ASUS A7N8X "Bios - Save - Death"

[Guest Anthony_D]

Hello Everyone,I'm getting round to ordering a new motherboard any day now. After lots of research I settled on the 2nd revision of the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboard. It's got everything - including a game port that many other new motherboards don't seem to have anymore.Despite lots of rave reviews, I discovered a serious problem reported by many users of this board that could be a serious show stopper:"Bios - save - death" Well, that's what many users call it. Basically, you make a change to the bios, save the changes and exit, and then the machine won't POST upon restart - blank screen, nothing! It serious - and widespread, a search on groups.google.com for the term "bios - save - death" reveals lots of problems with this motherboard. Apparently it's a general problem with the N-Force2 graphics chipset but the results of google reveal problems are almost exclusively associated with this model.A few questions1. Have I been digging too deep with my research - am I observing reports that affect a just tiny fraction of A7N8X owners?2. Would a VIA KT600 based alternative see me clear of problems - or would I just be wandering into another minefield.3. Does ASUS have any warranty/helpdesk support for UK residents - or would I be facing high phone/shipping costs to get the board sorted/replaced?4. What does RMA mean? I see this acronym alot in association with faulty components.Any info would be appreciated.

[Guest vertical]

Ok, I cannot answer all your questions, but just to let you know I'm in and out of my BIOS quite abit with my original A7N8X.No problems with this mammaboard

[Guest SoarPics]

Hi Anthony,"1. Have I been digging too deep with my research - am I observing reports that affect a just tiny fraction of A7N8X owners?"I owned a Rev 1.4 A7N8X, and now a Rev. 2.0, and had the "BIOS-save-death" thing happen once on each board. Each time it was my fault... mucking about in the BIOS. Simple enough to resolve... simply remove the battery and set the short jumper. The stock Bios is then reset and you're good to go."2. Would a VIA KT600 based alternative see me clear of problems - or would I just be wandering into another minefield."I've had enough of the VIA chipsets for awhile. I much prefer the nForce based boards. Faster, more stable, and more flexible for overclocking."3. Does ASUS have any warranty/helpdesk support for UK residents - or would I be facing high phone/shipping costs to get the board sorted/replaced?"Can't help you with UK support."4. What does RMA mean? I see this acronym alot in association with faulty components."RMA= Return Material Authorization. Most suppliers require that you apply and receive one before returning anything.Hope this helps,

[Guest Anthony_D]

>I owned a Rev 1.4 A7N8X, and now a Rev. 2.0, and had the>"BIOS-save-death" thing happen once on each board. Each time>it was my fault... mucking about in the BIOS. Simple enough>to resolve... simply remove the battery and set the short>jumper. The stock Bios is then reset and you're good to go.Thanks for your info, I'm investigating it further. I've reposted this question onto the alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus newsgroup. Hopefully I'll get some more insight into this issue.Resetting the bios with a jumper sounds easy enough, though I've been told it's not a 100% repeatable solution. Would having a floppy with the relevant bios on it be suitable insurance policy (assuming you can access the floppy without post)?

[Guest SoarPics]

"(assuming you can access the floppy without post)?"That could be the tough part.To be truthful, I think this BIOS-killing-MB thing on the A7N8X is a bit overblown. I believe some of the very early 1.4 boards had problems last winter, but I've not heard of the problem on the 2.0 boards (which is what you would receive if you bought one). I've read some of the reports on some of the overclocker's fora, but the first question I asked myself is, "What else did the guy do that maybe he doesn't want to tell us?"The ASUS board is really very good, maybe not as fast as the ABIT and Giga boards (but still very close). But it's proven to be very stable and easy to configure for me. Probably the best all-around board I've ever owned... many options (with the Deluxe), stable, easy to overclock (and recover from boo-boos :-) ), and well laid out.Good luck,

[Guest B1900 Mech]

Everything You wanted to know about A7N8X! http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13