3TB HDD´s on ga-880gma-ud2h (rev. 2.0) using Win7 64 bits

[Kenshiro]

Dear Forum,

I´m using the above mentioned motherboard since June 2011 and I´m extremely happy with it.
I will soon exhaust all my storage capacity and have decided to get an external enclosure that can contain up to 4 HDD via USB3. Forgive me for not finding an english site, but it happens to be only in german.  Not looking for RAID just storage.
I already have a SSD running containing the OS and games.

Since I will fill it up with 3TB drives and some old drives I still have, I first googled a bit for compatibility issues just as not recognizing the full capacity, only up to 746 GB..etc...
I found out that you need to convert the drive to GBT and also read that this is not an issue if you have a UEFI Bios, which the ud2h isn´t, I believe.

Then I stumbled upon this link from Gigabyte...-> http://www.gigabyte.us/microsite/276/3tb.html  and this link from another forum (http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12744.0), where they talk about a BIOS update (F6) which I cannot seem to find...

So, the question is very simple:
Will I have any trouble plugging in 3TB HDD´s, do I need to update the BIOS, do I need convert it to GBT ?  The 3TB+ unlock link is only for 32bit System...

Thank you in advance as always for all your kind help,
Best regards,
Ken

[Tiger]

GPT (GUID Partition Table)  Disk is required for disks larger than 2 terabytes.  

1.Back up or move the data on the basic master boot record (MBR) disk you want to convert into a GUID partition table (GPT) disk.

2.If the disk contains any partitions or volumes, right-click any volumes on the disk and then click Delete Partition or Delete Volume.

3.Right-click the MBR disk that you want to change into a GPT disk, and then click Convert to GPT Disk.

UEFI BIOS is required to boot from drives over 2TB. Not all operating systems can recognize drives over 2TB.
http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/869E4925CC72E233862577E100235119/$file/Deskstar_3TB_FAQ_finalwebv2.pdf

You can use the full capacity of a 3TB drive via USB--with a drive enclosure that supports it. The SATA-to-USB bridge chip inside the enclosure takes care of any addressing issues.

Although you shouldn't have any issues attaching a prepackaged 3TB external drive, you may have problems if you buy a 3TB internal drive and try to add it to a USB-connected enclosure yourself. Read the fine print: Many of the bare enclosures say they support 3TB, but not all of them do.

[Kenshiro]

Thanx for your reply Tiger, much appreciated.
I think that I did a mistake and clicked on "smite" instead of "applause", but have just rectified it by applauding. I first had read "smile"....I´m very sorry for this.

Anyway, I got a few more things clearer now.
1. I will have to convert it to GPT
2. UEFI Bios does not affect me, since I won´t boot from those 3TB drives.
3. I believe the enclosure above will support 3TB. In the worst case I can swith my internal drives which are 1TB,1.5TB  & 2TB with the 3TB and put those in the enclosure. 

I´m aware that this mobo can be considered a bit outdated  nowadays, but it delivers what it´s supposed to.

I´m just curious though, about the sentece of user TheWombat in the link I posted before:

"Looks like the F6f Gigabyte BIOS for this specific motherboard has resolved the issue and I can now successfully use .21 firmware (and hence 3TB/4TB support)
note: I haven't actually tried a 3TB or 4TB HDD yet, however others have used them successfully with firmware .21"

So it seems that a Bios exists F6f that may enable all this. I have been searching on the Support & Download tab on Bios, but I haven´t found anything.  I found something called @Bios in the Utilities section, but nothing likde F6f...
Where can I find it ?

I should correct myself as well, as the Revision I wrote in the subject is wrong, I got a Rev.2.1 board, ot 2.0.

Cheers!
Ken

[Ripshod]

Drop a line to gigabytes support, outlining the problem. If there is a beta bios available you'll get it pretty darn quick. Gigabyte have always been good in this respect.

[j5]

"Looks like the F6f Gigabyte BIOS for this specific motherboard has resolved the issue and I can now successfully use .21 firmware (and hence 3TB/4TB support)
note: I haven't actually tried a 3TB or 4TB HDD yet, however others have used them successfully with firmware .21"

So it seems that a Bios exists F6f that may enable all this. I have been searching on the Support & Download tab on Bios, but I haven´t found anything.  I found something called @Bios in the Utilities section, but nothing likde F6f...
Where can I find it ?

Not sure how the user on that other forum identified that there is a new BIOS, but here it is:
http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/BIOS/mb_bios_ga-880gma-ud2h_v.2.x_f6f.exe

[Kenshiro]

Wow !  Thank you j5, and I´m not sure how you were able to get to that Bios    It´s like finding an Easter Egg.. so it is sort of official, but not retrievable through the standard way...guess it´s a Beta and Gigabyte does not want us to use it ? Does it tell somewhere which improvements it contains ?  I'll try it out as soon as I get the HDD´s, will update this thread with an success or not.

Cheers everybody for your help !  I was going to write to the support as suggested by Ripshod, but now it´s ok

Regards,
Ken

[j5]

Wow !  Thank you j5, and I´m not sure how you were able to get to that Bios    It´s like finding an Easter Egg.. so it is sort of official, but not retrievable through the standard way...guess it´s a Beta and Gigabyte does not want us to use it ? Does it tell somewhere which improvements it contains ?  I'll try it out as soon as I get the HDD´s, will update this thread with an success or not.

Cheers everybody for your help !  I was going to write to the support as suggested by Ripshod, but now it´s ok

Regards,
Ken

I copied the link for the F5 BIOS and used their naming convention to "guess" the F6f file.

I suspect it's far far easier for support/dev to drop a download in the folder than to have someone update the front-end website with links to it.