thanks again for the replies!
I've tried updating the chipset manually first (seems to go okay), however trying the lan driver manually from their website (via usb) still results in a freeze at the end of the setup (99% progress bar, significant?). Anyway, I havn't tried downloading the rest manually yet, but as for the cd installation my device manager looks like this:
http://i.imgur.com/agwYC.jpg
Earlier on (before I reinstalled windows 7 to try again), it managed to skip over the lan drivers and install a couple of other ones, reducing the number of problem devices to three or so. But going back to try and install the lan driver resulted in the same lock ups.
Is 'load UEFI defaults' what you are referring to xtreme5? There isn't a 'factory reset' as far as I could see.