Gigabyte P55M-UD2 died today. Suggestion please for new mobo ...

[OCChew]

Folks,

I need your help urgently to get a replacement mobo as my Gigabyte P55M-UD2 died on me this morning after only 11 months. (hint: search on forum for OCChew and that's the one)

It was never healthy since day one as one of the case fan header kept beeping. I did not return it because it was my first build and I thought it was minor problem. Now it is dead and I will never touch another Gigabyte mobo anymore.

So I am in search of a new mobo now but will reuse most of the parts from my first build.

I have no idea which board is reliable but was told to go for ASUS, Foxconn or EVGA, where the latter two are beyong my budget.

Could you give me some suggestion please.

My budget including delivery not beyong £95 please and must be able to re-use my Intel i5 650 (I think it's 650) processor and the RAM for that mobo.

Am thinking of this:

1) Asus P7H55D-M PRO Motherboard S1156 Intel H55 mATX SATA Gigabit LAN

2) Asus P7H55-M PRO Motherboard Socket 1156 Intel H55 mATX SATA

3) Asus P7P55-M Motherboard Socket 1156 Intel P55 mATX RAID SATA Gigabit LAN

4) Asus P7H55-M Motherboard Socket 1156 Intel H55 Express uATX Gigabit LAN (apparently this one with USB3)

I am thinking of either choice no. 2 or 4 ... what do you think? Reliable or pain in the backside mobo? I need to order tomorrow.

Please assist as I need to get my PC up and running again ... urgent work ahead.

Cheers

 

[1Day]

Since the board is only 11 months old you can quite easily RMA it.

 

[modez]

Email the returns Dept GIGABYTE

[email protected]

 

[OCChew]

Thanks Modez. I will return it and hope I can get one of the above listed. It's been a pain without a computer as I need to use work pc.

 

[OCChew]

Any suggestion on the above mobo?
Anyone?

 

[MikeHunt79]

I've had better experience with Gigabyte compared to Asus.

RMA your board, also the beeping could be something as simple as having CPU fan speed monitoring turned on the the CMOS settings...

 

[OCChew]

I've had better experience with Gigabyte compared to Asus.

RMA your board, also the beeping could be something as simple as having CPU fan speed monitoring turned on the the CMOS settings...

Yes, I have RMA the mobo so awaiting their RMA number. I just hope I will salvage it by trying as much possibility to trouble shoot as possible.

So I have bought a new PSU (Blue Storm 500) but the problem persists i.e. power up for 1 second then complete shut down. Completely dead like no power at all.

I will try to buy a cheap graphic card tomorrow to see if it will boot up.

Tried everthing from unpluging and repluging fans, blue ray, HDs one by one, RAMs (also changing their orders etc), graphic card but still no luck.

Was advised by OCUK tech not to unplug graphic card as that will not boot system up so I put it back. Well problem remains. No luck.

This is costing me a lot of my time and the really bad news is that my backup laptop is also not connecting to the net so I am internet free at the moment. Major hassle as I have plenty to do.

 

[Kaeo]

Yeah definitely sounds like a dodgy mobo. Gigabyte are usually quite quick with RMAs.

The Blue Storm 500 is an FSP right? Not that "popular" but a decent PSU in it's price bracket. Will serve you well either way.

Good luck with it, and I hope they're quick.

 

[OCChew]

Yeah definitely sounds like a dodgy mobo. Gigabyte are usually quite quick with RMAs.

The Blue Storm 500 is an FSP right? Not that "popular" but a decent PSU in it's price bracket. Will serve you well either way.

Good luck with it, and I hope they're quick.

Yes, Blue Storm 500 (£60) is FSP because my Antec TruePower 550 was given some "cracking" sound when I plug it in or pull it out.

As for buying a popular model/brand etc I think I have learned my lesson when I bought my mobo and PSU (Antec) based on popular reviews ... The mobo only lasted about 6 months and I still need to check if the Antec PSU is working due to cracking sound. I would rather the system works then having all the bell and whistle.

Update:

OCUK RMA team asked me to check / to get computer shop to see if they could repair it or to find out exactly where the problem originated from, so I did as per advice.

Went to local computer repair shop. Showed them the problem. Immediately the guy took out a PSU tester to test if my PSU was fine. Yes, it was fine as it was new that I bought yesterday.

Then we noticed something weird while the 24pins PSU cable was plug-in to the PSU tester it showed the PSU was fine and ... when press to boot ... it booted up! They were laughing saying that my system did not require massive PSU to boot up. Well, the fans were spinning fine the HD was ok (but I use SSD and one normal HD) I suppose as it was not attached to monitor.

So he asked me to plug-in the 24pins cable back to the mobo which I did and subsequently the same problem appeared. i.e. it booted up for 1 second and died/cut off all power. Tried again with tester than mobo the same result.

In conclusion the source of problem can be associated with the mobo 24pins PSU header.

I have RMA OCUK and their reply was they would repair or replace it with the same mobo for me which takes at least 10 days.

Called me whatever you want but who in this day still repair mobo? The cost of manufacturing mobo is so low, i.e. raw material wise, compare to the intellectual property that associated with designing the mobo so I am not sure what to make of the reply. It would be better for customer service if they simply replace it immediately if the mobo is faulty instead of messing about.

So I have asked them to:

1. Replace with the same model mobo but new.
or
2. Replace with the same brand but new version of the same board.
or
3. Let me choose another brand/model and pay the difference or if cheaper they keep the difference.
or
4. Refund me (according to Sales of Good Act)

What I do not want is being mess about because I need my computer up and running again.

It is a simple business decision. i.e. mess me about then I loss £75 (they can keep that) because I would buy a new mobo elsewhere but they lost a long term customer forever which is several £££ K. Yes, I intend to build another two PCs etc for my sister etc.

So there you go from an "Internet Free" person for the last few days.



p/s: I bought a ATI Radeon 5450 (£30 and I think that's the model) 512 mb graphic today just to make sure I could determine the problem ... same result.

 

[cmndr_andi]

I have RMA OCUK and their reply was they would repair or replace it with the same mobo for me which takes at least 10 days.

Called me whatever you want but who in this day still repair mobo? The cost of manufacturing mobo is so low, i.e. raw material wise, compare to the intellectual property that associated with designing the mobo so I am not sure what to make of the reply. It would be better for customer service if they simply replace it immediately if the mobo is faulty instead of messing about.

I'm pretty sure the repair or replace this is just a stock response - they are likely to test it in-house then send you a replacement immediately (and send to faulty one off the Gigabyte). However, they could send it straight to gigabyte where they will test it and possibly try to repair it (since they make the things) and fully refurbish it so it works as-new. Either way, you get a fully working board back.

If you plan to buy a new board ASAP and sell-on the replaced board then I would suggest going with the same board again. Gigabyte are a good company, they make good boards, and as with all things like this a small number develop faults - however looking at this they do pretty well compared to other big motherboard companies. Also, your board is a P55 board, while the ASUS boards you mention are only H55.

Would you be able to confirm the exact model number of your CPU (should be in your online order history)? Is it i5 650 or 750? There is a big difference between these CPUs as the former is a dual core while the latter is a quad core - and doesn't overclock as well in H55 boards compared to P55 ones.

 

[OCChew]

I'm pretty sure the repair or replace this is just a stock response - they are likely to test it in-house then send you a replacement immediately (and send to faulty one off the Gigabyte). However, they could send it straight to gigabyte where they will test it and possibly try to repair it (since they make the things) and fully refurbish it so it works as-new. Either way, you get a fully working board back.

If you plan to buy a new board ASAP and sell-on the replaced board then I would suggest going with the same board again. Gigabyte are a good company, they make good boards, and as with all things like this a small number develop faults - however looking at this they do pretty well compared to other big motherboard companies. Also, your board is a P55 board, while the ASUS boards you mention are only H55.

Would you be able to confirm the exact model number of your CPU (should be in your online order history)? Is it i5 650 or 750? There is a big difference between these CPUs as the former is a dual core while the latter is a quad core - and doesn't overclock as well in H55 boards compared to P55 ones.

I will be very suprised if they intend to repair it rather than replace it with one that is in working order. Also the raw material cost for making mobo is rather low that I doubt it worth the time trying to fix it. Well, unless we are talking about stingy company/people so for me this is a testing time and if they are good or get it right I will stay otherwise I move on.

My CPU is Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail.

I am looking at this particular range of mobo ... Asus P7H55 range mATX but am rather confused with so many of the variant especially P55 or H55. It is no good if P55 is causing problem while H55 is stable.

So what do you think of these ...

Asus P7H55D-M PRO Motherboard S1156 Intel H55 mATX SATA Gigabit LAN

Asus P7H55-M PRO Motherboard Socket 1156 Intel H55 mATX SATA

or this one? Is this P55?

Asus P7P55-M Motherboard Socket 1156 Intel P55 mATX RAID SATA Gigabit LAN <- good idea to get this?

All feedback welcome.



p/s: how about this ...

Foxconn H55A Motherboard Intel Socket LGA1156 iH55 MicroATX Gigabit LAN (Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD Graphics)

 

[cmndr_andi]

If you have a look at this article - it does cost a fair bit to make a motherboard - so it isn't the case that the majority of the retail price is towards IP and profit.

This explains why it would make sense to repair the board if possible - also most of the components are very modular. So if you can identify the part that is causing the problem you could replace that module, fully test the board- then send it back as refurbished (and fully working). I'm not suggesting that this is definately what they will do - but it is an option.

All of the motherboards you list are H55 (ie Asus P7H55-M PRO) if you have a quad core i5 750, then I strongly suggest you go for another P55 board - especially if you plan to overclock. If you are restricted to the Micro-ATX form factor then the Gigabyte P55 UD2 is still a great option.

 

[OCChew]

If you have a look at this article -

This explains why it would make sense to repair the board if possible - also most of the components are very modular. So if you can identify the part that is causing the problem you could replace that module, fully test the board- then send it back as refurbished (and fully working). I'm not suggesting that this is definately what they will do - but it is an option.

All of the motherboards you list are H55 (ie Asus P7H55-M PRO) if you have a quad core i5 750, then I strongly suggest you go for another P55 board - especially if you plan to overclock. If you are restricted to the Micro-ATX form factor then the Gigabyte P55 UD2 is still a great option.

Thanks for all the link to the information on failure and cost of manufacturing ... good read that. As far as I am concerned the cost of production is debatable as I doubt they are going to show you the true cost because that is more or less industrial secret.

The failure rate accordingly for ASUS Intel 5 (I assume that is core i5 related?)mobo seems lower in this article from your link.

"Motherboard failure rate.

- Gigabyte 1.6% (against 2.3%)
- ASUS 1,9% (contre 2,5%) - ASUS 1.9% (against 2.5%)
- ASRock 2,0% (contre 2,7%) - ASRock 2.0% (against 2.7%)
- MSI 2,3% (contre 2,4%) - MSI 2.3% (against 2.4%)

The failure rate of Gigabyte, ASUS and ASRock are much lower, and those of MSI declined slightly, which is very good news because the motherboard is an essential element of our machines! The rates are fairly similar, and the product mix, that is to say, the distribution of sales between the lines, can change the ranking. If we look specifically at the rate of failures observed on motherboards based on Intel 5 Series, we obtain the following results:

- ASUS 1,4% - ASUS 1.4%
- Gigabyte 2,0% - Gigabyte 2.0%
- MSI 2,0% - MSI 2.0%
- ASRock 2,8% - ASRock 2.8%

More precisely still, only one model displays a failure rate greater than 5%, it is the ASUS P5N-D SLI is 5.1%. This is the third consecutive time that we include in this capacity, and it is unfortunate that such a model, now obsolete, have not been withdrawn from sale earlier. "

So after searching on OCUK for Asus P55 mobo and it came up with this one:

Asus P7P55-M P55 Express Chipset (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard

So I assume the above is a P55 rather than H55?

Just to confirm. Could you or anyone please confirm since that is listed under P55 1156 chipset on OCUK.

I need to get my system up a.s.a.p as I have urgent work to do so will simply have to buy rather than wait for the mobo to come back.

I will send my faulty Gigabyte back to OCUK for repair etc and then once it is repaired I will build it up as spare or for my sister ...

 

[Kaeo]

It is indeed a P55, as there are no onboard graphics. The H55, under the H55 tab states "Onboard HDMI & VGA outputs".

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-412-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495 - P55

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-411-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1124 - H55

 

[OCChew]

Kaeo & Folks,

Thanks Kaeo for the confirmation. In that case I will order the Asus P55 to see how it goes. I just hope this is not a "B" grade mobo as I know some companies do sell "B" grade mobo but they indicate that clearly on the website.

As for the onboard HDMI & VGA i am not that bothered as I have two spares graphic cards at the moment. i.e. one from my faulty build and one just bought to test my faulty build ...

One more question, are the mobos below the same since they have different codes? Note the manufacturer code.

What differences do they have as I cannot see them clearly?

1. Asus P7P55-M P55 Express Chipset (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard [90-MIBAW1-G0EAY0K]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-412-AS&tool=5
The manufacturers code is 90-MIBAW1-G0EAY0K

2. Asus P7P55-M Motherboard Socket 1156 Intel P55 mATX RAID SATA Gigabit LAN
NO COMPETITORS!
The part code is : P7P55-M

3. Asus P7P55-M Intel P55 Express 1156 Motherboard
NO COMPETITORS!

The manufacturer code is: P7P55-M

4. Asus P7P55-M Socket 1156 Motherboard (Socket 1156 Intel P55 mATX RAID SATA Gigabit LAN)
NO COMPETITORS!

The Mnfr Code: 90-MIBAW1-G0EAY0K

Help please as I need to be absolutely sure before I order one soon.

Cheers


p/s: is the different the 1 x Serial (COM)?


Please do not link to competitors! NO COMPETITORS!

 

[OCChew]

Please do not link to competitors! NO COMPETITORS!

Okay, my bad as I did not read the forum rules.

By the way if you click on the link below to the mobo picture you will find that the second picture might be misleading hence my confusion and all the questions.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-412-AS&tool=5

Anyway, I think I managed to find out the differences between the two manufacturing codes.

The 90-MIBAW1-G0EAY0K is for i3, i5 & i7 using integrated graphic card, I think, while the latter P7P55-M is only for i5 & i7. Also the former has Network Controller (Realteck RTL8112L) and Gigabit Ethernet while the other only Gigabit Ethernet network interface ...

Another question:

If I switch to a new ASUS mobo from Gigabyte do I need to reinstall the OS from scratch or just simply load it up and let Win7 64bits Home Premium take care of it?

My previous set up on Gigabyte was rather simple without RAID or anything but just drivers for that mobo.