Avoid Gigabyte's GA-AM770-DS3 mainboard!

[sdack]

Hello,

I bought a Gigabyte GA-AM770-DS3 mainboard and appear to have run into some fraud by Gigabyte.

Gigabyte claims DDR2-1066 support for this mainboard. However, since I could not get my DDR2-1066 modules to run at this speed (Kingston HyperX DDR2-1066 PC8500) I then asked their support for help. I am still talking to them but as of this time there is no memory module known to Gigabyte that can run at full 1066MHz!!! Their list of supported memory modules lists several DDR2-1066 modules but these were downgraded to DDR2-800 for the verification.

Further more does this mainboard not support the Phenom 9850. All information given out by Gigabyte to resellers claim support for all Phenom CPUs but their CPU support list actually excludes the Phenom 9850. Inofficlal support exists but it is not know if it ever becomes official.

Regards,
Sven

[Hdfisise]

which AMD processor are you using with it? If I remember correctly X2s downgrade the speed of the RAM because of their memory controller. Thats a big if....

[sdack]

It depends on the CPU you use, of course. I used a 9850 and a 9750. It is then not even possible to set the speed manually. The BIOS refuses to accept manual settings because it has several other limitations. For example, the memory modules require a precharge time of 4T. If you leave the configuration on AUTO it will then pick the 4T value from the SPD and sets the precharge time correctly. However, if you try to set the timings manually you then can only choose between 2T and 3T! A 4T timing is not available. Another problem is that the board can drive memory only with up to 2.175v. Some modules need up 2.2v and even 2.35v. Perhaps the board just needs a new BIOS but they cannot say when or if there will be one.

Fact is that they are selling a board for which they claim full AM2+ compliance but do not support all CPUs with it and have not verified a single DDR2-1066 module running at full speed.

It is like buying a car with a real 6-cylinder engine and is sold as such but when you drive it you realize that they disabled one cylinder. That is called fraud. I bought the board because I want to use it with a 9850 and DDR2-1066 memory. Chances are it requires a new board revision. Anyways, I am now trying for more than 2 weeks to get this board running at full speed and have past the time in which I can return the board. Maybe the reseller will take it back when I explain the situation. Therefore I am warning everyone not to buy the board unless they have prepared for a big disappointment.