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mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
Motherboard manual doesn't show one but it does show a Phase LED.
Is that used for troubleshooting?

My motherboard came with a speaker (not attached) I don't user it unless I can't post, the beeping annoys me.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
Ok thanks,
Maybe i'll return the fan and get a 4 pin and have the ability to control the speed.
The salesman at MC handed me that one, i should've paid more attention to it.

You should be able control the speed with a 3-pin. You'll just have to do it via voltage instead of PWM. Most BIOSes let you choose between the two on each fan header.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
Motherboard manual doesn't show one but it does show a Phase LED.
Is that used for troubleshooting?

I believe that the Phase LED just shows how many of the power phases are currently in use. Gigabyte boards can dynamically control their power delivery circuitry to save (a small amount of) power.
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
I believe that the Phase LED just shows how many of the power phases are currently in use. Gigabyte boards can dynamically control their power delivery circuitry to save (a small amount of) power.

Ok, thanks.
UPS will deliver the remaining components tomorrow then i can get this thing together.

From what i'v been reading it's best to assemble outside the case build and boot starting with the cpu, hsf, 1 stick of ram & gpu and see if it post. If so check other stick of ram in same slot then post, if all is good test the other 3 ram slots. Then see if ssd is recognized and so on. If all is good it's safe to install into case.
Does this sound correct?

Should i update to the latest bios right away?
Can i do that without the OS installed?

I'm still a little confused on how to flash the bios. I read somewhere not to use @bios and i thought i read somewhere that qflash doesn't work first time flashing then there is flashspi. I'm not exactly sure how to use any of these as there is not much info as how to use them. There doesn't seem to be much info on gigabyte boards unless i'm looking in the wrong areas.

Thanks
Jim
 

Davidh373

Platinum Member
Jun 20, 2009
2,428
0
71
lol, an EVGA 460 SE Superclocked!? Something is backwards about that card... - $20 for SE, + $20 for a minor overclock... <.<...
 

Davidh373

Platinum Member
Jun 20, 2009
2,428
0
71
nope, but all the same it's a backwards card. The 5870 isn't worth $289.99, so hopefully it was on sale when you got it. You could have gotten a 6950 for that... :/
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
Ok, thanks.
UPS will deliver the remaining components tomorrow then i can get this thing together.

From what i'v been reading it's best to assemble outside the case build and boot starting with the cpu, hsf, 1 stick of ram & gpu and see if it post. If so check other stick of ram in same slot then post, if all is good test the other 3 ram slots. Then see if ssd is recognized and so on. If all is good it's safe to install into case.
Does this sound correct?

The incremental approach that you decide is a a good way to go about it, especially for a first timer. I usually just slap it all together at once, but then again, I have done a few in my time. :)

Should i update to the latest bios right away?
Can i do that without the OS installed?

I'm still a little confused on how to flash the bios. I read somewhere not to use @bios and i thought i read somewhere that qflash doesn't work first time flashing then there is flashspi. I'm not exactly sure how to use any of these as there is not much info as how to use them. There doesn't seem to be much info on gigabyte boards unless i'm looking in the wrong areas.

Thanks
Jim

Its usually a good idea to update the BIOS on any new build. You should be able to do it with QFlash and a USB stick. I have read that there are sometimes issues updating via QFlash from very early BIOS revisions on the P67 boards. If you run into trouble, it's no big deal to update the BIOS via @bios after the OS install.

If you haven't done so already, I would download the manual from Gigabyte's website and give it a read. It covers the hardware installation, BIOS, and Windows utilities pretty thoroughly.
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
The incremental approach that you decide is a a good way to go about it, especially for a first timer. I usually just slap it all together at once, but then again, I have done a few in my time. :)



Its usually a good idea to update the BIOS on any new build. You should be able to do it with QFlash and a USB stick. I have read that there are sometimes issues updating via QFlash from very early BIOS revisions on the P67 boards. If you run into trouble, it's no big deal to update the BIOS via @bios after the OS install.

If you haven't done so already, I would download the manual from Gigabyte's website and give it a read. It covers the hardware installation, BIOS, and Windows utilities pretty thoroughly.

Thanks,
I look thru the manual over the weekend. There's a lot of info there.
The remainder of my components were delivered earlier this afternoon so i am starting to put it together. Hope everything goes smooth.
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
Hi guys,
Well i finally got the computer assembled and running this morning. Had been gone a few days due to a out of state family emergency.

Anyway, everything went good but one problem i have is i cannot see my second hard drive when i click on computer. I can see it during post, in device manager and disk management though.
Before installing Win7 i went into bios and under PCH Sata Control Mode i set it to AHCI.
I loaded win7 onto the ssd and left the second hard drive disconnected.
I figured once i connected the second hdd windows would do a
"Found new hardware". That didn't happen.

Any idea why i cannot see the second hdd?
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
I can't click on it.
In Disk Management in the top column it shows(this is the ssd)
Volume Layout Type File System
C: Simple Basic NTFS
D Simple Basic Raw

Next column down it shows
Disk 0 D 100MB Raw C: 55.8GB NTFS
55.9GB Healthy (Primary Partition) Healthy(System Boot Page file ect.
online

Next column down shows (my second hdd)
Disk 1 465.76GB unallocated
465.76GB
online

Hope this makes sense
I would post a picture if i could figure how to do it
 

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
just take a screen shot, and i think you need to format your disk, right click it and go down to format
 

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
Take a screen shot with print screen button? then what?
How do i get it into the message box?

open up paint, throw it in there save it as a jpg, then go to photobucket or something like that and throw it in there
then use that as the place you are grabbing the pic from. and just link it.
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
Heres what i have
diskmng-1.jpg
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
You want to format the D: drive to NTFS file system

The C: and D : are the ssd with the OS. Formating the D : won't hurt anything?
Did win7 create the D :
diskmng-1.jpg


How do i get Disk 1 to show up under Computer?
Do i need to format it?
When i right click in disk 1 it says New Simple Volume

comp.jpg
 

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
sorry having trouble seeing your screens, try using a different SATA port on the Motherboard.
 

jim53

Member
Jan 9, 2011
57
0
0
Straightened it out this morning after getting some sleep and pulling my head out of my a**.
Haven't installed an OS or partioned in a long time.
diskmng.jpg

comp-1.jpg

The Antec 300 cable management is ok but i think they have room for improvement.
It does take some time to get the cables routed to look half way decent, did about the best i could without modding the case.
SAM_0401.jpg

Now i guess i should run some tests.
What software would you guys recommend?

Right now i'm running stock. I checked the temp in bios yesterday and was
running at 25*C/26*C the computer was running for about 10hrs when i checked.
It seems quick at least to me especially after coming from a 7yr old pentium4.
It boots from a cold start to desktop in a blink of an eye.
 

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
Intel burn test, use hardware monitor and cpu-z to look at clue temps voltages, clock speed etc..