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Where Are The Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 Motherboards?

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Dear Mr Beagle and Mr Jaggerwild...

Trying to understand what the nightmare is that you are mentioning. If users don't wish to send in their boards as they are currently using them in their system, there are a couple of options for them, that RMA should be discussing with them that will provide support for QX6850 processors as advertised. I'm not positive, but your warranty would probably be the same as your old board (varies by region, but it is usually 3 years from purchase date).

For users sending their boards in, RMA has been instructed to treat first priority, and since the hardware change is relatively quick, the turn around time should be a couple of days depending on shipping.

"Quite frankly, I SMELL A RAT! If GB was sincere in wanting to make this whole fiasco right for its customers, it would simply offer them either a straight out upgrade"

You suggest a straight out upgrade, but from the postings on this forum, that means something different for everyone. As you know, we are not building a 780i board. Main reason, to avoid several issues that Gary mentioned in his 780/790 posting. Some people don't want 790 because they will have to wait and it is DDR3. Some people don't want an Intel solution as it doesn't offer SLI. So there is no clear cut answer for everyone.

That is why we are contacting people on an individual basis.

@Mr. Beagle...I know you are just trying to help everyone out. You can believe it or not, but I am just trying to do the same. I know you feel like you want to scream, but please remember, you aren't just railing against a company, you are railing against people like me, who just want this situation to end well for everyone, just like you.
 
Originally posted by: TheBeagle
Good Morning Everyone.

Here's an excerpt from my latest posting over on Mr. Lopri's Thread concerning Gary's recent article on the failed Gigabyte N680i boards:

Obviously, this posting has direct relevance on this Thread and the other N680i Thread (I will post a copy there as well).

Isn't it at least curious that Mr. Colin has, at least so far, been reluctant to post on this Forum the EXACT terms and conditions of Gigabyte's proposed resolution to this whole debacle? Is the answer to that rhetorical question embedded in the postings concerning the contacts with the specified GB representatives listed above? If a "rework" of the failed N680i board is GB's "fix" to this serious problem, then that's NO SOLUTION AT ALL! What that truly is, is an OPEN INSULT to every N680i board owner, and to Gary and to Anandtech. What that shows is that GB has absolutely NO RESPECT for anyone, and considers the board owners (and others as well) to be idiots. How else can such a ridiculous proposition be viewed?

Me thinks (sadly) the that THE WAR IS FAR FROM OVER!! Best regards and good luck to everyone. TheBeagle 🙁 :beer:
Click to expand...

Have you tried mailing to that person incharge for doing the rework your own? Or you are just plainly talking rubbish in your own assumption without checking it out?
I don't think you are giving us much help, anyways.. I've mailed to GIGABYTE and received their calls... I'm fine with the rework they provided.. at least GIGABYTE is trying to solve this trouble..
 
Hello Colin and thanx for posting again. It is good to know that we are not talking to ourselves. I believe that none of us here has the intention to take it on you or any other individual. Yet still this is far from what we?ve been expecting.

I for instance can?t trust any board knowing that somebody did a rework on it. On the other hand I would really consider waiting a couple of months for the 790 and paying the difference despite the fact that I will have to replace my DDR2 mems and also purchase a SATA controller for the rest of my devices. The question here is do I get this choice?

Support for the QX6850 (even by these means) comes in too late as the processor has been phased out and most of us are left without an upgrade path.

Please advise.
 
Or you are just plainly talking rubbish in your own assumption without checking it out?
I don't think you are giving us much help, anyways.. I've mailed to GIGABYTE and received their calls... I'm fine with the rework they provided.. at least GIGABYTE is trying to solve this trouble..
Click to expand...

Surely you jest. You would have gotten NO call without his help.

As usual, there's not gonna be a fix that will please everyone and I'm glad you found their current solution acceptable.

I'm not even effected by this whole cluster-fu@k and buy which ever way the wind blows, but it's never gonna blow in GB's or Creative's way again.

Rock On Mr. Beagle! :beer: :thumbsup:
 
Good Morning Mr. Colin & Everyone.

To Mr. Colin: With all due respect, I believe you are laboring under a possible misapprehension concerning the focus of my very recent criticisms of Gigabyte's latest (albeit lame) attempt to provide an acceptable solution to this problem. Has oft been said, "Timing is everything." Unfortunately, a reasonably equivalent replacement board which utilizes a nVidia chipset and DDR2 memory sticks is not an option, thus, Bad Timing. The prospect of having to spend a considerable amount of extra money to get DDR3 memory sticks (probably twice the cost of a board), which would be necessary to populate the forthcoming N790i board is not a feasible option either.

However, there IS another solution. That solution is to migrate away from the nVidia chipset boards and utilize a X48 chipset replacement board (GA-X48-DQ6). That would be a fair swap, albeit without SLI. That board uses DDR2 memory sticks, and would provide a stable platform for upgrading the processors going forward.

Mr. Colin, I fully realize that you are but the facilitator and messenger between the righteously upset consumers (and their friends and colleagues) and Gigabyte. Until proven otherwise, I will presume that you are indeed trying to be an honest broker in all of this controversy. However, those honest attempts do not legitimize or make acceptable the policy decisions of Gigabyte concerning these failed N680i boards. And alas, therein lies the conundrum. As a general rule, I certainly will not try to shoot the messenger unless he tries to sell me a pig in a poke - in which unfortunate case, he's then fair game in my book!

May I suggest that Gigabyte offer the N680i board owners these three choices: 1.) Repair/Rework the N680i board so as to accept and fully operate with a QX6850 processor. That would, by necessity, include BIOS revision support going forward as well - since without that collateral support, the "fix" is essentially worthless; 2.) Replace the N680i board with a GA-X48-DQ6 board - even swap; or 3.) give the customer a full refund of their purchase price (since they never got what they bargained for in the first place).

If Gigabyte would be willing to offer those three options, then the owners of the failed N680i board will been given their rightful relief - and this sad story will be closed. Otherwise, I believe that you and Gigabyte can expect this matter to adopt the Energizer Bunny scenario, as it will just "keep going, and going, and going...." It's time for Gigabyte to make the prudent and smart business decision and put this thing to rest - before more damage is done to its reputation.

Best regards to everyone. Have a nice day. TheBeagle 😀 :beer:




 
TheBeagle has a very good point about BIOS support ongoing. It is not like there are not other problems still with this board, but with it being EOL'ed, we have no support. We all know fairly well why it was EOL'ed, because it didn't meet spec, and it was EOL'ed once it was discovered that it didn't support the 1333 FSB Quad Cores. Gigabyte did this to take it off the market and remove it from the retail chain without having to explain why, other then it is EOL. I can certainly understand why Gigabyte would want to do that, because it was advertising a product that didn't work with processors it said it would work with, and now, those processors were available on the store shelves, unlike before when they were still only available to select few people who knew people (reviewers, Intel insiders, and select others). Heck, if the product wasn't EOL'ed, there would be that many more people who are in our situation. It was the right move in a sense to limit the damage, but it doesn't fix the damage at all, and in fact is kind of like chopping off a limb to stop an infection from spreading. While it is good for the rest of the population, the ones who are already screwed, were just screwed even more. This is why a repair option doesn't really help, unless we know we will continue to get full BIOS support. And on that note, if capacitors are the only thing keeping this from running the 1333 FSB Quads, then what would prevent it from working with Penryn/Yorkfield/Wolfdale chips? Their power requirements are no different then the 1333 Quads, and the other board makers (like Asus, and EVGA, at least for wolfdale), support them on their 680i boards which supported the 1333 Quad's with a BIOS update (or in the case of EVGA a flat out board swap to all customers who bought the board that didn't meet spec). But since this board is EOL'ed, we know we will never get a BIOS update, because that would just spread the problem that this board has even further to owners who might not have wanted to ever look at the QX6850, but because the re-work would make it possible for cheap Yorkfields or Wolfdales, well, they would certainly want that as well....

You see my point? Had I known that the board didn't meet advertised spec, I would NEVER have even BOUGHT IT. I would have gotten an EVGA or Asus. Heck Asus has been the company I normally buy from, but after reading the reviews here on the Gigabyte, and knowing that Gigabyte has made solid products in the past, that I would pick up the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 because of all the extra features it had that I was interested in using. Last time I make that mistake....
 
I got the call last night at 9:30 at night from Leo but have yet to call him back.
I have to agree with Beagle on the three options. I know I won't pick the option of pulling my machine apart, sending it back for who know show long for a "repair" and with what warranty? I'm not interested in that at all nor do I trust that option. The fact that they offer the repair service means they agree there is a problem with the board from the get go. With who knows what kind of support going forward on the repair option, only the money back or another board makes sense.

I'm glad to see steps going forward here but it's more of a crawl.

Smitty
 
Okay... I just got off the phone with Leo from gigabyte and here is what he told me.

NO CHANCE of a refund on the 680i board, he has already asked about this.
I told him I woudl not accept a repair job and possibly 3 weeks of down time. You are look at a week delivery there, a week back and maybe a week in the shop! If you DO go that route though he said there may be the possibility of sending you a NEW (supposedly not considered a repair) 680i SLI DQ6 like we have but modified already. He can't guarentee the support going forward.

I told him I wasn't interested in the same board that has proven to have issue and no idea on the future of it.

When he asked me what options I was interested in I told him a 790i chipset board in the future with the DQ6 bells and whistles I am using now. I also suggested the GA-X48-DQ6 that Beagle suggested.

It looks like the are taking this case by case right now but once you lock in your choices there is no going back. Make sure you do your research on your requested fix because they wont' swap back if there is an issue. Again though, he still has to run this by his upper management but he is approaching them with my personal requests on my case. The official suggested method is still to send it in for a repair!

Smitty
 
Mr. Smitty, you're on the high ground - hold onto it at ALL costs - no retreat!! Honestly, if you can't get your money back, go with the X48 board - I have one and it works just fine (at least so far - except for the Teaming function). Best regards. TheBeagle
 
Originally posted by: GigabyteColin
Dear Mr Beagle and Mr Jaggerwild...

Trying to understand what the nightmare is that you are mentioning. If users don't wish to send in their boards as they are currently using them in their system, there are a couple of options for them, that RMA should be discussing with them that will provide support for QX6850 processors as advertised. I'm not positive, but your warranty would probably be the same as your old board (varies by region, but it is usually 3 years from purchase date).

For users sending their boards in, RMA has been instructed to treat first priority, and since the hardware change is relatively quick, the turn around time should be a couple of days depending on shipping.

"Quite frankly, I SMELL A RAT! If GB was sincere in wanting to make this whole fiasco right for its customers, it would simply offer them either a straight out upgrade"

You suggest a straight out upgrade, but from the postings on this forum, that means something different for everyone. As you know, we are not building a 780i board. Main reason, to avoid several issues that Gary mentioned in his 780/790 posting. Some people don't want 790 because they will have to wait and it is DDR3. Some people don't want an Intel solution as it doesn't offer SLI. So there is no clear cut answer for everyone.

That is why we are contacting people on an individual basis.

@Mr. Beagle...I know you are just trying to help everyone out. You can believe it or not, but I am just trying to do the same. I know you feel like you want to scream, but please remember, you aren't just railing against a company, you are railing against people like me, who just want this situation to end well for everyone, just like you.
Click to expand...

Mr Colin,
I wasn't offered any alternatives, yes I think I'm sick and tired of this beating to death a dead horse. But it's not my horse, This is what I'd like a state of the art board rich in features brand new. Top of the line basically what I paid for not this thing. Not a EOL rework.
One that supports CURRENT CPU'S witch is again what I paid for, give me a board and I'm done here! I'll gladly give you the old board the box the cables everything. I'll take a 790 board, a X48 board what eva. Hell I'll go to the darkside with a ATI board.
81,000 hits and counting damn shame!
Regards!
 
I wonder why refund is not an option if they did it for the guy in AU? I will be refering to that case # when he calls me back. I would for sure take the 48x but why get it when the teaming dont work. Mr Beagle did you find the fix for teaming? Thanks!
 
Originally posted by: TheBeagle
Mr. Smitty, you're on the high ground - hold onto it at ALL costs - no retreat!! Honestly, if you can't get your money back, go with the X48 board - I have one and it works just fine (at least so far - except for the Teaming function). Best regards. TheBeagle
Click to expand...

Beagle -

The X48 board you have looks like a nice trade for this 680i if they will do it. I'm not sure what I will do if they don't to be honest. I posted it on the X48 thread of yours but I wanted other people to bein the loop on this thread as well.


Will the GA X48 DQ6 board that has the Intel chipset instead of the Nvidia chipset support my Nvidia 8800 GTX okay? Im' not up on crossfire but it's my understanding that this board supports crossfire and NOT SLI from Nvidia. This means I can still run my ONE 8800 GTX on this board but forget about SLI/Crossfire multi cards unless I switch to an ATI brand video car din the future right? If this is the case.. SIGN ME UP for a trade in!
 
Originally posted by: dlbetz
I wonder why refund is not an option if they did it for the guy in AU? I will be refering to that case # when he calls me back. I would for sure take the 48x but why get it when the teaming dont work. Mr Beagle did you find the fix for teaming? Thanks!
Click to expand...


I hear ya on the teaming but at this point I don't see myself using teaming right away and I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to swap this board out. If they don't get the teaming fixed.. I will fight again and get the X48 swapped out down the road! HA HA!

Basically.. i'll take the new chipset, faster proc and memory support vs the teaming for me persionally.

Smitty
 
Originally posted by: Smitty1705
Originally posted by: dlbetz
I wonder why refund is not an option if they did it for the guy in AU? I will be refering to that case # when he calls me back. I would for sure take the 48x but why get it when the teaming dont work. Mr Beagle did you find the fix for teaming? Thanks!
Click to expand...


I hear ya on the teaming but at this point I don't see myself using teaming right away and I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to swap this board out. If they don't get the teaming fixed.. I will fight again and get the X48 swapped out down the road! HA HA!

Basically.. i'll take the new chipset, faster proc and memory support vs the teaming for me persionally.

Smitty
Click to expand...

I just hate to get another Gigacrap board that is defective out of box... I just wish they would support what they sell and advertise. This just plain out sucks we have to go thru this crap. And then when they say they are calling to help me on it it is at 1130pm at night i am dead asleep he says sorry but we need to do this now. Just not very good customer service. Just give me my refund so I can get a ASUS or EVGA. But if I have no choice but the 48 DQ6 I would like some more feed back from Beagle on this board. I thought he had a 38 DQ6. Anyways I just is not right what they are doing to all of us. I just get mad thinking about it.
 
For me I would consider the swap to the X48. I have no plans for SLI at least where I am thinking of using this board, since I have already bought an EVGA 780i to fix the broken 680i I have... While a refund would be my number one choice, a swap would be something that would go a long way to mending my faith in Gigabyte, however, it still won't ever really be mended for me, especially considering how much noise we have had to make and how much crap we have taken over the months when EVGA simply swapped out everyone's boards no questions asked and then even offered a trade-up to the 780i board when they came out to all 680i board owners (which is the reason why I now own an EVGA product, because they have been going above and beyond to make things right, in this whole situation. They didn't have to give a trade-up option to the 780i because their 680i already worked with everything they advertised, however, they did it because they wanted to go beyond above and beyond the right thing to do. And they did this all MONTHS AGO).

I mean, Gigabyte needs to remember here that they are not the only guy in town. EVGA is certainly using this situation to gain market share, customer satisfaction, and community good will. You would think that it would put a little more pressure on the other guys out there like Gigabyte to at least come close to what others are already doing in the similar situation....
 
I'm pretty sure I can run a SINGLE 8800 GTX card on the GA-X48-DQ6 but never have multiple video cards work in it. no biggie for me. This is the only upgrade path I will take really. I don't want to spend more money or change things around. It's already going to be a pain to pull the board out and get it up and going again.

I agree.. .I remember when EVGA did the huge swap out no questions asked for everyone and I was impressed. The ONLY reason I didn't go with them was becuase I had a history of using Gigabyte products in the past and had good luck. Granted I nwever had to get support on them so that's why I went with Gigabyte again. If this isn't resolved I'm moving to the EVGA camp.


So.. will the 8800 work in this crossfire X48 ANNND will my proc cooler work on this new X48 (if they offer it)? Oh man... I just wanted a mahcine to run for a few years before I had to do this again.. hahaha
I'm guessing it will..

Smitty
 
Good Afternoon Messrs DL and Kell.

Aside from the Teaming issue, the X48 board is quite stable. I had/have an X38 version of that board, and it worked pretty well also. However, as best I can determine, the Teaming feature is a creature (hey, that rhymes) of Realtek. Apparently Realtek has been working on this feature, and has FINALLY released a utility that at least loads in Vista 64. However, there is NO USEFUL INFORMATION provided by anyone (at least to date) on how the utility works or the meaning of the 3 optional settings within the utility.

A little over a week ago, I sent Mr. Colin a PM and requested some assistance to understand, and therefore be able to properly configure the Teaming utility. Today, Mr. Colin responded and indicated that he was working on getting some information on that utility, etc, but that he had been a bit busy lately working on the N680i matter (understandable). So I can't give you a definitive comment on whether or not the Teaming will absolutely work - but it looks much more promising than the disaster of a utility that was provided with the X38 board. Please feel free to PM Mr. Colin about the Teaming feature usability.

The thermals for the X48 board are a fair bit lower than the X38 unit, so that's a plus. And of course, it's an Intel chipset working with an Intel processor, so there's that unity of function as well. Considering what we all endured with the combo of nVidia chipset coupled with an Intel processor, with a sprinkling of Gigabyte overreaching on trying to provide every conceivable feature in one board, I'm now an Intel chipset guy for the foreseeable future.

Best regards to everyone. Have a nice afternoon. TheBeagle 😀 :beer:

 
If Gigabyte offered the 780/790i then the solution would have been obvious...a swap. Since they cannot offer the quad and SLi support in their new models, I believe a refund would have been the hard but right thing to do here.

Swapping capacitors could be fine (if this were a regular warranty situation you couldn't argue with it and demand a new one) but I would still worry and caution about something out of spec being added to the board now. The bios issues mentioned and EOL are things to consider as well.

I would go with the X48 swap if you get that option. That way, you won't get data corruption issues with the nVidia chipsets. If SLI turns your crank, just sell the swapped board and get yourself a 790i based board from another company. That way it won't be a total loss.

This is a tough situation for all here for sure, as it is a pain regardless of what you do, just as it has been a pain to get proper attention to the issue (note: I would be furious if someone called me at 11:30pm...).

I don't think that Gigabyte will be offering a refund here as they seem dug in to their position.

Thanks to Mr. Beagle, Gary, and the regular posters here for getting this word out to the non-owners and I hope I am wrong about the refund issue. I would cut your losses and keep this in mind when buying again.
 
Originally posted by: chriskwarren
I would cut your losses and keep this in mind when buying again.
Click to expand...

Already done that, which is why the Gigabyte is sitting in its box on the floor in the corner with all my other misc parts and junk. Now if I could turn that junk into something useful, well, it would be nice, and go a way to my confidence in Gigabyte as a company. I don't know if it is better to get in contact now about the replacement or later... I will probably send the email tonight, just to get my feelings noted officially instead of being just another random guy on the internet...
 
I just got off the phone with Leo from Gigabyte again. He is putting in the request with the big bosses in Tawain to swap it out with the GA-X48-DQ6.

The reason he called me and everyone else so late on the phone was not to be rude but to call us as soon as he found out. The time difference requires him to call Tawain at a late hour and he just called us as soon as he got the info. I gave him my cell number and I will just have it off at night so it doesn't wake me up. =)

I'm just glad he is calling me and trying to take it up the chain right now. SOOO.. I hope by tomorrow I have a solution in hand. If this works, I would jump on it as well if I was you. I can see it working because it's almost the same board as the 680i and shouldn't be a hassle for anyone. The 790i is such a different platform and different memory I can't see them offering that to us but who knows.

From what I have read the GA-X48-DQ6 looks like a good deal in my eyes. You will lose 2 of the 4 network ports you may be use to as well as the SLI capabilities but other then that it's dang close..

Remember if you call him you will want to have your serial number ready.

Smitty
 
Cool !! If GB is willing to trade our board with the GA-X48-DQ6 then all those that do not need SLI do have an acceptable solution. I hope that they will do the same with the upcoming GA-790SLI-DQ6 for the rest of us. If they do this then this whole thing is finished.
 
Good Evening Mr. Blazer & Everyone.

From your lips (and typing fingers) to God's ears - We can all only hope and pray for deliverance from this whole very dark chapter.

TO: Gary & Anandtech - We appear to have the makings of a reasonable and rather global settlement for this mess, as per Mr. Blazer's posting above. May we request your immediate intercession to bring closure to this matter? Thanks in advance from everyone.

Best regards to everyone. Keeping the faith! TheBeagle 😀 :beer:

 
Originally posted by: Blazer7
Cool !! If GB is willing to trade our board with the GA-X48-DQ6 then all those that do not need SLI do have an acceptable solution. I hope that they will do the same with the upcoming GA-790SLI-DQ6 for the rest of us. If they do this then this whole thing is finished.
Click to expand...



I think that would be a nice solution as well , but I'm not sure I want to buy a whole set of DDR3 memory when i have nice DDR2 PC-8500 right now. I would personally like to have the SLI and all fo the features I have with the 680i but who knows how the next Nvidia SLI / Gigabyte will fair, any better then the 680i? Do you really want to take that chance again? I always stood with Intel chipsets in the past and the first time I strayed I got burned!

I will just buy a whole new rig in a year or 2 after DDR3 has come down and I HAVE to have a new machine.

Smitty
 
Originally posted by: Smitty1705
Originally posted by: Blazer7
Cool !! If GB is willing to trade our board with the GA-X48-DQ6 then all those that do not need SLI do have an acceptable solution. I hope that they will do the same with the upcoming GA-790SLI-DQ6 for the rest of us. If they do this then this whole thing is finished.
Click to expand...



I think that would be a nice solution as well , but I'm not sure I want to buy a whole set of DDR3 memory when i have nice DDR2 PC-8500 right now. I would personally like to have the SLI and all fo the features I have with the 680i but who knows how the next Nvidia SLI / Gigabyte will fair, any better then the 680i? Do you really want to take that chance again? I always stood with Intel chipsets in the past and the first time I strayed I got burned!

I will just buy a whole new rig in a year or 2 after DDR3 has come down and I HAVE to have a new machine.

Smitty
Click to expand...

Smitty, the GA-X48-DQ6 is a DDR2 board, you do know that right? It is the GA-X48T-DQ6 which uses DDR3. I agree with you on the whole DDR2->DDR3 memory thing here. It isn't worth it yet, since you need to go faster than DDR3-1600 for it to be actually faster than good DDR2-8500, and the DDR3-1600+ memory is freaking expensive as hell... It would cost me over $800 for similar amount of memory. That said, you don't need that for the GA-X48-DQ6 which people have been discussing about possibly getting swapped over to.
 
Ok, You all have me wanting the GA-X48-DQ6. Now if they will do it is yet to be determined? Help us out here Mr. Colin. Mr. Beagle, Thanks for everything!!!
 
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