Need help re-assembling/testing a RMA'd Gigabyte 890XA-UD3 v.1

[soarwitheagles]

Hi everyone!

Well, Gigabyte has returned my once dead Gigabyte 890XA-UD3 v.1 last week after RMA'ing it.  It worked perfect for some months.  The problem seemed to have begun immediately after I installed a Galaxy 465 GTX.  The MB went dead immediately after I installed the Galaxy 465 GTX and never lit up again.

Gigabyte graciously let me RMA it to them, but as usual, they did not tell me what they found or what was wrong with it.

After calling them and pressing them about it the RMA department told me it was a BIOS issue...something I find very difficult to believe!

Anyway, can someone here help me know exactly how to start the testing again?

I thought about installing the CPU [1055T] the H70 CPU cooler, the RAM, GPU, PSU, the wires for the on/off from the front header and nothing else.

Does this sound like a good plan or should I hook up more/less items [should I hook up the SSD with the OS]?

Can someone help me with this please?  What is the best sequential order for this test and hopefully genuine resurrection?

I am doing my very best to somehow get the best system I have ever owed working again after being down and dead for weeks.

My Sandybridge dreams have been shattered and put on hold [just as 8 million other people], so this AMD system is the best I have at this moment.

Sure would be nice to get it up and running stable again.

It's me,

Hoping for a powerful and stable resurrection...

Soar

[absic]

Hi Soar,

I think, I would go for a very simple build with just the bare minimum of components just to get the thing back up and running.
I would double check which version of BIOS your motherboard is now running and, if needed, update to the latest version before trying to blow it up again with the 465 GTX.

Now repeat after me AMD good. Intel Bad! AMD good. Intel bad! 

[jolphil]

Now repeat after me AMD good. Intel Bad! AMD good. Intel bad!

Absic: You and my Son would get along famously...lol

Soar: For what it's worth...
http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,4332.0.html
Goodluck with your project..
jolphil
PS Like that salmon or Trout(I can't tell which).. It looks  awesome..

[Dark Mantis]

Now repeat after me AMD good. Intel Bad! AMD good. Intel bad! 

I must admit that at the moment I am not sure that I don't agree with you! Stupid Sandy Bridges!!!!

If only they knew how much extra work they make for me.

[soarwitheagles]

Hi Soar,

I think, I would go for a very simple build with just the bare minimum of components just to get the thing back up and running.
I would double check which version of BIOS your motherboard is now running and, if needed, update to the latest version before trying to blow it up again with the 465 GTX.

Now repeat after me AMD good. Intel Bad! AMD good. Intel bad! 

Absic, thanks for the reply and I will go with the bare minimum components as you have suggested.  But please answer one question:  How could the problem have been the BIOS if we couldn't even get the system to light up and POST?

And yes, I keep chanting AMD, AMD, AMD ever since the Intel recall.  The problem now is this: My Sandy Bridge CPU keeps calling my name over and over again...day and night...and it keeps promising me stable speeds of 4.5 GHz without even breaking a sweat!

I just keep looking at it with one eye on the sealed 2500K box...and the other eye on that GA P67A-UD3...both of which are still sealed and not opened...

To be honest with you...it sure is tempting!

Soar

[soarwitheagles]

Now repeat after me AMD good. Intel Bad! AMD good. Intel bad!

Absic: You and my Son would get along famously...lol

Soar: For what it's worth...
http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,4332.0.html
Goodluck with your project..
jolphil
PS Like that salmon or Trout(I can't tell which).. It looks  awesome..

Jolphil,

Thanks for that url to your other post.  I will consider using the set up you suggested there.

Oh, about the fish...trout very rarely get that big, although I do have a good friend who landed a Steelhead trout in Canada that weighed in at 52 lbs.  That is a once in a life time catch even for avid fishermen.

The fish in my signature pic is actually a Chinook [King] Salmon.  I caught it as well as many, many others on the Feather River here in California.  It weighed in around 38 lbs but I've caught bigger.  California has had a problem with low Salmon returns now for 3 years in a row so some parts of the rivers have been shut down due to low Salmon runs.  It appears to be getting better so hopefully all rivers will be open this year for lots of Salmon catching.

Oh, how do you catch them?  Simple: Chinook do not eat once they leave the ocean and head up the fresh water rivers...but they are very angry fish.   They become easily irritated.  So, you throw a line in river with a #2 hook, a one ounce slip sinker and with two beads on it.  When the line passes through the Salmon's mouth, they feel irritated so they bite down real hard.  When this happens, your fishing rod rocks violently forward.  You pull back with all your strength and "set" the hook.  Then, you are in for a wild fight.  Some of the larger Salmon can require one full hour or more to bring to the shore.  [You have to wear them out before they wear you out].

Anyway, it is lots of fun and also a great work out too!

California Trout on the other hand are much more careful and not so angry.  Thus, it takes more skill to catch them.  With time and patience, you can land them too.  I included a pic below of California's best tasting trout of all...the German Brown Trout...yummy!

Have a good one!

Soar

[soarwitheagles]

Now repeat after me AMD good. Intel Bad! AMD good. Intel bad! 

I must admit that at the moment I am not sure that I don't agree with you! Stupid Sandy Bridges!!!!

If only they knew how much extra work they make for me.

Yeah, I agree!  I decided to put my Sandy Bridge and UD3 on the shelf and go fishing [I am very happy to say that California fish have no problems whatsoever with Intel bugs and defective SATA II ports]!

AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!

[absic]

thanks for the reply and I will go with the bare minimum components as you have suggested.  But please answer one question:  How could the problem have been the BIOS if we couldn't even get the system to light up and POST?

And yes, I keep chanting AMD, AMD, AMD ever since the Intel recall.  The problem now is this: My Sandy Bridge CPU keeps calling my name over and over again...day and night...and it keeps promising me stable speeds of 4.5 GHz without even breaking a sweat!

I just keep looking at it with one eye on the sealed 2500K box...and the other eye on that GA P67A-UD3...both of which are still sealed and not opened...

To be honest with you...it sure is tempting!

Soar

Hi Soar,

to answer your question..... it's a computer! I have come across many strange things whilst building/repairing PC's and I have learnt to rule nothing out. As Gigabyte have repaired your motherboard I suggested checking your BIOS version as it might have been reflashed during the repair process to an earlier version, that's all.

Now what on earth are you going to do with speeds of 4.5GHz? Sorry mate but you can't even get one PC to remain solid what chance do you have with an F1 PC? No, I think it's best if you ship the CPU and Mobo over to England for DM to look after for you. I'm sure he would also like some RAM, GPU, PSU, Case, Etc. 

[jolphil]

The fish in my signature pic is actually a Chinook [King] Salmon.  I caught it as well as many, many others on the Feather River here in California.  It weighed in around 38 lbs but I've caught bigger.

Wow!!! A lifelong dream for me..

Oh, how do you catch them?  Simple: Chinook do not eat once they leave the ocean and head up the fresh water rivers...but they are very angry fish.   They become easily irritated.  So, you throw a line in river with a #2 hook, a one ounce slip sinker and with two beads on it.  When the line passes through the Salmon's mouth, they feel irritated so they bite down real hard.  When this happens, your fishing rod rocks violently forward.  You pull back with all your strength and "set" the hook.  Then, you are in for a wild fight.  Some of the larger Salmon can require one full hour or more to bring to the shore.  [You have to wear them out before they wear you out].

Man , that's interesting to learn..Thanks for the information..

You have to wear them out before they wear you out

Yes I have caught some bruisers that strain the biceps...Eastern black drum..Not as wild fighting fish,but a strong heavy fight..About 85 pounds or so with heavy rod..They will break lesser ones like a twig..

Thanks again for the fishing breif..Good luck with your project..
jolphil

[soarwitheagles]

thanks for the reply and I will go with the bare minimum components as you have suggested.  But please answer one question:  How could the problem have been the BIOS if we couldn't even get the system to light up and POST?

And yes, I keep chanting AMD, AMD, AMD ever since the Intel recall.  The problem now is this: My Sandy Bridge CPU keeps calling my name over and over again...day and night...and it keeps promising me stable speeds of 4.5 GHz without even breaking a sweat!

I just keep looking at it with one eye on the sealed 2500K box...and the other eye on that GA P67A-UD3...both of which are still sealed and not opened...

To be honest with you...it sure is tempting!

Soar

Hi Soar,

to answer your question..... it's a computer! I have come across many strange things whilst building/repairing PC's and I have learnt to rule nothing out. As Gigabyte have repaired your motherboard I suggested checking your BIOS version as it might have been reflashed during the repair process to an earlier version, that's all.

Now what on earth are you going to do with speeds of 4.5GHz? Sorry mate but you can't even get one PC to remain solid what chance do you have with an F1 PC? No, I think it's best if you ship the CPU and Mobo over to England for DM to look after for you. I'm sure he would also like some RAM, GPU, PSU, Case, Etc. 

DM,

Thanks for your reply.  Well, I still do not understand how a corrupted BIOS could make my MOBO completely dead, no lights, no POST.  Sounds a bit strange to me...

What will I do with 4.5 GHz? 

1. Be happy because I have an even faster PC!
2. Have the options of playing any game without slow downs if I should choose to do so.
3. Shorten video encoding times
4.Smile with great satisfaction because I know my Intel PC is much, much faster than Absic's very slow AMD!

Finally, shall I ship my computer to England?  No, I need it here!

Neener, neener!
 

[soarwitheagles]

You have to wear them out before they wear you out

Yes I have caught some bruisers that strain the biceps...Eastern black drum..Not as wild fighting fish,but a strong heavy fight..About 85 pounds or so with heavy rod..They will break lesser ones like a twig..

Thanks again for the fishing breif..Good luck with your project..
jolphil
[/quote]

jolphil,

May I ask our nation of residence and what is a black drum?

Soar

[jolphil]

May I ask our nation of residence and what is a black drum?

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/blackdrum/
 This will give you a idea of what it is..When I was younger I fished the Delaware Bay for sea trout and Black drum..Using surf clams as bait and bottom fishing  from an anchored boat.. you would fish from around sundown through the evening till morning..When a school of drum would pass near, you can hear them and it sounded like someone beating a bass drum..The saying around the area was"when the dogwood bloom,the drum will boom" We called small ones "puppy Drum" and they were released to let them grow up..  They feed vertically  with tail up and head facing down bouncing along the bottom with the tide for food..They migrate up the Atlantic coast
and go into the bays probability to spawn..Rather than dig up an old picture of me and my catch  I goggled  to show what it look like..
They were skinned and cut into steaks or even smoked...Not as tasty as trout and even flounder but still very nice ..
Heres what they look like..
http://www.flyfishlouisiana.com/louisiana_black_drum.htm
Happy Fishing,
jolphil

[soarwitheagles]

Jolphil,

Wow!  That was a cool picture of the Black Drum fish...very interesting too.

Thanks for the info and you must have had lots of fun catching those Black Drums years ago!  It looks as if they put up a great fight!

Thanks for the pics and thanks for the good luck wishes for my new build.

After reading lots of posts in many different forums and reading my vendor's statement of commitment about Intel's defective chips in the Mobo's, I am beginning to lean toward building this new rig with the defective Mobo and use it until the replacement ships.  My vendor recommends we continue to use the Mobo until they can ship the replacement.  I thought that was rather nice of them!

I just picked up XFX's 850 watt Black Edition PSU manufactured by Seasonic and I thought it would go well with the Sandy Bridge.  

I also hope to reassemble this Gigabyte 890XA-UD3 v.1 with the AMD 1055T this weekend and see if it works again.

To be honest with you, I am beginning to lose some faith in Gigabyte motherboards.  For years past I have never had to RMA a Mobo [some people call it luck, but I always thought working components that are reliable can and should be the standard].  Recently, I have had to RMA a number of the Gigabyte Mobo's back to them and it has begun to be a little frustrating.

I have seriously begun to research other Mobo manufacturers such as ASUS, MSI,ASRock, Elitegroup, Intel, etc. but I am not sure how well their customer support and/or forums work.

I like this Gigabyte Forum because most of the time Absic and DM are very nice [notice I said MOST of the time].  They make the process much more fun and enjoyable!  It is really nice to be able to chat with them any day of any week.  They are always here for us and have a great sense of humor too.

Have a great day Jolphil and I hope you can catch more of those fish!

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Soar,

Thank you for your kind words and feelings for the forum, Absic and I (well MOST of them)!

I totally agree with your sentiment that when you buy something new it should just work stragiht out of the box. THe trouble is as these computer get faster and more complex they bring with them a plethora of problems that we wouldn't have had  on the older ones. The memory is a good case in point. Years ago any old RAM would work in just about any motherboard and you didn't have to research whether it was compatible with this particular chipset on your mobo.

I think you have a slightly bias view of Gigabyte boards as you have been using them recently and spending a lot of time on the forum where you see all the problems come to the surface. It can give you an jaundiced view. Try spending some time on the Asus forum and you will find the same. I will say that Gigabyte are much better than Asus when it comes to Technical support (well apart from the time it takes to answer) and for RMAs.
Obviously I can't speak for all the other manufacturers but I am sure they are all fairly much the same in general.

As they say "You pays your money and takes your choice"!

[jolphil]

DM quote

THe trouble is as these computer get faster and more complex they bring with them a plethora of problems that we wouldn't have had  on the older ones. The memory is a good case in point. Years ago any old RAM would work in just about any motherboard and you didn't have to research whether it was compatible with this particular chipset on your mobo.

I could not agree more ..This is my very first GB MoBo and I came from the A's..They also have their problems..I have yet to find any forum that is more helpful than this one..Both moderators as well as users like us..

The entire industry is rushing to bring out the" NEWEST and BEST" from chip Manufacturers to board makers..Unfortunately  the
consumers have to "pick up the pieces"..To be fair though,the advances in home computers has been phenomenal..
I am in awe in my lifetime, how the electronics industry has advanced..I find that rather exciting..
Take care,
jolphil