Please help [Realtek LAN NIC problem]

Question

Hi everyone, this might be a long post but PLEASE read it if you have the time, you might just know the solution to this problem. to begin with, here is my system:
Windows 2000 pro sp4
AMD Athlon64 3000+
MSI K8T Neo (BIOS rev. 1.10)
1 GB (2x512) PC3500 Mushkin level 2 hi performance @ 2-3-2-6 timings
Samsung SATA 160 GB hard drive
ATI Radeon 9700 pro (catalyst 4.1)
Lite On 52x-32x-52x IDE CD Drive
Enermax EG465P-VE FC (460W) 3.3V/35A , 5V/35A , 12V/33A
*There are not any other PCI cards installed.
Now, here is the problem:
I did not notice the problem right away, you will not notice this if you are doing normal browsing or downloads. It came to my attention while I was receiving a file on IRC (using mIRC). while I was recieving the file I noticed that, somehow, I could no longer access the internet at all (neither on IRC, http, ftp .. nothing). I tried to find out why, I couldn't. so I rebooted the system and tried to continue receiving that file ... same thing happens. after a while of digging around my system and experimenting I found that sends from certain people will cause the problem, and i simply need to restart to get back online. this will happen always whenever those certain people send me anything. so, what's going on:
1 - Windows 2000 pro is freshly installed and up to date. i tried XP, it had the same problem; however, 2000pro is the operating system i will be using.
2 - the client is not the problem because i tried another one and the same thing happened. I have also tested 2 other computers and they worked fine (same file .. same person). note that the download was going faster on the other 2 computers.
3 - it is not the router because a direct link to the modem did not solve the problem. also, the other 2 computers had no problem with the router.
4 - i tested the Realtek driver that was included on the motherboard CD as well as the updated drivers from realtek website. that also did not help.
5 - windows reports that the device (realtek NIC adapter) is working properly and that there are no conflicts. realtek diagnostics utility also reports no problems.
6 - Realtek's Gigabit NIC shares IRQ 16 with the radeon 9700 pro, so I figured that i could reserve some of main memory to IRQ 16 to make sure things run with maximum stability:
on system.ini added the line -> IRQ[16] = 8192 (reserve 8MB of main memory for IRQ 16). this did not help. so i removed it.
7 - changing the NIC setting from "auto negotiation" to "100Mbps/Full duplex" did not help either.
8 - one time, the Realtek diagnostics utility was able to reload the device driver, and of course, i was able to go online without restarting. this happened only once. note that I tried to unload/reload the device through device manager many times but i always failed and then i have to press the power switch or reset button to actually reboot. normal windows shutdown/reboot is not possible. the same thing happens when Realtek's diagnostics finishes a test and tries to reload the driver (remember, it only succeeded once).
9 - system logs do not seem to report any problem. i even tried using inspectr.exe to try and find the reason for the driver crash but no crash was detected.
10- disabling the IEEE 1394 controller did not help.
it is obvious that there is something wrong with the driver, but there is a possibility it could be the board/device. if the driver is "flakey", it will mess up. if the device/chip/board is not working properly, then the driver will get stuck just as well.
so, the solution?
I- Hit the wall with my head 7 times (2-3-2) then roll on the ground for a few minutes .. get up and hit the wall 13 more times (2-3-2-6) and then roll on the ground and sleep.
or
II- burn it all .. yes ... BURN IT ALL. MOAHAHAHAHAH!!!
or
III- RMA board or change it :(
I'm trying to decide whether it is the board or if it is the driver. I'm trying to find any excuse not to RMA or change the board. I will be installing linux, and networking is important to get rest of the files I need. I really would like not to rely on flakey hardware or driver. if it is the chip, i have to RMA. if it is the driver, change MB or get a NIC card and install it until realtek decides that it is a good idea to fix the driver.
i tried to check realtek's website but there was very little or no real helpful information to the end user (either that, or i was too upset to find the info i need on their website). I wish they had a forum like this one.
That is basically what i was thinking about .. of course, i could be wrong and the solution might be simple (i wish).
any suggestions, tweaks, patches, information that you guys know about are appreciated and may be of great help. Are there any setting in the BIOS that i need to set in some way to make sure this works properly? would the new BIOS revision 1.20 fix this?
I apologize for the lengthy post. I believe that I've managed to fry whatever brain cells I had left over the past few days. So,  I apologize for any spelling/grammer mistakes
thank you in advance

Answer 1

Blaming every problem on the MSI K8T NEO FSR on a 350w power source is utter crap!  
Why would ANY Computer hardware shops even SELL SYSTEMS on a 350w powersource on the thousands if a 350watt power source wouldnt be enough for the motherboard, what you are saying that hundreds of HW stores are just saying FU to every customer they sell a computer unit WHICH COMES PRE-EQUIPPED with a 350W powersource!!! I've seen various configurations using a 350w power source working just fine!
I simply DO NOT believe that the system aint getting enough power, that's bull! This would cause considerable UNSTABILITIES and other problems on the system besides dysfunctional S-ATA Hard drives and NIC problems, eg. like artifacts while playing games, crackling in audio, bluescreens and other symptoms!
I just noticed today that my on board NIC had jammed while downloading Torrent files, had to reboot my cable modem, this could be nothing and could simply be an ISP matter, or it could be that my K8T NEO FSR also has a problem with the NIC, again i stress that i havent done really any testing so this raving could be about nothing.
I solved my S-ATA problem by changing back to a similiar IDE 8MB cache 7200 rpm Samsung 160 GB drive. No problems what so ever with register / file corruption! I've also been in contact with VIA who are currently investigating problems with the 8237 Southbridge controller equipped motherboards like the K8T NEO FSR (http://www.viaarena.com -> forums)