ok, i loaded the bios fail-safe defaults, and the machine didn't go... it came up as the wrong processor, and the board for some reason didn't like it. it came up as an 1800, but when i went into the bios it said 2400... which is what the processor is. so, i set the processor to 2600 like normal, but left everything else as the fail-safe defaults. the mouse didn't work with that setup, but the system ran. still had the same problem, and it seemed like it was almost worse. but, hard to say.
so, then i spent about half an hour going though the manual and tweaking just about every single bios option i could think of, still had the problem.
i know i need a reinstall, that's no doubt. but it didn't fix it last time, so i'm guessing that's not the issue. my guess would be something doesn't like something. but i don't want to reinstall until i get a couple projects finished up and my lan server running, so probably end of this week or so.
i'm thinking about pulling the sound card on the reinstall. the board has built in surround sound, ac97, i don't remember off top what adapter tho. not really primo sound, but this desktop is eventually going to just games, and i'm sure that would suffice for that (even tho it's kinda weak for my happy fun klipsch speakers).
so basically, if i do that all i'd have is the vid card plugged into the system. the extra hard drives would be gone as well, just the dvd rom and cd writer (which will eventually go if i ever get around to building another workstation).
it is getting frustrating, and i know how difficult it is troubleshooting a problem without being at the machine.
i've been spending way too much time chasing this, i've been neglecting work a bit much. probably the next day or so i'm going to have to let it be to get a couple projects finished, but after that i'll be back at it 100%. in the meantime, i will definitely listen to any ideas
