Originally posted by: donnyjepp
Ditch the Audigy and see if you have the same problem with the onboard ICH8 sound. That will at least rule out the Audigy as a cause. I'm thinking it is a problem on your video card.
I'm pretty sure the problem is not the Audigy itself, as it's a card I've had for a couple of years across different motherboards without any issue ever (literally -- not even a single count). Hardware can indeed go bad, though. The problem really manifests itself as more of a driver issue -- I'd love to blame Creative for not having SMP-friendly drivers, except that the same drivers + card worked fine on my AMD X2 + NF4 Ultra system...
Can you explain why you think the problem is the video card?
In the interim, I've applied the following BIOS and system changes to see if it makes a difference:
* BIOS: Disabled: CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)
* BIOS: Disabled: CPU Thermal Monitor 2 (TM2)
* BIOS: Disabled: CPU EIST Function
* BIOS: Disabled: Virtualization Technology
* Moved Audigy 2 ZS to last PCI slot (furthest away from PCI-e)
* Dropped hardware acceleration slider in Windows down 1 notch (Full --> Standard)
Also, one other question: I've noticed the NB and SB heatsinks on this motherboard get *incredibly* hot -- is this normal? Could it be the issue? (My system temperature is around 34C; I have to leave the case open since I don't have any 4-pin fans. That's the only complaint I have about this board: lack-of decent fan headers)