Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

[drenit23]

It appears I have a DOA board. I get no display, no POST, no beeps, just slowly spinning fans. I've double and triple checked connections, errant grounding, and reseated RAM and CPU. System is as follows:

MB: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H v1.0
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
RAM: GSkill 2x2GB PC8500 DDR2 1066

It's been a while since I built a system. Any reason not to get an RMA?

[PrairieDawg]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Try a different power supply unit?

[drenit23]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Thanks, I tried another PS earlier.

Just tried using 1 DIMM and it posts. I'll try flashing the bios to F5 and see if both DIMM's work, otherwise I'll be returning the DDR1066 for DDR800. The note in the manual about using DDR1066 should be revised to say "use at your own risk"!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Well 2x2 needs different settings then 2x1 or 4x1 maybe you need to add some refresh cycle timings. I am not sure what it is called in a AMD board but most I have seen do not even allow you to go high enough to use 2x2 properly. It would be the highest number in the subtimings. Most AMD boards I have seen allow 12-20ish, and you need 52 or so to run 2x2 properly.

So your better bet would be to RMA that ram and get 4x1 if you need 4GB

DO NOT USE @BIOS to flash your bios, use Qflash and a floppy or USB stick

[drenit23]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

I used Q-flash for the F5 BIOS and it said it updated successfully, but now I get a "no display" POST code (1 long, 2 short) when the display was working before. I have a fancy paperwight now, and I'm back to where I started on the RMA.

I'll also probably try 2x1 or 4x1 of DDR800. Any particular brand or timings known to work well? Gigabyte's list of tested RAM is pretty small.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

My suggestions are Mushkins or G.Skills

[Overdraught]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

I have the same board, and I got that same post code of 1L+2S after adding some new RAM. Turns out I had accidentally bumped the vid card and it was loose in its slot.

OD

[drenit23]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

I was using the on-board video and tried re-connecting and re-seating everything. I even tried a separate video card, but you can't override on-board video in the BIOS if it won't post.

Either way, the mb is on its merry way back. I'll try again with DDR800 and a new mb.

[drenit23]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Here's the RAM I'm looking at:
G.SKILL (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) PN F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
<TABLE class=specification cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=name>Timing</TD><TD class=desc><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(neg_specification_newlin e('5-5-5-15'));</SCRIPT>5-5-5-15 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=name>Voltage</TD><TD class=desc><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(neg_specification_newlin e('1.8V - 2.0V'));</SCRIPT>1.8V - 2.0V </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Is this a good choice?

I've also seen some people say the 125W X2 6000+ may be problematic with this board. Should I cut my losses now and swap out the CPU or try it?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

I can't comment on the CPU Choice as I have mo clue about AMD but I can say G.Skill will work well with a GA board.

Again, are you Sure those sticks you have are not DOA? If they are not you could Underclock them to 800 or so and not need such a high Refresh Value. But then again you would possibly still need a higher value then your board will allow. How high will it let you set things? As even with 2x1 you need 38 or so normally. But then again I am not so sure with a AMD board

[drenit23]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

I don't think the RAM is bad, although I originally thought the MB was. After flashing the BIOS, I got a post video error. Since I already had an RMA from Newegg, I went ahead and sent ithe MB back for a replacement and will try again with DDR800.

I have since read that people with the ATX version of this board report that socket AM2+ works at 1066, but not the AM2 (which I have). I'll report back later when I'm ready to try again.

I was in a hurry to order and get a system working; I should have done more research ahead of time and avoided some of these problems. Live and learn.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Good luck and let us know how you get along with your new order

[MyJoy]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Don't want to open another thread about this board, so I hope you won't mind me posting here. I recently built a system with this board paired with 5000+ Black Edition and 2 gigs of 800 MHz RAM. Everything works just fine, fast and without any hickups. The only thing that bothers me is the usual heat problem people are having with this board, apearently the northbridge gets smoking hot! Everest shows 85 C in standby! Wanted to know if drenit23 has similar readings? The board is 1.0 revision, apearently Gigabyte has rev. 1.1 of this board out, the difference seems to be in a larger northbridge heatsink.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

Hmm, that is hot!

What you could do is first redo the thermal paste, many boards I have done always either have way too much paste and or Not enough coverage with way too much paste!

Second, you could buy a Extreme Spirit II ($20) I used one on a 965P board and it took temps from 58 down to 34. Worked GREAT and looked very nice, and a decent price as well

[MyJoy]

Re: Ga-ma78gm-s2h Doa??

People on other forums are reporting similar readings, even after scraping the garbage under the heatsink and applying arctic silver/and or replacing the stock heatsink with aftermarkt heatsinks. I figure it must be a bogus reading, only Gigabyte support won't give you any straight answer on that temp reading. IMHO, issuing a 1.1 rev of this board with a larger heatsink GB has silently admited that there's indeed a heat problem with this board. Well, using a good old finger-on-heatsink method, the thing feels really hot but if it really was 85+ C, or even over 100C stressed, I dont think I would still have any skin on my finger. Maybe Lsdmeasap can find out directly from GB what that reading stands for, is it the northbrigde, the mosfets or something else?