Wedge,
Sorry to hear it was a bad motherboard. (If the mobo is bad. Proper RAM with nForce is critical.)
Let us know what happens when you get the next motherboard.
Since you are sending the motherboard back, see if they will trade it in for an MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR or an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe. (Both those mobos have Dolby Digital SoundStorm and SATA RAID. Good features for the future.)
nVidia's SoundStorm blows SB Live! away.
Take Care,
Richard