I've had no problems installing WinXP Pro (32-bit), Windows 7 (64-bit), Ubuntu 9.10,....
NOTE: (I have WinXP with Service Pack 3), which may make the difference if you only have SP2, but in either case, you can easily slipstream your WinXP SP2 -> to SP3 with "nLite" tool, and microsoft's SP3 binary.
Not sure if this will help you but what I initially did was:
1./ -set ALL ofl the sata/raid crap in my bios to "IDE", left everything else "auto", defaults, ...
(OR, just set for "Save with Optimized defaults" in your BIOS will do the same as above.)
2./ -used a plain-jane "IDE" CD/DVD drive to install my OS's.
3./ -installed both my sata2 drives in sata2_0, and sata2_1 ports (namely the first two Intel ICH10R sata ports)
Everything, and anything installed like a champ, and NO need for that press "F6" floppy headache in WinXP (unless you've Raided your drives) ?.
..., of course afterwards just install all the latest drivers from gigabytes site once I installed the Realtek LAN driver.
Also, my MB only had bios revision "F1", so I upgraded it to the new "F5" revision which I strongly suggest you do asap. It has some good fixes, as the results below after a "1-click" O.C. with "Easy Tune 6" proves:
I can easily clock an i7-975 in turbo, without breakin' a sweat, using my i7-930, and without spending the extra $1000.00
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SiSoftware Sandra:
Computer
Model : Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
Processorl : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz
Speed : 3.65GHz
CPU Temperature: 32 C
CPU Heatsink: Noctua NH-U12P-SE2
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
BIOS : Award (Phoenix) F5 03/11/2010
Total Memory : 6GB DIMM DDR3
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 664MHz (1.33GHz)
Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-2GBNQ 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-2GBNQ 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-2GBNQ 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Graphics Processor
Adapter : NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 (32SP 4C 920MHz, 511.7MB 2x200MHz)
Adapter : NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 (32SP 4C 920MHz, 511.7MB 2x200MHz)
Storage Devices
Disk 320GB (SATA4800, 40kB Cache) : 298GB (C:) (D:)
TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SH-S182D IDE, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : N/A (E:)
Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 146GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD1600AAJS-00PSA0 (320GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
Hard Disk (D:) : 152GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD1600AAJS-00L7A0 (320GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
Optical Drive (E:) : N/A @ TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SH-S182D (RAID, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : 1MB (FAT)
Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 1Gbps)
Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86
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