X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

[ZzBloopzZ]

Hello,

I am having serious issues with the Gigabyte X79-UD3 and the onboard Intel 82579V network card. At random, the network connection will drop, especially while streaming movies from the fileserver or doing large data transfers on the network. I have to restart the computer, for the network to work again or disable the network card for several minutes and then re-enabling it.

The 82579V appears to have numerous issues over the years. Here are two similar cases:

Intel 82579V Issue

Slow Network with Intel - Guru3D.com Forums

I have over 15 other devices on my network with ZERO issues. I tried a fresh install of Windows 8 Pro x64 with same problem. Tried several Intel drivers, and installing JUST the base drivers. No Intel Proset or advanced settings component. I noticed the stock W8 Intel driver is bit more stable, but still issues.

Things I have tried:

• Latest Intel Drivers, the full featured proset version and also just the base.
• Different network cables
• Connecting directly to router instead of switch
• Latest MEI firmware and drivers

I noticed there is a new F12 BIOS for my board that recently came out so I will give that a shot tonight, otherwise try disabling the Windows 8 fast start up feature as someone mentioned trying that on that huge Intel thread. Looks like it is a common issue, but sad that after 2 years they have not fully fixed this network card. Thinking about just buying a PCI-Express Intel NIC as it seems less hassle then RMA'ing the board.

Any one have any suggestions?

[Andres Gonzalez Biront]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

Hi,

I have the exact same problem. When the NIC is stressed (a file transfer at ~100MB/s for a few minutes), the NIC drops the connection and says "Cable unplugged". Disabling and re-enabling the NIC solves the problem.

This is happening with Windows 7 x64 SP1, NIC drivers: 12.6.45.0 without Intel advanced settings installed, just the driver. My home network is kinda complex, with 3 ESXi servers, 2 worstations, an HTPC and several Virtual Machines. Everything is running at 1gbps flawlessly.

Also, I sometimes have idle crashes. The CPU is overclocked to 4500Mhz, LinX, OCCT, Prime stable, but it sometimes crash at idle. Sometimes when it crashes it hangs MY ENTIRE NETWORK. That means that if my 3820/X79UD3 have crashed, I don't have network connection within 2 OTHER computers that are connected to the network, not even ping. This problem doesn't happen so often, but it's really annoying and strange. Not even the WiFi of my cellphone can connect to the Internet. It looks like the NIC is flooding and everything craps out. The exact moment that I turn off the PC, everything is solved.

Edit:
BTW, the issue seems to be happening with different drivers and firmwares. I've just updated the MEI FW and Driver to 8.1.40.1416 and 9.5.2.1489. The NIC FW is 1.3
But it was also happening with MEI FW 8.1.10.something and driver 7.1

[ZzBloopzZ]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

Official BIOS F14 just came out for the X79-UD3: GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 2011 - GA-X79-UD3 (rev. 1.x)

I am going to give this a shot tomorrow night.

I have also tried several NIC drivers. It is nice to see people with W7 are also having this issue as I thought it could have been an W8 issue at first. Frustrating :c/

[Andres Gonzalez Biront]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

Have you managed to reproduce the issue? In my case is a little bit random. Today I copied ~5GB at 110MB/s and it worked fine. I'm not sure how to reproduce the problem consistently.

Don't get your hopes very high with that BIOS. Yesterday I looked for the latest stable BIOS, I remember that last week there was a F12 BIOS available. Now it's gone, and they uploaded that F14...

The Release Notes are the same that the F12 had. We never had any F13 nor F14 beta BIOS available...

I'll bet the F14 BIOS is the same as the F12...

[ZzBloopzZ]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

I can reproduce the issue every time. I just have to copy a 50GB file over and it will eventually cut out. There has been few odd times where it will fully transfer, but 80% the transfer rate will start dropping and then finally fully stop.

I tried disabling power saving mode for the NIC, disabled Windows 8 fast start up feature, updating to latest BETA MEI drivers and latest RST drivers. Did not resolve the issue. Still havn't tried the BIOS yet.

I'm thinking about calling it quits and ordering a 3rd party PCI-Express Intel NIC.

[Rab Fixit]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

I know this thread is a bit old, but I have been having same issues with on-board Intel NIC dropping when streaming video. After many days of fruitless attempts at every possible fix I could find on the net, I have just updated BIOS to F16 (I was on F12 before) and the problem is FIXED! Yey!

However - the bad news is that I appear to have lost the ability to enter timed autosleep (or indeed screensaver or power-off monitor).

Sleep was working fine before bios update and still works perfectly if manually executed. Anyone else having this issue with F16?

[ZzBloopzZ]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

Thanks for the tip Rab. However, I ended up purchasing a PCI-E Intel Gbit adapter several months ago and since then network has been working PERFECTLY.

Not good about the autosleep issues. Have you tried the latest Modified drivers? Also, be sure you have the latest Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) firmware and drivers installed.

[Rab Fixit]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

I was about to go down that road too!

At your suggestion, I think I will try the F17g mod bios, but, being a bit of a novice in this area, I need a bit more advice first.

I am using the Intel IRST Sata driver as opposed to the RSTe (enterprise) version, which is a bios selectable option. The modded bios only mentions RSTe updates - will this be an issue or is the IRST version still included too? I know that I cannot change this without a fresh OS install and I don't want to go there yet.

I have updated all motherboard drivers already, but you mentioned the MEI firmware. Is this the same as the ME firmware included in the modded bios? Do I have to update anything else separately?

Sorry for the questions but I am learning!

EDIT - I guess IRST is the top item in the mod list 'Intel RAID for SATA', so I have answered that part of the question!
Also - should I flash bios using latest @BIOS or Q-Flash? I used @BIOS to get to F16 but prefer Q-flash if possible (safer?).

[Rab Fixit]

Re: X79-UD3 + Onboard Intel NIC = Network Drops!

Thanks for the tip, ZzBloopzZ. Finally got round to using F17g Mod Bios and my sleep problem is fixed! No other issues detected yet...

One happy cookie!