in an evening, and it runs great.