Where Are The Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 Motherboards?

[mfarbman]

Beagle,

Thanks your suggestions have been very helpful. I use this system for photoshop work and have seen an increase in speed since applying your bios settings. THANKS.

If I get no more out of my memory I will be content. Having said that, if I can squeeze a bit more out I game to try.

Can you explain the difference between the linked and unlinked setting?

 

[Gary Key]

I will post up F5B in the morning.

 

[TheBeagle]

Good Morning Mr. Mfarbman.

A full discussion about linked versus unlinked memory settings would take quite some time to articulate in writing, and I'm not really sure that I'd cover all the nuances of the subject even then. However, basically stated, the linked setting establishes a direct relationship between the processor speed and the memory speed, and the ratio of that relationship can be adjusted by several settings within a subgroup of the BIOS. In other words, the setting of the FSB for the processor will have a direct bearing (ratio) on the memory setting speed.

In the unlinked setting, each component (i.e., processor and memory) has its own speed and other settings, and the processor settings do not control or otherwise directly affect the settings of the memory. With lower speed memory, i.e. 800 speed, sometimes a better result can be obtained by using the linked setting and selecting the best performing ratio setting. However, that does not always work out (I'm not quite sure why that phenomena occurs).

If that occurs, then using the unlinked setting is best for that rig. Once you start venturing out in the "thin air category" of pushing the memory and processor to the bleeding edge, there is no hard and fast rule on the subject- except to say don't be tempted to push the memory voltage over 2.3V or the CPU voltage over 1.5V, and even then that's likely to be getting close to the "too much" category. Remember, "more" is NOT always better in these circumstances!!

Trial and error will be the only way to wring out the last drops of performance. However, if you're really seeking max performance from your rig, you may have to consider using faster memory to begin with, at least 1066 speed. Hope that helps a bit. TheBeagle

 

[Gary Key]

F5B BIOS

 

[Ava1anche]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
F5B BIOS

Thank you Gary I will be playing with it tonight.

 

[mfarbman]

Thanks Mr. Beagle. I think I will stay where I am for now. I Don't think that a bit more juice is worth causing longevity issues with the CPU or memory, or system problems. After all, the rig ihas been runniing very well for the past two days. So, I will "leave this sleeping dog lay".

You have been most helpful.

 

[Kaptdeath]

Sirs,

I have read the majority of this thread and found it to be quite informative. (I would also have to say that it's the longest thread I have ever seen that didn't degenerate into a flame war. Well done.) I have a GA-N680 as well and I have attempted the settings as described by TheBeagle on page 45. I have had no trouble over clocking the processor, but the memory is quite another story. I cannot seen to exceed 840Mhz by even a single clock cycle. (Although these settings did allow the machine to try to boot windows. Some of my previous uninformed attempts had left the machine in a state where I had to clear the CMOS. So, I guess it is an improvement.) I suspect that any one of the following might be the issue and would interested in your opinions:

1) My memory is Corsair XMS TWINX2-2048-6400C4. I have easily overcolcked this same memory in a Gigabyte 965 motherboard to 1000Mhz with similar latency settings. Could this memory be not playing well with the N680?

2) I have my SATA drives in a RAID0 configuration. Including the boot drive. Could the increased FSB be effecting the RAID timing? (Strange, because the CPU has ran quite happily at 3.0Ghz for weeks now.)

3) I am using BIOS F3. After reading the issues with F4 I was in no hurry to upgrade. Has F4 been fixed, and should I upgrade?

If any additional information would be helpful, please let me know.

Thanks,
The Kapt'n

 

[Smitty1705]

GARY

Thanks for the new Bios! Do you have any comments or can you tell us what's been updated with this? Any comments from Gigabyte while you were back there as to what their plans are for our board?

Thanks!

Smitty

 

[Kaptdeath]

Sirs,

Sorry, my bad. I noticed right after posting that Gary had psoted F5B. I am considering tyring it, but would like to start from a more stable configuration. I also realized that I had forgotten some information that would be likely to be helpful.

Processor E6700 @ 10X @ 300Mhz = 3Ghz

OS: Windows XP SP2

The windows boot failure message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
<windows root>/system32/ntoskrnl.exe
Please reinstall a copy of the above file

Note that this message ONLY appears when the memory is clocked over 840Mhz. This file was updated in SP2 and maybe even since then so it's kind of tough to replace. Since this message appears only when the memory is overclocked I dont think that it is raelly corrupted.

Attempted memory clock speeds: 873, 900, 1000
Memory voltage +.3 = 2.1V (I think that is all this memory is rated for.)

I am making a trip to the local geek store to pickup a fan for my northbridge. (It's not hotter than spec, I would just like to see it a bit cooler ~40C now.) Maybe I'll pick up a few sticks of 1066 if they have a generous return policy (just in case).

Thanks in advance for your help

The Kapt'n

 

[TheBeagle]

Hello Mr. Kapt.

The situation with your memory OC is a bit uncertain. The first thing that I would do is try the new F5B BIOS that Gary generously posted today. Gary is to be commended for staying on Gigabyte's butt about resolving the previous troublesome issues, and hopefully the new BIOS will correct those problems (without introducing any new ones).

As far as installing the new BIOS is concerned, here's a tip that was provided by one of Gigabyte's engineers: He advised us to clear CMOS, reflash the F4 Final (now the F5B), reboot, set the BIOS to default, shutdown, clear CMOS, startup, set the BIOS up to your liking and see if that works. This has been reported to have cured the shutdown problems for a number of people (including Gary), and so it might be worth a try. Apparently the BIOS coding and certain combinations of nVidia drivers, and other possible software make a devil's brew that impedes a clean shutdown process, and causes a hang condition right at the conclusion of shutdown. You might want to give that several steps process a try in order to clear the CMOS memory and also cause Windows to clear certain settings as well. Let us know how that works.

On the memory OC problem, if you still have the same boot problem AFTER you install the new BIOS, then it's likely either an OS corruption, and/or a hardware conflict. The 680i chipset is known to be a bit finicky in regards to the type, speed and settings of the memory whenever you start pushing it a bit out toward the edge. However, you will definitely obtain some additional headroom by shifting to 1066 memory sticks. Good luck and enjoy. TheBeagle

PS. Thanks for the comments about the lack of flamers on this Thread. I believe that's a direct result of the dedication of all the contributing posters, AND, the damn good oversight of the Forum moderators. We had a few folks that started in that direction back a while ago, but the moderators seemed to have stopped that crap in a big hurry. But thanks for noticing just the same.

 

[justinburton]

I have some juicy good news regarding everyone with the Rev. 1 of the boards.For the differences between Rev 1 and Rev 2. It is confirmed that the southbridge chipset and some capacitors are different. But here is some new news:

"Question : I just want to know if N680SLI-DQ6 Rev 2.0 is the final version. I don't want to go out and buy Rev 2.0 when a new rev 3.3 is coming soon. This is what happened with the 965P-DQ6. I also want to know if I can exchange my Rev 1 for a Rev 2 and pay some extra money to do it.

Answer : Dear Customer,

Currently, we have no plans to release a 3x revision.

I am sorry, but we do not have an exchange program. Please contact your dealer if they have such a program. The only difference with Rev 2.0 is a change in the MCP chipset, which does not support LinkBoost. Rev 1.0 supports the LinkBoost feature."


So it looks like the only difference in the bios is the lack of the linkboost feature that no one even uses anyways.

Thanks for the BIOS GARY!!

 

[cdfire]

Beagle, since Gigabyte still has not gaven me a RMA number, I am thinking of trying this F5b BIOS. Can you tell me how you go about clearing the CMOS? Do you pull the battery? Thanks in advance.

 

[mfarbman]

Is there a difference in the bios between Rev 1 and Rev 2 boards? I would think not, but wanted to ask if anyone knew. The Gigabyte site shows only one bios update for Rev 2 and if I recall correctly there are three for Rev 1. My Rev 2 board shipped with F3.

 

[Kaptdeath]

Sirs,

I just had a rather odd experience.

I decided to take TheBeagle's advice and try BIOS F5B. I uncompressed the file and decided to save it, along with my original bios to floppy. I could not access the floppy, from Qflash or windows. (That's strange it used to work.) I finally got the thing booted and decided to replace that file (ntoskrnl.exe) that was giving me trouble. (Turns out that there is a copy of it over at "c:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386". How convienient!!!!<church lady voice>). Things actually seemed to be looking up now. However, no amount of fiddling would recover the floppy so i decided to select "seek floppy" in the BIOS. BAD IDEA! The machine refused to post and set the BIOS back to ground zero. (I have 6 drives all in RAID arrays so getting the BIOS back to "bootable" is rather time consuming.) Disable and inplug that bloody floopy drive. Hmm, that seems to make things better, maybe I should try a little memory overclock to confirm that F5B actually fixes my problem. UGH windows won't boot and will not respond to the keyboard. I had a problem during the build with this so I tried switching the keyboard to PS2 from USB (yes, USB keyboard and mouse is enabled in the BIOS). Wow, that fixes things again. The floppy may have had a bent pin. I bent it back, now it works.

I think that I'll go out and have a few cold ones and re-evaluate my computer skills and overclocking efforts. When I regain confidence I will surely let you know of my experience with F5B.

The Kapt'n

BTW I have a Rev 1 Board.

 

[Kaptdeath]

Sirs,

It appears it was the memory. I picked up a few sticks of OCZ 1066 Reaper memory. (Who comes up with the names for this stuff?) Rock solid at 1000Mhz and 2.1V. (I know, it's rated to 1066. I have trust issues now.) I'll see if it will run at spec and 2.1V tomorrow. I still seem to have some wacky problems if I plug my keyboard into the USB. ie. ntoskrnl.exe is bad? Anyone else seen anything like this? Are most people using the PS2 connector or the USB connector for the key board? It's a Microsoft keyboard, maybe it's demon possessed. Thanks Beagle, the new memory has me back on the right track. Maybe when I get back to zero I can try a new BIOS.

The Kapt'n

 

[imported_Arrakis]

Mr. Gary,

Thank you for the new BIOS - I did not have the shutdown error with F4, but I will try F5B out tomorrow. You have been especially great in terms of getting a lot of feedback from Gigabyte to support us, so I will echo the thanks of all the people here: Thanks, Gary!

----------
Messrs. Beagle, Smitty,

Your advice about the Zalman 9700 has been well received, as the BIOS reports my CPU is running at 25C and Everest 4.0 reports 45C at idle. Much improved from 65C! However, I am wondering why this discrepancy exists between the two measurements. Should I trust the board over the program or the other way around?

Right now I am using the trial version of Everest 4.0 but if it is detecting everything properly then I will make the very small investment to the full version. It further says my Q6600 only reaches 55C under full load, even after a half hour of stressing, but I would still like to know which numbers to pay attention to. Interestingly, Everest says my 8800GTS is running much cooler (about -20C or so) compared to the output from nTune! I am very confused about this.

One more question of interest to me is that I have noticed the Zalman 9700 clicks off for a second (LED goes out, fan slows) between when I press the power on and when the computer spins up and the Gigabyte flash screen appears. Other users of the fan, is this normal?

----------
Mr. Kaptdeath,

I had the same error with my keyboard and I have to say that I was very frightened! I had one of my hard drives fail (luckily it was in a RAID 0) and was concerned that the whole thing had been corrupted. I rechecked my steps and realized I had switched the keyboard from PS/2 to USB while taking out the faulty drive (though I had toggled on USB Keyboard support just like you did, and I have to say in passing that Western Digital has a very helpful support staff for their RE2 line). When I switched everything back, the computer was fine, and I am writing this from it now. Nothing is overclocked as of yet, however.

-Arrakis

 

[Riddler6777]

Hey guys/girls

I Have read through most of this topic & i must say there is some fantastic info on here, when i first got this board i could not find any info anywhere but now its endless (thumbs up guys)

the issue i am currently having has me absolutely baffled though it probable has nothing to do with my MB im not sure what the cause is,

for some reason my dvd rom will not play dvd's only cd's ? i have tried numerous different disks with one being battlefield 2142 which lets me install it on the PC but when i try and run the program it comes up with "please insert the correct dvd-rom, press ok and restart application"

i went into control panel, systems, device manager & there was a yellow ! next to my dvd rom drive, i done a little research on google and found a fix for the yellow ! issue by changing a command in regedit which now says the dvd rom is working normally in device manager but it still will not play dvd's ??

Hmmm it was working fine & the dvd rom is only 2mths old, i have it running off the IDE cable but for the life of me i cannot work out what is the problem shrug

any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers

 

[TheBeagle]

Good Morning Mr. CDfire.

I believe that giving the BIOS Flash another try might be a very good idea. Since you have a Rev 1 board, chances of getting another Rev. 1 board on RMA are slim. Therefore, since the Rev 1 board has the "better" chipset, I'd stick with that for now.

Anyway, you can clear your CMOS, to a certainty, by doing the following things: 1. make sure the PC is unplugged from any power source. 2. Place a Phillips screwdriver tip between the two bare contact prongs which are adjacent to the location of the motherboard battery - don't put any pressure on the prongs, just cause them to short. 3. Then remove the motherboard battery (it has a slight retainer spring on one side of the round battery housing that must be depressed to release the tension holding the battery - BE GENTLE, no Gorilla strength required! - However, BEFORE you remove it, look at the markings on the battery face, and make note of same 4. Place the Phillips screwdriver tip between the contact prongs (Step 2) again. 5. Wait a few minutes to allow all the capacitors to completely drain. 6. Replace the battery - Make damn sure you replace the battery with the proper polarity - there are markings on the battery face usually indicating a + sign, so make quite sure that the sign is facing in the SAME direction (up or down) as when you removed it in the first place.

Now that you have cleared the CMOS, follow the process that the Gigabyte engineers have told us about (listed in a previous response), but I'll repeat it here: He advised us to clear CMOS, reflash the F4 Final (now the F5b), reboot, set the BIOS to default, shutdown, clear CMOS, startup, set the BIOS up to your liking and see if that works. You can gain access to the Q-Flash program to flash your BIOS by pressing the "End" key on your keyboard a few times at the beginning of the POST process. That will get you directly into the flashing utility.

Since you are having such a problem with your board not wanting to keep its settings, I'd flash BOTH the primary and secondary BIOSes, and give it a go from there. Remember to set the BIOS to Optimize settings BEFORE you adjust any individual BIOS options. That way the board has the best chance to "remember" those setting when you shut it down to reboot. Let us know how you make out on this. Best of luck. TheBeagle

 

[cdfire]

Thanks for the reply Beagle.

Well here?s the real problem I am having. I have a View Sonic VX922 LCD. All along on this pc and my old pc I have run the refresh rate at 75. Now if I keep it at 75 refresh I will get the windows night rider screen and then all black on boot up. I can here it load into windows, but the screen is all black. Now if I set the monitor to 60 refresh it will boot into windows fine. This all just happened out of the blue for everything was running fine until one Sunday Morning, I should state that the PC was running on the F4 BIOS for about a week with no issues until that Sunday. I prefer 75 refresh since it makes a clearer picture weather surfing the web or playing games. Does not mattter anyways for it should run at 75 refresh rate weather I want that or not. I have tried replacing the following, ram, graphics card, and power supply. I contacted Gigabyte support. They say to RMA the board, only it?s been two weeks and many phone calls and I still do not have a RMA number to send the board back.

So here?s what I am looking at since Gigabyte does not care one bit about this customer. One I just take the loss and buy a new Motherboard since its obvious gigabyte is not ever going to give me the RMA info, or Two I buy a new monitor. It must be one or the other unless I am missing something.

As a last resort I figure I have nothing to lose at all by trying this F5b BIOS, so this I will do, per your instructions and hope that works. Once again thanks for the help Beagle. I will let you know how it turns out.

Update: I followed everything to the T. Installed the F5b BIOS, cleared CMOS and all and still same issue. I am now going to run over to Best Buy and get a new Monitor. If that don't work then I guess it be time to find a new Motherboard unless anyone has any other ideas that can help me out.

 

[Kaptdeath]

Arrakis,

Is there a reason that you don't use the Gigabyte supplied control panel to check your temperature (Ez Tune4)? I would think that Gigabyte's own software would have the best chance of getting a "true" reading. That said, I cannot leave EzTune running for more than about 10 minutes or it runs off consuming 100% CPU and refusing to respond. (Just kill it from the task manager.) But it seems to work fine for just a quick temperature check. (Clicking the "X" on it removes it from the task list after checking temps.) I tried "SpeedFan" to monitor temperatures, but it was clearly giving be numbers WAY out of spec. (It's a shame that "Motherboard Monitor" doesn't support newer motherboards.)

I have a 9700 and my E6700 running at 3.0Ghz and 1.400V tops out under full load at about 43C in a 90F room. (Can't afford air condioning after buying this rig.) I would bet that the 25C number at idle from the BIOS is the one to believe.

I'll just continue with the keyboard in the PS2 connector for now. It does seem that the Windows error I was getting is related to a memory issue. When I bumped the memory to 1066 this morning it returned. Increasing the voltage to 2.125 made it go away.

Riddler6777,

You probaby already checked this, but make sure that the drive is jumpered for "cable select" and not "master" or "slave". (That can cause al kinds of strage behavior.) If that doe not get it, try reinstalling the drivers through the hardware manager. (If you have Vista I have no idea how to do that, if you have XP I can explain it if you don't know how.)

Beagle,

As soon as the Prime95 test finishes to my satisfaction I will try F5B. I will take a chance and try the simple "just upgrade the BIOS" method to see if that puts XP in "reboot hell". If it does, I'll use the suggested technique to get there. Sombody has got to find out if the "simple" way works. (I've never had to go through that on any other BIOS upgrades.)

The Kapt'n

 

[Smitty1705]

Originally posted by: cdfire
Thanks for the reply Beagle.

Well here?s the real problem I am having. I have a View Sonic VX922 LCD. All along on this pc and my old pc I have run the refresh rate at 75. Now if I keep it at 75 refresh I will get the windows night rider screen and then all black on boot up. I can here it load into windows, but the screen is all black. Now if I set the monitor to 60 refresh it will boot into windows fine. This all just happened out of the blue for everything was running fine until one Sunday Morning, I should state that the PC was running on the F4 BIOS for about a week with no issues until that Sunday. I prefer 75 refresh since it makes a clearer picture weather surfing the web or playing games. Does not mattter anyways for it should run at 75 refresh rate weather I want that or not. I have tried replacing the following, ram, graphics card, and power supply. I contacted Gigabyte support. They say to RMA the board, only it?s been two weeks and many phone calls and I still do not have a RMA number to send the board back.

So here?s what I am looking at since Gigabyte does not care one bit about this customer. One I just take the loss and buy a new Motherboard since its obvious gigabyte is not ever going to give me the RMA info, or Two I buy a new monitor. It must be one or the other unless I am missing something.

As a last resort I figure I have nothing to lose at all by trying this F5b BIOS, so this I will do, per your instructions and hope that works. Once again thanks for the help Beagle. I will let you know how it turns out.

Update: I followed everything to the T. Installed the F5b BIOS, cleared CMOS and all and still same issue. I am now going to run over to Best Buy and get a new Monitor. If that don't work then I guess it be time to find a new Motherboard unless anyone has any other ideas that can help me out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CDFIRE -

I'm sorry, I shoudl have caught this earlier.. Your LCD should NOT be set to 75 Hz for the refresh rate, that's your problem! LCD's run different then a CRT, lower it back down to 60 Hz and leave it there. I poked around in the user manual for your monitor and it says basically the same thing.. You're hardware is fine.. =)
Check the 2 links i have listed below and you will see what I'm talking about. Man I'm sorry we didn't catch this before you went through all of your hassles! Also.. it doesn't kick in the real resolution you are set to until it PASSES the windows logo, that's why you see the logo, then it goes black I'm betting.. I'm guessing you have your LCD set to something about the maximum resolution or timing and it's freak it out possibly? Guessing here...

On page 7 of your manual it says the following -

Setting the Timing ModeSetting the timing mode is important for maximizing the quality of the screen image andminimizing eye strain. The timing mode consists of the resolution (example 1280 x 1024) andrefresh rate (or vertical frequency; example 60 Hz). After setting the timing mode, use theOSD (On-screen Display) controls to adjust the screen image.For the best picture quality set your LCD display timing mode to:VESA 1280 x 1024 @ 60Hz.To set the Timing Mode:1. Set the resolution: Right-click on the Windows desktop > Properties > Settings > set theresolution.2. Set the refresh rate: See your graphic card's user guide for instructions.WARNING: Do not set the graphics card in your computer to exceed a resolution of 1280 x1024@75Hz or the maximum refresh rate of 85Hz at lower resolutions; doing so may result inpermanent damage to your LCD display.

Check this link out also, it has some good info..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate


Good luck ... and I hope that helps..

Smitty

 

[TheBeagle]

Hello Again Mr. CD.

Well, it sure sounds like you're losing video sync and the OS doesn't know what to do with the video signal. It is probably being caused by you having the refresh rate set too high. 60MHz is just fine for an LCD. However, if indeed you are going to spring for a new monitor, and since image clarity and resolution are of some importance to you (as they are to most of us), then I would strongly suggest that you increase the display size by at least one inch. As a general rule, monitors 20" or larger have higher native resolution. If its one of the newer widescreen versions, it's likely to be 1600 x 1050. That way you will automatically get the higher resolution you want without pushing the monitor's output.

Additionally, BEFORE you hook up the new monitor, strip out all the nVidia display drivers and let the OS revert to its BASIC VGA drivers - don't let the OS install any other drivers. THEN install the monitor, let the OS find the monitor, and reboot. THEN install the latest nVidia drivers for 8800 cards, That should give you the best chance to get and accurate and stable install of your video subsystem. Let us know how you make out with that. TheBeagle

PS. I just read Mr. Smitty's response and he's right on the money. As the 18 Wheeler Chauffeurs say, just "Back Her Down, Good Buddy," and you're likely to get your rig back in fine operation. Let us know. TheBeagle

 

[TheBeagle]

Good Morning Everyone.

Initial results from using the F5b BIOS are quite good. I installed F5b and set the CPU speed to 384 x 9, DDR2 to +.425V, and the CPU to 1.425V, and memory timing at 5-5-5-15, and everything runs like a charm so far at 3.45GHz. AND, best of all, the SHUTDOWN WORKS!!!! I'll keep you posted, but right now, absent some calamity, it looks like the Taiwan guys got their heads out of dark places and straightened out the BIOS. Now if it will just handle Quad-Core @ 1333 FSB, we are golden!! TheBeagle

 

[cdfire]

Thanks for the reply Smitty.

I am confused though. I have been running this monitor at 1280X1024 @75Hz since the day I built this pc and ran it at such for about 6 months on my old pc without issue. So, was I not suppose to? Did I possibly damage the monitor? The real confusing part is, once in windows all does seem to work fine at 60Hz, just looks um well, let?s say not as good as it did at 75Hz. No issues in device manager, Temps all good and so forth.

To top off my confusion BFG said RMA the Graphics card, well luckily I got my hands on an 8600 and tested that before I did that. Gigabyte says RMA the board, only I now believe there is no such thing as a RMA to Gigabyte, more of a, we got your cash now get lost policy. A tech I know said power supply, so I tried that two, View Sonic does say 60Hz but it also says 75Hz max of which I know worked at one time. So you can see where I am confused. On one hand things worked fine at 75Hz and then they did not. This company says RMA this, the next company says RMA this, a tech says power supply, and View Sonic says max 75Hz but recommends 60Hz. Ok my brain is now officially fried and I still don?t know what?s right.

Thanks again for the info Smitty. I really hope, even though it worked before, that is all it is for I am at my wits end here. I am still thinking about going out and getting a new monitor, one that can run at 75Hz just for peace of mind, but at the same time if I do that and it don?t work at 75Hz, I may end up jumping off a bridge, if not that I am sure my wife is about to have me locked up for yelling at my pc for weeks on end. LOL

 

[Kaptdeath]

Smitty,

Don't JUMP! I know the feeling though. I have had to RMA 2 Gigabyte boards in the past. (Not a manufacturing issue, I just did something stupid. Sometimes 2 BIOS is not enough...) I had no trouble getting Gigabyte to repair one of the boards, even though it was over 2 years old (3 year warranty!). They aren't real fast at fixing 'em, but they get it done. That's why I keep buying them. So take heart, things will work out.

I notice that you are using the same Corsair memory that I was. May I ask what you have it clocked at?

Thanks,
The Kapt'n