Where Are The Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 Motherboards?

[Blazer7]

Originally posted by: Gary Key

Gigabyte pulled the board at the last possible moment a few days ago as they did not think the QX9650 performance was acceptable. I can tell after working with the 780i boards from ASUS and hearing Raja's frustration with his recently arrived board, they might be on to something. We have new boards coming from ASUS and EVGA early next week to retest.

As far as the 790i is concerned, NV might cave like Intel did on the X38/X48 and offer DDR2 capability. I am working on that angle right now. Whatever this ends up being, I will keep everyone updated, plus the fact that I am really on Gigabyte every day to do something here.

At least this time they pulled it before anyone got hurt. That's a good sign, it means that they are more careful this time. Same goes for nVidia I guess. A trade-up program for a DDR2 790 board will be the best possible solution for us. Thanks Gary for sticking with us.

Mr DoW, I don't think that the teaming function works under Vista64. From what I can recall TheBeagle was trying hard to make it work but to no avail. I doubt that there is anyone here that knows more on the issue than he does. I suggest that you PM him.

Mr GriMRapeR, I'm really anxious to learn what this GB rep can tell you about the 780/790 replacement board. Have you got any news on this ?

BTW great job there. :thumbsup:

 

[eklock2000]

Waiting on a response from Gigabyte US (services@gigabyte-usa.com)...

To whom it may concern:

Please see the attached pictures of the motherboard box that you requested. I am extremely disappointed that this motherboard does not perform as claimed on the product packaging. In all honesty, I put great stake in the claims made the product manufacturer and if this claim of FSB1333 Quad-Core support was not made, I probably would have bought a cheaper motherboard for the short-term. I only buy a new motherboard once every few years, and the potential for upgrading the processor to next generation tech. is one of the very things I was counting on.

Particularly on the inside front cover (Inside Cover.jpg) the following statement is made:

?the GIGABYTE GA-N680SLI-DQ6 features several next generation technologies including FSB1333 support for the record-setting Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core processors??

And also on the back cover under specifications (Specs.jpg) a similar claim is made.

You?ve got to understand that I love Gigabyte products. I followed the release of this product for months before finally making the purchase. I paid over $350 for the motherboard assuming that I would not have to upgrade for years given the support for future processors. I was also very unhappy to hear that BIOS support ended and the Board went EOL. I would not be writing you, if Gigabyte was able to provide the support as claimed on the packaging through a BIOS update. In fact, I am not thrilled at the prospect of a replacement board either because Gigabyte does not seem to have plans to release an equivalent motherboard with as many features as the 680SLI-DQ6.

While I do understand that the problem with the 1333FSB Quad-Core processor support on the 680i is not Gigabyte?s fault, and probably due to Nvidia or Intel, it is most definitely Gigabyte?s fault for misleading it?s customers by printing this information on the product package to sell more motherboards. This clearly is something that Gigabyte needs to work out with Nvidia, and the customer should not suffer.

Please let me know how you intend to remedy this issue for me. I would consider an acceptable replacement product that supports 1333FSB Quad-Core processors and SLI graphics cards.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

EK2K

My system specifications
GA-N680SLI-DQ6, Rev. 1, F5 Serial No.: (01)04719331805111(21)SN0711030177
Intel E6850 w/ Zalman 9700
eVGA 8800GTX SLI w/ 163.71 forceware
2Gb - Crucial Ballistix PC2-8000 (BL2KIT12864AA1005)
Corsair CMPSU 620HX ? 620Watts
Antec900
WinXP SP2

...and the photos referenced in the letter.

http://i162.photobucket.com/al...ck2000/InsideCover.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/al...5/eklock2000/Specs.jpg

Anyone would have to Love their products if they paid $350 for a mobo. I'll Love 'em even more if they replace this board.

I'll keep you posted.

Peace,

EK2K

 

[GriMRapeR]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
Gigabyte pulled the board at the last possible moment a few days ago as they did not think the QX9650 performance was acceptable. I can tell after working with the 780i boards from ASUS and hearing Raja's frustration with his recently arrived board, they might be on to something. We have new boards coming from ASUS and EVGA early next week to retest.

As far as the 790i is concerned, NV might cave like Intel did on the X38/X48 and offer DDR2 capability. I am working on that angle right now. Whatever this ends up being, I will keep everyone updated, plus the fact that I am really on Gigabyte every day to do something here.

Thankyou Mr. Gary you are a good man and I appreciate all your efforts on our behalf. I really do hope you can help to persuade them to produce a 790i with DDR2 that they will commence a trade up program for everyone or an all out replacement program of which the latter would be the most desirable (although I don't think they would be to keen on that option)

Originally posted by: Blazer7
Mr GriMRapeR, I'm really anxious to learn what this GB rep can tell you about the 780/790 replacement board. Have you got any news on this ?

BTW great job there. :thumbsup:

Mr. Blazer I tried ringing the GB rep yesterday and all I got was his message bank. I left 2 messages and he did not ring me back and he has not answered my email yet. Reading between the lines I think he may have hit the same hurdle that Mr. Gary has pointed out about GB not releasing a 780i board now after he told me thats what he would give me. It wouldn't surprise me that they would tell their reps things like that at the last minute. So I presume he is looking into the 790i option but I will keep on his case and try to contact him again on Monday to find out what the hell is going on.

Mr. eklock - A very well written letter. Just a suggestion, they also have the same wording on the product webpage for the 680i-DQ6. Along with similar photos of the box to yours, I also provided them with a screen shot of the webpage with the wording highlighted. So when they contact you maybe make mention of this fact as well. I don't think you will have too many problems, its straight out misleading information and I found that once my complaint case was forwarded to an Australian rep (not those Taiwanese morons who wouldn't know customer service if it hit them in the face) they were quite helpful and understanding. I mean what can they argue about really? It is flat out misleading because the product cannot do what they earlier claimed. The only issue is what they are going to replace/upgrade it with so lets hope Mr. Gary can persuade them somewhat to produce a 790i with DDR2 support and they then offer that as a replacement. Fingers crossed.

Also I urge everyone to do what I, Jas6 and now eklock have done. Send them an email, quote my case number, some of the photos of the box and webpage and request a replacement board. The more that do it the more they will realise they have a crap fight on their hands. Goodluck everyone.

 

[eklock2000]

@GrimRaper...

When I told the Gigabyte US rep that the 1333FSB language was on their website, she said that she didn't have that information and needed to see/required only pictures of my motherboard box. Sounded pretty lame to me...what company doesn't know how to access their products web-page?

Fingers Crossed,

EK2K

 

[jaggerwild]

Originally posted by: eklock2000
Does anyone have a pic of the front of the box showing the FSB1333/Quad-Core support claim? That is what is needed for me to get the replacement process going here in the US.

Thanks,
EK2K

Yeah I have this box, it's a sticker on the front witch states
"supports FSB1333mhz processors
* please refer to GIGABYTE website for memory support information""
Need a photo of it let me know, I can Email it to you.
Sorry if others respondid already, haven't had time to read all the new pages as I been away for a while.

 

[Blazer7]

This article in digitimes confirms more or less Gary's info on GB skipping the 780. It also states that nVidia will launch the 790 sometime in Q2. This in turn means that the 790 boards are at least a couple of months away. I can't see a trade-in program emerging any time soon.

 

[EateryOfPiza]

Hybrid SLI might be either a blessing in disguise or the thing that takes down nVidia. A lot of my concerns are based on the understanding that the integrated GPU seems to be the "primary GPU".

1. Old games that are not actively developed and don't support SLI. Which GPU will they use? If these old games use only the integrated GPU, can we still expect good frame rates?

2. Hybrid SLI is Vista only. What about Windows XP or Linux? Will users on these OSs be limited to using the integrated GPU? Or will there be a BIOS setting that can enable/disable Hybrid SLI.

3. This is going to take up a lot of space on the I/O panel, space that is sorely needed for USB, audio, eSATA, Ethernet, etc etc. Every bit of space on my current I/O panel is used, I don't want to be missing out on extra USBs or Ethernets because of some monitor connections.

4. This will make the NB run way hotter with all the extra traffic running through it.

5. Seems like this plan will be limited by RAM speeds. High performance RAM, higher bus speeds, lower CLs will finally make a significant difference. I guess those memory manufacturers are happy. (I don't think this is good for laptops though, a lot of OEMs deliberately buy low quality slow RAM to cut costs.)

6. What about using multiple GPUs to run more than two monitors? Will that ability be taken away? (ie. Use two graphics cards to run four monitors.)

7. What about ATI graphics cards?

 

[GriMRapeR]

**** UPDATE *****

I spoke with the GB rep today and he has confirmed that Gigabyte WILL be releasing a 780i board (in Australia at least). It will be the GA-780SLI-DS5. He also hinted that there will be other versions of the 780i released as well but he does not have the specs on them yet. He expects the 780i-DS5 to be released in Australia sometime this month but he is trying to get me the 790i board instead of the 780i. I have gone over with him the problems associated with the DDR3 only issue and he said he is pushing GB to release a 790i board with DDR2 and DDR3 support - similar to the GA-P35C-DS3 which is a combo with 4 x DDR2 and 2 x DDR3 DIMM slots. He said this would make sense from a sales point of view and also for a trade up program point of view for the 680i customers should GB agree to such a thing. He said that if he is unsuccessful in convincing them of this then he will be asking them to replace my DDR2 RAM with DDR3 or compensate me toward the purchase of new DDR3 RAM. I must stress though that he has not promised anything as he has no specs as yet provided to him regarding the 790i. He did say that he would push for a 790i replacement but if all else fails, he will get me the 780i. So there is not much more I can do until he receives more information from Gigabyte Taiwan and due to them taking a week off next week with Chinese New Year he said it will be at least 3 weeks before he can tell me more.

So I wait with baited breath. Hopefully Mr. Gary has some more information on this issue this week after he speaks further with GB.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I was just going to mention the Chinese New Year issue in here for anyone dealing with Gigabyte TW. Also, as per a previous post, that I purchased a EVGA 780i board. Part of that was due to my current DQ6 system not getting past POST, and not even giving me any error beep codes to diagnose the issue. It looks like I may have suffered the dreaded memory controller failure which then fried my memory. I tried putting my old memory into the new 780i and it gave me the C1 POST code which is for bad RAM. Since RAM has been so cheap (at least for PC-6400), I had recently purchased more RAM for a future build, and put that in the new board and everything worked fine. I then removed everything from the new 780i board and put back in the DQ6 with the 2 sticks of the new RAM that I know works, and the board still will not POST, so it appears that the memory controller is shot. So, now I know I have a defective DQ6 Rev 1.0 board...

Time to contact Gigabyte again (now that I have proof of what my problem is, as last time I contacted them they said that no POST and no beeps means a bad CPU and to try a different CPU, which I didn't have)

 

[eklock2000]

This is Gigabyte's latest response to my inquiry...


"Dear customer,

Please provide the product specs of the processor you are using and we will forward the information to the headquarters in Taiwan for review of this case. The product spec code should be located on the box or on the processor. Example *BX80562QX6850SLAFN*

Thank you"


I just don't get it, or maybe they don't? Why would I own a processor that is not supported by this motherboard? Are they just playing dumb to lead me on?

This seems to be a pretty clear cut case of false advertising, no? It is probably in violation of fair trade policies/regulations in Taiwan, and in violation of the agreement between China and the US Federal Trade Commission. I know it would take lots of lawyers to get anywhere with any of this and Gigabyte is probably banking that we enthusiast's won't go anywhere with it?

What the F could it cost Gigabyte to rectify this? Out of the thousands of 680i boards sold, maybe a couple of hundred will actually go through with some kind of replacement program?

It seems that hundreds of hours of Gigabyte's time has already been wasted in trying to get a BIOS to work and they will probably spend countless resources in defending their product and convincing customers that replacements are not warranted. Seems like cutting their losses and replacing a few hundred mobos is a better strategy?

It all just seems like bad business to me?

Not Peace,

EK2K

 

[Drums of War]

ek2000
I got the exact same response! They are playing dumb and or are playing us. I for one have had it! I am going to rip this board out of my tower and film myself burning it with gasoline! After the burning of the board I am going to post it on YouTube along with a paragraph or two about my ongoing situation and to warn others of the trap they caught all of us in. Ordering an EVGA Mboard on Friday I cant take it any longer. Good luck to all of you with these idiots, they just do not realize what an issue they created for all of us who believed their claims.

 

[GoaGas]

A Pipe of Peace for Drums of War - Quickly!

Hold onto your board! We can't all be wrong! Justice will be done - eventually!

- now pass me that pipe...

 

[eklock2000]

Originally posted by: Drums of War
I am going to rip this board out of my tower and film myself burning it with gasoline! After the burning of the board I am going to post it on YouTube along with a paragraph or two about my ongoing situation and to warn others of the trap they caught all of us in.

Please post a link here...

I think you will be very happy with the EVGA Board. They have a rep for great customer service and a large customer base with extensive forums.

Good Luck DOW.

EK2K

 

[Blazer7]

The Inquirer : Nvidia 790i comes to show 780i owners the error of their ways

 

[PafetikBezerka]

I'd have to agree with you there in principle Mr Blazer. But that assumes you can wait for a 790i AND afford the DDR3.

I cant realy justify spending the money on DDR3 after recently getting 4G of Crucial Ballistyx.

Last week after my Gigabyte mysteriously lost its two nvidia ethernet ports then broke its primary raid array, my wife of all people told me to burn it and get a new board.

So I've ordered a XFX 780i, and resurected the 4yr old DELL 8400 till it arrives.

As for the Gig' board......

 

[Blazer7]

Mr PafetikBezerka,

As long as this bucket works some of us may still have the luxury of waiting but this is not the point. The 780 boards are not doing well out there and it's not just the performance I'm talking about.

There are very few of these boards out there and there are even fewer people interested in them. We all know that the 780 is a 680 plus a pci-e 2 bridge chip. It scores about the same as the 680, runs hotter and supports penryn. In other words it is a 680 the way 680 was supposed to be. No surprise that most manufacturers are avoiding it like the plague.

The only thing that may work for us is a 790 flavour with DDR2 support plus a trade-up program from Gigabyte. Now, what chances do you guys think we have.


PS
It seems that more and more people are thinking of burning this darn board and probably have dark rituals around the fire with pins shoved in dolls with Gigabyte written all over them. If you are going to do something like this then you should do as Mr DoW suggested, upload the relevant video on YouTube and post a link here for the rest of us.

 

[PafetikBezerka]

LOL
I'm not quite sure wich would give more joy at the moment, a replacement board, or the ritual burning.
In honesty I'm apprehensive about using another gigabyte product. This board was the first, and its hard not to think it'll be the last.

 

[eklock2000]

Originally posted by: PafetikBezerka
LOL
I'm not quite sure wich would give more joy at the moment, a replacement board, or the ritual burning.
In honesty I'm apprehensive about using another gigabyte product. This board was the first, and its hard not to think it'll be the last.

Agreed, this was my first Gigabyte board and will most definately be my last. The customer service stories and lack of RMA support instances are truly disheartening.

 

[EateryOfPiza]

Yeah, do you think they'll give us refunds instead of trade-ups?

 

[eklock2000]

Originally posted by: EateryOfPiza
Yeah, do you think they'll give us refunds instead of trade-ups?

All indicators point to Gigabyte not giving us anything but expensive paperweights.

Now if we had all bought Striker Extremes, we wouldn't be here...

45nm Quad Support
http://forums.slizone.com/index.php?showtopic=15050

"The proof"...and we'll see how it really pays off if it overclocks?
http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1503ah1.png

Fast becoming an ASUS fanboy!

 

[cdfire]

I just built a pc for a buddy of mine with the Asus 750I board and the thing rocks. I have been using Gigabyte for years, but this 680I board has put a end to all that. Add to it that the Asus BIOs was such a pleasure to work with over any of the Gigabyte boards. I could have picked any brand I wanted in his build, but Gigabyte was not going to be one of them and will not be one of them after this 680I mess and lack of customer support for there products.

 

[cdfire]

Is anyone else getting the Building DMI pool upon bootup allot. This is driving me nuts. I resently upgraded to the E6850 and I get this all the time. The pc runs great once into windows but I am about ready to throw this board out the window. I can run Orthos all night long, play games and everything, but turn the pc off and almost always I get the BUILDING DMI crap forcing me to reboot. Does it matter what sata port the main hard drive is on? Not running raid and the port its on is the Nvidia 0 sata port. Any help would be much apprecaited. BTW: Using the f5b bios still.

 

[Blazer7]

Hello Mr cdfire,

I?m also using the F5b and never had any kind of problem with my E6850. I?m also using all available SATA ports and I?m pretty sure that this has nothing to do with your issue. Are you ocing ?

 

[cdfire]

No Oc. I just re-flashed the f5b again and will see if that helps, maybe it got corrupt, but from day one I have gotten the Building DMI thing from time to time, but it has started more and more as of late. Someone on another forum told me that since our board is not on Plextors approved list, that my Plextor SATA DVD Burner could be the cause of the issue, so I have that disconnected now also. Long shot, but the drive has been acting goofy lately.

 

[Blazer7]

I'm using 2 Plextor writers, both connected to one of GB's controller (purple slots). No problem there at all.