[The motherboard got replaced]Gigabyte Motherboards and new 'App Center' and 'SIV' issues

[energee]

I do not know who Gigabyte hired for there apps, but they better tell that person to write better software..

I think it largely comes down to expectations. Gigabyte remains my go-to motherboard manufacturer. They've been rock-solid on the hardware side for me. I just don't trust anyone else. But fan control for example has been so bad that I've come to treat it as a bonus if it works at all. And I would never dream of installing any of their optional software utilities on my Windows systems, and I'd suggest others refrain from doing so as well if you like happy endings.

 

[Rongolb]

That was extremely disappointing, again. I have used Gigabyte motherboards for a long time (along with Asus, Asrock, and several now out of business companies as well), but this is ridiculous. I just wish I could come across the older app versions I used without issue, but unfortunately I did not pay attention to the version number before upgrading to the new-look one back in June.

Gigabyte just doesn't seem to support their products as well as their rivals generally do. For example, their latest BIOS version is F6f (not counting the current F20 disaster), and was released in May 2016, It is still in beta status. The Asus board I almost went with (Z170-A) is on BIOS version 3007. So basically Gigabyte has put out the initial BIOS with 5 updates, while Asus has put out the initial version with 14 updates in the same time frame.

I think this could very well be my last Gigabyte board for a while. I won't write them totally off just yet, but they definitely need to improve some things. Very irritated right now because when I saw the new files on their support site, I thought they finally fixed the issues after all these months..........I just don't get it.

So i have the same problem with the gigabyte z170x gaming 3 rev 1.0 Motherboard and the F20 bios..
And also my CPU Fan is on 2800 rpm constantly, and i cant change it through SIV..
Here is a picture for you to understand easier ( sorry for my english ) : https://gyazo.com/9f212d3257a8bcfc1227829b1c622efe

So i wanted to ask you how you managed to figure this problem out

 

[UsandThem]

So i wanted to ask you how you managed to figure this problem out

Unfortunately, I haven't.

All I can do right now is run my CPU fan on the 'normal' setting in the F5 BIOS version (I haven't upgraded to the F20 or F21 version yet).

Outside of my ability to tweak my fans, my PC is absolutely stable, and I don't want to deal with any issues of the new Kaby Lake BIOS updates yet. I am going to probably wait until until they release a few more updates that work out the bugs (for my board the current version is F21).

What fan are you using? Is it a PWM fan (4-pin)? If you are using a fan like Noctua, a temporary fix could be using one of the included low-noise adapters to lower the RPM.

I had the same issue with my included Fractal Design case fans when I first bought the motherboard. Regardless of which motherboard fan header I put them on, they would only run at full speed. I ended up using them on a fan controller so I could control them that way.

 

[Rongolb]

Unfortunately, I haven't.

All I can do right now is run my CPU fan on the 'normal' setting in the F5 BIOS version (I haven't upgraded to the F20 or F21 version yet).

Outside of my ability to tweak my fans, my PC is absolutely stable, and I don't want to deal with any issues of the new Kaby Lake BIOS updates yet. I am going to probably wait until until they release a few more updates that work out the bugs (for my board the current version is F21).

What fan are you using? Is it a PWM fan (4-pin)? If you are using a fan like Noctua, a temporary fix could be using one of the included low-noise adapters to lower the RPM.

I had the same issue with my included Fractal Design case fans when I first bought the motherboard. Regardless of which motherboard fan header I put them on, they would only run at full speed. I ended up using them on a fan controller so I could control them that way.

Somehow i managed to flash to F6 Bios from the F20..
But now the Smart Fan 5 Advanced option not working

 

[UsandThem]

Somehow i managed to flash to F6 Bios from the F20..
But now the Smart Fan 5 Advanced option not working

Yeah, it seems Gigabyte's updates are so messed up right now. Make sure to load optimized defaults / clear CMOS after rolling back to prior version.

 

[gx_saurav]

I am using Gigabyte B150 - D3H motherboard. I have system fan 5 in BIOS F21. I can set fan to Silent or create my own profile manually.

I tried their App Centre but couldn't find any value in it.

 

[UsandThem]

I am using Gigabyte B150 - D3H motherboard. I have system fan 5 in BIOS F21. I can set fan to Silent or create my own profile manually.

I tried their App Centre but couldn't find any value in it.

I'm beginning to wonder if either the F20 or F21 BIOS is needed for their newest apps to work properly. They released their newest apps around the same time they released the F20 BIOS. I wish Gigabyte released more notes on what fixes they fixed with newer versions. It's usually just minimal stuff like "support new CPU". Asus does a good job on their release notes.

 

[gx_saurav]

My motherboard came with F21 BIOS preinstalled due to which I was able to use Kaby Lake CPU out of the box.

I also don't like apps from motherboard manufacture. I am only using drivers from Gigabyte website.

 

[Rongolb]

Yeah, it seems Gigabyte's updates are so messed up right now. Make sure to load optimized defaults / clear CMOS after rolling back to prior version.

I have an idea.. you can load a profile for a custom cpu fan curve
maybe send me yours in private msg and i will try to load the profile. see if it manages to change the values

 

[UsandThem]

I have an idea.. you can load a profile for a custom cpu fan curve
maybe send me yours in private msg and i will try to load the profile. see if it manages to change the values

I don't have a custom fan curve since I was forced to uninstall the Gigabyte SIV app. My motherboard's BIOS does not have anything like you linked to earlier. The only option I have for fan speed are: Silent, normal, full speed, and PWM %.

That's the only reason I had the app installed. I think they added the fan curve with the new F20 and F21 BIOS, but until I take the plunge and upgrade to it I don't know for sure.

 

[Rongolb]

I don't have a custom fan curve since I was forced to uninstall the Gigabyte SIV app. My motherboard's BIOS does not have anything like you linked to earlier. The only option I have for fan speed are: Silent, normal, full speed, and PWM %.

That's the only reason I had the app installed. I think they added the fan curve with the new F20 and F21 BIOS, but until I take the plunge and upgrade to it I don't know for sure.

My motherboard's BIOS also have only the Silent, normal, full speed, and PWM % modes..

I had fan curve in SIV before the F20 Bios for sure..
I have this PC since November 8. Before Bios F20 was released.
Which means i had the F6, with the CPU Fan curve working just fine in SIV

 

[UsandThem]

My motherboard's BIOS also have only the Silent, normal, full speed, and PWM % modes..

I had fan curve in SIV before the F20 Bios for sure..
I have this PC since November 8. Before Bios F20 was released.
Which means i had the F6, with the CPU Fan curve working just fine in SIV

Maybe the F6 BIOS were needed for SIV to work, or maybe your particular motherboard model didn't have issues. I know something with mine prevented it from working properly. When I installed it, all I got were errors in the screenshots I showed.

All I know for sure was one version worked fine for me for about 6 months until I updated to their newer versions.

 

[vailr]

There's a newer App Center version (B17.0103.1 - 33.79 MB - 2017/01/16) listed for the Z270 board:
http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z270MX-Gaming-5-rev-10#support-dl
compared with the Z170 board: (B16.1202.1 - 32.03 MB - 2016/12/06):
http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170MX-Gaming-5-rev-10#support-dl

Note: my GA-Z170MX-Gaming-5 board showed a dark blank screen after updating to the Kabylake F20 bios, with no bios setup access.
However, clearing the CMOS (via shorting two pins while power is off) enabled booting to bios setup again.
Works okay now, with a Skylake CPU.
A newer Intel ME firmware (version 11.6.13.1212, for Kabylake bios only) is available here:
http://www.station-drivers.com/inde...tory&Itemid=352&func=fileinfo&id=2688&lang=fr

 

[UsandThem]

There's a newer App Center version

Thanks for posting! Possibly good news for anybody experiencing issues with their apps, and wants to give it another shot.

I think after dealing with problems with several versions of their apps for roughly 9 months now, I don't think I will give it another shot. Personally my game plan at this point is to wait for a couple more F20* series BIOS updates to work out the kinks, and then update. From what I can tell reading through the various forums is they added the ability to do custom fan profiles (like Asus) directly in the UEFI for most motherboards.

In the past, I would have already flashed to the newer BIOS without a second thought. However, now that I am older, the most important thing for me when it comes to my computers is absolute stability. At this point without their apps installed, that's where my PC is at. Everything else takes a back seat, including fan control. That's the reason I never updated to their F6* beta BIOS (which has been in beta status since May 2016).

 

[RandomFlux]

I'd like to confirm these problems and add my own cautionary story: I have a GA-7170X Gaming 7 with a Core i7 processor and it started freezing up after restarting. It would only start correctly if I unplugged the power for around a minute after shutting down and before restarting. Because of this behavior I assumed it was a hardware problem. I replaced both the PSU and the entire mainboard -- I had to buy a new one because returning it as defective would have meant a 4-week wait -- but the problem still persisted. (So now I have two good PSUs and two good mainboards -- I guess I can build another computer...)

The issue was caused by the OcButtonService mainboard utility from Gigabyte. It looked like a hardware issue because it was only crashing/freezing Windows when the power had not been disconnected after shutting down. My guess is that it was reading something from the BIOS that caused it to behave in a way that caused the crash under those circumstances.

I'm now going to remove all the mainboard utilities successively as I no longer trust them. Even the convenience of reflashing the BIOS from Windows really isn't worth it if the utilities have not been quality controlled.

 

[ReignQuake]

I guess I'll point out that I've used EasyTune 1, EasyTune 3 also Easytune 6 (briefly). With Gigabyte every other build is bad, it'll work but need some improvement or it won't work. On a rotation.
My last board was a Gigabyte and my main problem with it was the lack of proper fan/pump control. Speedfan has a hacky method of taking over the fan controls, that was the only alternative.

I'm more satisfied with MSI's Command Center software but really my favorite is an Aquaero 6 XT because you can control your entire system with a touch screen or mini-remote and feed back rpm/pwm data to the motherboard. Aquasuite is an amazing application.

 

[RandomFlux]

I guess I'll point out that I've used EasyTune 1, EasyTune 3 also Easytune 6 (briefly). With Gigabyte every other build is bad, it'll work but need some improvement or it won't work. On a rotation.

Interesting. It's probably best to add the apps one by one and wait for a couple of days to see if there are any negative interactions. Since removing most of them yesterday my system has been rock solid again.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Just have to point out that I'm no fan of motherboard apps in Windows either, but I just got a new Z270 Gaming K7, setup my fan curves (Noctua D14 2x fans + 1x Noctua 140mm case fan) and the app works great. I find Gigabyte's UEFI BIOS to always be terrible (far worse than what ASUS puts out), but in terms of fan control, I've been able to get it done in the SIV app.

 

[UsandThem]

Just a FYI for anyone who might find this via Google:

I finally updated my board to the new F22 BIOS from version F5. As I suspected, Gigabyte finally added the ability to create custom fan profiles in the UEFI for my motherboard series, so their craptastic utilities are no longer needed to do this within Windows. The new UEFI is nowhere near as polished as Asrock, Asus, and MSI versions, but it works without crashing, and that's all I was after.

The update went fine. I flashed it directly within the UEFI with Q-Flash and the new BIOS version on a USB drive. My overclock on my CPU was not impacted at all, and there was no over-volting like many were reporting with the F21 BIOS.

I think going forward I will never buy a motherboard that doesn't have the ability to do fan curves directly in the UEFI. I ended up spending way too much time on something that should have been so simple.

June 7 update

Noticed my 960 EVO read speeds dropped by around 250 mb/s and write dropped by 100 mb/s after the BIOS update. It's disappointing, but it's still plenty fast, so I'll just have to live with it. I doubt I will going with their products in the future. The hardware side is great, but the software/update side needs a big improvement.

 

[pcslookout]

What is fan curves ?

 

[WhiteNoise]

I wish I would have seen this thread prior to me building a new gaming rig for my friend using a Z170X Gaming 5 board. I installed the app center and then installed allt he latest drivers including the latest BIOS. I have had all sorts of issues since. Mainly USB issues. Also it reverts the memory to 2133 when it should be 3000. I have adjusted it myself but then the BIOS will reset it.

I don't have the PC handy to solve these issues but I wonder if the BIOS could be the cause. I figured it was a driver issue or windows 10 problem.

 

[UsandThem]

I wish I would have seen this thread prior to me building a new gaming rig for my friend using a Z170X Gaming 5 board. I installed the app center and then installed allt he latest drivers including the latest BIOS. I have had all sorts of issues since. Mainly USB issues. Also it reverts the memory to 2133 when it should be 3000. I have adjusted it myself but then the BIOS will reset it.

I don't have the PC handy to solve these issues but I wonder if the BIOS could be the cause. I figured it was a driver issue or windows 10 problem.

It could be. I wasn't sure of it at first, but after installing the newer BIOS update, my external hard drive in a powered enclosure was not recognized at all. I unplugged the USB cable and plugged it into another USB port, and it was recognized. I thought maybe the enclosure might be developing an issue.

Fast forward to a few days ago. I got my Samsung USB thumb drive out of my car to load some new music onto it, and I was having errors left and right. After several "this drive is not responding" messages, I plugged it into a USB 2.0 port where it worked. Then yesterday, my Logitech USB mouse that is about 4 months old and never had any issues, began being really choppy. I would move it and it was lagging so much that I couldn't really use it. Then I tried using my external hard drive again, and it wasn't recognized on the USB 3.0 port where I keep it plugged in. I messed around and tried the USB mouse in several USB ports, and they all lagged. Then today, it began working for a little bit. At that point, I needed a break and shut down the PC.

So at this point I was like "$#&%! Gigabyte". It is really frustrating. Under the F5 BIOS, my USB thumb drive, my external hard drive, and my USB mouse didn't have any issues. Now they are suddenly here. It's gonna be my last Gigabyte board for a while. I've used them quite a bit since the 90's, but I have noticed they provide fewer BIOS updates than their competitors. I still think they design and make a fantastic motherboard, but without stable BIOS/programs, it really doesn't matter. Their apps/BIOS cause too many issues.

I might even revert back to BIOS version F5 and live without the UEFI fan control. I used that version for over a year with no issues. I value stability over everything else. I was even looking a other motherboards and considering jumping to another manufacturer, but I'm going to mess around with it for a few more days and see if I can figure out what the heck is going on.

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EDIT June 14

Verified there are major USB issues since I upgraded to F22. I am unable to create a system image to either of my back-up drives without it simply hanging. I also did a clean restore, and they persist. My advice: Don't upgrade to the new F2* BIOS unless you have a Kaby Lake CPU. Beyond irritated right now!!!

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Hopefully the final edit June 15

A clean install of Windows 10 didn't fix the USB odd issues. So I powered down the PC, unplugged it from power, and cleared the CMOS. Upon starting I loaded the optimized defaults (which I originally did after flashing to the new F22 BIOS), and did another clean install of Windows 10.

This time my USB issues seem to be gone. I'm getting the full transfer rate from my USB2 and USB3 ports, and there are no errors during data transfer. I've never had to clear the CMOS after a BIOS flash before, but whatever it takes to get things stable again. So that's my final recommendation. When in doubt, clear the CMOS and load defaults.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Do Gigabyte have a page with past BIOS files? I think reverting back would be best at this point and I can walk my friend through it over the phone.

 

[UsandThem]

Do Gigabyte have a page with past BIOS files? I think reverting back would be best at this point and I can walk my friend through it over the phone.

They keep all their BIOS versions under the support tab on the product specification page:

http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-Z170X-Gaming-5-rev-10#ov

Fair warning though, if he flashed to the newer F2* BIOS, you are unable to flash back to an older version (like F5) using their @Bios utility or within the BIOS using Q-Flash. It is possible to go back to an older version however by following this:

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=17957.0

You can read this thread as well where another member here needed to downgrade their BIOS too:

http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=threads/i7-6700k-stock-fan-temperatures.2500224/#post-38761707

Also, keep in mind from what I understand from reading through various posts and threads about doing this is he will likely have his MAC address wiped and replaced with a generic address. He can use a Hex editor and alter the BIOS to include the correct MAC address that is stickered on his motherboard:

https://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=17957.15

 

[WhiteNoise]

Jesus...

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure what BIOS it is atm. I installed it but did not look at the revision. It should be listed in the BIOS though so I will have him check tonight.

Why in the hell would they not allow an older BIOS if mobo is upgraded to F2? That just seems odd to me.