Personal computing discussed
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curtisb wrote:Motherboards have been doing this for a long time now.
Such as, and why?Some changes require a full power reset of the hardware
My HDDs only turn off when I explicitly tell them to do so, or on power off.Stopping and starting HDD's is something the system will do even while it's running depending on your power savings settings.
just brew it! wrote:There's no lack of mobo makers, and they need to differentiate themselves. I just don't know how common/uncommon it is.Seems like lack of this behavior would be way, way down on the list of features to look for when choosing a motherboard.
just brew it! wrote:And again, unless you're changing your BIOS settings multiple times a day, how is this even remotely a problem? Seems like lack of this behavior would be way, way down on the list of features to look for when choosing a motherboard. Somewhere between whether they include a COM port breakout bracket in the box, and the color of the SATA connectors.
Looking for Knowledge wrote:When drunk.....
I want to have sex, but find I am more likely to be shot down than when I am sober.
meerkt wrote:curtisb wrote:Motherboards have been doing this for a long time now.
If your current Asus does it, who's the BIOS vendor?
meerkt wrote:curtisb wrote:Such as, and why?Some changes require a full power reset of the hardware
meerkt wrote:The aforementioned Gigabytes do it on all changes, even "Saving" without changing anything. As a point of reference, there's no power cycling on a comparable Asus mobo I have;
meerkt wrote:curtisb wrote:My HDDs only turn off when I explicitly tell them to do so, or on power off.Stopping and starting HDD's is something the system will do even while it's running depending on your power savings settings.
meerkt wrote:just brew it! wrote:There's no lack of mobo makers, and they need to differentiate themselves. I just don't know how common/uncommon it is.Seems like lack of this behavior would be way, way down on the list of features to look for when choosing a motherboard.
meerkt wrote:Interesting. But why would this need physically turning off?
I should qualify. The Gigabyte does unnecessary power cycling. Usually also after "Exit without saving".
An Asus mobo (same G41 chipset as the Gigabyte) apparently does do some cycling, but not after trivial changes.
So, anyone knows mobos/manufacturers that cycle without need?
meerkt wrote:The two Gigabyte boards I saw it on were G41 and P43. Maybe a bug in their 4x series?
Anyway, in case it's needed I'd still appreciate a warning plus confirmation before it happens.
HERETIC wrote:Poke in the dark-
Could it have something to do with most Gigabyte boards having TWO bios chips????????
meerkt wrote:Asus boards that power cycle after "Exit without saving"?
Ryu Connor wrote:HERETIC wrote:Poke in the dark-
Could it have something to do with most Gigabyte boards having TWO bios chips????????
It's unlikely. You're not actually writing to the BIOS/UEFI. The BIOS/UEFI settings are stored into a piece of RAM (aka CMOS or BIOS memory) inside the PCH (southbridge).
So there'd be no reason to modify the second firmware for just settings changes.
That being said, BIOS/UEFI updates can also go through multiple power cycles and even multiple update stages.
I'd also note I've owned both Asus and Gigabyte boards that engage in all the aforementioned behavior.
HERETIC wrote:Thanks for that-I always thought that changes made in the bios were written on the bios chip.
I wonder if that means that poor 3v battery has to keep parts of the southbridge powered as well as the bios chip when disconnected?
Aranarth wrote:I can't think of a single mainboard in the last 25 years that did not do a full post after changing bios settings...
Aranarth wrote:Some of the workstation and server main boards are even worse forcing you to go through the whole 5 minute loading firmware stage no matter what you changed.
HERETIC wrote:Thanks for that-I always thought that changes made in the bios were written on the bios chip.
I wonder if that means that poor 3v battery has to keep parts of the southbridge powered as well as the bios chip when disconnected?
just brew it! wrote:Edit: I should also add that I've not been terribly impressed with Gigabyte in general. After getting burned by QA issues and poor design choices on multiple brands over the years, I've become a bit of an ASUS fanboy. They're by no means perfect either, but they seem to have given me the least grief.
emorgoch wrote:just brew it! wrote:Edit: I should also add that I've not been terribly impressed with Gigabyte in general. After getting burned by QA issues and poor design choices on multiple brands over the years, I've become a bit of an ASUS fanboy. They're by no means perfect either, but they seem to have given me the least grief.
Any hints on dealing with their QA? One of the RAM slots on my Z97 recently died (any DIMM put in that slot leads to lots of memory errors) after swapping the CPU AIO watercooler. I put in a support ticket with them, and it took 4 days for them to respond, telling me to run through the standard testing practices (Update BIOS, verify memory sticks one at a time, etc.) which I had already done and noted. Responded to that, and it's been 3 days and I haven't heard anything back.