Official GIGABYTE Forum

Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: Androb on October 29, 2010, 05:51:25 pm

Title: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Androb on October 29, 2010, 05:51:25 pm
Hi Guys,

First time on this forum and looking for some advice.

To cut a long story short I've been having a few issues with a motherboard from another manufacturer.

I'm looking to buy a Gigabyte board for my existing kit. What I'm looking for is good stable board for my Phenom II x3 720 CPU & OCZ3P13334GK (2 x 2024MB) DDR3. I see a few AM3 / DDR3 Gigabyte boards but which one suits best.

Not looking to overclock and dont really want to spend anymore than £70.

Thanks
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on October 29, 2010, 05:56:35 pm
Well you came to the right place and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum. Wasn't an Asus board before was it?

I am Moderator of the Intel section so I won't try and give you advice on buying AMD boards but I am sure absic can help you.
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Androb on October 29, 2010, 06:03:02 pm
Hi Dark Mantis,

Yes it was an Asus board. Had a nightmare last few weeks. The bottom line is probably won't touch them again.

Heard Gigabyte were a good bet and good customer support.

Still looking for a compatable board myself but thought I'd get a bit help from the experts.

Cheers
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on October 29, 2010, 06:07:48 pm
As I said Absic the AMD mmoderator is the best one to help with that advice and I am sure he will be back in sometime shortly. You would be suprised the number of members coming over from Asus, me included. I used to help out on that forum but had enough. The thing is all makes have their problems as nothing is perfect but it's how you deal with them that matters and on the forum here we try to give a prompt efficient service. You will also find that is a nice friendly relaxed community. ;)
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on October 29, 2010, 06:53:29 pm
Hi there and welcome to the forum,

Being blunt, there aren't too many options for under £70 but here are a couple that will do the job for you:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-ma770t-ud3-amd-770-am3-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1666-1333-sata-3gb-s-raid-atx
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3533&dl=1#ov

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-880gm-ud2h-amd-880g-s-am3-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1800(oc)-sata-3gb-s-sata-raid-matx
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3415&dl=1#ov

The links for SCAN UK afre to give an indication of price and you could well find them cheaper. I have also provided the links to the relevant Gigabyte pages so you can get a better overview. It's a good idea to download the User Manual for the board you think you want to get so that you can get an insight into the BIOS which is different to what you are probably used to if this is your first Gigabyte board.

Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Androb on October 30, 2010, 09:07:18 am
Thanks for the links Absic,

Sorry I didn't reply earlier. Broadband network went down in my area last night.

I managed to check out the boards you listed this morning. I see what you mean about what's available for under £70.

The MA-770T-UD3 looked the better card for me as it has more slots for my 4890 graphic card and xfi sound card.

What are you views on the GA-870A-UD3 870 Socket AM3. I have seen this on ebuyer for £76.

The 8 pin power supply also looks in a better position away from the graphic card.

Thanks again
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on October 30, 2010, 09:47:20 am
Yes, the GA-870A-UD3 is a good board and you can check out it's full specs here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3517# and it has the advantage over the GA-880GM-UD2H of being an ATX board so things aren't quite so cramped.
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Androb on October 30, 2010, 10:02:17 am
Thanks for the help absic, I'll order one today.

Cheers.
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on October 30, 2010, 10:03:58 am
No problem and don't forget to let us know how you get on.  ;)
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: jannie on October 30, 2010, 05:15:36 pm
Hi Androb, I am just a nobody, but I welcome you to the site....Bet you never got quick replies like that before.....Yes your in the right place and you have the best two guys for help....
P.S. if your from Scotland, dont tell them a haggis is not an anilmal ;D
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on October 30, 2010, 06:03:31 pm
Hi Jannie, don't put yourself down you are of as much importance here as anyone else and we all had to start at the beginning and learn. I remember when I got my first PC I didn't even realise that you were supposed to do a shutdown procedure and used to just pull the plug until someone set me straight. Anyway appreciate the kind words mate. ;)
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on October 30, 2010, 06:34:28 pm
P.S. if your from Scotland, dont tell them a haggis is not an anilmal ;D

Jannie, I bet you don't believe in the Loch Ness Monster, Father Christmas or the Tooth Fairy..... Shame on you!

We all know that the Haggis is a wee small timorous beastie, that has six legs and wears tartan socks. You can only hunt them for a few months of the years because the rest of the time they are getting fat on porridge and a single malt Scotch!
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on October 30, 2010, 08:01:14 pm
Absic did you know that they have legs longer on one side than the other so that when they run round the hills they are upright. Bloody clever these haggis. By the way when does haggis hunting season start?
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on October 30, 2010, 08:15:37 pm
Haggis Hunting Season starts on the 1st June and ends on the 31st August, according to the "Toff's Guide to Hunting".  :P

Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: jannie on November 01, 2010, 11:58:24 am
Well  thanks  DM  ( hey ? maybe I can get a job someday with gigabyte , ( well someone must sweep up in their factory ) ::). Yes I have much more knowledge since I joined this site and have built two computers with the guidance of you guys.
And at the weekend I installed an Nvidea  geforce GTX 460 graphics card, ( I can hear absic saying Oh  No Nvidea )  ;D  I backup my bluray dvd’s with DVD FAB which needs Cuda and that’s why ATI won’t work with this programme..Anyway it is all working  fan-dabi-dozi now

Well ofcoarse I beleive in sanity clause.

Always
Believe
Santa
Is
Christmas


Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 01, 2010, 12:07:27 pm
What can I say Jannie,

I know you wanted to back-up your blue ray discs and DVD Fab doesn't work with ATI so I guess you had to go down that route.

Still just so long as everything is working OK, that's all that matters.

Of course, if your ATI card needs a good home, I will look after it for you as I don't use DVD Fab!!!  :P
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 01, 2010, 12:29:08 pm
Well done jannie 8) I like the acronym for ABSIC! So have you got both cards running in your machine?
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: jannie on November 01, 2010, 12:57:37 pm
Gosh you guys must be well educated..I had to ask my head mistress what that word meant ::)
No DM I must admit that I did not know you can run 2 dfifferent cards in the same machine, does this mean lots of configuration? coz I do like ati cards and absic only offered 30 bob
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 01, 2010, 01:05:47 pm
absic only offered 30 bob

That's more money than you normally have in Scotland.

I really wouldn't advise running different GPU's Jannie, it rarely works and can cause all kinds of problems. To save you from any further grey hairs, ship the card to me and I will throw in 2 pieces of used chewing gum, a couple of paper clips and a rather tatty copy of Luscious Mary reveals all!
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: jannie on November 01, 2010, 01:31:24 pm
What flavour is the chewing gum..and why is the book tattered,  have you been trying to learn techniques.
Yes I will leave the one card in.
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 01, 2010, 01:34:25 pm
The chewing gum is Old Scotch Malt flavoured.

The book is rather tatty because I had to hide it under the bed in case my mum found it! It was hidden along with a long playing gramaphone recording of Andi Stewart's Greatest Hit which I will also throw in for you!  ;)
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 01, 2010, 01:35:05 pm
Thta absic is so tight! I mean I would go to £1/19/6 and I will pay you in real money
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 01, 2010, 01:36:26 pm
Don't lie DM. You know your mum doesn't give you that much pocket money!  :P And you told me you don't have any money at all!
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 01, 2010, 01:37:57 pm
Iv'e been saving and not buying dirty books! :o (sorry educational literature)

Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 01, 2010, 01:39:26 pm
Iv'e been saving and not buying dirty books! :o (sorry educational literature)

nuff said!  :-[
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: jannie on November 01, 2010, 01:49:54 pm
Great laugh guys..I better go and do some work.
You know one of the Hollies hits from the 60s comes to mind ( Carrie Ann )  I played a Janitor you Played a monitor ;D
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Androb on November 02, 2010, 08:46:25 pm
Its a good job us scots have a sense of humour  ;)

Anyway, I received my GA-870A-UD3 motherboard and have put a new II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache 125W into it.

PC works fine under default BIOS settings.

One thing I have noticed is that the memory (OCZ3P13334GK (2 x 2024MB) DDR3) is running at 1066Mhz.

According to the data sheet the ram is 1333 Mhz, the settings are 7-7-7-20 and voltage is 1.8v.

Should I set the MHz manually in the BIOS and the voltage or just leave well alone.

I did read the post regarding overclocking above 1333 but I'd be happy to just get the 1333.

Cheers
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 02, 2010, 09:03:44 pm
Yes you should be fine to manually use the settings on the side of the modules for your memory. If it is sold as 1333 then it should be ok at that speed although you probably won't actually notice any difference.
Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 02, 2010, 09:06:00 pm
Under the MIT Section of BIOS you need to set the Memory Clock to X6.66 to get the 1333 MHz from your RAM Modules.

Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: collidingstar on November 03, 2010, 03:59:00 pm
Its a good job us scots have a sense of humour  ;)

Anyway, I received my GA-870A-UD3 motherboard and have put a new II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache 125W into it.

PC works fine under default BIOS settings.

One thing I have noticed is that the memory (OCZ3P13334GK (2 x 2024MB) DDR3) is running at 1066Mhz.

According to the data sheet the ram is 1333 Mhz, the settings are 7-7-7-20 and voltage is 1.8v.

Should I set the MHz manually in the BIOS and the voltage or just leave well alone.

I did read the post regarding overclocking above 1333 but I'd be happy to just get the 1333.

Cheers


I have the Gold Version of this memory and the 880 board but it detected them correctly for me..
Are you running the latest version of the Bios?

Title: Re: New Gigabyte board for Existing Kit
Post by: absic on November 03, 2010, 04:07:32 pm
You should be able to just set the Memory Clock to X6.66 to get your 1333MHz. You might have to up the voltage to get stability and when you unlock the voltage control you will get a warning about overvolting. You don't need to worry too much about this as it is standard and as your RAM is rated at 1.8 you will be OK. You might find that you can get away with a lower voltage setting for your RAM but it will be a case of trial and error to find the right amount.