ESXi 5.1 nic recognized but unusable

OK please hang in there while I try to explain.  I have the following motherboard:

http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/apac/eng/products/server/boards/up/s3000ah/feature/index.htm

It shows up with the following two nic's (macs removed)

Name    PCI           Driver      Link Speed     Duplex MAC Address       MTU    Description

vmnic0  0000:03:00.00 e1000e      Up   1000Mbps  Full   00:**:**:**:**:** 1500   Intel Corporation 82573E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

vmnic1  0000:04:05.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps  Full   00:**:**:**:**:** 1500   Intel Corporation 82541GI Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Both get link light.

I am able to install and manage the ESXi through vmnic1 the e1000 nic just fine.  But if I try to use the other nice vmnic0 as the management network nic or set it up in its own vSwitch for a VM it does not work!

At first I thought ok it must be bad.  So I threw an ubuntu disk in and tested it, it works fine!  I'm able to do whatever I want through that nic.  So i'm thinking there must be some issue with ESXi and maybe e1000e drivers?

I don't know any help is appreciated!

Please help

thanks in advance!