Asus M2A-VM HDMI: Ideal AM2 mATX motherboard?

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ceraf
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Post by ceraf » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:38 am

I have the non-hdmi version of this motherboard.

I'm having trouble with the onboard graphics. If i install the drivers from the cd provided, the video would eventually crash randomly on the desktop. I thought it was just a driver issue (garbled display upon crash), but i tried the new ati drivers as well to no avail.

Could this be a hardware issue? I really don't want to send my board back to NCIX or Asus.

zds
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Post by zds » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:23 am

ceraf wrote:I have the non-hdmi version of this motherboard.

I'm having trouble with the onboard graphics. If i install the drivers from the cd provided, the video would eventually crash randomly on the desktop. I thought it was just a driver issue (garbled display upon crash), but i tried the new ati drivers as well to no avail.

Could this be a hardware issue? I really don't want to send my board back to NCIX or Asus.
We have two of the same boards here and at least on the one that uses the integrated graphics it has been working very well. No problems whatsoever. However, be advised that the cooling of the chipset is hardly adequate, so unless your CPU cooler blows some air over the NB heatsink, you might want to add some additional airflow there.

So start by checking if the NB heatsink gets overtly hot and if it does not, then RMA the board.

ceraf
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Post by ceraf » Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:14 pm

Thanks! Before I RMA it...if i add a pci-e video card, should it be causing any problems?

zds
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Post by zds » Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:15 pm

ceraf wrote:Thanks! Before I RMA it...if i add a pci-e video card, should it be causing any problems?
Adding a PCI-e video card should work just right, ie. the onboard one gets disabled and the external GPU is used.

ceraf
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Post by ceraf » Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:43 pm

Actually, now i'm beginning to think that it's a memory issue. I'm getting crashes with and without a pci-e card. the nortbridge heatsink is quite warm.

I'm currently testing my system with the memory running at DDR667 speeds.

pure456
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Post by pure456 » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:55 pm

ceraf wrote:Actually, now i'm beginning to think that it's a memory issue. I'm getting crashes with and without a pci-e card. the nortbridge heatsink is quite warm.

I'm currently testing my system with the memory running at DDR667 speeds.
Alot of people on the Asus forum are having to manually set their ram to run at DDR667 for stability. I had to as well, so I spent extra cash on good ram just so it can be held back by a poorly designed mobo. Thanks Asus!

zds
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Post by zds » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:21 am

ceraf wrote:Actually, now i'm beginning to think that it's a memory issue. I'm getting crashes with and without a pci-e card. the nortbridge heatsink is quite warm.
Warm is OK, as long as the heatsink stays below 55-60C it's not the overheating that's the problem.

When in doubt with the memories, try a memory tester software - it's time-consuming but trivial task to check if the memories are working properly. Here is MS's take on it: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Another program for the same task is memtest.

Let the memory tester run uninterrupted for few days, if nothing shows up, then memories most likely are not the source of the problem. Naturally if anything shows up, you don't have to go on - you know the memories are not working as they should.

If the memories are bad, just go to store and swap them, maybe to another brand. They should already know very well that all memories/mobos/CPUs do not work fluently with each other.

Mats
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Post by Mats » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:13 am

The Phenom II X4 940 works with Asus M2A-VM according to this thread. Just make sure you have the newest BIOS before trying.

mr pink
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Post by mr pink » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:28 am

I've got the non-hdmi version of this board and like it. But, the onboard digital out is horrible. It works but I lose the signal frequently. the monitor shuts off for a second or 2 every few minutes. It's a common problem with these ,not sure if it's heat related... I decided to just use a pci-e card.

zds
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Post by zds » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:04 am

mr pink wrote:I've got the non-hdmi version of this board and like it. But, the onboard digital out is horrible. It works but I lose the signal frequently. the monitor shuts off for a second or 2 every few minutes. It's a common problem with these ,not sure if it's heat related... I decided to just use a pci-e card.
FWIW, on my board the on-board digital out works just fine. What's your source for the "it's a common problem"?

QuietOC
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Post by QuietOC » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:08 am

zds wrote:FWIW, on my board the on-board digital out works just fine. What's your source for the "it's a common problem"?
I had the video cutting out problem using the DVI to my 1280x1024 LCD. It also happens on my new 740G motherboard, so I think it is a hardware bug in the IGP design that wasn't fixed with the die shrink.

Mats
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Post by Mats » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:32 am

I didn't have any problems with DVI and 1440 x 900 output.

QuietOC
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Post by QuietOC » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:58 am

Mats wrote:I didn't have any problems with DVI and 1440 x 900 output.
Yeah, it is just a bug with the 1280x1024 resolution. Works fine at other resolutions. The 780G and none of the video cards I have had have trouble with it, but both 690G and 740G motherboads DVI output has.


zds
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Post by zds » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:09 am

QuietOC wrote:
Mats wrote:I didn't have any problems with DVI and 1440 x 900 output.
Yeah, it is just a bug with the 1280x1024 resolution. Works fine at other resolutions. The 780G and none of the video cards I have had have trouble with it, but both 690G and 740G motherboads DVI output has.
I trust you have tried with more monitors than just one, to confirm the issue is not in the display end?

QuietOC
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Post by QuietOC » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:33 am

zds wrote:I trust you have tried with more monitors than just one, to confirm the issue is not in the display end?
All I have right now is the 1280x1024 LCD and a 1366x768 LCD TV. It may have had the issue with 1680x1050 LCDs. It definitely doesn't have the issue at lower resolutions. It worked fine this past weekend hooked up to the TV at 1360x768 (DVI->HDMI adapter, HDMI cable). It may be related to the DVI cable, but the cable works fine with other video cards and that LCD. And just to repeat, this is happening on a new Foxconn A74MX-K not the junky Asus M2A-VM (which had the same problem.)

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