P55A-UD4P reporting 8GB as 4GB

[Beekeeper]

@ palavering

so u are from USA ? why don't u go for warranty claim to the shop where u bought it ?

@ gilgamesh

do u refer to the issue reported here:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3661
?

[Nelly]

What I am about to write does refer to a Biostar motherboard but if you read through, you will see the difference in warranty compared to Gigabyte.

I had an issue with a Biostar Tpower I55, 4GB of RAM (2x2GB), but the OS only sees "1.99 GB Usable.

Full details over 4 pages here:  http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15892

I checked the pins, one was missing & two were bent.

The retailer - Novatech as well as the wholesaler Target Components who cover RMA for Biostar also refused stating it was user damage.

I spoke to Trading Standards/Consumer Direct as I read in the Sales Act that in the first 6 months of a purchase if the damage cannot be proven to be done by the end user then a warranty claim still exists.

Finally after stating this & quoting the Trading Standards Reference number to Novatech I got a call from them saying they would offer a refurbished Asus P7P55D worth £113, my original motherboard cost £138 so I refused this & asked if they would agree if I could purchase a brand new Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4 for (£75ish) around 50% of its purchase value to which after another day they rang back & agreed.

I think part of the problem is the Foxconn retention bracket, the new P55A Gigabyte models all use the Lotus retention bracket - all in all this took over 3 months to sort out.

Also read this:

BIOSTAR TPOWER I55 Motherboard Review

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/12/17/biostar_tpower_i55_motherboard_review/6

Kyle's Thoughts:

The initial motherboard I had would not see more than 7GB of memory. BIOSTAR shipped me a second retail package that worked fine.

Since then we have learned that over-pressuring the CPU into the CPU socket can impact this. So this was most likely our fault and not BIOSTAR’s issue. BIOSTAR noted that there were bent pins in the socket when they inspected the first board I returned to the company.

Not sure if that happened on our test bench or in shipping. I would not even bring this up in the review except to help warn our readers that screwing down their heatsinks or waterblocks can impact the system memory.

I asked about this problem on these very messageboards to Gigabyte & it was said that if it was their motherboards they would issue an RMA. - http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,917.0.html

I recently bought an Intel I55 rig i.e. Biostar TPower I55, i5 750, Corsair Dominator GT 2000Mhz etc etc.

My question to Gigabyte is this, when I installed my rig I had faults with 2 faulty ram slots on further investigation it was due to 1 pin missing & 2 slightly bent on the socket, now I've returned this to the retailor who rejected the RMA & also the Supplier who also refused to repair/replace.

I am almost certain this is due to the Foxconn retention plate/socket as I've installed 12 motherboards in the last 9 years with no problem whatsoever.  

I currently also own an AM3 rig using a Gigabyte motherboard UD5P which runs great.   now I'm thinking of buying the Gigabyte I55 motherboard that uses the Lotus socket/retention bracket -  so I'm asking what is Gigabytes policy on this type of RMA in terms of warranty ?  I am almost 100% positive that I am not at fault with my Biostar RMA.

Thanks for your time to read this & hopefully I'll get a positive answer.  

Hi Nelly

We can accept such product under warranty, shouldn't be any problem.

[gilgamesh]

@ palavering

so u are from USA ? why don't u go for warranty claim to the shop where u bought it ?

@ gilgamesh

do u refer to the issue reported here:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3661
?

Indeed I am , my friend

gilgamesh

[palavering]

"This is a quote from Gigabyte, so stop telling people that their MOBO can't see memory sticks for this reason.

"In the past, Intel CPU’s used to have pins as per the picture below, but if you dropped the CPU, the pins
bent and could even break off. This was a problem Intel got around when it moved to the Core 2 platform by
moving the pins from the CPU to the CPU socket. These days all Intel CPU’s have little gold connectors on the
bottom instead which interface with spring clips inside the CPU socket making it nearly impossible to damage
the connectors on the CPU. However, there are still components on the bottom of the CPU that could
potentially be damaged if you don’t treat the CPU with care."

I had to send my "defective" MOBO to Gigabyte.  Getting the RMA took two days.  I learned today that it couldn't be delivered on Saturday because no one was there at 8:52 in the morning.  I had to pay $16.00 postage to send the board as an RMA.  I also learned that the "3 year warranty" begins when the MOBO is built, not when the user purchases it.  I have notified several tech writers and pc magazines about this.

[johnD]

Palavering
Hi

I just wanted to let you know ( Motherboards regardless of manufacturer SUCK ) I own an EVGA Board and having USB issues that should have been fixed with a BIOS flash. It helped but did not cure the issue. When I turn on my USB mouse my wireless internet connection goes out. What’s up with that, I have to a chose between having a mouse or the internet but not both. The reason I am on this board is that I am researching issues with Gigabyte boards seeing what kind of crap I will get into if I change to Gigabyte. So your not the only one with issues MOTHERBOARDS JUST SUCK PLAIN AND SIMPLE !!

[gary2112]

its a simple problem to fix you are trying to install your computer with a 32bit os  you can not poor then 4 gig of ram on a 32bit os 4 gig max and even some of that wll be used by things like grafix cards,,or devices wih onbored memmory

[palavering]

In the end, I had to RMA my MOBO.  It was, in fact, defective.  I had to pay to ship it to Gigabyte in California.  It cost me $16 dollars to RMA a MOBO that was DOA.  It took three weeks for Gigabyte to return it in working order.  It does work flawlessly now.  And I have been able to O/C my Intel Core i7 870 to 4 GHz without any instability.  I did have to replace the OEM CPU fan with a Coooler Master Hper 212 Plus.  I am grateful that I had the sense to watch several installation videos on YouTube; otherwise the install would have been a disaster.  The instruction manual was almost useless.  But I am content now and I want to thank all who attempted to help me resolve my issue.  Best to you.