Major AMD/Gigabyte Issues I had In HTPC Build

[1gkar]

Hi,

Now I've got a bit of time I can make others aware of a major problem that wasted over fifty hours of my life, plus a number of car trips across my city.

I decided to upgrade my HTPC to FreeviewHD (digital TV) compatibility. As a fan of AMD ( have/had been for about a decade) I decided to go with the following components:

AMD 4800+ CPU
Gigabyte GA-M56S-S3 mobo (nForce 560 chipset)
Asus EN8500GT 512mb Silent Magic graphics card
the rest of the HTPC stays status quo See Signature

After my first hardware install, OS & device setup, I found everytime I resumed from any form of standby I would have NO video signal ON ANY PORT. I had to pull the ASUS video card from its PCI-E slot & reinsert it, then reboot. I did not realise this initially & plugged my old MSI NX6600LE card in. I found that it did not matter what card I used, the same issue ocurred every time from resume. Hibernate would work but that was no good as the Silverstone LC14 HTPC case won't deliver the 5w necessary for bootup from a USB keyboard/remote.

My first step was to try another PSU, as posters thought it could be related to a faulty unit.

As the video card was the first purchase, I had that replaced: no change. I wasn't initially aware the problem ocurred with both my cards.

Next was the motherboard as I thought it may be chipset-related. I had tried more than two versions of the chipset drivers: both default & modified. Again, no change.

Finally, I thought it had to be the CPU, as I had put my AMD Sempron 3000+ from my client machine into the HTPC & all worked perfectly!

After fitting my replaced CPU & reinstalled the OS, as I thought to prevent any possibilities of the problem recurring, I would start afresh: same bloody issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At this stage, I'd had a total gutsful & credited back the CPU & mobo & upgraded to Intel.

After purchasing an Intel E4600 & Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 mobo, I reinstalled Windows again, but had to prove to M%%$#&*soft Iwasn't a crim because I had used my allotment of activations (don't get me started!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Now, my system operated perfectly. Thank God for Ghost.

The moral of the story: be damned careful what pairing you make when deciding on you're hardware. Hope you're experiences are better than my last effort.

[revs]

Eeek! doesnt sound fun!

Thanks god my AMD/Gigabyte system has been pretty much perfect! The drivers I use are all old (~2005) but seem to work ok!.

[vvulture]

hi 1gkar,

I recently decided to build a new gaming rig based on AMD gear as i too *WAS* an AMD fanboy so to speak.
Anyway, i also used a Gigabyte Mobo with a new Phenom Quad CPU along with 2 x HD3870 GPU's.

To cut a long story short and after spending not 50 hrs like you, but more like 3 weeks, i decided to try Intel as well because of all the problems i was having with AMD.


Now i have a Q6600 running @3.4Ghz on AIR cooling, with an Abit IX38QUAD-GT mobo and a Nvidia 9800GX2 video card.
I could not be happier with the system... it runs rock solid. Even thinking ao another 9800GX2 and running Quad Sli ...

I am really dissapointed with AMD these days... not only with their CPU's, but also chipsets and GPU's. They really have gone downhill...


The moral of the story here, don't stick with a brand just for the sake of it... go with whats best at the time that fits your budget...



cheers

[1gkar]

Originally Posted by vvulture

hi 1gkar,

I recently decided to build a new gaming rig based on AMD gear as i too *WAS* an AMD fanboy so to speak.
Anyway, i also used a Gigabyte Mobo with a new Phenom Quad CPU along with 2 x HD3870 GPU's.

To cut a long story short and after spending not 50 hrs like you, but more like 3 weeks, i decided to try Intel as well because of all the problems i was having with AMD.


Now i have a Q6600 running @3.4Ghz on AIR cooling, with an Abit IX38QUAD-GT mobo and a Nvidia 9800GX2 video card.
I could not be happier with the system... it runs rock solid. Even thinking ao another 9800GX2 and running Quad Sli ...

I am really dissapointed with AMD these days... not only with their CPU's, but also chipsets and GPU's. They really have gone downhill...


The moral of the story here, don't stick with a brand just for the sake of it... go with whats best at the time that fits your budget...



cheers

Touché. Sorry to hear about you're issues. This PC game is hard enough without crappy designed hardware to contend with.