Wrong chipset fitted to ASUS P8Z77-V LX?

[512atx]

Has anyone ever seen an instance of an other-than-advertised chipset being installed on a mobo? I have reason to believe my ASUS P8Z77-V LX mobo was fitted with an Intel H67 chipset instead of the Intel Z77 chipset I thought I was getting. Of course, there could be another explanation.

The setup first, then the scenario.

ASUS P8Z77-V LX mobo (BIOS ver 1306) (chipset driver version 9.3.0.1026)
Intel i7-3770K @ 3.5 GHz
16 GB (4GB x 4) G.SKILL RIPJAWS DDR3-1866
EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB
Win 7 Home Premium (x64)
500W PS

This system was purchased from iBuyPower in Dec 2012. I have a call in to their tech support, I am also awaiting a response from Intel tech support. I tried ASUS tech support, but their submission page returned an error message in a foreign language, so I don't think it went through. I'm hesitant to pop the heat sink off the chip to verify its identity in case I may need to RMA the whole thing. By the way, the labels/print on the board all indicate is is actually a P8Z77-V LX mobo.

The impetus for this whole affair is that I tried to use an external hard drive and noticed the USB 3.0 ports on the system did not recognize the drive at all. Neither the front panel (which is plugged into the proper mobo header) or the rear panel worked. The drive is a Western Digital 500GB residing in a Rosewill RX358 USB 3.0 enclosure. The external drive is recognized fine on my wife's Dell Inspiron 660 USB 3.0 ports. The ext HDD is recongized on my iBuyPower system in the USB 2.0 ports as well. USB and USB 3.0 are enabled in the BIOS.

Looking at the drivers in the Device Manager, I noticed the following.
1) In the IDE ATA Controller section there exists an Intel 6 Series/C200 Chipset Family entry.
2) In the System Devices section there exists two Intel 6 Series/C200 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port entries and an Intel 6 Series/C200 Chipset Family SMBus Controller entry.
3) In the USB Controller section there exists an Intel 6 Series/C200 Chipset Family USB Enhanced controller entry.

It is my understanding the Intel Z77 chipset is in the Intel 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family. If I'm mistaken on this, then this is simply a "why doesn't my USB 3.0 work?" thread.

When I go to the Intel site and use their Chipset Identification Utility, it detects my chipset as the Intel H67 Chipset.

When I try to install the Intel 7 series drivers from the Intel site, or the corresponding MEI, the installer returns an error that my system does not meet the minimum requirements (probably because it detects an H67 instead of a Z77).

I'm open to the possibility that this is a driver issue, but I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling chipset drivers from the mobo CD, from the ASUS website, and from Intel. Still shows up as H67. I am hesitant to update the BIOS (current version is only from Oct 2012) due to the potential mismatch in chipset.

With my luck I probably got the one board on the production run fitted with the wrong chip, but it was "within tolerance", lol.

Any thoughts?

 

[tweakboy]

I dont believe it theres more to the truth. ASUS is 100 percent quality and reliability,, not a wrong chip on the motherboard.

download AIDA64 ....... and tell us what it says on the overclock tab..... ull know from there the truth beholds you. gl

 

[VirtualLarry]

I seem to recall some boards whose model names were not matched up with the chipset contained therein. Maybe that board, being an LX (low-end), really is an H67 board, and you just fell for marketing.

Or maybe you just need to install the Etron or ASMedia USB 3.0 drivers.

 

[cantholdanymore]

You mention "Intel Chipset Identification Utility" which, according to the intel here:http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=18498
Predates your MOBO and it is not compatible with Win7 x64.
Try reinstalling USB/sata drivers

 

[postmortemIA]

did you install intel chipset software, or you used whatever microsoft detected?

 

[512atx]

did you install intel chipset software, or you used whatever microsoft detected?

I installed the chipset drivers from the CD included with the motherboard (ver 9.3.0.1019). This was the same version available from the ASUS product page. I also installed the 9.3.0.1026 version available from the Intel page. In either case the Device Manager always reported Intel 6 Series/C200 Chipset family.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What does SANDRA or CPU-Z report? BIOS?

 

[512atx]

You mention "Intel Chipset Identification Utility" which, according to the intel here:http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=18498
Predates your MOBO and it is not compatible with Win7 x64.
Try reinstalling USB/sata drivers

Interesting point on the ID utility.

When I try to install the Intel USB 3.0 extensible host controller ver 1.0.6.245 (which requires an Intel 7 series/C216 chipset family) the installer returns the error message that the system does not meet requirements. Earlier versions (1.0.4.220 or 1.0.1.209) result in same error.

Is the same Intel ID utility/functionality built in to their setup/installers?

From the device manager, I've also tried updating the drivers and pointing to the INF files, but Windows will claim the Intel 6 Series drivers are up to date

 

[512atx]

What does SANDRA or CPU-Z report? BIOS?

Some of the Sandra output as the report is lengthy. If a desired field is not listed here, please let me know. I tried to pick out the fields that appear relevant.

MAINBOARD
Manufacturer: ASUS
Model: P8Z77-V LX
BIOS: 63-0100-000001-00101111-122211-Chipset (windows sys info says 1306)

Chipset
Model: ASUS Core (Ivy Bridge) DRAM Controller
OEM Device Name: Intel Core (Ivy Bridge) DRAM Controller

LPC Hub Controller 1
Model: ASUS H67 LPC Controller
OEM Device Name: Intel HP67 Controller
Revision: A4

Disk Controller
Model: ASUS Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
OEM Device Name: Intel Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
Revision: A4
Specification: 1.10

Audio Device
Model: ASUS Cougar Point High Definition Audio Controller
OEM Device Name: Intel Cougar Point High Definition Audio Controller
Revision: A4
Version: 1.00

USB Controller 1
Model: ASUS Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
Revision: A4
Version: 2.00
Specification: 1.00

USB Controller 2
Model: ASUS Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
Revision: A4
Version: 2.00
Specification: 1.00

BUSES AND DEVICES
Computer Buses
Interface Version: 2.30

System Bus 1
Type: PCIe 2.00 x16 2.5 Gbps
Bridge: Intel Core (Ivey Bridge) PCI Express Root Port

System Bus 2
Type: PCIe 2.0 x1 2.5 Gbps
Bridge: Intel Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 1

System Bus 3
Type PCIe 2.0 x1 2.5 Gbps
Bridge: Intel Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 5

 

[skipsneeky2]

Have you ran the most recent version of cpu-z and check what it came back with?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Z77 is "Panther Point", I believe. Just for reference.

 

[512atx]

Have you ran the most recent version of cpu-z and check what it came back with?

Interesting CPU-Z results.

http://imgur.com/AD6qd

Foxconn getting lazy?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Interesting CPU-Z results.

http://imgur.com/AD6qd

Foxconn getting lazy?

Asus boards are not made at Foxconn, but at Asusteks own factories.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Interesting that the southbridge says h67 in cpu-z which does verify some of the ops claims then again how reliable is cpu-z?Can anyone else run it and come back with these same results on their z77?

 

[512atx]

Asus boards are not made at Foxconn, but at Asusteks own factories.

ok. well there's foxconn imprinted on of one of the rear panel USB ports where the housing meets the board. could just be the port or faceplate or something.

then did asusteks fit the wrong chip to this board? or is it possible for a z77 to be detected as an h67?

 

[VirtualLarry]

At this point, my semi-professional opinion is that you DO have an H67 chipset on a Z77 chipset board.

Sandra and CPU-Z both confirm this.

 

[skipsneeky2]

out of curiosity i would love to know if the damn motherboard allows overclocking,z77 allows overclock and h67 doesn't and if the op is lacking options in the bios to overclock or the machine produces crashs or errors with a stock voltage overclock then perhaps thats final confirmation he indeed has a h67 chip on a z77 speced motherboard.

This sure is the biggest wtf i have ever seen.

Looked at pictures side by side of the P8H77-V LE model by asus and the P8Z77-V LX and to the untrained eye they look like the same motherboard minus the extra heatsink but would cpu-z pick up the h77 as possibly a h67 chipset?

 

[ShintaiDK]

It needs to be RMAed. Thats for sure.

One possibility could be its a refurbished board that had a chipset replacement. Unless it happend at the factory. But factory flaws like this is very unlikely.

 

[Torn Mind]

H67 does not support memory above DDR-1333 MHz. Check out what speed your RAM is running at. I think it's clear the chipset is H67.

H67 does not support SSD caching either while Z77 does.

This is by far one of the most interesting things I've seen about motherboards.

 

[512atx]

i would love to know if the damn motherboard allows overclocking,

The BIOS appears to provide the option for overclocking. That is, I can set the BCLK/PEG Freq value. The default is 100 and it let me type in 105, for example. I did not commit the change, though, for fear blowing something up.

 

[512atx]

Check out what speed your RAM is running at. I think it's clear the chipset is H67.

good catch. So, the BIOS had the Memory Frequency set to 1333 MHz (instead of Auto or something higher).

 

[skipsneeky2]

The BIOS appears to provide the option for overclocking. That is, I can set the BCLK/PEG Freq value. The default is 100 and it let me type in 105, for example. I did not commit the change, though, for fear blowing something up.

Should be options to adjust the multiplyer and much more then that,voltage adjustments as well as memory adjustments.

 

[512atx]

Thank you everyone for the useful insight and quick responses. I'm in a bit of shock that something like this is even possible and certainly disappointed that it appears to have happened to me (not that I wish it on anyone else).

This is the first time since 1998 that I haven't built my system myself. Go figure.

I realize iBuyPower didn't make the mobo, so it's hard to fault them, but it would have been nice if they caught this during their testing/QA phase. Of course, if this came out of ASUSTeK in this configuration, that's strange and why didn't their QA catch it?

Hopefully iBuyPower stands by their system/sale and this RMA goes as smooth as possible.

Thanks again, all!

 

[512atx]

Should be options to adjust the multiplyer and much more then that,voltage adjustments as well as memory adjustments.

Yep. Sorry. There are several other options in the BIOS related to OCing.

This BIOS has an Ai Overclock Tuner which can be set to XMP (eXtreme Memory Profile), Manual, or Auto.

XMP allows you to save two profiles for DRAM frequency, CPU bus speed-to-DRAM bus speed ratio, and DRAM voltage.

If set to manual, CPU bus speed-to-DRAM bus speed ratio can be selected between 100:100 or 100:133.

Then there's the CPU voltage settings (Manual or Offset). Offset allows you to increase or decrease the voltage from 0.005V to 0.635V in 0.005V increments. Similarly, there's a means to change the DRAM Voltage manually.

There was something else called Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology which I didn't really explore.

Again, I didn't commit any of these changes, but I did make a few to see if the field would let me.

Hopefully that helps.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I realize iBuyPower didn't make the mobo, so it's hard to fault them, but it would have been nice if they caught this during their testing/QA phase. Of course, if this came out of ASUSTeK in this configuration, that's strange and why didn't their QA catch it?

Hopefully iBuyPower stands by their system/sale and this RMA goes as smooth as possible.

Thanks again, all!

Its not something you easily discover with a function test and install. Simply because there are no errors as such. (And who would even think on a Z77 board having a H67 chipset?).

If you want to be completely sure. Install the latest Intel Chipset Drives. And go to the device manager and look under system devices. If its H67 it will say 6 series and also H67.