Gigabyte's P35 motherboards and boot cycles

[Underclock]

i'm buying a new desktop and i favour a Gigabyte board (i've always had GB boards in my PCs), but i've seen several worrying problems with endless boot cycles with these boards (GA-P35). It happens too often than just to a few people, so it doesnt seem just bad luck, but a real issue with the boards.

what i'm asking is that if anyone knows if this situation has been fixed so far (by any means) and if the boards are at this point anything close to "stable" and recommendable buys.

sorry if it has been aswered somewhere, but the information is a bit disperse and i only find "fixes", not "solutions".

thanks!

 

[htoonthura]

i'm buying a new desktop and i favour a Gigabyte board (i've always had GB boards in my PCs), but i've seen several worrying problems with endless boot cycles with these boards (GA-P35). It happens too often than just to a few people, so it doesnt seem just bad luck, but a real issue with the boards.

what i'm asking is that if anyone knows if this situation has been fixed so far (by any means) and if the boards are at this point anything close to "stable" and recommendable buys.

sorry if it has been aswered somewhere, but the information is a bit disperse and i only find "fixes", not "solutions".

thanks!

I have no problem with gb boards. I am very happy with gb p 35 ds3L and q 6600. it is so easy to oc.

 

[zeroneleven]

I can only speak from my experience, but I am currently having a problem with my new build rebooting endlessly. I just about have it narrowed down to my EP35-DS3P. Here's the thread I recently started on the issue:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/249721-31-first-build-boot-endless-reboot-cycle

This thread should also be of interest:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248424-30-gigabyte-ep35-ds3p-problems

 

[Underclock]

with so many prople still having the problem i can only assume one of the following:

a) there's an official fix and people dont know about it yet
b) there is no fix

so... unless it's a) i dont think buying a gigabyte board is a wise thing to do at this point, right?

 

[crazy stumped]

I don't know if it fixed zeroneleven's problem yet, but the problem can be worked around by installing 1 stick of RAM in the DIMM3 slot and clearing CMOS (just remove the battery on the motherboard) prior to the initial boot.

I've also ran into problems with sleep/hibernation mode in Windows Vista x64. I wanted my computer to go into hibernation mode. It would, but would go into an endless reboot upon waking the system up. Fixed this by setting BIOS standby mode to S3 and DISABLING sleep mode in Vista. Hibernation mode is enabled, and works well most of the time. Sometimes the system hangs at the Vista log on screen and I have to reboot the entire system again. This may be a problem with Vista and not the motherboard though.

After all the kinks are worked out, this really is a great board. I haven't experienced the monitor problems that other people have. Very durable and stable board overall. OC's pretty good. This is the first board that I've really OC'd and it was not very hard at all.

I'm running Intel Q6600 OC'd to 3.00GHz, 4GB Crucial Ballistix RAM, dual video cards, external cooling, in an Antec case.

 

[Underclock]

i'm nearly switching for an Asus board, i see so many people having problems with GB boards that if it happens to me too, i'll feel incredibly dumb to still have chosen a GB regardless of knowing its problems.

i'm still investigating the rest of the material, so i'll be waiting for an official fix for this problem. so unless one shows up, i'll have to go for Asus... *shrugs*

 

[Shadow703793]

@OP: Those Rebooting cycles are mostly related to the RAM. For some reason Gigabyte P35 (not the X38s and other chipsets) boards seems to have issues with certain kinds of RAM, esp. RAM (natively higher) than DDR2 800. There also seems to be problems with Vista and Gigabyte P35 boards. But, so far I have not run in to any problems with any P35-DS3x boards, except that Crucial Ballastix DDR2 1060 RAM had some problems (the RAM was good).

 

[Underclock]

well, if there's some sort of "pattern", that can help "protecting customers". but arent all GB boards "Vista Certified"? or is it more like "show off-ers"...

 

[bugspin23]

@OP and Shadow(who has been most helpful in the past)

I am also having trouble with the combination of a P35 board, Vista 64, and Crucial DDR2 1065 Ram.

What I am running

GA-EP35-DS4 V 2.1
Q6600 @ 2.4 (I cant get system stable enough to attempt OC)
4 total Gigs of Crucial DDR2 1065 RAM
EVGA 8800 GTS 512
WD 750G HD

I was able previously having tons of trouble with BSOD crashes and everything pointed to faulty RAM or a faulty MoBo based on Memtest 86+ tests. however, I discovered that by updating the BIOS to the latest (which for my board is F3 with a Starting BIOS of F1) all of the memory test errors went away. So in my situation, I know for a fact that I have good hardware. The problem is now that for some reason after I update my BIOS to F3 the system will totally crash randomly and after a series of multiple boot cycles the system reverts back to F1 BIOS and then problems just compound from there. Everything from crashes only when playing high end games to getting BSOD when I try to close the program that runs my webcam...silly things like that.

I think the problem is defiantly user error on my part. I think I am "not" setting up BIOS properly, however, there are so many different hardware configurations its almost impossible to find a simplistic and thorough guide to set up each BIOS feature. I am NOT trying to mooch off of other peoples hard work and research i just want to have a stable system so i can start to learn about how to tweak it, and in turn be able to help other having similar troubles. But at this point I am so frustrated from getting the same standard answers from the different hardware manufactures that I am about to send everything back and just order a set up pc from someplace like voodoo or alien...

If anyone is willing to go through my current setups I am more than willing to try anything at this point. I am at the point of either paying someone 50+ dollars an hour to set my pc up or just sending everything back and starting from scratch.

 

[Shadow703793]

Like I said before the P35 boards from gigabyte seems to have problems with RAM that is natively rated at above DDR2 800. I will be doing more research in to this problem once I lay my hands on a Crucial Ballastix DDR2 1060.

@bugspin23: Here are some things you could try:

1. Increase DDR2 RAM voltages (esp. since you are running 4*1GB)
2. Try some lower speed RAM (ie. DDR2 800 or 667)
3. Re-flash F3 BIOS then clear CMOS and see.
4. Your board seems to have something called "GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver" I'm not sure what this is but if possible disabling it might help. Also disable SpeedStep,etc.
5. Check out GUIDE - Overclocking P35/X38 Chipsets v1.0 for explanation of BIOS options and recommended settings.

Hope this helps.

PS: If possible you could PM me with an image of your current BIOS settings that are listed under "MB Intelligent Tweaker" aka "M.I.T". I might be able to help you better as I can see what you are seeing in the BIOS.

 

[widjerd]

Gigabyte are good boards - Remember that you are only going to see posts about problems because people dont make threads saying their boards are working fine.

I have built 3 pc's recently all with gigabyte boards

First build was with a GA-P31-DS3L and a Q6600 with Crucial memory - Had problem with vista hibernation mode however i just turned hibernation off in favour of sleep and shutdown

Second build was a GA-P31-DS3L with an E6750 with crucial memory - No problems - All worked first time

Thrid build (for myself) i had to most problems with - GA-P35-DS3 with Q6600 and Crucial Memory - First the Quad kept overheating but i think that was probably some trapped air - Remounted it and all was fine. Next prob i had was that vista wouldnt even install. This was an odd problem but it turned out to be a problem with speedstep - Disabled it and all worked fine. A BIOS update would probably fix it but i see no real point to it as i'd probably briick the board.

Although it seems a long ass rant about the problems they are good quality boards but there may be a few nagging problems specially with Vista it seems.

 

[Underclock]

how about the memories you used? any above 800?

 

[bugspin23]

@ Shadow,

I have been able to up the RAM voltage based on the manufacturer settings to 2.2 and timings set at 5-5-5-15

I have certantly considered that I need to be using DDR2 800 instead of the 1065. When I asked Crucial about this I got a "cut and paste" answer of would you like to order new ram from us...blah blah blah

Yes, I agree and have tried to reflash my BIOS to F3 but I havent tried to clear the CMOS...question: Do I clear CMOS before or after the F3 is updated?

Dynamic ES. Right now I have shut it off. Although...the board seems to still change voltages for different things anyway as a feature...maybe I can turn this off?

Reading your listed guide now. I am a "sponge".

Yes, I can try to get an image of the current BIOS. Will I have to do this with a camera or is there a way to take a screen shot from BIOS?

@ Underclock

Yes, all of my Ram Sticks are the same DDR2 1065 the specific part number is as follows BL2KIT12864AA1065

 

[bugspin23]

@ widjerd

"This was an odd problem but it turned out to be a problem with speedstep - Disabled it and all worked fine. A BIOS update would probably fix it but i see no real point to it as i'd probably briick the board."

I totally agree, thats why I believe that it is "I" who is making mistakes instead of faulty parts. I have a question. What is speedstep? Is it part of the mobo or vista? when you refer to vista are you using the 32 or 64 bit versions?

 

[widjerd]

@ widjerd

"This was an odd problem but it turned out to be a problem with speedstep - Disabled it and all worked fine. A BIOS update would probably fix it but i see no real point to it as i'd probably briick the board."

I totally agree, thats why I believe that it is "I" who is making mistakes instead of faulty parts. I have a question. What is speedstep? Is it part of the mobo or vista? when you refer to vista are you using the 32 or 64 bit versions?

EIST or speedstep is an Intel tech i think that throttles the cpu when idle to conserve power - It is a BIOS options called EIST set it to disabled solved my problem.

I managed to install vista once with speedstep on however the monitor would just turn to standby and all the fans would go to 100% like when you boot it up.

Using vista 32bit home premium currently working (unless i enable speedstep )

 

[Shadow703793]

@bugspin23: Yeah, you will have to take the pic with a camera there is not other easy way. (It is possible to emulate the BIOS via a OS, but imo, its not worth it.)


To disable SpeedStep etc,:
Go To "Advanced BIOS Features"
Set "CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)" & "CPU EIST Function" to "Disabled"
Save and Exit.

 

[MTAtech]

I'm having significant trouble with this board. (GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R)

Over the weekend, I worked on upgrading one of my current systems that been working for a couple of years, to the GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R, Intel E2180 CPU w/fan with CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 RAM and a ZOGIS ZO86GT-E GeForce 8600GT 512MB. The PSU is 500w with 10x2 and 2x2 power cables.

I've been experiencing the problem problem where the system will start for a half second then die when both the 10x2 and 2x2 power cables are connected but power up when just the 10x2 cable is in place. Of course, the 2x2 runs the CPU, so one can't use the board in this state.

I've tried everything that I can think of (i.e. clear CMOS, use one memory stick in different slots, etc.) Nothing seems to work. I'm going to give Gigabyte a call later when they open for business.

 

[boonality]

corsair is good memory but out of curiosity do you have any slower DDR2 that you could throw in there for testing?

 

[MTAtech]

corsair is good memory but out of curiosity do you have any slower DDR2 that you could throw in there for testing?

I wish I had DDR2 800 (PC2-6400) that I could test with but I do not. However, the mobo clearly says 1066/1333 and lists the E2180 on the list of supported CPUs. So, I assume it should work straight out of the box.

 

[Guest]

I've built my system below and OC'd with the Gigabyte P35-DS3R and LOVE it. Great board.

I liked that board so much that when I built my Dad an office computer, I used the P35-DS3L and again, the build was a breeze.

This week I just built an AMD system for my Mom/Step Dad for use as an internet box. I used a Gigabyte AM2+ board and once again, the build was a breeze. I chose Gigabyte for this build because I never built with AMD before, not like it would really change anything, but because of this I chose a brand I know has always worked for me and has never let me down.

Gigabyte is the first board I look to for all builds, now that is more because I'm most familiar with their boards and I've had nothing but success. The only other board I would consider at this time is ASUS, and that's simply due to their repuation.


The reason you see "so many" bad things about Gigabyte boards is because a lot of people are using them. Now and then you get a bad board, most other times its people just not knowing exactly what they are doing and they think its a bad board. Regardless they post about it, I'm willing to bet if you put a per capita based figure together on the ratio of bad boards to happy customers, Gigabyte would be far from the worst.

 

[bf2142-rules-ok]

ALWAYS ALWAYS check that your ram's voltage is correct, don't just stick it in and assume the board bios will run it at the correct setting.And don't just look at the box it came in,or the website you bought it from telling you the specs, look at the sticker on the memory module itself.

 

[Merman]

Something that has worked for others is setting the Performance Enhance feature to standard. The default is turbo.

Shadow has this step in his overclock guide. A correct setting of tRD promotes memory stability.

 

[Craxbax]

Two issues that I have run across are the apparent lack of ability to adjust GTL (at least on the DS3L) and no vdroop damper. Adjust VTT/GTL has benefit in maxing out OCs for quads and also preventing chip degradation for 45mm. Vdroop is just plain excessive.

 

[Kursun]

I have:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
Q6600 GO stepping
A-Data Vitesta EE 800+ 4*1 gb. DDR2
XpertVision Radeon HD2600 Pro Super

When my board arrived it came with F4 firmware. I immediately updated it to F6 which was then current.
Installing Vista Ultimate 64 bit was a nightmare. It couldn't finish the installation and freeze. I gave up and started to install XP 32. Even that was a lot of problem! I got BSOD when changing user accounts. I cursed myself for buying Gigabyte after using many Abit cards which had all worked OK out of the box.

Later after a month or two and many bios and Ati Catalyst driver changes I have installed the Vista Ultimate 64 bit. It works steady as a rock now. I think the problem lied on earlier mainboard bioses.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ You sure its not bad RAM or bad HDD?