Where Is the BIOS Chip?

[profJim]

Re: Where Is the BIOS Chip?

Compare the available features, the UD3P has:

• a different cooling setup, probably a bit better than the UD3L
• 2 PCI-e slots for future Cross-Fire setup
• 2 back panel LAN connections
• ALC889A vs ALC888 (probably not a big difference)

Compare the number of USB, e-SATA, IEEE 1394, and other peripheral connections.
Does the UD3L also have the on-board serial and parallel headers?

Either board is an excellent choice, it all boils down to; is it worth the price difference for the added features.

Final note: the UD3P and R models have been best sellers.
This is important because GB will probably continue to better support the biggest selling boards with future bios updates where they might not offer as many updates for lesser selling boards.
I got "stuck" with my GA-N650SLI-DS4 mobo because it had very few bios updates and it wasn't a big seller.

Good luck with your new mobo.

[lb1947]

Re: Where Is the BIOS Chip?

Hello to all. I thought I'd check-in to give anyone who is interested an update as to how I'm progressing with my PC problem. Today I ordered from Newegg the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P Motherboard, a SILVERSTONE FM121-B 120mm Case Fan, and a plunger of Tuniq TX-3 Thermal Compound. And from a place new to me, Hypermicro.com, I ordered a bracket with one DB25 plug and one DB9 plug attached, complete with ribbon cables for plugging into the motherboard's parallel and COM headers. (This purchase was interesting -- the bracket was only $1, but it's going to cost me $6.68 to get it shipped to me.) All the above lightened my wallet by about $174, but I should get $25 back in mail-in rebates.

As for my current motherboard, the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L, it is under warranty until August 2010 so I was able to get an RMA number for it. As luck would have it, motherboards with a 775 socket (such as mine) are the only ones for which Gigabyte requires that a protective socket cover be installed prior to the motherboard being shipped to them for service. Anyone who knows me knows that I never throw ANYTHING away, but for the life of me I cannot find the cover that was on the 775 socket when I received the motherboard back in 2007. Fortunately for me, there are a couple of good Samaritans working at the local computer fix-it place who kindly gave me two socket covers. So now I can ship my GA-P35-DS3L motherboard to Gigabyte for servicing where, hopefully, my only cost will be for shipping it to them.

When my new motherboard arrives in 2 days or so, I suspect I'll have some questions -- all of you experts please standby. And thanks again for all of your help and advice to this point.

[lb1947]

Re: Where Is the BIOS Chip?

Well, my new EP45-UD3P motherboard has arrived, and my broken one is at Gigabyte's 'fix-it' shop -- I hope to receive it back in a few weeks all ready for me to start looking for cheap (pricewise)/used parts to eventually build it up to a useable base for a PC. In spite of a few installation problems with the UD3P (operator error), it is running and I am adding back the old parts one-at-a-time to make sure all goes well.

Again, thanks to all for your assistance in diagnosing my motherboard that is now RMA'ed. I do have another question, but I think I'll close this thread out and start a new one with my new question.