Hey folks, I'm totally out of solutions and looking for some help. I built a new system with the GA-MA790X-DS4 mb and the Phenom 2 710 and can not get the system to POST at all, no beeps or video. I flashed the BIOS to the newest version, F6, which is suppose to support the new AMD proc. The new components going into the system are: AMD X3 710 CPU GA-MA790X-DS4 mb 2x2Gb G.Skill DDR2 800 RAM MSI R4850 512Mb Video card Here is what I've tried" 1. Put 710 in another MB, a Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4, and the system POSTed no problem. Same power supply on both systems. (moving the two motherboards in and out of the case) 2. Put an old X2 3800 proc in the new MA790X MB and it POSTed no issues. 3. With the 710 in the new MB, switched out the video card I was using, MSI 4850, for a 7600GT and still no boot up. 4. Tried the new 4850 video card in old system (GA-M57SLI-S4 and X2 3800) and it booted no problem. 5. Removed one G.Skill stick in new system and no boot. Tried one stick in another socket, no boot. Tried a 1Gb Corsair DDR2 667 stick in new system and no boot. Help! Any ideas or something I'm missing? Thanks, --jamie
try a diff version of the bios? sounds like is a incompatibility between X3 710 and the GA-MA790X-DS4 which sucks as thats the M/B I've got my eye on
Update: Tried clearing the CMOS and no luck. Denis: I tried the next to latest BIOS revision, F5, and lo and behold, the system booted up all the way. However, the BIOS did not recognize the processor (which makes sense because Gigabyte's site says that version doesn't support the new AM3 CPUs). I then flashed back to F6 and again, no POST or anything. So I'm alittle confused and leary. The F6 BIOS has been out since last year, so I can't believe it just doesn't work. On the other hand, I don't want to leave my system with an "unsupported" BIOS rev. Ugh Any thoughts on how to get this board working correctly?
Not with the 710 and the latest BIOS. The system doesn't POST at all, no error beeps and no video out. When i switch out either the CPU or use the same processor and older BIOS, the system beeps once to confirm it's OK then boots up.
edit, the post had a too gruff a tone. Sorry. I am asking about what is referred to in the industry as either a port 80 code, or checkpoint. These use the I/O port at address 0x80. It takes absolutely no memory or set up to get data to this port so those are available for all intents and purposes from "power on" (there is a caveat with some Intel based systems, but I doubt anyone wants the technical details). And the BIOS will use this port right from the get go as it is common practice to end up with something that hangs before getting video, and can't report errors. So port 80 codes are the first line of debug. It does not appear that the board has a checkpoint display on the mainboard, at least not anything obvious. But the feature is not uncommon now, so can you please see if you have one? My first guess as to the problem is that the AGESA code in the BIOS and the CPU are not getting along. It may be hanging in memory detection, or it just could be a problem applying the microcode updates to the CPU. But there is a lot of stuff that happens even before you get video so a checkpoint would really help to narrow down where the issue is.
I think you mean the codes on some of the higher end motherboards for troubleshooting? I'm not sure how I would even get them without special hardware I assume you need. So, I don't think I can provide them.
Yea, i had hoped your board had some sort of display. Port 80 PCI cards can be found for cheap, but the really cheap ones I have worked with can be plugging in backwards which is very hazardous to the health of both the card and mainboard. And that is if you have the patience for mail order If you know anyone who might have such a card though, it might be a good idea to see if you can get him/her to lend a hand. At least then you could tell if any code gets executed. It's usally the first, easiest thing to check if you hae something to read the codes. But it would be really odd to have a compatibility problem between a released processor and a released BIOS (but I have seen some weird stuff happen). So I would consider that a long shot. After looking over the manual to the mainboard, are you using just a 4 pin connector on the "ATX_12V_2X4" connector? Are you using a molex to 8 pin adaptr, or something else like that? It could be the new CPU needs more juice than whatever your current PSU can supply. The board will get power from different phases so parts of it will power up, but the CPU has some phases that are powered from that connector specifically for itself, and the old CPU did not need all the available power.
you should have F6 bios to support this cpu according to gigabyte website: http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2695
Hearing what royalj7 has said, it would have worked to some extend, it may not have fully utilized all the speed available. However with the problem, post bios update would have been the main problem!
It took me too long to realize why the power suggestion was boneheaded and why I suspected the AGESA code in the first place I forgot the system booted before the update. To be brief, there are pieces of source provided by whoever makes the CPU, and whoever makes the chipset that the manufacturer and BIOS vendor need to use. For AMD CPUs, this piece of code is called AGESA. Since the BIOS that supports this CPU would have the 'proper' AGESA code, I would suspect a problem with it, but it could be that enabling some CPU features cause problems with the RAM, or a PCI device in the system too which is the other reason I was curious about the checkpoint. For whatever reason, I also thought this was a MB Royal already had and was upgrading the CPU on so no return would be possible. If that is not the case, then a return is probably in order. It might also be worth seeing if this could be related to broken DDR2 compatibility in the CPU when the AGESA code loads.
Looks like you have two options, return the motherboard or run it with the unsupported bios (do all cores show up etc?)
Conclusion to my little problem. I couldn't get the GA-MA790X-DS4 to POST with the X3 710 and the F6 BIOS no matter what I did. It's been 3 and a half days and I haven't heard anything from Gigabytes tech support, which kind of annoys me. I went and got another board, another Gigabyte ironically, a MA790X-UD4, and the system booted up perfectly. I'll be returning the DS4 board here shortly. The UD4 is very similar, except for a couple notable differences: 1. Upgraded southbridge S750 vs 600 2. Heat pipe cooling for the northbridge as opposed to just a heatsink 3. No serial port (I'm one of those folks who still needs one so I got an add in card) 4. Works with my CPU Thanks for all the help.
Yea, that was my conclusion too. I'm sure running it with the previous revision would not have hurt anything, but why risk it when everything is still in the return period? I got he DS4 board locally and the UD4 on the internet, so the cost was roughly the same. Just alot of wasted time
i think the board just didn't support your cpu, and wasn't able to give it enough juice. the UD4 has beefier voltage regulation.
Hi, may I ask how you installed the HDs on the new UD4 board? AHCI? Normal IDE/Sata? RAID? Am considering the board, and am after certain info.... Thanks for any help in advance.
