[newbe]

Hi. I wonder if somebody has any insights about this particular problem I'm having. So I just upgraded the CPU from this system I build some time ago. It's got a Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4(rev. 2.0 BIOS version FHD) motherboard. My old processor was an...

Hi. I wonder if somebody has any insights about this particular problem I'm having. So I just upgraded the CPU from this system I build some time ago. It's got a Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4(rev. 2.0 BIOS version FHD) motherboard. My old processor was an Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5600+ 2.8 GHz. I upgraded to a Phenom II 940 3.0GHz. The upgrade went smoothly for the most part, everything seemed to be according to plan. Booted right up to Windows Vista 64-bit and everything seemed fine, except it wouldn't connect to the internet. When I clicked the Networking and Sharing Center it showed that it was connected to an unidentified network and the connection was local only. I rebooted the PC 2 or 3 times and the problem persisted. So I downloaded (from another PC) and installed the latest version for the onboard LAN adapter from nVidia, but the problem persisted. I then booted up to Windows XP, and the same problem was happening. It would not connect to the internet. Even if I manually set up IP addresses, DNS and all, it still will not go online. I then proceeded to remove the Phenom II processor and put the old Athlon back. This time the LAN adapter worked just fine, connected to the internet with no problems. If I put the Phenom II back, the problem comes back.

I then decided to wipe out the HD and do a fresh install of Vista 64-bit, but I still have the same problems. I then did a fresh install of XP 32-bit and I have the same problems.

I've been in touch with Gigabyte technical support, but their replies take a very long time and their suggestion was to try and use the driver provided by the manufacturer of the chip used by the onboard Ethernet adapter of this motherboard, which is a Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit Ethernet controller. I downloaded the driver from the link they suggested but that also does not work.

I know the onboard ethernet adapter is not defective because, as I said, whenever I put the old Athlon processor back, it worked without any problems. It just won't work properly when I have the Phenon II processor there.

It is not completely dead, the ethernet port's LEDs are on when connected to the router, the OS recognizes the adapter, but it just doesn't connect to the network, no matter what I do.

Does anybody has any idea of why this happens? It seems like the onboard LAN adapter of this motherboard doesn't like the Phenom II for some reason. Besides that, everything else works like a charm.

Any inputs would be appreciated.

Thank you.