Biostar M7VIG for low end upgrade?

[tommyjt24]

well i dont want to spend the money to get the ddr but what do you all think of this board? has usb2.0 atleast.

 

[Killrose]

Is that the one with the SDR/DDR ram slots that allow you to upgrade? As long as it has an AGP slot, the price is cheap. I have heard from many people the on-board video is good for web surfing and low resolution gamming, but that's it. Probably be fine for a K-6/early Pentium up-grade system, and if you pick up some DDR later it would be decent.

 

[tcsenter]

Go for the "Pro" version of the M7VIG, it has the VIA VT8235 SB, integrated USB2.0, and six-channel audio for the same price or very close as the M7VIG. The non-Pro M7VIG uses the VT8233A which is USB1.1. I have the non-pro version and it works fine. Limited overclocking potential; no CPU voltage adjustment, but it has some FSB adjust options in BIOS and DDR voltage adjust (by jumper).

Only problem I have to date is that my manual and automatic standby function disappeared from Power Management and Shut Down options when I switched to the M7VIG. I have ACPI disabled in BIOS because 'classic' APM suits my needs just fine and using ACPI can often cause "glitches" of various sorts. I have tried re-installing the VIA drivers, removing PCI BUS from Device Manager, and allowing Windows to redetect all my devices again, without success. I have not tried installing Windows again, because that shouldn't be necessary, but I may try it.

I suspect its a BIOS oversight or flaw. I am going to fill out a problem report and send it to BIOSTAR to see if they will address the problem in the next BIOS release.