So I got this S.939 motherboard on Ebay...

[bruinwar]

So I get a new motherboard off Ebay. A Gigabyte 939 board sold as new. I expected a GA-K8N Ultra-SLI (described as OEM in the auction) but received a GA-K8NUSLI-RH. Gigabyte tells me that they go no idea what that board is & do not recommend I attempt to use any of the available drivers or BIOS('s) on it.

Anyone recognize that model#? Looking for opinions, should I go ahead & try to make this sucker work? I would have to use the drivers for the GA-K8N Ultra-SLI. Physically they look very similar, but one main difference is there doesn't appear to have the dual BIOS.

Either I try to make it work or send it back & eat the shipping charges. The board was sold as new but came in an unsealed static bag, there is some sort of connector on one of the USB headers, the ZIF socket arm was up, & one of the RAM slots lock-down clips were both open. Looked to me like it was installed before.

Anyhow, as I said, just looking for opinions.

 

[bloodugly]

Here's a bit of info relating to that board:

Link

 

[Budarow]

"If" the seller provided an "abreviated" model number as you appear to suggest, I'd say it was done to mislead you into believeing you were getting a "common" model rather than something altogether different (with few support options).

Based on the above, I'd send the mobo back and give the seller a crap rating AFTER I received my $$$ back.

My $0.02 worth.

Bud

 

[bruinwar]

In the end, I decided that because the motherboard did not match the one pictured in this guys auction, I called him & requested a refund. We argued, he hung up on me, I went nuts & posted a neg feedback & I started a dispute on PayPal. He finally relented to take back the board, with a full refund if I pull the feedback.

BTW, went & got an MSI motherboard locally (overpaid) & the new build went in flawlessly. This is my wife's machine & she is very happy, her LOTRO game is running perfectly, very smooth she tells me. I am now the hero.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Old Hippie]

You did good. That was a shady deal.

 

[smccartin]

I just got the same board. I found a post on another forum, it's apparently a packard bell board. The poster said that in his case the stock drivers off the gigabyte site for the pro will work you just need to make sure you clear the bios again after you install the bios update. The board lacks dual bios but it is more or less a pro board. I don't like that it's not dual bios and also not a socketed bios I may return it just because of that. I'm also having problems finding a firewire b backplane connector for it, haven't written to gigabyte yet but past dealings with them.............well I don't think I have to explain.

 

[smccartin]

I just got poked the same way. I found a post on another forum saying that it's a packard bell board. It's more or less a pro just lacks dual bios.........which is annoying because it's a not a socketed bios either. I may return it just because of that. Supposedly the stock pro drivers will work you just need to clear the cmos after bios update, it won't boot until you do.

 

[Harvey]

I think I found your answer. Searching Google for GA-K8NUSLI-RH, the third link, Confusing Problem with K8N Pro SLi mobo - PC Perspective Forums.

The OP confirms this is an OEM board for the Packard Bell brand and a reply by lifishing looks like the answer you need:

Lifeisgood416:

Okay here is my situation. I've purchased an older motherboard GA-K8N Pro Sli. From what I've heard it makes a great mid-ranged SLI board. Now this is an OEM motherboard, so all i got was the board and the back panel plate.

When i booted up for the first time i got a "Packard Bell" splash screen. (WTF???) I had a few options to press: ESC to switch screens, F2 to enter setup, and F8 for boot device. None of the above worked except ESC. Pressing this brought me to a familiar boot up Post screen. However, i couldn't press delete to enter AwardBios, instead i had to press F2. When i entered Bios, it seemed to be the wrong one, its not all blue, nor does it recognize my AMD Athlon X2 4200+. There is no Q-Flash, or Dual Bios features. Its very watered down and out dated. The date of the bios is 3/25/05.

Another thing that i caught during the post screen was this:

Nvidia CK804 BIOS for GA-K8N Ultra-SLI F1j NF

Why would a GA-K8N Pro Sli have the ultra's bios?
On top of that, the motherboards revision # is 1.0, and the model number on the board itself is GA-K8NUSLI-RH. From what I've read on the internet that is the manufactures number and not the actual model, however, I've seen pictures of the Pro Sli and it clearly says PRO SLI. Any who, i know i don't have the ultra b/c i don't have SATA II.

Do you think Flashing the BIOS to the Pro Sli F9 would fix my problem? I'll try and post pictures soon if anyone wants to see the splash screen.
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lifishing:

I got a same motherboard. Every detail exactly matches your description, the "Nvidia CK804 for K8N ultra sli F1j", "packard bell", "GA k8N usli rh", and so on. I even doubt you and I bought from the same vendor. Like you said, it is not K8N pro SLI or Ultra because it doesn't have dual bios. However, it has a 1394 interface so it is not K8N SLI either.

Anyway, I managed to make it work. It is a little risky but nonetheless worked eventually.

First, I downloaded "@Bios" from Gigabyte's website which can update BIOS from internet. I ran it and checked "Internet update". It gave me only one option "K8N Ultra SLI F6". I clicked yes. It updated and I restarted computer. However, it could not boot but made a long beeping sound!! So I removed the motherboard battery and use a jumper to clear the CMOS. (You can find clear_cms jumper on the motherboard easily. Or you can refer to Gigabyte's manual on their website.)

After that, it booted and said CMOS checksum error. I entered the CMOS and load default setting. Everything works from then. I have a dual core opteron which could not be recoganized before. Now it works fine with both linux and windows.

Later I entered CMOS again and use "Top performance" option and it worked well. The cmos showed "K8N ultra SLI F6" now.

Hope this can help.

Hope that works for you.