I just installed an A7N8X Deluxe motherboard Rev. 2.0 with BIOS 1008-D. I have an Athlon 1700 with 2x256 megs of PC2100 RAM. When my machine boots up it gets past the POST successfully and encounters the Windows Safe Mode selection screen and then powers down. If I go into the BIOS menu, it will eventually shut down as well. If I boot from a floppy, it will eventually shut down too. This occurs after about 30 seconds. I cleared the CMOS and tried to flash the BIOS again. For some reason after clearing the CMOS the machine doesn't power down unexpectedly. However, once I go into the BIOS and reconfigure the settings to match my CPU and RAM and reboot, then it starts to shut down. The FSB is set to 133, multiplier is 11. The jumper on the board is set for 266. Everything looks okay. I have tried different sticks of RAM in diferent DIMM slots, no luck. Any ideas?

- Is this a fresh install of windows or did you use your HDD with WinXP already on it? Usually you can't use an old installation without at least doing a repair install.

- have you checked your temps? Are you sure the HSF was installed correctly & the CPU isn't overheating? If you used paste, did you apply just a rice sized dab & spread it thinly & evenly over the core?

- have you tested your RAM with memtest86?

- are you sure you have an adequate power supply? A quality unit with at least 350W & no less than 16A on the +12v rail?

- here are some recommended BIOS settings:

Under ADVANCED / Advanced Chipset features:

CPU Ext Freq = 133MHz
CPU Freq Multiple Setting = AUTO
System Performance = USER DEFINED
CPU Interface = Optimal
Memory Freq = 100%
Memory Timing = Optimal
FSB Spread Spectrum = disabled
AGP Spread Spectrum = disabled
CPU Vcore Setting = Menu
CPU Vcore = this setting depends on your CPU...it's either 1.5v or 1.6v if you have a TBred, or 1.75v if you have a Palomino...or you can just set it to AUTO
Graphics Aperture Size = 128MB
AGP Freq = 66

The rest you should be able to figure out for yourself.

ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1

BTW, stop flashing the BIOS!

ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1

Thanks Jam, you helped me yesterday with the jumper setting. The quick reference sticker that comes with the board was incorrect. So I got the jumper right and now it recognizes the CPU correct. The BIOS says the CPU temp is 195 degrees Fahrenheit. Pretty hot. I don't know how it could be though, the case is open, I have a big thermaltake heatsink fan on there, 5 case fans. The PSU is 420 watts, so that should be fine. I have all optical drives unplugged and all PCI cards removed. The PSU was fine with my old motherboard. All I have done was swap motherboards. Thanks for all the help.

Your CPU is overheating! 195F = 91C! That's the max safe temp before burnout! Don't do a thing until you get the heatsink installed correctly. Follow these instructions, regardless of the type of paste you use:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions_small.htm

"All I have done was swap motherboards"

That is another problem...you have to do a "repair install" of XP. Read this:

http://motherboard.windowsreinstall.com/

ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1

What I don't understand is that the CPU never overheated when it was in the old motherboard. I think maybe the motherboard temperature reading is incorrect. Is there anyway to disable the temperature shut down on the board?

Remove the heatsink/fan, clean off the old paste, reapply it correctly (as per the link I supplied above), then reinstall the heatsink/fan...make sure it's not backwards!

ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1