Mobo arrived DOA - Need recommendation quick!

[voodoo1694]

Well I've started my first build and it's already turning into a nightmare. My Gigabyte DS3R arrived completely dead (wouldn't even power on). A local guy I found on craigslist (with much wisdom and experience) came to the conclusion that it was the Mobo after trial and error. I really need a good recommendation for a similar board in a similar price range. I need something that has no issues and is *rock solid*. While I know it's tough to guarantee a 'perfect' motherboard, I need something with an excellent track record. I'm going to RMA this and buy a new board ASAP... No more Gigabyte for me. Too many horror stories on Newegg showing up that I can now relate to. Please help!

 

[Blain]

I would simply RMA the MB for another one. Gigabyte builds as high a quality MBs as anyone else.

 

[0roo0roo]

welcome to the world of self build
nothing is garranteed
you do kinda get what you pay for... self quality control fun.
idon't think gigabyte is a bad brand, you might have just hit the doa lotto
asus is good though

 

[voodoo1694]

Thanks guys but I would like a recommendation for another board entirely.

 

[MarcVenice]

p5k for 130$. Nothing wrong with gigabyte though, one bad experience doesn't mean you have to condemn a company to hell.

 

[bendixG15]

Originally posted by: voodoo1694
Well I've started my first build and it's already turning into a nightmare. My Gigabyte DS3R arrived completely dead (wouldn't even power on). A local guy I found on craigslist (with much wisdom and experience) came to the conclusion that it was the Mobo after trial and error. I really need a good recommendation for a similar board in a similar price range. I need something that has no issues and is *rock solid*. While I know it's tough to guarantee a 'perfect' motherboard, I need something with an excellent track record. I'm going to RMA this and buy a new board ASAP... No more Gigabyte for me. Too many horror stories on Newegg showing up that I can now relate to. Please help!

With the vibes you are sending out, I'll bet its not a crappy motherboard but something else.
For starters, whose memory did you stick in it ??

 

[voodoo1694]

4GB of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820146565
(Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail)

 

[Zap]

I would also look at memory. Did you have a PC speaker hooked up to the board when trying to power it on? Did it beep? I've found out that almost all the time when a board beeps but is otherwise "dead" it is some RAM incompatibility issue.

 

[voodoo1694]

Nope, no PC speaker that I know of in my Solo. The machine didnt even turn on for a second... No fans, beeps, etc. It was just like an unplugged machine.
The person I took it to confirmed that the PSU worked fine btw. All connections were double and triple checked by both him and I.

 

[MarcVenice]

The PC speaker comes with the motherboard. It's for beeps, so when your PC posts, power on self test, but fails, it can BEEP. One single short beep = no failure, and the pc will commence to boot. Two beeps, or three beeps or a long beep, are all codes for different things, which can be found in your mobo manual. If it doesn't even beep, then the mobo is probably dead. But if it does beep, the mobo will tell you bad ram, bad cpu etc etc. Maybe you killed it yourself with static, whose to say?

 

[voodoo1694]

Thanks for the info about the beeps Marc.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: voodoo1694
Well I've started my first build and it's already turning into a nightmare. My Gigabyte DS3R arrived completely dead (wouldn't even power on). A local guy I found on craigslist (with much wisdom and experience) came to the conclusion that it was the Mobo after trial and error. I really need a good recommendation for a similar board in a similar price range. I need something that has no issues and is *rock solid*. While I know it's tough to guarantee a 'perfect' motherboard, I need something with an excellent track record. I'm going to RMA this and buy a new board ASAP... No more Gigabyte for me. Too many horror stories on Newegg showing up that I can now relate to. Please help!

ROFL

1. Gigabyte currently makes THE BEST C2D and C2Q boards you can buy. The DQ6 will stomp my ASUS P5K in terms of Vdroop, and Long Term stability any day of the week.

2. Did you make sure you pluged in EVERY connector? The board has 2 connectors, a Main 24 pin rail, and a additional 8 12V plug. If you missed one of these then yeah, the board wont boot up.

3. DID you plug in the ATX short switch correctly? You would be amazed at how many people mess this up. Maybe you put the short switch on the resset short.

4. You only hope now is getting an ABIT IP35 series, Which i would think is much better then the lower end gigabyte boad you have. If you gotten a DS3P or DQ6, you wouldnt have this problem. Now the price of 2x boards you probably could of gotten the DQ6.


If you want a quality board, but LAME, and say VERY LAME CSR support, Asus is another path. But lately, im not happy with ASUS. If and When my P5K dies, Im grabbing a Skulltrail, or the new Gigabyte X38-DQ6.

 

[voodoo1694]

Thanks aigomorla -- I checked everything multiple times. I'm convinced it's just DOA. I probably should have given the Gigabyte another chance but I think I'm going to go ahead and order a ABIT IP35 Pro.

 

[JackMDS]

You can try the Abit (I actually like the Abit better).

However, hopfully. you are aware that your decision is a "Voodoo" decison and not a technical one.

As said above every brand can have a bad DOA piece of hardware.

 

[voodoo1694]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
You can try the Abit (I actually like the Abit better).

However, hopfully. you are aware that your decision is a "Voodoo" decison and not a technical one.

As said above every brand can have a bad DOA piece of hardware.

You're absolutely right, but after reading the user reviews, it seems like I probably should have chosen this board first due to the added features over the Gigabyte. I hope I'm right...!