Beware Hardware Version 1.0
Pros:
It comes in a nice, green box.
Cons:
Atrocious tech support. Unstable in 3D applications.
The Bottom Line:
Too bad there is not a ZERO star rating. Run screaming from this boad.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
This is/was, by far, one of my biggest PC-related mistakes I've ever made.
VERY unstable during on-line FPS gaming - and why ELSE would one buy a board such as this??
The video freezes during game-play, requiring a power-off reset. CTL-ALT-DEL won't even save you. I know what you're thinking -- it's the video card. I swapped out my ATI X800 XT with an nVidia 6600. It still freezes up.
OK, what about the RAM? I've tried 2 (two) sets of RAM: high-end Crucial Ballistix PC3200 and middle-of-the-road PDP/Patriot PC3200. I've run 1, 2 and 4 sticks of each with the same (i.e. video freeze) result.
Power supply? I tried both 12V rails of my Antec Neopower 480W PS. Same thing happens. I swapped it out with a Chieftec 420W PS - again same thing.
I relayed all the troubleshooting information I'd done to Gigabyte's "technical support" (notice the quotes) and laid out the step-by-step procedure to recreate the fault. Their first e-mail response was, and I quote via cut-and-paste:
"As for the instability, please try running the system with just one stick of memroy and see if the same issue still persist."
Lovely spelling and grammar . . .
It quickly went down hill from there. After 4 similar exchanges of them requiring me to re-do everything I'd already told them I'd already done, I finally receive this response (again, verbatim):
"Hello,
if you are certain it's an motherboard issue and do not wish to test out any other brands of memory please submit an email to rmausa@giga-byte.com to sending in the motherboard for service.
Thank you"
Again note the lovely spelling and grammar. =/
What I receive next is an e-mail with 2 forms (a "System Configuration Form" and an "RMA Form") that I must fill out. The kicker is - these forms are to REQUEST an RMA number, not the RMA itself.
If you are considering this motherboard, please don't.
Let me be the example to others.
