Help: Enabling 64 bit Through BIOS

[IWillBiteYou]

After making my rig, i tried to install 64 bit OS but wouldnt work, we tried other 64 bit OS's and they wouldnt work either. The only thing that was written was 32 bit. There was no way that the hardware was determining the fact that i couldnt use 64 bit.

From what people have said, i actually have to go into the BIOS and enable 64 bit. Is this true?

If this is true, what procedures do i need to take in order to change that?

I also heard that i may have to update the BIOS, but since i recently bought mine, the BIOS would probably already be updated.

I have the GA-X58-USB3 with a Intel i7 950 CPU.

[Fatman]

Well you would need to change HPET mode to 64 in the power management setup in bios.

After putting your rig together, did you go into bios and set to load optimised defaults and then reboot the machine? Then if need be try a fresh reload of your OS.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte UK Forum

I think your problem may lie a bit deeper than that to be realistic as Windows 7 64 bit should run whether HPET is set to 32 or 64 bit mode.

A few more details on your system wouldn't hurt to help us make an informed decision including what revision your motherboard is.

As has already been suggested I would check what BIOS version you are running and see if there is an update available. If that is the case then make sure that you run  it using QFlash NOT @BIOS.

[IWillBiteYou]

Heres more on Build Specs:

Intel i7 950 CPU LGA 1366

GIGABYTE GA-X58-USB3

CORSAIR 6GB 1333 (3x2GB) XMS3 DDR3

EVGA Geforce GTX 460

Built this rig with friends. We finished putting all the hardware together and went into installing the OS (Windows 7). When we tried installing x64 Windows 7 but the writing was stalled at 0% and wasnt moving forward. We waited 30 minutes mulitple times trying to see what was wrong and tested other 64 bit OS systems like Windows 7 and XP but they wouldnt work either. Then we tried x86 Windows 7 and that started to write onto the HDD and worked. Everything including the CPU supported 64 bit and we new that nothing of the hardware was causing me to not install Window 7. Now were here confused trying to see whats wrong.

We searched a little and found out that we needed to change the mobo settings to HPET 64-bit but from what your saying the problem is actually deeper. If so, could you explain further?

And sorry i'm not familar with Qflash, could you elaborate on how I would use that to update my BIOS?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Firstly my thoughts would go to what PSU are you running?

Also is your memory on the QVL and have you run Memtest86+ to check it is working alright?

Memtest86+   http://www.memtest.org/

Regarding the BIOS update using QFlash the instructions are below:

The first thing to do is go to the Gigabyte wesite and find the "Support and Downloads" section(http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/support-downloads.aspx).
Select your motherboard and revision number which can be found printed on the bottom left corner of the motherboard. Click on the "BIOS" tab. This will take you to the BIOS versions download page.The newest BIOS versions are at the top of the page. Click on your region under the "Download Here" section heading. A dialogue box will then pop up asking what you want to do with this file. Click on "save" and note where you are saving it to.

Take a USB pendrive and make sure it is formatted with a FAT32 file system. If the file ends with .exe run it, or if it is a zip file Unzip it, and save the files (usually contains 3 files) that you just expanded to the Boot sector or a folder of your choice on this drive and insert the pendrive into a USB port.

Re-boot.

Press the"End" key as the computer is POSTing and you will be taken into the BIOS flashing utility "Q-Flash". At the QFlash homescreen disable the Keep DMI Data option before proceeding. From there just follow the prompts to find your file and DO NOT TURN OFF THE POWER under any circumstances. It will look for the pendrive with the file on it and use that to update the BIOS. One thing to note is that the pendrive may show up as a floppy or hard disk instead of a USB drive. Once it has completed you can reboot. Believe me it is not as difficult as it sounds.

We have since found out that the problem with getting some motherboards to "see" the USB drive is a case of using as small a drive as possible, well at least under 2Gb, and even then some will be seen and some won't. Just a matter of luck.

[IWillBiteYou]

OCZ Stealth x Stream II 80 Plus 600W PSU

Thanks for the tip!

[Dark Mantis]

After checking on your power supply I find it is underpowered for what you require. Mainly because it utilises four 12V rails to supply the power instead of one. That means that especially on startup or heavy load situations anything requiring a big cuurent can be let down and I believe that is what is happening in your case. Try removing the GPU and see if it boots better (even though unsuccesfully).

[sygnus21]

After checking on your power supply I find it is underpowered for what you require. Mainly because it utilises four 12V rails to supply the power instead of one. That means that especially on startup or heavy load situations anything requiring a big cuurent can be let down and I believe that is what is happening in your case. Try removing the GPU and see if it boots better (even though unsuccesfully).

With all due respect that absolutely makes no sense. Please have a look at this article - http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/PSU/

[Dark Mantis]

With all due respect back I stick by my post and have proven it to be the case many times in the past even here on the forum and in my own equiptment. I will leave it up to the OP to decide whether they want to take any notice of my advice or yours as in the end it is their decision.

[sygnus21]

I think the notion that dual/multi rail power supplies are inferior or lack sufficient power has been thoroughly disproven by the fact that almost all manufactures today are producing multi rail power supplies rather than single rail power supplies.   Also Nvidia will NOT SLI certify a power supply unless they have separate rails for the PCIe connectors.  

I get my information from here......

http://www.slizone.com/object/slim_help_psu.html

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990

Plus a whole host of reviews on today’s power supplies which are almost always multi-rail designs.

Anyways as not to hijack this thread, I'll end by saying if the OP has an issue with the power supply it’s not due to it being a single rail design.  I would also urge the OP to do his homework before dumping his "multi-rail" power supply in favor of a single one for fear of insufficient power.

My two cents.

[Dark Mantis]

 I would also urge the OP to do his homework before dumping his "multi-rail" power supply in favor of a single one for fear of insufficient power.

And I would totally agree with you that no advice should be taken on blind trust and that all remedies should be investigated first by the OP just to be safe.

(I only had one cent so I couldn't waffle on so long!) 

[sygnus21]

Its all good. I just hope the OP gets his issues sorted out, which ever way he goes.

Peace 

[fatbobuk]

doesnt sound like a hardware problem to me

not if windows 7 32bit will install

[Dark Mantis]

@IWillBiteYou

Is the copy of Windows 7 64bit genuine or a download?