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Problems with Gigabyte motherboard - need help fast!

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  • Motherboards
  • Gigabyte
Last response: in Motherboards
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September 22, 2014 7:48:39 AM

All - I'm at my wits end. 4 weeks ago my old motherboard blew up. It had a good life (~9 years!). I decided to build anew and picked up a Gigabyte GA-F2A88X-UP4, AMD A6 processor, and some DDR3 1600 ram. With a fresh install of Windows 7, I thought I was on my way to a fresh start with a seriously upgraded system. But I've had nothing but problems..

The issue is that the machine mysteriously just restarts anywhere from 1 - 10 minutes or so after I log into Windows. This problem only manifests after installing the chipset drivers. A clean Windows 7 install with just the LAN driver stays up and steady. I have tried A LOT of troubleshooting techniques and I currently have a ticket open with Gigabyte for 10 days. I also took the PC to a local shop that offers a free estimate on repairs. They tried even more troubleshooting. The things I or they tried include:


    no peripherals plugged in
    Windows 7 on another hard drive
    flashed to latest BIOS (F6)
    installed latest chipset drivers
    swapped out RAM for another RAM stick that was specifically listed on the GIGABYTE compatibility list


I no longer have the energy to run back and forth to best buy or Microcenter to pick up more components to try out to see if they're failing (I think power supply is the only thing left!)

What do I need to do to convince Gigabyte that it's probably their board? Their technical support message system is painfully slow and it takes 24-36 hours before they respond after I try something they recommend. My last comment to them is that I'm fed up and want to know if the board can be replaced.

Any suggestions from the resident experts here would be GREATLY appreciated!

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a c 96 V Motherboard
September 22, 2014 8:09:07 AM

Sounds like you have tried pretty much everything except replacing the power supply.

If that is the same one from your 9 year old system that had a motherboard explode in it, no telling if it is good shape. Modern computers also run on very low power inputs when idle, which some supplies aren't able to deliver. (This is called no load output) Many cheaper supplies can't handle this.

It could be that as soon as you load the chipset drivers it starts managing the clock frequency and idle power states and becomes unstable.

I would certainly try a power supply before anything else.
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a c 571 V Motherboard
September 22, 2014 8:31:04 AM

Quote:
This problem only manifests after installing the chipset drivers. A clean Windows 7 install with just the LAN driver stays up and steady.

If like you said only you had the problem after install the AMD chipset driver, so that you just forget about the driver, or maybe the driver is crash when you download it. Try download it again, or just install the GPU driver.

I don't see you list the GPU, do you use the onboard one? Also like Eximo said, it maybe the PSU too if you use the old PSU from the old build, because you said the motherboard blew up, I don't that will kill the PSU or the PSU kill the MB, or something else kill the MB like lightning and it will kill the PSU too.

Do you try use only single stick RAM to test?
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September 22, 2014 8:38:20 AM

Thanks Gents for the quick responses. yes, I'm using the onboard GPU. The power supply was replaced about 3 years ago. It's a 600 watt, would have to look up the specs when I get home. I guess it's the last thing to try so I can say I ruled out every root cause.

And yes, tried just one stick of memory. I've used two different DDR3 1600 sticks with the 2nd one being a Corsair that was specifically listed on their approved memory list.
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September 23, 2014 6:48:54 AM

IT WAS THE PSU! Figures it was the only component I hadn't replaced. As cin19 said, who knows exactly what happened when the old MOBO blew up. I should have learned my lesson from the last time I needed to replace a PSU and just run out and get a new one to test. It's probably one of the easiest things to swap out and test and an easily returnable item if you bought it local and don't need it. I'm glad I DON'T need to return it...I usually shop at a Microcenter that's 20 miles from my house but have been going to a Best Buy 3 miles away for some of the components I've been 'testing'. I think I'm going to get black listed there as a serial returner!

Thanks again gents!
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