GA-990XA-UD3 - no beeps, no POST, no BIOS.... no fun

[wakenbake]

I'm not getting anything (other than lights and fans) when I power-up.  I was wondering - just how 'AM3+ Ready' is this board?  My CPU is an AMD FX 6100 and I was wondering if I have to flash the BIOS before inserting the CPU?  Could this work or will the no CPU destroy my motherboard and all that I hold dear? 
I've tried everything I can think of (built outside of the case on non-conductive surface, swapping parts out for others, etc).  Basically I've narrowed the problem down to motherboard or CPU (possibly PSU, but I really don't think so).

Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3
AMD FX-6100 Black Edition 3.3GHz
Nvidia GeForce 460 GTX
1x4GB DDR3 1866MHZ
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6 Gb/s
Tagan BZ800 800W PSU

[wakenbake]

P.S. (rev 1.0)

[absic]

Hi there,

by the sound of it you probably need to update the BIOS before the FX-6100 is recognised and to do this you will need a processor that will run with the F2 BIOS http://uk.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3901 If you haven't got access to a supported CPU maybe there is a local PC repair shop who can flash the BIOS for you, although they will charge for doing so.

[wakenbake]

Thanks very much, although can I not flash from a USB drive or does this need a processor?

[absic]

No, you need a supported CPU installed before you can flash the BIOS by any method as without this the board won't fire up. I know, I've had this happen to me on several occasions and I now have a couple of "low end" CPU's just for this purpose.

The big problem for all motherboard manufacturers was that initially AMD planned to release the FX processors in March/April. Motherboard makers released these boards but, due to the problems at AMD the processors were delayed and also the microcode needed for them was updated. The upshot of this is, that there are a lot of "AM3+" ready boards on retailer's shelves, that sadly don't work out of the box with the new CPU's and need a BIOS update before they do.

[wakenbake]

Thanks very much absic, I'll give it a shot.

[wakenbake]

It's been a while but...
I bought a Sempron cpu to flash the BIOS which it did admirably (albeit a Socket AM3, not AM3+) but the FX6100 didn't care at all.  So I sent it back to AMD.  They said it was faulty and sent me another.  That arrived yesterday, I put it in and...... nothing.  Same situation.  No nothing except spinning fans.  Grrrrrrrrr.  So, is this a second faulty chip?  The odds are surely against it, but its either that or the motherboard (which got flashed just fine by the Sempron).

Any suggestions welcome.

Has anyone else had such daft trouble putting an AMD Bulldozer into one of these boards?  I really don't want it to be the board - I've never bought a Gigabyte before and would hate to sour our affair with such a start!

Thanks

[wakenbake]

*Just saw absic's post about RAM speeds and such - going to try that, but still, feel free to wade in with ideas!

[wakenbake]

*** just read TO THE BOTTOM of that post  ^^ and now know that it doesn't apply in this case (AM3+).

[absic]

Ouch!

It could well be a second duff chip, especially as the motherboard works fine with the Sempron. It would be worth contacting AMD again and fully explaining the situation and see what they say.

As you are in the UK you can actually talk to them directly which might be even better. Their telephone number is 01276 803100. There is a stupid automated answer thingy to get past but once through you get to talk to a real person!

[gokrix]

I had the same problem - with BIOS version F1, the machine wouldn't POST.  I installed another CPU and updated to F9, and now everything's fine.

@wakenbake - Here is a thought:  Is your SMPS under-powered?  Given that the Sempron has a TDP of 45 W (or less) and the FX-6100 a TDP of 95 W, it might be worthwhile checking if the SMPS output is adequate.