GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

[warren300]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

yh i played bc2,it will play all the modern games very well,i only have 17" monitor,its from my old pentium d pc,the monitor and gpu,id like a 5850 tho when prices drop a little.crysis is my fave online game at the mo

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

No need for you to apologize, I can see how you thought I was being that way, so it was only me who needed to say sorry.

So, did you have any luck with further testing yet? Just checking in

[Decrypted]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

OK, I have my rig completely dissasembled. Nothing was out of place with the heatsink touching tracers, the backplate was still there and perfectly intact.

However...I did notice a slight smudge of Artic Silver 5, and it was across a few traces on the top of the board which lead to the ram. The traces are labelled DD1 through to DD6, and being right beside the ram banks, I'm pretty sure they are ram related. Also, the smudge of AS5 was across the traces labelled DD5 and DD6, the exact slots im having problems with. Looks promising...Can some folks chime in on whether or not this could be the likely cause before I rebuild?

I rechecked my cpu pins under very close high intensity light. My eyes are perfect up close. Couldn't see anything so I'll check one more time tommorow, I'm going to bed and plan to build it tommorow when I wake up. Is it reasonably safe to assume I would see bent pins? Given the symptoms and the fact that my processor is detected and running as it should...what is the likelyhood it is processor related?

Another thing of note is that underneath my i7 920 chip, where all the gold contacts are, some have a coppery kind of color to them, it looks like it may be wear from my voltages, or from running something too fast maybe? or is that color changing normal and nothing to worry about?

Thanks again.

[warren300]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

try removing the paste with a cotton bud dipped in alcahol,i cant remember whether arctic silver 5 is conductive or mx2 i know one of them is

[Decrypted]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

Meh. It's back up and running. Four gigs in dual channel. Same symptoms persist. Time to call a spade a spade. I still have a couple of years warranty, and can't stand being without a rig...so I'll buy a new mobo in the near future and send this one for RMA, to use in a backup rig. Not happy about it, but whatevs. Thanks for all the help guys.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

You would see bent pins, if you have good eyes. You may not see them though, it is tiny. Did you see anything "off" in the general pattern of the tip points, gold dots?

If you want, and have a good camera, post a few shots from different angles of your CPU Socket then we can look. As for your CPU, not sure what you mean, you could also post an image of that too.

Although AS5 on your board is not good, it should be ok unless you also had a scratch through the PCB under it. Or it would be bad if you had AS5 in one of the actual memory slots, which could be possible since you had paste already right there on the PCB beside it. How did that happen anyway?

If you need help finding the RMA page let me know. It normally takes about just under 3 weeks to get a board back, often 2 weeks.

[Decrypted]

Re: GA-EX58-DS4 not detecting channel C

Hey all, been a long time.

I finally figured out the problem...

The GX58-DS4 motherboard started showing other flaky problems. It would detect my CPU at the wrong speeds. Some of the USB ports wouldn't work, or would only provide power and not data. Towards the end the cold boot issue started getting really bad. It would just randomly not post after a cold boot, and I would just have to power it down and up around 50 times, just waiting for that lucky moment when it would boot. Once it was booted it was perfectly stable for weeks on end.

I tried once again to get Gigabyte to work with me in any way possible for a motherboard exchange. I am in Ontario, Canada, and I was not willing to go 2-4 weeks waiting for my old mobo to ship across customs to the states, then back across the border again, in both cases possibly being delayed even longer. I offered to completely pay for a new motherboard from Gigabyte, and get refunded once they received my dead mobo. No dice. They wouldn't work with me at all for a positive solution both times I tried to contact them, once a while ago, and recently again. I even contacted the Gigabyte rep at Newegg in desperation for some help, but alas nothing I tried or anyone I contacted would help.

Gigabyte really needs an RMA center in Canada so this isn't such an issue. It's really frustrating that Gigabyte is apparently oblivious to the fact that in today's day and age, a month without a working PC is unacceptable for a variety of very valid reasons.

Anyway... I ended up finding a nice motherboard for a very good price and went with it, as this didn't leave me without a PC for weeks. It turned out the problem of memory not being detected persisted, although all the other problems with the DS4 mentioned above were fixed. This conclusively pointed to the memory controller in the processor as the problem.

So... I contacted Intel. It turned out my processor was a few months out of the three year warranty at this point. However, Intel is a grade A stand up company, the complete opposite of my experience with Gigabyte. I explained in an email that the processor had gone faulty early in the warranty but I had not realized it and had suspected the mobo wrongly the whole time. Long story short, Intel cross-shipped a replacement processor for me, and it arrived literally one business day later, the fastest shipping available. I experience zero down time with my PC.

I would like to point out a couple of important things here:

1. Intel has won over a customer for life. Even if AMD is slightly ahead with their processors, I will faithfully stick with Intel from now on, as I know I am completely covered if a problem arises.

2. I will NEVER buy a Gigabyte product ever again. Unlike with Intel, I know that I am NOT completely covered if a problem arises; there is no RMA department in my country, and no matter what I am willing to do on my end, I know Gigabyte will not go out of their way in the slightest to help me.

Just thought I should update this thread as it may be helpful to others experiencing similar symptoms.

Thanks again for all the help!