New Build 970A-UD3

[toostrike]

Hi-

I just received my parts a for a budget gaming build.I will be using a AMD FX6300.I presently have this board in another pc with an amd 965 oc @3.8 w/1.375 on v-core.Using an Antec DF 85.It idles @ 24C Load 45C.These are winter temps,but not bad for oc 125w 965.This will be my 3rd 970A-UD3 board.I know there are 3 revisions of the GA-970A-UD3.The board I just bought on Jan-4-2013 is revision 1.2.It looks like they are still clearing out the old stock at NewEgg.I was hoping for the 1.3,but as long as it works,is what counts.I bought this board in Dec 2011,and July of 2012,The first is 1.1,and the later 1.2 version.I am using the F5 bios on the 965 with no issues,for 6 months.The 1.2 revision is definitely is more stable,and cpu voltage does not fluctuate constantly like it did in the 1.1 version.

Game Plan...

On the FX build,I plan on installing Windows 7 on a ssd.This will be used for a boot drive with a few platters for storage and games.I also plan on installing xp on a platter.Why? Because I like XP.I'm not going for a dual boot,both os will be installed separately with no other drives connected during install to avoid conflicts.When XP is needed,I will boot from the bios.I realize I will have to have ACHI enabled,so I plan on slipstreaming the achi drivers for xp with n-light first,so I can make sure xp works in achi mode.Then install 7 on the ssd.The bios will have achi already enabled,so hopefully all goes well.


Questions

1.Will I need to flash the bios to F7 for the FX2 CPU? I Never flashed a bios.I am aware of Q-Flash,but is this the correct way to use this utility? "Download the BIOS version that matches my motherboard and revision number, unzip it,and then put it on a USB flash drive and then run Q-Flash during startup by pressing the END key" That sounds pretty easy.Is that it? Do I install new bios before I install cpu?


2.Do you see any potential conflicts with my game plan?


3.I plan to overclock,so I will be disabling Cool N Quiet, C6, C1E, turbo.I dont see APM in the bios.How do I turn this off?

Looking at the F5 bios  with the 970a and amd 965 I remember seeing something called core control.You can disable or enable.What does that mean? Should I turn it off,if I overclock.I left it at default,which is enable,because I'm not sure what it does.All other green stuff is off.

*Other Thoughts -Overclocking FX CPUs it's pretty much the multiplier and the CPU voltage. They don't like the CPUNB frequency messed with much. Good cooling and a heavy duty power phase mobo are the keys to high overclocks with the FX CPUs. Most people are going with water, at least for the 8 core FXs.I opted for a 6 core @ 95 watts.I'm using the fx6300,Hyper 212 Evo,,ssd,750w psu,& a full tower with 7 fans.The 970 is a budget board,but it has a 8+2 power phase.I plan to overclock the 6300 to 4.2g.This should give me decent frame rates while gaming,as this is my only concern.

Screenshot from someone else.Results achieved by upping multiplier with no voltage increase.It looks like 4.2 is an easy clock,but I dont want to push this board to much further,being budget  

[autotech]

Yes you will need to flash it for that processor to work. You can google flashing bios with usb and get all the info you need.


http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=15265&mpage=1
Follow that link for how to flash bios from usb just use the bios for your board and not from eva

No conflicts i can see.


Core Control lets you disable cores in the processor. If left on auto it uses all cores.

[toostrike]

Thank-You Autotech.Evga has some nice tutorials.

I have a EVGA GTX 460.I am using Sleepee's guide to replace the tim and install some copper heatsinks for vrm cooling. I also have a  EVGA GTX 560 Ti,but is has better vrm cooling vs none on the 460.Never really wanted to take my video card apart,but this guide makes it look alot easier.Nice pic's to go along with guide.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=669088&mpage=1

[agros]

The 1.2 revision is definitely is more stable,and cpu voltage does not fluctuate constantly like it did in the 1.1 version.

What do u mean? Its good for voltage to fluctuate! When cpu is idle, why u want to run it at 1,5V instead of 1,1?

Will I need to flash the bios to F7 for the FX2 CPU? I Never flashed a bios.I am aware of Q-Flash,but is this the correct way to use this utility? "Download the BIOS version that matches my motherboard and revision number, unzip it,and then put it on a USB flash drive and then run Q-Flash during startup by pressing the END key".......

There is easier way than this mess, install bios via the Gigabyte's utility.

[toostrike]

The 1.2 revision is definitely is more stable,and cpu voltage does not fluctuate constantly like it did in the 1.1 version.

What do u mean? Its good for voltage to fluctuate! When cpu is idle, why u want to run it at 1,5V instead of 1,1?

The 1.2 revision provides improvements with voltage control and power delivery,or something along those lines.I have both revisions,and 1.2 is more stable.I could be off the mark on why,but I'll take the 1.2 over 1.1,just for the sake of improvements.I wanted to buy a better board with bigger heatsinks.A good example is the NB heatsink on the 970A.Its held on by plastic push pins,but in the same term,I can game for hours,monitoring the nb with "open hardwware monitor," and get temps in real time before and after.The Nb idles @ 35C and gets up to 45C when gaming.I can deal with those temps:)

That leads me to another question.Load line Control.In the bios it has 3 settings.Manual,Auto, and Extreme.I heard it helps to have this set to extreme to compensate for voltage drops.I have no idea,and cant find alot of information for those settings.I have it on extreme now,but not sure if it helps with an oc cpu?Maybe that's why the bios gets confusing.Things are added on each update,but its not like you have a manual for changes.

Last question concerning bios update.Do I install all the parts on new motherboard,see if it will post,then restart,and then flash bios?I dont see any other way.I need install all the basics to post.Correct? cpu,ram,board,psu ect....

[agros]

The 1.2 revision provides improvements with voltage control and power delivery,or something along those lines.I have both revisions,and 1.2 is more stable.I could be off the mark on why,but I'll take the 1.2 over 1.1,just for the sake of improvements.

Last question concerning bios update.Do I install all the parts on new motherboard,see if it will post,then restart,and then flash bios?I dont see any other way.I need install all the basics to post.Correct? cpu,ram,board,psu ect.

I m not sure if you understood what I told you about these matters.

I wanted to buy a better board with bigger heatsinks.A good example is the NB heatsink on the 970A.

Thats what I want too, and I made a thread about 970A as you can see around here.
So, is this mobo cool? What temp do u get about hard load?

[toostrike]

I understand your point.I agree,you want your cpu voltage to throttle down on idle.That makes perfect sense for the fluctuation and power savings,but I'm talking voltage spikes, for lack of better words,hence the revisions.Its not like the first version did not have issues to improve upon.Its like comparing Marvell controllers to Intel.Lots of room for improvement.

I love this board.lets talk about the first board rev 1.1.It always performed excellent,until I compared it to version 1.2,but  both run with no issues,so maybe it's all in my mind....Under load I get good temps 45C-50C max on cpu, gaming for hours.The Phenom II's and this board work well together.The FX6300's run much cooler and uses 95W vs 125W,so that a plus.To bad it's not a true quad core.I always use amd cpu's and boards for cost savings,but dont skimp on vc, case,psu,ram ect...It pays to buy quality there

[Vezina]

Version 1.0 on the other hand is bad.I have made a bad choice when i have bough it one year ago.

Performs under 890GPA-UD3 in the SATA department with any BIOS and wasn t a wonder when i used it with a X3 720BE.
The 2 SATA ports that can be set independently are always in multiword mode when using IDE mode , but they seem slower when using AHCI as well.

It behaves strange with FX 4100 , i need to lower voltage and disable C6 and APM to avoid throttling.
My 2X4 Gigs Corsair sticks run only in 2 slots (the white ones) even though a 2X2 pair worked just fine prior
 in any slot.

It boots slower than MSI K9A2 Platinum which was based on the infamous SB 600 and this is extremely annoying (all kinds of screens show up until it finally reaches the OS ) .

BIOS releases are slow and it may happen that for version 1.0 to not have any more releases.
The 890GPA-UD3 v2.1 practically had 5 BIOS-es ,but is rock solid.

The BIOS -es have glitches when overclocking ,reverting back when the overclocking is practically ok for example.Or denying me some settings regarding the disabling  of the CPU modules when the clock is at specific levels.

Overall avoid version 1.0.I don t know the other versions so i can t tell you more.
Version 1.0 also misses the LLC setting.

[agros]

After all these my dear vezina, I m starting to worry about 970-ud3

If the shop says that the model supports AM3 cpu, I guess its more like its rev1.0
and if the model supports AM3+ its more like rev.1.2 or 3.0?...

That 890gpa-ud3 model looks great, because of that pipe which relate the two heatsinks.
But I m afraid its not available anymore.

....Under load I get good temps 45C-50C max on cpu, gaming for hours.The Phenom II's and this board work well together.The FX6300's run much cooler and uses 95W vs 125W,so that a plus.

The question was about the temp of mobo itself

[Vezina]

After all these my dear vezina, I m starting to worry about 970-ud3

If the shop says that the model supports AM3 cpu, I guess its more like its rev1.0
and if the model supports AM3+ its more like rev.1.2 or 3.0?...

That 890gpa-ud3 model looks great, because of that pipe which relate the two heatsinks.
But I m afraid its not available anymore.

No i wouldn t say that.The board no matter the revision supports both AM3 and AM3+ and maybe that s a problem overall for AM3+ boards ,the struggle to mantain compatibility may deliver bad results in some implementations.
If the board is sold as new (not refurb) most probable is a newer revision.Version 1.0 supports Bulldozer/FX(AM3+) ,but as i already told you it is bugged in some ways.
The 890GPA-UD3 is also discontinued and even version 3.1 was left out in the dark with no BIOS support

I would say Gigabyte gets a specific board properly done after 2 revisions.
So maybe you need at least revision 1.2.

A minus opposed to the first version is the on-board sound ,the chip being a Realtek on revision 1.0 and VIA on the others.VIA may have issues with drivers ,but i may be wrong.

[toostrike]

Still need help here before I install all my parts.


Do I install all the parts on new motherboard,see if it will post,then restart,and then flash bios?I dont see any other way.I need install all the basics to post.Correct? cpu,ram,board,psu ect....

[agros]

The board no matter the revision supports both AM3 and AM3+

As you can see in Giga's site(http://www.gigabyte.com.gr/products/page/mb/ga-970a-ud3rev_10) models 1.0/1.1 do not support AM3+.

A minus opposed to the first version is the on-board sound ,the chip being a Realtek on revision 1.0 and VIA on the others.VIA may have issues with drivers ,but i may be wrong.

I dont write it in sign, but I use a soundcard.
Its an X-Fi XtremeAudio pci_xpress x1.
Looks like yours

[toostrike]

Can someone answer this question

The board I just bought is rev 1.2 for the 970A-UD3.I doubt this has the f7 bios,I assume F5 or F6.Should I use the amd965 to flash to f7 before I install the fx6300

[toostrike]

Update/ This might help someone else with the same question...

The best answer is straight from the source.Called Gigabyte,which was surprising easy to talk to a tech.Revision v1.2 may come with f5 or f6 bios,but the latest are F6 .Fx's cpus need f7,so you need a non fx cpu to flash to f7 before installing a fx cpu.I'm glad I have a few Phenom II's laying around or I would be sol

[Vezina]

The board no matter the revision supports both AM3 and AM3+

As you can see in Giga's site(http://www.gigabyte.com.gr/products/page/mb/ga-970a-ud3rev_10) models 1.0/1.1 do not support AM3+.

A minus opposed to the first version is the on-board sound ,the chip being a Realtek on revision 1.0 and VIA on the others.VIA may have issues with drivers ,but i may be wrong.

I dont write it in sign, but I use a soundcard.
Its an X-Fi XtremeAudio pci_xpress x1.
Looks like yours

I am looking at the website and for version 1.0 there is a black box logo with AM3+ into it
"Get Ready for New Generation of 32nm AMD AM3+ CPU"
If you choose support on the Gigabyte site ,then downloads and you choose AM3+ mobos ,all versions of 970A-UD3 will be shown for the 970 chipset.

I have the Xonar D1 in the 970A-UD3 as it s the secondary machine.The PCI Xtreme Music is in the main rig featuring the  890GPA-UD3.The VIA chips itself is not bad ,as it s based on an Envy24 controller in it s heart ,which were excellent some years ago, the problem is that VIA is falling since 2006 from what was a good company to something small with small driver teams.

Anyway get the board and give feedback afterwards ,i am interested to know how good are the newer revisions.

Update/ This might help someone else with the same question...

The best answer is straight from the source.Called Gigabyte,which was surprising easy to talk to a tech.Revision v1.2 may come with f5 or f6 bios,but the latest are F6 .Fx's cpus need f7,so you need a non fx cpu to flash to f7 before installing a fx cpu.I'm glad I have a few Phenom II's laying around or I would be sol

Don t worry ,even version 1.0 with F3 will boot the system with FX .Updates are needed to make the PC work properly in some applications like steam or some steam games.Vishera cores should let you boot as well.It s good you have Phenoms around just in case.

Have fun with the build.If you need help in making the CPU working properly ,with no throttling , I am here.