Gigabyte 9550 Refresh Rate and V-Tuner Problems

I have had some problems installing a Gigabyte 9550. The refresh rate would not adjust – it was stuck at 60 Hz and the V-Tuner application does not work. I am installing a GV-R955128D (128MB DDR / 128 bit) board on a Windows 98SE computer with a ECS K7S5A motherboard. I have tried both the drivers on the CD that came with the board and the drivers on <A HREF="http://www.giga-byte.com/Download/Download.asp?DownloadPath=/VGA/FileList/Driver/driver_ati_radeon_agp8x_98me.exe" target="_new">http://www.giga-byte.com/Download/Download.asp?DownloadPath=/VGA/FileList/Driver/driver_ati_radeon_agp8x_98me.exe</A>.

When I changed the refresh rate, it showed that it had changed, everyplace except the Monitor Display tab, where it still showed 60. In addition, the screen still flickered like it was at 60 Hz. I finally forced the refresh rate to 75 using the standard manual registry entries plus an obscure registry entry suggested on a board for the Catalyst drivers that have the same problem. Then the flickering stopped and it showed as 75 Hz everywhere.

I have not been able to fix the V-Tuner problem. The sliders do not work. Only the “help” and “exit” functions on the skin seem to be active.

The bag that the board came in was neatly taped shut but not sealed, making me think that maybe it was a re-used board – but I did not buy refurbished and NewEgg is usually very good about this.

Should I RMA for another board or is there a solution for these problems?

Old enough to remember when sex was safe and a personal computer was a slide rule