GA-M57SLI-S4 rev2 faulty?

[shedhed777]

Hi,
I've been having problems with a new build- won't bore you with all the details! at the moment mobo is the main suspect as I've noticed that if I connect my 500GB SATAII  hdd to "SATAII 1" or SATAII 2", to begin with it isn't seen at all, and after "auto detect" it is only recognised as 136GB, in all the others it is recognised ok, but it doesn't matter where it is connected PC crashes while trying to install windows or run any DOS diagnostics. (I've tried different versions of bios and still the same).
I've tried another hdd (ATA), this is regognised ok in all connectors, but I still get crashes.
Does this sound like a faulty mobo?
Thanks in advance!

[runn3R]

Hi shedhed

regarding the crashes during windows installation or DOS diagnostics please check your memory and power supply first. for memory check you can use memtest software. try to change memory into different module.

[shedhed777]

Hi Andrew,
thanks for your reply, yes voltages are ok (steady 12.18,  5.08, 3.36), tried swapping memory sticks in different slots, couldn't run "memtest" from floppy or cd without crashes.
I have been using OCZ memory and adjusted ddr2 voltage accordingly, also tried slowing timings right down with no difference.
Original post was reallly to find out if HDD identification problem was normal in the first 2  SATAII connections- I did wonder if faulty memory could affect it in any way.
Anyway, today I went out and bought some Kingston memory and I'm still getting crashes- which to me is pretty much confirmation that it is a mobo problem. I didn't want to buy more memory just for "test" purposes, but now I have I wish I'd done it a week ago!
Of course, any suggestions will still be welcome- as I'm in no way an expert!  but I don't think there is anything else I can try except replacement.
I'll let you know how I get on,
thanks!

[shedhed777]

Hi,
after finaly buying more memory - just to prove it wasn't the problem, I returned motherboard. Yes, it was faulty!
Thanks.

[runn3R]

Hi shedhed

thanks for the information. yes, we can never exclude situation when mb is just faulty