zoom314s Joker case mod

[zoom314]

I called It the Joker Case mod cause the Chieftec Matrix case has those same Joker colors that the clown prince of crime does.

Note: these images are of when I have started back on July 11th, Soon after that I found I had a DOA Dual Opteron H8DCE and soon I'll be receiving a replacement from the reseller(Monarch). Hopefully the Replacement is not also DOA.

The psu has changed from the Silverstone ST65ZF (42Amps across the 4 12v rails) to a Enermax EG465P-VE(WC) 460w psu (33Amps on the 12v rail) to a Seasonic S12 600w (18Amps x2 12v rails) to an Enermax EG651-VE FM 550w psu(36Amps on the 12v rail) and as soon as I can buy some safety googles on September 1st, Then after I have the goggles I'm taking everything out of the case(3 drives and 2 fans, Except for the top front fan, I'll cover It somehow, It's zip tied and I have no more zip ties[really tight budget]) As I have to Dremel out the back part at the bottom of the 5.25" drive bays so that My Supermicro H8DCE will fit properly and then the case will be fully EATX compatible and not just pEATX like It is now.

Maybe I'll later put on a Window and reuse what I have available here from a previous case and no I'm not changing the paint color away from the Green color, Sorry about that. Oh and the images are the best My cheap digital Camera can do, It's an Argus DC1620($21.00 or so at Walmart).

 

[Susquehannock]

Have seen some nice mods with those cases. Nothing wrong with green, it's my favorite color.

How is that large back fan configured? Blowing in or out? Just curious.

 

[zoom314]

Have seen some nice mods with those cases. Nothing wrong with green, it's my favorite color.

How is that large back fan configured? Blowing in or out? Just curious.

It's blowing out @ 150cfm, Not as noisy as some would think either, a 220.01cfm fan is noisy though.

 

[Susquehannock]

Figured that is how you had it set. From my experience those fan adapters work
better that way since you aren't trying to force the air through a smaller hole.

 

[zoom314]

I have good news folks!!

It's alive!

zoom3 lives, It's a Frankenstein Monster, But It posted to a green LED(Orange/Red/Green).



My Super Computer PC specs are:
01. WD 80Gb 7200rpm 2Mb cache hdd,
02. NEC ND1100A DVD+RW drive,
03. Teac 1.44Mb fdd,
04. 1-SuperTalent 1Gb Reg/ECC PC3200 64x8 Dimm(D32RB1GW),
05. 2-Opteron C0 stepping 244 cpus,
06. 3-Delta 120x38mm 150cfm fans,
07. 1-Vantec Tornado 80mm 84.1cfm fan(For Chipset),
08. 1-Thermaltake 80mm 75.7cfm fan(For Chipset),
09. usb Teac 1.44Mb fdd,
10. usb MS 5 Button Optical mouse,
11. usb MS keyboard,
12. usb Acer 56x cd-rom drive(self powered),
13. usb Canon CanoScan D1250U2F flatbed scanner(self powered),
14. usb Micro innovations Micro Stack 6 port hub(self powered),
15. usb/vga kvm(self powered),
16. Enermax EG651P-VE 550w Power Supply,
17. Chieftec Matrix Lime Green ATX case (2 be modded for the H8DCE w/My Dremel, I need Safety Goggles!),
18. Albatron GeForce PCX5750 256MB 16x PCI Express Video Card,
19. 2-Thermalright XP-120 heatsinks(Case Modded for XP-120 heatsinks),
20. Supermicro H8DCE motherboard.

Monarch came through, I tested It outside My case on the box It came with and They sent Me a whole new motherboard as I now have except for the motherboard and the cpu backing plates, Two of everything, Oh and I hooked up the cpu fans to the power supply directly this time. I still have to find a cable for cpu2s fan as the way It's now hooked up It didn't make It spin like cpu1s fan did. :thumb: :thumb: :yay: :yay: :yay:

Bad News: My D-Link DI-624 Router quit, I can get to It but It can't see the Internet, If It's by passed the PC sees the Internet and I changed cables, Reflashed the firmware and tried to do a reset, No change that router is not usable. On the 1st I'll have to look for a cheap router that does 10/100.

But I won't be posting anymore pics until I get a film camera on the 1st as My digital camera only takes blank pictures now(All black).

 

[zoom314]

I just drilled two holes to solidly mount a fan(84.1cfm 80mm fan) up in the top of the 3.5" fdd mounting area and one hole or the other I found is not usable cause of an obstruction, Oh well It does mount solidly now. Now I don't have to resort to zip tying a fan there. Next the clearance issue for the motherboard.

Future Mods:

Window in Door,
Joker (Crown Prince of Crime from Batman) Etching in Window maybe?
Blue Lights[LEDs?](Purple would be better, But availability is key, It's Purple or Green).

 

[zoom314]

I've finished the cutting of the Case and the metal wasn't too thick(It did frag a cutoff disc, But I had a bigger disc to finish It off with) to cut with the Dremel, Sparks flew like mad and It vibrated a bit, Tomorrow I'm going to grind off the sharp edges some and I'm sorry, But I still don't have any pictures as I'm still trying to get a Digital Camera. I had to also drill out a rivet of course, and then vacuum all the metal dust up inside and out and yeah there was a lot of It.

 

[zoom314]

I have Good News and Bad News:

Good News: Well I just tested the motherboard and now have pictures of It running, Screenshots of Bios too, This is while outside the case and This Bios is loaded too. Tomorrow I plan to install the motherboard into Its modified Chieftec Matrix case. I need to see If I have to make anymore cuts with the Dremel(It works great too), Hopefully not.

Bad News: I have to wait until October 1st before I can get the film developed and then scanned as I only have $0.79 in My checking account right now.

 

[zoom314]

More Bad News:

It will boot up into the Bios and I can save settings and It detects My fdd, hdd and dvd/cd drive, But It will not boot from the hdd or the dvd drive.

I've contacted Monarch on their forums, As I have an August 2005 Bios, Possibly an 8/3/05.

Oh and this is My second H8DCE motherboard from Monarch, The first was RMAed back to them.

 

[zoom314]

Well I have a small update, I found a 06/09/05 bios for the H8DCE(Google DCE6095.zip) and I made a bootable floppy and I set It up to boot from the floppy in the bios and I had the usb cd-rom drive setup to boot My XP x32 CD as a secondary boot device and I had the keyboard plugged into a usb port and all attempts have failed to boot properly, Windows was actually able to launch from the hdd, But would get to the screen where the blue dot goes left and right and then Blue screen(Driver problem, It has Via K8T800 chipset drivers), As to the DVD/CD drive and the cd-rom drive and the floppy drive none will boot and as a result I can't flash the Bios nor load or repair the OS. Wonderful, Monarch sent Me a Good working Motherboard with a Defective Bios and They have said the 08/03/05 Bios is all they have in stock.

I didn't touch acpi, Although I did turn "PnP OS" on, It was off, No difference turning It on as It never got far enough to matter. This problem of booting up affects these parts: FDD, USB(Doesn't bother Keyboard and Mouse here), SATA, PATA(EIDE) and PS2(Keyboard and Mouse). To function right all need a properly functioning Bios, Without It, It will stop. It's as if the Bios had something missing inside or corrupted. One of the Monarch Techs would like to help, But they don't have the older Bios, Maybe SuperMicro will email Me back or maybe I'll have to pester them(SuperMicro). As being I can't flash the Bios I have a worthless motherboard until It has a real working Bios.

Until I get this solved this Project is on hold, Except for Pictures I've taken and not developed yet that is.

 

[altec]

Please take that fan adapter off the back, other then that can't wait to see how it looks.

 

[zoom314]

Please take that fan adapter off the back, other then that can't wait to see how it looks.

No can do as the 120mm fan won't fit without It as It keeps the PC cool and I have two XP-120 heatsinks inside, So room is farily tight in there(Maybe 2" between the back of the case and the rear xp-120 heatsink), I'll have pictures in 17 days, And I hope I can get the Bios chip replaced before then too.

 

[zoom314]

Ok, I now have My Argus Digital Camera back online, It turns out that a driver I downloaded was faulty and showed nothing but black and so I uninstalled It and reinstalled the driver from the Original Mini Disc(Hard to find), It was in zoom3's DVD Drive.

I feel confident that the problem I'm having is Bios related as No CD or Floppy can Boot, Yet the HDD will attempt to boot and then Blue Screen and the Blue Screen is Driver related as the HDD was last used on a Via K8T800 chipset motherboard(MSI Master2-FAR) and the New motherboard is an Nforce4 Pro chipset motherboard(SuperMicro H8DCE). If I have to reinstall the OS, Then so be It.

Note: the Pics are a bit too blurry to really tell, But the Bios Chip is missing as It will arrive in San Jose on either Monday or Tuesday(Delivery Confirmation) at Super Micro Computer. It got there on Monday.

 

[zoom314]

Well I got the new Bios chip installed and I powered It up with a Keyboard, video and a mouse, The LED for the drives works, Motherboard LED goes Green, Fans spin(chipset too), Power LED stays Dark, Keyboard and Video also stay Dark, I'm close to asking Monarch Computers for a refund as SM botched It worse than I've ever seen, MSI sent Me a Bios once I Inserted It(into a Master2-FAR) and It worked, What does SM do? They send Me a Dead Bios...... Needless to say I've made mention of this over on the Monarch Forums and the direct thread link before It gets possibly deleted(Yes they do It)
HELP!! H8DCE won't boot at all with 2nd motherboard and 2nd Bios chip.

 

[zoom314]

Well I was referred by SM tech support to contact SM RMA to return the motherboard and Bios for exchange, I contacted SM RMA and I'm still waiting, I may first try Badflash.com and order a New Bios chip from them and give them a try first as It's only $24.99(Free Priority Mail shipping), If It doesn't work I'll send the motherboard back under RMA, Provided SM RMA contacts Me by email(I asked them for one, I guess I'll find out, I may have to call SM RMA directly.

 

[hardwarephreak]

Unless you have the worst luck, it is HIGHLY unlikely you have had two bad mobos...it is however more likely you have either another component that is bad, not up to the task, or not compatible with the rest of your components.

I would start looking elsewhere...

 

[zoom314]

Unless you have the worst luck, it is HIGHLY unlikely you have had two bad mobos...it is however more likely you have either another component that is bad, not up to the task, or not compatible with the rest of your components.

I would start looking elsewhere...

I think It's the Bios chip, SM(SuperMicro) supposedly flashed It and It came back worse than It left and yeah I tend to agree two bad motherboards would be stretching It a bit and is pretty unlikely to Me too.

 

[zoom314]

I changed My mind on the Bios and decided to give SM one more chance as I received an RMA for the H8DCE and I packed the box so on the 30th It'll be shipped off to San Jose and I took another photo, In another two days I can go to Walmart and get them developed and scan them in and post them here, One shows the motherboard in relation to the mods to the case that I made and the gap is noticeable too. I just hope I had enough light along with the camera flash (Light provided by a 25w power compact light with no shade that was about 4' directly overhead).

 

[zoom314]

Sorry these photos are not any sharper. But here are the photos that I promised hot off the scanner.

 

[TheAcorn]

Bad News: My D-Link DI-624 Router quit, I can get to It but It can't see the Internet, If It's by passed the PC sees the Internet and I changed cables, Reflashed the firmware and tried to do a reset, No change that router is not usable. On the 1st I'll have to look for a cheap router that does 10/100.

You know, these D-Links experience Sudden Router Death syndrome all the time after about two years of use. You're not alone. I lost one this fall, and I've read/known of a few others with similar problems. On the other hand, I've never had a piece of Netgear or Linksys networking equipment go south on me, despite being much older.

I'm curious about the 120mm the fan on the back... I'd of never thought of putting a 120 on the outside with an adapter. You should do some comparisons between that and dual 80mms and tell us all which works better - My money's on the dual 80's, though.

 

[Ultragamma]

Seems more like a build up then a mod. and get yourself a better dc.

 

[zoom314]

You know, these D-Links experience Sudden Router Death syndrome all the time after about two years of use. You're not alone. I lost one this fall, and I've read/known of a few others with similar problems. On the other hand, I've never had a piece of Netgear or Linksys networking equipment go south on me, despite being much older.

I'm curious about the 120mm the fan on the back... I'd of never thought of putting a 120 on the outside with an adapter. You should do some comparisons between that and dual 80mms and tell us all which works better - My money's on the dual 80's, though.

Subjectively I can tell You that It pulls a lot more air out than a pair of 80's just by putting My hand back there. Sure It isn't exact, But It is a sensitive instrument none the less.

 

[zoom314]

Seems more like a build up then a mod. and get yourself a better dc.

Maybe one day soon I'll be able to get one, At least this one works and is slightly better than a film camera that I took pictures with(The Last Pics are from Film).

 

[zoom314]

Film Camera Photo

Digital Camera Image

I get SSI, I'd love to have a better Digital Camera, As I don't have about $400.00 or so to spend, Don't like a $20.00 camera? Too bad as It's what I could afford on only $812.00 a month, I'll get one after My aunt dies someday(She's going to be 89 in Dec), Not before as She said I'd be well off (I'm Her heir to Her estate) as in I'm Her only living blood relative, Then I can buy a $1500.00 SLR-DC If I want. Right now I'm lucky if I can save $40.00 a month right now and I have more important things to spend money on than a mere DC. Besides for $20.00 It isn't that bad, Although I'm going to have to get a Tripod for It one day.

 

[Ultragamma]

kinda sad seeing you hoping for your aunt to die just for the money. Doesn't getting a job or more paying job sounds like a better idea?

 

[zoom314]

Kinda sad seeing you hoping for your aunt to die just for the money. Doesn't getting a job or more paying job sounds like a better idea?

I wasn't hoping for anyone to die and I'm physically(I'm lucky to be able to slowly climb stairs with the use of a cane) and mentally disabled. It's bad enough My brother died this year from Lung Cancer(Metastisized in His brain) and Emphysema.

Besides I live in the middle of no where(Yermo, CA). The Only type of Job I've ever held I can't do anymore as I can't stand for more than a few minutes, That and I have concentration, anxiety, severe depression(I'm single, 45, wm), arthritis, back problems, weight, joint problems in My left ankle and My right hip joint that I got from a fall when I had broke My left lower leg bones(I have 3 titainium screws there and I still owe on them too, around $12,000.00). Edit: Stiffness in knee joints too, Nothing like having a 500 caplet bottle of acetaminophen(generic Tylenol really) on hand even If two pills doesn't last for long, It's better than nothing.

At least I can exist out here, I pay My rent & My 2 bills, I get the food I need and I sure wasn't asking for help from You as You aren't family and I wouldn't accept any from You anyway, I may be poor and disabled, But I'm not stupid. At least I don't drive an suv that costs like crazy to insure, And needs to be filled with lots of gasoline and that I don't have to make car payments on. I have a 1988 Ford Escort LX, It costs Me $214 a year to insure and since I don't drive much It costs Me about $11.00 a month for 87 octane Gasoline. Oh and yes the Ford passes Smog and is paid for too.

 

[zoom314]

Well I have some good news on zoom3, I got the motherboard back from Supermicro(UPS and No damage too, Wow!), I'll know for sure later on It's condition(It looks good and the paperwork says It passed on everything that is on the motherboard), Later today or tomorrow I'll start building It and power It up.

Paperwork says Bios was Dead. If this motherboard works, Then Supermicro rules!

Cpu's, xp120's and ram are now re-installed on the H8DCE motherboard, Next step put this in the case and connect the cables. Believe Me It's much easier to put the heatsinks on after the cpus while outside the case, Than doing all this while the motherboard is in the case.

 

[zoom314]

Thought I'd post some pics of zoom3's reinstallation, Good thing I changed the batteries, the 1st two were worse than I've ever seen. Note: The Blue box under the H8DCE? Well here they are(In all their gory glory):

 

[hardwarephreak]

Note: The Blue box under the H8DCE?

Supermicro has announced that they are officially going to be supporting their Opteron boards...so if you were to buy one now, it would arrive in the blue box. If you check their website, if you scroll down to the bottom of the mobo spec pages to the included items list, it now states next to the manual, that they are in retail now.

And please tell me you are going to POST the board outside of the case before you try and install it...

Good thing I changed the batteries, the 1st two were worse than I've ever seen

Are you talking about the CMOS batteries? You wouldn't happen to have an extra mounting post sitting behind the battery or BIOS chip would you?

 

[zoom314]

Supermicro has announced that they are officially going to be supporting their Opteron boards...so if you were to buy one now, it would arrive in the blue box. If you check their website, if you scroll down to the bottom of the mobo spec pages to the included items list, it now states next to the manual, that they are in retail now.

And please tell me you are going to POST the board outside of the case before you try and install it...




Are you talking about the CMOS batteries? You wouldn't happen to have an extra mounting post sitting behind the battery or BIOS chip would you?

Yeh, It would have been nice If It'd been one tailored to the H8DCE though, But Blue is better than white I suppose.

No, I'm not as I have enough experience in building PCs(more than a dozen PCs built for others and Myself with no problems).

Sorry, I should have said Camera batteries.

 

[hardwarephreak]

No, I'm not as I have enough experience in building PCs(more than a dozen PCs built for others and Myself with no problems).

Man, that has absoutely nothing to do with it...in fact...if you have ANY kind of experience, you realize that it is alot easier to find out the board is bad BEFORE you go through the trouble of mounting in the case. Not to mention the fact that by "breadbording" the components you eliminate a few extra outliers that may infact be causing some of your problems...

No offense, but you need to re-evaluate your methods, if not for the time-saving factor, but for the troubleshooting aspect.

 

[zoom314]

Well I just got off the phone to Supermicro Tech support(Henry) and RMA(Richard) and I'm going to get a Bios Chip with the 09/14/05 Bios on It sent out(For FREE I hope or else), As RMA was supposed to send back the motherboard with the latest Bios chip as per Supermicro policy(They didn't and so It's Supermicros fault as they have wasted My money for nothing unless They send the chip for Free, Otherwise It's CSDA time) and RMA sent Me the motherboard with an 08/03/05 Bios installed and It did the same as before. Meaning It acts like a real working motherboard in the Bios, Outside the Bios It's looks great and acts like CRAP!


Windows CD starts setup then goes to a Black screen.
HDD will try and boot as Normal or F8 from Safe mode and VIA drivers from last motherboard cause a reboot.

Tech support says My hardware shouldn't be causing a problem, So why I am I having a problem??

Could It be My AMD Opteron 244 AL/C0 cpus, Tech says No.
Albatron PCX5750 (256Mb ram) Video card, Tech says No
WD 80Gb 7200rpm 2Mb cache hdd, Tech says No
NEC ND1100a dvd burner, Tech says No
Super Talent 1Gb PC3200 Dimm Ram, Tech says No
Case, Tech says No
Teac 1.44Mb fdd, Tech says No
Enermax eg651p-ve fm 550w psu, Tech says No
Cables, Tech says No
Fans, Tech says No

Tech also said since Bios comes up on screen then It's not a case of having an electrical short.

So what is left?

Bios Chip and motherboard not liking what I have and If the New Bios chip doesn't fix It I'm going to be very unhappy If Monarch Computers says No refund.

I've never had so much trouble with a motherboard as this, I've been struggling with this H8DCE since 07/13/05 when I bought It from Monarch Computers and If the New Bios chip doesn't work, I'm going to ask for a refund from Monarch Computers as It has been too much trouble and may not be worth replacing with another H8DCE as My confidence in the H8DCE is just about gone.

If the worse situation comes about, Then I would have two Choices Gigabyte or Tyan maybe, We'll see I guess.

 

[zoom314]

Man, that has absoutely nothing to do with it...in fact...if you have ANY kind of experience, you realize that it is alot easier to find out the board is bad BEFORE you go through the trouble of mounting in the case. Not to mention the fact that by "breadbording" the components you eliminate a few extra outliers that may infact be causing some of your problems...

No offense, but you need to re-evaluate your methods, if not for the time-saving factor, but for the troubleshooting aspect.

Sorry to say this But Supermicro Tech Henry begs to disagree with You on this. Doing It outside the case is only in case of shorts and so You are so Wrong................

No offense taken.

 

[atom]

it sounds like an overheating problem. Did you use thermal paste? How much did you use? Are your cpu fans plugged in and operating properly? Are they blowing in the right direction?

Might also be cruddy memory... cruddy hard drive etc.

 

[zoom314]

it sounds like an overheating problem. Did you use thermal paste? How much did you use? Are your cpu fans plugged in and operating properly? Are they blowing in the right direction?

Might also be cruddy memory... cruddy hard drive etc.

WD 80Gb 7200rpm 2mb cache hdd has NTFS XP Pro format on It and is not cruddy.

Memory is Super Talent ram and is Super Micro Computer approved and is not cruddy.

cpu temps are 29-30C and all fans are working just fine and at full speed.

 

[zoom314]

More pics.

Notice the back side?

 

[zoom314]

more pics part 2:

See the top of this picture? (above the red cable) The motherboard doesn't touch the case where It was modded at all.

 

[hardwarephreak]

Sorry to say this But Supermicro Tech Henry begs to disagree with You on this. Doing It outside the case is only in case of shorts and so You are so Wrong................

No offense taken.

Not wrong........since you seem to be killing your BIOSes you could be shorting the power feed that is going to your CMOS chip...no offense I have seen this happen more than a couple times over the years...Thus by testing outside the box you might try to eliminate that as a possibility...Also you just got the board back from RMA, although rare, you could have gotten a dead board back, and once again, it is easier to verfiy operability outside the case, then finding out once it has been mounted, only to have to rip the damn thing out again. I mean, sorry it is just common sense to me, to verify the problem is in fact fixed, before I waste my time putting it all together.

I just find it extremely hard to believe that it is the fault of the motherboard/supermicro.

Something in your config, outside of that motherboard is causing the issue. Either bad component or an off-the-wall compatibility problem...

What does it do with one stick of RAM, with one CPU, and with a completely different hard drive and optical drive? If it works, add components in piece by piece until you find out what is causing the problem.

You wouldn't happen to have a different EPS12V/SSI Power supply lying around to test with would you ?

And WOW, that is one funky a$$ keyboard setup...I have seen little things like that cause big problems...you wouldn't happen to have a std ps/2 keyboard lying around either would you.

 

[zoom314]

I just find it extremely hard to believe that it is the fault of the motherboard/supermicro.

Something in your config, outside of that motherboard is causing the issue. Either bad component or an off-the-wall compatibility problem...

What does it do with one stick of RAM, with one CPU, and with a completely different hard drive and optical drive? If it works, add components in piece by piece until you find out what is causing the problem.

You wouldn't happen to have a different EPS12V/SSI Power supply lying around to test with would you ?

And WOW, that is one funky a$$ keyboard setup...I have seen little things like that cause big problems...you wouldn't happen to have a std ps/2 keyboard lying around either would you.

Look I was on the phone to Super Micro Computer long distance and that is what was said, Ok?

They also wanted Me to send in My 2 244 rev AL stepping C0 cpus, My ram which is listed as compatible and the motherboard and I said NO as they can bloody well get their own as I only have $10.69 left in My checking account, As the RMA department was supposed to send Me the motherboard back with the latest Bios as that is policy at Super Micro Computer and the latest Bios is dated 09/14/05 and the Bios I received was the same old 08/03/05 Bios. I also threatened to go to the Calif. DA as they had originally said they would not send Me a Bios chip unless I forked over $16.00 and It was their fault then and now It is even more their fault. The guy in RMA (Richard) said It would be sent, As Tech support (Henry) said It was Ok.

I still think It's the Bios and considering I sent one in and got a dead one in return(Love dead chips, Not), The Bios chip I have now in the motherboard may be the same one I sent in for all I know(Both were/are SST 49LF004B chips), I even threatened Super Micro Computer with calling the California District Attorney cause last time they said It would cost Me $16.00 for a New Bios chip and so I'm out at least $16.00 on the two RMAs to SuperMicro and Maybe another $7.00 to Monarch for the 1st RMA. They said they'd do It, Well all I can do is wait and see what happens or doesn't. I also said If they didn't I'd tell everyone what is happening and that includes My Blog too.

SM wanted Me to send In My ram and cpus along with the Motherboard under RMA and I said NO(Line in the Sand time, They can get their own C0 cpus and ram).

I had better luck with motherboards made by MSI, DFI, Gigabyte, Iwill and Asus, Than Super Micro Computer.

I mean even added some more arctic silver to one of the cpus as It was a bit thin, It didn't do anything different and I don't have another $184.95 per cpu for a pair of New 246 CG cpus or $369.90 for two and this includes shipping.

And I sure don't think the psu is too weak as SM Tech Support hasn't said It was too weak since I bought It.

I just got a look at the QVL.pdf from Gigabyte on the GA-2CEWH motherboard, Interesting that they list what they support and guess what isn't listed?

http://america.giga-byte.com/Server/FileList/QVL/qvl_ga-2cewh-rh.pdf

Give up?

My 244 C0 cpus or anything older than a 246 cpu(224 and before are not supported I gather as none are mentioned) and no mention of the 5750 chip that is in My video card(an Albatron PCX5750 w/256Mb). I may have to find a 6600/6600GT card with 256Mb of ram and that's got to be rare.

And here's the Manual for It.

http://america.giga-byte.com/Server/FileList/Manual/2cewh_1001.pdf

Lovely support isn't It?

Both the Gigabyte and the Super Micro motherboards use the 2200 and the 2050 chips and so should have fairly similar requirements. Of course except for ram(Which is mentioned and My ram is on It and is approved by SM), Video cards and cpu requirements are not mentioned on Supermicros Aplus website at all.

I've had the Keyboard work on It as USB, But not as a PS/2 keyboard, But It works.

 

[zoom314]

Not wrong........since you seem to be killing your BIOSes you could be shorting the power feed that is going to your CMOS chip...no offense I have seen this happen more than a couple times over the years...Thus by testing outside the box you might try to eliminate that as a possibility...Also you just got the board back from RMA, although rare, you could have gotten a dead board back, and once again, it is easier to verfiy operability outside the case, then finding out once it has been mounted, only to have to rip the damn thing out again. I mean, sorry it is just common sense to me, to verify the problem is in fact fixed, before I waste my time putting it all together.

I just find it extremely hard to believe that it is the fault of the motherboard/supermicro.

Something in your config, outside of that motherboard is causing the issue. Either bad component or an off-the-wall compatibility problem...

What does it do with one stick of RAM, with one CPU, and with a completely different hard drive and optical drive? If it works, add components in piece by piece until you find out what is causing the problem.

You wouldn't happen to have a different EPS12V/SSI Power supply lying around to test with would you ?

And WOW, that is one funky a$$ keyboard setup...I have seen little things like that cause big problems...you wouldn't happen to have a std ps/2 keyboard lying around either would you.

It came up just fine, I have It on paper from Supermicro that the chip was DEAD.....

I can scan It in and post It here, Would You like to look at It??

I said I tested It outside the case too when I had gotten that chip.