Replacement CPU/Mobo

Mockingbird

Mockingbird

Mockingbird

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Joined
21 Jun 2011
Posts
1,448
Hello,

My Gigabyte mobo has recently died, It's a dual bios model and both BIOSes are corrupt and it can't POST or enter bios. Have tried every fix I can find but no joy including shorting the main BIOS to try and force backup, so think it's time to replace.

It's a GA-Z77-DH3, currently mounted with a Core i5 2500K and 16GB of DDR3

Replacing with another of the same spec seems a poor choice (it's a 2012 build) - I don't know if LGA1155 mobos even exist any more.

I'm looking for recommendations for a mobo/CPU/RAM and cooler (wouldn't mind an AIO cooler as the case is a full ATX Coolermaster Centurion 5 so venting out the case seems wise). I game at 1080p and won't be upgrading from that any time soon (2 kids... no money) so I'm basically looking to get the best match to the current GPU for 1080p without overspending. I guess a budget of ~£400 or so, but the leaner the better. My current GPU is a Sapphire NITRO+ RX580 8Gb.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit:
PSU is a 2.5 year old EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G3
 
Last edited:
Tried to flash the new BIOS - the UEFI/BIOS interaction buttons (del, F8, F12, End for Q-Flash) don't work, tried with the USB for the keyboard in all the rear panel USB slots.

I've tried Win 10 and Ubuntu bootable USBs (no joy, no apparent interaction at all and without access to the BIOS can't check boot order) and I assume freedos would be the same - is there any reason to suspect it would be different? Can try and make one if so.
 
BongoHunter said:
This should do it - though someone will be along with a better suggestion shortly am sure. You can bring down to £400 by swapping 3600X for 3600 CPU (both include a cooler)
Total: £444.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​
Edit: Your current PSU should be fine
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm surprised to learn a bundled cooler with a CPU gives decent performance - that's certainly a win.
I'll almost certainly take your advice and get this combination - benchmarks on the 3600X seem to suggest it's worth it over the 3600 so I'll see if I can squeak the extra ~£50.
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
It's worth trying
If you disconnect all hard drives
It should only have the USB to boot from
Use rufus to make freedos usb
And put bios file on it~rename bios file to
gigabyte. bin
And put efi flash on the usb
If it boots type efi flash for list of commands
Forgot exactly but its something like
efiflash gigabyte.bin /mb
You get a gui so can see it doing it % and which bios it's doing etc
If I can find the post I did will get you the exact command
Other thing which is quick to try if you haven't
Turn on pc
as soon as its booting up
Hold in power button to shut it off
Let go power button
Press power button immediately
This forces a bios backup write
Assuming they aren't both naffed of course
Click to expand...
I've tried the power cycle thing to prompt backup write with no joy.
Will try the freedos option now.

Edit: FreeDOS didn't work either the loop never reaches the point of looking for a boot device :(
 
David_VI said:
Wow I think you're in the exact same situation as me!
I already ordered an upgrade before it failed but was hoping to keep my old mobo and cpu for another build.

Can I ask how you know it was the mobo that failed and not the cpu?
Mine starts up and turns off, then repeats. Sometimes i get Dvi input on the monitor but nothing shows before it turns off again.
The last thing I did before it failed was load an old profile on the bios.

Tried the backup bios shorting trick and no dice.
Click to expand...
The telltale thing I believe from other forum posts is the blue backdrop "Gigabyte UEFI dualBIOS" screen with no other text - it seems to appear in all the threads on these BIOS issues. That said, I don't have a way to test the CPU separately.
https://images.app.goo.gl/nKLTcvwGB993LmTd8
 
Astonishingly, I decided to try the power button bios reset one more time (power off - power on holding button til it cycles off again - power on).

I've done this ~15 times to no avail (in amongst various other things).
16th time exactly the same? Booted into BIOS recovery.
Recovered the Main BIOS from backup.
Used q-flash to flash the BIOS to the latest version.
Seems to be working again.
Wish I knew why the first 15 times didn't work.
Have also made a freeDOS USB to test if it happens again.
Enormous thanks for all the help. I may pull the trigger on the upgrades anyway if the problem repeats itself.
 
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