Windows 7: NIC recommendation

Hi,
I currently have an Asus P5NSLI motherboard and use the on board Marvell 88E8001 NIC.

There is an issue in Windows 7 x64 (I think the same is true for Vista x64) where the NIC will not work properly with more than 4gb of memory installed.

The only way that I've been able to get it working is to limit my memory from 8gb installed to 3gb. I'm none too happy about this. . .

Does anybody know of a PCI card that will definitely work with more than 4gb of memory?

Even better, does anyone know a workaround for my on board card?

Thanks,
Chris

Do you have the lastest drivers installed?

Hey CHris

I just checked the specs for your mobo and it supports 16 gigs of ram. Is this a problem with 64bit win 7? I searched for the problem and came up empty

Edit for my stupidity. Just re-read the post its the nic problem. DUH

Ken

I think the problem has to do with the Marvell NIC. I found some references to it in other forums, and this solution from these forums is the only thing that got me up and running.

It's pretty frustrating to have all that RAM sitting in my box doing nothing. . .

Thanks,
Chris

Try this:

Go to device manager/network adaptor/advanced and change the "ip4 rx offload" to disabled. It is a reported "fix" for this issue.

Another reported "fix" is to disable IPv6 (and homegroups)

From Asus forum:
Posted:12/27/2007 2:35:00 AM# 6i am having the same issues, with 2x 2gb sticks
After some searching the only work arround appears to be using a pci-e nic.

So i sent an email to Marvell. this is the reply
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Jeroen,

Thank-you for your e-mail. We are aware of this issue and there is a new driver under development that should fix this. It will be posted to our download site after the Test & Verification section has tested and approved it. We are hoping to have this ready some time in the next two to three weeks.

Kind regards - Terry Appling
Application Support Engineer
www.marvell.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marvell: Download Drivers

Lists a driver update for 8-14-2009 for Windows 7 x64

I was installing 7 on the 14th and came across that driver. . . I was sure it was going to fix it. . . No luck. . .

I did try to disable IPv6, no luck.

I'll try the other fix this evening when I get home.

Thanks,
Chris

So I tried the adapter settings mentioned earlier to no avail.

I also received the following email from Marvell, which confirms the above post.

So back to my initial question. . . Can anyone recommend a 10/100/1000 NIC that they can confirm is working in Windows 7 x64 with over 4GB of memory?

Thanks,
Chris

I'm pretty confident that any NIC you buy with a Windows Vista Ready sticker is going to work.