Asus Essence STX not working in PCI-E x1 slot

[mp260767]

Hi,

I've got a z77-d3h, on the f18 bios, with 3570K processor, 16gb of memory, running windows 7, gfx card is an ati 7850.

I'm trying to install an Asus Essence STX sound card, i've tried all 3 pci-e x1 slots but the system will not boot up, it starts to power up then shuts down, then powers up......this will continue until i hit the power button and switch the system off, the 4 pin molex is inserted fully.

the only way i've found to get the system to boot is to move the sound card to one of the full length pci-e slots.

i've seen mention of some motherboards needing to have the pci-e x1 slots enabled, but the only thing i've seen re the z77-d3h  is that they are disabled if the pcie-4 is used, which isn't the case.

apologies if theres something in the forums already for this, tried various searches but came up empty.



thanks,

mark

[Fatman]

Have you disabled the onboard audio in bios? Installed the drivers for the STX?

[mp260767]

hi,

have installed the drivers for the STX, not disabled the onboard sound as far as i remember, is that a requirement as i use both sources to play and it wasn't an issue with the previous pci card.


thanks for the reply.

[Fatman]

Disable your onboard in Bios and see if you still have issues. The dedicated sound card will always be the better option. Only on very rare occasions will you find some probems with the dedicated card...........So give it a go and reply back.

[mp260767]

hi,

disabled on board audio and it made no difference, still have the same issue.

what i have noticed is that the stx card will ONLY work in the pci-e x16 slot, i moved it into the x4 slot i currently have the gfx card in and i had the same power up/down issues   

[Fatman]

Rather odd to say the least. Have a look in device manager and see if you have question marks or exclamation marks, if so use you motherboard disc and and see if you can update. Maybe it is something that could have be overlooked, I doubt it though, but worth a look.

[mp260767]

yeah tell me about it 

checked device manager and nothing outstanding, latest drivers on the gigabyte site are the ones i have installed.

[Fatman]

I know I am going to be crucified for this...........But I gave up on Gigabyte motherboards some time ago. I have had Asrock (Crap!!) Asus (ok) MSI (Fantastic) so I would say, flog your Gigabyte board on ebay and go for something different. For a few years now Gigabyte have dropped the ball as far as Bios and customer support goes. They have really let themselves down I think! So go for something different. I am currently on a MSI Mpower Z77 board and for the price for performance and feature........I couldn't be happier!!!!!!!

[mp260767]

wish i could but its a pretty recent purchase, and don't have the cash to at the moment 

i'd arrived at gigabyte after issues with asus and msi in the past, looks like asrock might be my next attempt 

thanks for the help/advice 

[Fatman]

Have you updated your chipset drivers?

[mp260767]

ones on the system are the last ones listed on the gigabyte website.


edit:

just to update i'd emailed gigabyte's tech support, who advised trying there beta bios, which i'd only seen bad things about, but its fixed the issue 

thanks for your thoughts and help.