Motherboard needs a BIOS update or it won't take an Ivy Bridge

blackice8r

blackice8r

blackice8r

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This morning I had a conversation with a lady from a competitor website, she told me something that my logic refuses to accept.

I bought a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H , it looks like a DOA and I'm sending it back.
The lady told me that sometimes if the mobo is from an older stock and has an older BIOS it won't take an Ivy Bridge unless you upgrade to the latest BIOS (you stick a Sandy Bridge inside to start it and perform the update).

I find that hard to believe, if I stick my i5-3570k on the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H it should just work as it was built with support for socket 1155.

This is a particular example, but even as a general example, have you ever heard of similar cases?
 
z68 then yeah id believe it,but not for z77 they should work with ib out of the box

any lights or cpu fan spinning?
 
Depends if the chipset came before the CPU. If the board was release way before the CPU for another generation, then yes, a BIOS update is needed even if it's the same socket, since the new CPUs are not on the BIOS support list.

For you however, the Z77 was designed for the 3570K so it should work out of the box.
 
It supported the 3570k from the F8 BIOS but there was a F7 BIOS release and that one supported the 2500k (SB support).
So all IB CPU's are supported since F8.
Whether yours has the F7 BIOS or not I do not know, and neither do you, or whether that could cause such an issue I'm not sure. For some boards and not yet supported cpu's it would boot but not "officially" support the chip for others it could appear dead.

But Gigabyte did release the F8 BIOS to support the 3570k.
They are upto F11 now or F12l (beta).

Different board I know but my Z77x UD5H supported the 3570k since F6 and the 2500k since F5 and mine came with F8. I'm using the F9q release.

I would "guess" that it could work even if it has one of the original F7 BIOS's it should just need to be updated when you have (if) got it to boot.

What have you done and tried to pronounce it doa...?
 
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Either return the motherboard or grab one of those cheap SB Pentium G440 to perform the update.

It does sound daft that a Z77 motherboard wouldn't come out of the box ready for IB however.
 
They will pick-up the mobo tomorrow and test it themselves, this is basically what I've done to pronounce the mobo DOA:

"Hi,
I received my order, assembled all the components, powered the machine but I didn’t get an output on the monitor. All fans were working and I noticed a light flashing somewhere under my graphics card. I took out my graphics and plugged the monitor on to the on-board graphics card and still got no output. I tried 2 monitors and both ports (DVI and VGA). The motherboard has a dual BIOS, there are 2 LEDs indicating which one is in use, that LEDs are constantly turning themselves ON and OFF – primary BIOS LED turns OFF and the backup BIOS LED turns on, then it turns OFF and the primary BIOS LED turns ON and they keep doing that – I don’t think it’s normal. A friend of mine has an identical setup (same CPU, same RAM and same Motherboard) and he said the colour for the LED is yellow and steady on for the main BIOS.
I unplugged everything and left just PSU (OCZ 700W), CPU, Motherboard and RAM connected – no change.
I flipped the switch to use the backup BIOS – no change, and I reverted to the main BIOS.
I pressed the clear CMOS button – no change; I took out the battery, unplugged the power cable – press the power button to clear the CMOS, placed the BIOS battery back – started the pc – no change.
I plugged a speaker on the motherboard and took out the RAM - no beep.
It’s quite clear the motherboard is faulty."
 
If they do take it away and get it working or a replacement ask them if they will flash it to the latest BIOS for you first.
 
Leave aside the technicalities of what works with what, just focus on getting the situation remediated by the supplier.

In respect of the 'sale of goods act' then as far as Z68, Z77 or any chipset is concerned, this is largely irrelevant in you getting your board replaced.

I'm pretty sure that all Z77 boards will be 'advertised' as supporting '3rd generation Intel Core processors'. If you're trying to use it out of the box with such a CPU and it doesn't work then it is 'not fit for purpose', simple as that ... whether it needs a BIOS flash or whatever is irrelevent as it is not reasonable to expect the general public to be capable of performing this task, and further more it is not reasonable to expect the general public to have access to an alternative CPU in order to undertake that same task.

The supplier must remedy the situation in a reasonable manner - don't get yourself bogged down in the technicalities even if you can do it yourself as you may end up making a rod for your own back later on. ie - you flash the BIOS and something happens and it doesn't work, in which case the supplier may be unsympathetic to your situation.

In this situation the responsible advise is the make the supplier fix the problem, don't attempt to fix it yourself. If you bought the CPU from them at the same time then provide them with this also, otherwise just advise them of the CPU you're intending to use with it - it's their problem to deal with, not yours.
 
blackice8r said:
I find that hard to believe, if I stick my i5-3570k on the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H it should just work as it was built with support for socket 1155.
Click to expand...

There's more to a CPU interface than the socket design. Requiring a BIOS update to support new types of CPU is not uncommon.
 
GeX said:
There's more to a CPU interface than the socket design. Requiring a BIOS update to support new types of CPU is not uncommon.
Click to expand...

ok, but I too agree to Dirtyganker, if the seller advertises support for a socket they MUST provide it.

They can't turn around and say - sorry the manufacturer messed -up. I didn't buy the item directly from the manufacturer and if there is a problem with the item it should be clearly stated on the item's description.
 
blackice8r said:
ok, but I too agree to Dirtyganker, if the seller advertises support for a socket they MUST provide it.

They can't turn around and say - sorry the manufacturer messed -up. I didn't buy the item directly from the manufacturer and if there is a problem with the item it should be clearly stated on the item's description.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. Your 'contract' is with the seller, not the manufacturer. If any claim is made that the board is compatible with 3rd gen Core processors then it must work out of the box with them, otherwise it is down to them to remediate it.

Ignore the technicalities, focus on your legal position as a consumer and get them to fix it. If they are being awkward and you paid for it with a credit card then simply say 'Look, I've given you the opportunity to put this right and you're not being reasonable. If you are unable to provide me with a product which works as described then I will contact my credit card company and get them to resolve this'.

If you paid cash or with a debit card then your contract is with the seller, if you paid with a credit card then your contract is actually with your credit card company since the item is technically purchased under a credit agreement provided by your card company.

Even the most tardy of companies that accept credit cards will start to move heaven and earth to get things resolved when the threat of the card company's involvement is merely mentioned - if the card company considers the reseller to be needlessly obstructive or neglegent they could refuse to allow them to offer their services in the future.
 
blackice8r said:
ok, but I too agree to Dirtyganker, if the seller advertises support for a socket they MUST provide it.

They can't turn around and say - sorry the manufacturer messed -up. I didn't buy the item directly from the manufacturer and if there is a problem with the item it should be clearly stated on the item's description.
Click to expand...

It supports the socket, just not that CPU that is trying to use the socket.

Pedant aside, I agree that the retailer should resolve this - if they don't list the BIOS revision on their store then how can the user be expected to be aware of this.
 
ahh i just saw you had an ocz psu!!!

ive seen lots n lots of compatibility issues with ocz psu's and gigabyte boards over on tweaktown
 
To be honest we will if you contact us update the bios for you we have done this in the past when people have bought IB with z68. It's unrealistic to expect a reseller to have the up to date bios's on all boards at all times. It's unrealistic for us to expect our supplier to check too.

Supported CPU lists are listed on every motherboard spec on the manufacturers website. It's the buyers job to check that and then ask any questions before purchasing. Bios's are updated far too often we can't guarantee our stock has the correct one. Some Z68 does support IB with a bios update. A quick call to us and we could check for you but To check them all would mean breaking all seals and you not receiving items in a brand new condition. Which people will then also complain about. It's a lose lose situation for us but as I said If you give returns a ring or raise it in the customer service section of the forum WE will update the bios for you if you return the board to us and we will ship it back to you at no extra cost.
 
TwsT said:
Supported CPU lists are listed on every motherboard spec on the manufacturers website. It's the buyers job to check that and then ask any questions before purchasing. Bios's are updated far too often we can't guarantee our stock has the correct one. Some Z68 does support IB with a bios update. A quick call to us and we could check for you but To check them all would mean breaking all seals and you not receiving items in a brand new condition. Which people will then also complain about. It's a lose lose situation for us but as I said If you give returns a ring or raise it in the customer service section of the forum WE will update the bios for you if you return the board to us and we will ship it back to you at no extra cost.
Click to expand...

I'd ask the suppliers/manufacturers to print the BIOS revision on the label - it would save a lot of hassle. :)
 
It would indeed but wcyd the speed gigabyte put out the bios's for the z77 d3h we would be restocking every other week. Since release they've had 14 revisions. Can't fault gigabyte for fixing problems and that board is an awesome board on F14 but it's one of those things. It's hard enough keeping track of revisions let alone bios versions
 
Dirtyganker said:
Absolutely correct. Your 'contract' is with the seller, not the manufacturer. If any claim is made that the board is compatible with 3rd gen Core processors then it must work out of the box with them, otherwise it is down to them to remediate it.

Ignore the technicalities, focus on your legal position as a consumer and get them to fix it. If they are being awkward and you paid for it with a credit card then simply say 'Look, I've given you the opportunity to put this right and you're not being reasonable. If you are unable to provide me with a product which works as described then I will contact my credit card company and get them to resolve this'.

If you paid cash or with a debit card then your contract is with the seller, if you paid with a credit card then your contract is actually with your credit card company since the item is technically purchased under a credit agreement provided by your card company.

Even the most tardy of companies that accept credit cards will start to move heaven and earth to get things resolved when the threat of the card company's involvement is merely mentioned - if the card company considers the reseller to be needlessly obstructive or neglegent they could refuse to allow them to offer their services in the future.
Click to expand...

cheers mate - my thought exactly thank you for confirming!

I bought the items with my brand new credit card :D (I've been holding on getting one but I decided it's time to have one exactly for this cases)

So far the seller moved quite quick, I raised the returns query on Monday, Tuesday they picked-up my mobo+cpu+RAM, now I got en email - the mobo has been tested and is faulty - so I wasn't doing something stupid after all :D

I called them and they will test my CPU and RAM with the new mobo.

My mouth talked without the brain ordering and I told my wife that I'm not gonna put back together my old rig and I'm not gonna game untill I get my new toys back...silly mistake.. :mad:

Thank you all for the feedback! :)
 
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