- Apr 7, 2017
- 10
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I received my new Gigabyte GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6 GB 2 days ago. After a lot of frustration trying to get my computer past the BIOS splash screen with the GTX 1060 installed, and after trying everything I could possibly do myself, I determined that my HP motherboard was the issue. My HP motherboard has version 7 BIOS, and is not UEFI obviously. Even though my GTX 1060 apparently supports legacy BIOS, my motherboard needs version 8 BIOS to recognize the GPU. Due to HP's terrible support for their products there has not been a BIOS revision for my mobo in many years...
I was initially hopeful because when I run CPU-Z it identifies my motherboard as a Gigabyte, but I could not find any info on the model scouring the internet. I was hoping if I could find the equivalent Gigabyte model I might find a newer version 8 BIOS revision directly from Gigabyte's site, and side-step HP altogether. Apparently HP used Gigabyte as a contractor to manufacture their HP branded motherboards. My motherboard is known as "M3970AM-HP (Angelica)". There is no evidence that Gigabyte ever released their own retail version of this motherboard...
Current system specs:
AMD FX-8150 8 core @ 3.2 GHz
M3970AM-HP (Angelica) Motherboard with newest revision v7.16 BIOS ***
AMD Radeon HD 7750
Windows 7 (64 bit)
10 GB DDR3 RAM
600 W PSU
In my original post under graphics cards I kept asking if there was any fix or work-around? Even going as far to ask if I could swap the motherboard for an aftermarket and re-seat the CPU. Would an aftermarket mobo for my socket/chipset even support the GTX 1060? Nobody even really addressed those questions... I am starting to think it is possible though. My AMD FX-8150 was the predecessor to the more current FX-8350. It uses the same AM3+ socket. And there are still tons of new(er) motherboard options for this CPU. I still am having trouble finding if any of those newer AM3+ motherboards would run in UEFI, or at least have version 8 BIOS to enable legacy mode and recognize the GTX 1060? This would really be my easiest fix, and I am interested to know if it could be a possibility. I'm not excited about disconnecting everything from the system and re-seating the CPU to drop in a new mobo (who would be?), but it would still be less work than option #2...
Even then how bad would my CPU be bottle-necking the GTX 1060?
Option #2 is a budget build around the GTX 1060. I initially shuttered at this idea. Not only do I not NEED a new machine, but I was not prepared to spend what it would take for it either! My current, albeit outdated, machine is still capable of running newer AAA titles (except BF1) and other newer Indy games (ARK, PUBG) on lower settings - I was simply looking for an upgrade, and in every other way the GTX 1060 was supposed to be compatible with my system!
I was already out $250 for the GPU, and how could I justify spending hundreds more to build a PC around a 1060? It seemed far-fetched. That was until I discovered the new Pentium G4560 Kaby Lake!!! WTH??? Apparently this thing just basically made a core i3 obsolete? And it only costs $65??? Hyper-threading man, hyper-threading... So now a budget build is not outside the realm of possibility.
A G4560 with a basic mobo that supports the 7th gen LGA 1151 processors will cost just over $100. This newest generation supports DDR4 2133/2400 RAM. Unfortunately I have not been into PC building in almost 10 years so I do not have any spare parts I can use in this build. I will need to buy everything else - case, storage, PSU, RAM. The case and HDD (WD Blue 1TB) will set me back around another $100, and a basic 500W PSU and 1 8GB stick of DDR4 2400 RAM will be another $100... So I'm looking at dropping about $300 more just to get the GTX 1060 running - probably more like $350-400 after everything is said and done with peripherals and a network adapter. And that doesn't even include a "licensed" copy of Windows (ugh...) Now the costs are starting to stack up...
One thing is for sure - I will never buy another pre-built desktop again. If it wasn't for HP I would have no problem upgrading the graphics in my system. They even "assured" me when I bought it that I would be able to upgrade graphics easily in the future. Sure that was 2 generations of video cards ago, but it is due to HP's lack of support for their products after their warranty period why the GTX 1060 was incompatible with my system... And there is nothing I can do about it other than gutting my machine, or building another one from the ground up...
Please give me some input? Any advice or experience in these types of situations might help me decide what to do... I am taking the rest of the weekend to ponder this and am open to ideas and suggestions!
So far here is my budget build:
G4560 (CPU): http://amzn.to/2nC4Fc8
MOBO (NO BIOS UPDATE): http://amzn.to/2n586vE
RAM: http://amzn.to/2nQqyFE
HDD: http://amzn.to/2n5gL1i
500B (PSU): http://amzn.to/2nxgS0V
I obviously already have the Gigabyte GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6 GB. I am spending a bit more for a new motherboard that supports the 7th gen Kaby Lake processors out of the box and does not require a BIOS update (I don't have a 6th gen Intel just laying around...) I would also have to spend around $50 for a decent case (plenty of options in this department). Need to decide on form factor for the mobo and case, but MSI has an ATX and mATX version. If I took my time a bit I could probably save a little bit of money on some components but I'm really not trying to waste too much time!
And if you don't believe the new Pentium G4560 can handle the newest gen video cards just check out the benchmark videos on youtube (even specifically for the GTX 1060). It certainly is not groundbreaking, and it might bottleneck a little in some CPU intensive games like BF1, but was still holding 60-80 fps! In games like Doom and Witcher 3 it was getting 120-150 fps! Compared to the 6th gen Pentiums (which made these games unplayable at 20-40 fps) this new hyper-threaded Pentium blew it away - for $65 dollars mind you! Sure I have plenty of better options for new Intel processors, but with the new i3 being at least double the price and only 5% more powerful why waste my money? It is fairly impressive what these Pentiums can do with the newest gen GPUs.
I was initially hopeful because when I run CPU-Z it identifies my motherboard as a Gigabyte, but I could not find any info on the model scouring the internet. I was hoping if I could find the equivalent Gigabyte model I might find a newer version 8 BIOS revision directly from Gigabyte's site, and side-step HP altogether. Apparently HP used Gigabyte as a contractor to manufacture their HP branded motherboards. My motherboard is known as "M3970AM-HP (Angelica)". There is no evidence that Gigabyte ever released their own retail version of this motherboard...
Current system specs:
AMD FX-8150 8 core @ 3.2 GHz
M3970AM-HP (Angelica) Motherboard with newest revision v7.16 BIOS ***
AMD Radeon HD 7750
Windows 7 (64 bit)
10 GB DDR3 RAM
600 W PSU
In my original post under graphics cards I kept asking if there was any fix or work-around? Even going as far to ask if I could swap the motherboard for an aftermarket and re-seat the CPU. Would an aftermarket mobo for my socket/chipset even support the GTX 1060? Nobody even really addressed those questions... I am starting to think it is possible though. My AMD FX-8150 was the predecessor to the more current FX-8350. It uses the same AM3+ socket. And there are still tons of new(er) motherboard options for this CPU. I still am having trouble finding if any of those newer AM3+ motherboards would run in UEFI, or at least have version 8 BIOS to enable legacy mode and recognize the GTX 1060? This would really be my easiest fix, and I am interested to know if it could be a possibility. I'm not excited about disconnecting everything from the system and re-seating the CPU to drop in a new mobo (who would be?), but it would still be less work than option #2...
Even then how bad would my CPU be bottle-necking the GTX 1060?
Option #2 is a budget build around the GTX 1060. I initially shuttered at this idea. Not only do I not NEED a new machine, but I was not prepared to spend what it would take for it either! My current, albeit outdated, machine is still capable of running newer AAA titles (except BF1) and other newer Indy games (ARK, PUBG) on lower settings - I was simply looking for an upgrade, and in every other way the GTX 1060 was supposed to be compatible with my system!
I was already out $250 for the GPU, and how could I justify spending hundreds more to build a PC around a 1060? It seemed far-fetched. That was until I discovered the new Pentium G4560 Kaby Lake!!! WTH??? Apparently this thing just basically made a core i3 obsolete? And it only costs $65??? Hyper-threading man, hyper-threading... So now a budget build is not outside the realm of possibility.
A G4560 with a basic mobo that supports the 7th gen LGA 1151 processors will cost just over $100. This newest generation supports DDR4 2133/2400 RAM. Unfortunately I have not been into PC building in almost 10 years so I do not have any spare parts I can use in this build. I will need to buy everything else - case, storage, PSU, RAM. The case and HDD (WD Blue 1TB) will set me back around another $100, and a basic 500W PSU and 1 8GB stick of DDR4 2400 RAM will be another $100... So I'm looking at dropping about $300 more just to get the GTX 1060 running - probably more like $350-400 after everything is said and done with peripherals and a network adapter. And that doesn't even include a "licensed" copy of Windows (ugh...) Now the costs are starting to stack up...
One thing is for sure - I will never buy another pre-built desktop again. If it wasn't for HP I would have no problem upgrading the graphics in my system. They even "assured" me when I bought it that I would be able to upgrade graphics easily in the future. Sure that was 2 generations of video cards ago, but it is due to HP's lack of support for their products after their warranty period why the GTX 1060 was incompatible with my system... And there is nothing I can do about it other than gutting my machine, or building another one from the ground up...
Please give me some input? Any advice or experience in these types of situations might help me decide what to do... I am taking the rest of the weekend to ponder this and am open to ideas and suggestions!
So far here is my budget build:
G4560 (CPU): http://amzn.to/2nC4Fc8
MOBO (NO BIOS UPDATE): http://amzn.to/2n586vE
RAM: http://amzn.to/2nQqyFE
HDD: http://amzn.to/2n5gL1i
500B (PSU): http://amzn.to/2nxgS0V
I obviously already have the Gigabyte GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6 GB. I am spending a bit more for a new motherboard that supports the 7th gen Kaby Lake processors out of the box and does not require a BIOS update (I don't have a 6th gen Intel just laying around...) I would also have to spend around $50 for a decent case (plenty of options in this department). Need to decide on form factor for the mobo and case, but MSI has an ATX and mATX version. If I took my time a bit I could probably save a little bit of money on some components but I'm really not trying to waste too much time!
And if you don't believe the new Pentium G4560 can handle the newest gen video cards just check out the benchmark videos on youtube (even specifically for the GTX 1060). It certainly is not groundbreaking, and it might bottleneck a little in some CPU intensive games like BF1, but was still holding 60-80 fps! In games like Doom and Witcher 3 it was getting 120-150 fps! Compared to the 6th gen Pentiums (which made these games unplayable at 20-40 fps) this new hyper-threaded Pentium blew it away - for $65 dollars mind you! Sure I have plenty of better options for new Intel processors, but with the new i3 being at least double the price and only 5% more powerful why waste my money? It is fairly impressive what these Pentiums can do with the newest gen GPUs.
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