Flashing my BIOS on my Gigabyte ga-970a-ud3

[Thrall]

Thanks I certainly will. I am very happy with the temps as I have never had such low temps on any other computer before. Normally as a AMD user for many years the CPU's usually have been running at temps between 40-50 idle and maybe 60-70 load on my old computers. But then again I never had 3 extra fans so obviously that helps.

[Hippie Tech]

Hi all

I'll bet IDE/AHCI mode had something to do with windows not liking the new bios.

Tip: disable 'performance boost' and 'load line control' (if its available), and those temps will only get sweeter. 

pEACe

[Thrall]

Where would I look for those functions (If they are available)? Is it a Windows 7 feature or a BIOS function?
My first time using Windows 7, been a XP user for a while so I am not really up to date on all functions.

[Hippie Tech]

DOH .. I assumed you were familiar with the mobo's manual.  Those settings are in the bios.

Core performance boost/turbo core, is under M.I.T.

LLC, if there will be in the Advanced section.

[Thrall]

Core Performance/turbo boost is already disabled.
LLC however is set on auto and I only get 3 options which are regular, extreme or auto so should I just leave it as it is?

[Hippie Tech]

Set it to regular and watch the gaming temps drop.

[Thrall]

Thanks for the advise. I will try that setting when I get home from work and see if it makes a difference, I might post new pics

[Vezina]

DOH .. I assumed you were familiar with the mobo's manual.  Those settings are in the bios.

Core performance boost/turbo core, is under M.I.T.

LLC, if there will be in the Advanced section.

LLC is not present in my 970A-UD3 BIOS it seems.But i can t complain about temperatures neither so ...

[Thrall]

Well I tried changing the LLC setting to regular but I don't really notice much difference on my temps.
Anyways I am very happy with my new computer and the temps are good so I am going back to gaming I guess 

[Thrall]

Just wanted to add that unfortunately I had to do a new BIOS update. The reason for that was the last time when I did this using the @BIOS tool from Windows 7 it didn't actually update my BIOS to the newest version for my board which is F5 but instead it updated to the same version I had installed which was F4.

And the main reason for having to update my BIOS which was the reason I tried to update it in the first place was that I had a problem with a game that apparantly requires a BIOS update. And that game is known as Shogun 2 - Total War. I know that some might say that BIOS shouldn't have anything to do with running a game but in fact it seemed it did because when using the F4 version with all my other drivers updated and trying many different solutions I was unable to boot the game.

Basically what happened was that when I tried to boot the game it wouldn't get past the load up screen and then after a little while my computer would reboot itself and when getting back in to Windows 7 it would give me a blue screen error message. I tried alot of things such as applying the hotfixes for FX Processors released for Windows 7 and also tried running the game in Windows XP Service Pack 3 compatibility mode.

Anyways the reason I am making this post is because I want to thank Vezina and Hippe Tech for their help with explaining how a proper BIOS update should be done and when following their advise using the Q-Flash utility I was able to apply the F5 version without any problems. Didn't even have to clear the CMOS, just had to apply the BIOS and then load default optimized setting and I was back to gaming

[Hippie Tech]

Hio Thrall and np   Just pay the geek karma forward ! lol

While clearing the CMOS may not be necc., its highly recommended.

Glad to see everything is okie. xD

pEACe

HT

[Thrall]

I gave you some karma points.

Anyways I have been thinking about maybe doing AMD Crossfire.

And well with this motherboard I am going to assume it isn't really the best for that job as it only have 1 PCI Express x16 and 1 PCI Express x4 and I am guessing both cards will then run at x4 speed which could limit the cards performance or am I wrong?

If I am correct I have been looking at the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-D3 and GA-990FXA-UD3 but I am not sure whats the difference between those two motherboards, so which is best?

Best Regards
Thrall

[Hippie Tech]

I gave you some karma points.

Anyways I have been thinking about maybe doing AMD Crossfire.

And well with this motherboard I am going to assume it isn't really the best for that job as it only have 1 PCI Express x16 and 1 PCI Express x4 and I am guessing both cards will then run at x4 speed which could limit the cards performance or am I wrong?

If I am correct I have been looking at the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-D3 and GA-990FXA-UD3 but I am not sure whats the difference between those two motherboards, so which is best?

Best Regards
Thrall

lol ... 'paying it forward' means that you should help others as thanks/karma.

The UD3 board probably has a better power phase and /or more pci-e lanes. The phases and lanes will be easy to see and count.

Linus Tech tips.. pcie 4x benchmarks

http://youtu.be/vfXALgE7mVM

[Vezina]

Anyways I have been thinking about maybe doing AMD Crossfire.

Going for Crossfire may not be a good solution.
I would buy a better single card instead.

With a single card you have less latency in gaming ,no micro-stuttering danger ,less gaming issues due to bad crossfire implementation.
 1+1 will not be 2, it will be less than 2 , some performance will be lost.Due to the 970 chipset (less lines) you will loose even more.

[Thrall]

Thanks Hippie. I try to help when I can but I am no expert

Anyways that video was very helpful and the performance drop from X16 to X4 seems to be quite alot and it was kinda what I expected. So performance wise if I was to do Crossfire it would be best to get a motherboard with two X16 PCI Express slots or more. So I take it that the UD3 out of those I listed would be better.

Vezina: Personally I would prefer to run a single card anyways but I am just looking at the possibilites.

I spoke with AMD as I had some questions for them such as what the maximum heat my graphic card could handle as I want to know what would be safe limits. Of course there is no problems with my temperatures but I like to know things like that.

Anyways I also asked them which is their best gaming card currently (As I find all these series and cards confusing, some is good for gaming while others are for other tasks) and they said if I was to upgrade then I should go for a HD 7870 as that would be a step up from the HD 6870.

They also said that their fastest card currently is the HD 6990 but performance wise they said that the 6870 isn't that far away so for now they wouldn't suggest an upgrade.

And they also said that if in the future I wanted/needed a upgrade it might be better to Crossfire two 6870 as that would be equal to the 6990 in performance. 

So thats why I was looking at maybe buying a new motherboard if I was to do that. But for now I probably just stick with one HD 6870 as there is nothing wrong with my computers current performance.

Thanks for the advise guys, you are still awesome