P.C. Build Help

[LemonSpice]

I have a GA-970A-UD3

when did you last update your bios and do you still have the mobo manuel

[Paul_the_Hutt]

when did you last update your bios and do you still have the mobo manuel

 

I've never had the manual, and I've never updated it. It's been running whatever it came with since I got it which was about a year ago.

[LemonSpice]

I've never had the manual, and I've never updated it. It's been running whatever it came with since I got it which was about a year ago.

Here i found this online 

 

If you still have the box for the motherboard there is a good chance there is a sticker on the side which will tell you the revision number (I have my mate's box here and it does). Otherwise it is a case of peering inside the PC with a torch. The revision number is nearly always printed on the motherboard. It is usually not too hidden, sometimes screen printed near the logo or around the pci slots etc (pretty sure on your board it will be on the corner of the board above the PCI slot.

You will need to to find what board revision you have to make sure you download the correct BIOS files (if you check on the product page you will see different version numbers to click on and it would seem they have different files).

Gigabyte make some good boards but I'll concur that things aren't very well explained on the BIOS front. I would select the newest non beta BIOS and download it into a folder. Gigabyte tend to have their files as self extracting executables (I'm on my Mac and can't easily look). If the extracted files contain an autoexec.bat (can't remember if Windows hides these by default) then it is a sign that you need to go the bootable MS DOS USB route (it is easy enough though).

I have to rush to get some things done just now, but I'll look at this later tonight on my PC to check. I have a different GB board and updating a normal BIOS was easy - just format a USB stick as fat 32, copy BIOS file across and use the utility in the BIOS to update. However when I needed to change to a EUFI BIOS I had to use the bootable MS DOS method.

The link below shows you how to make a bootable MS DOS stick (I know it for A Crucial SSD firmware update but just follow the first few steps, when you have done second bit and the Win 98 MS DOS files are copied across you are done)

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/How-...

I'll try and check this evening for you though to make sure you select the correct method.

•  

[Paul_the_Hutt]

 

Here i found this online 

 

If you still have the box for the motherboard there is a good chance there is a sticker on the side which will tell you the revision number (I have my mate's box here and it does). Otherwise it is a case of peering inside the PC with a torch. The revision number is nearly always printed on the motherboard. It is usually not too hidden, sometimes screen printed near the logo or around the pci slots etc (pretty sure on your board it will be on the corner of the board above the PCI slot.

You will need to to find what board revision you have to make sure you download the correct BIOS files (if you check on the product page you will see different version numbers to click on and it would seem they have different files).

Gigabyte make some good boards but I'll concur that things aren't very well explained on the BIOS front. I would select the newest non beta BIOS and download it into a folder. Gigabyte tend to have their files as self extracting executables (I'm on my Mac and can't easily look). If the extracted files contain an autoexec.bat (can't remember if Windows hides these by default) then it is a sign that you need to go the bootable MS DOS USB route (it is easy enough though).

I have to rush to get some things done just now, but I'll look at this later tonight on my PC to check. I have a different GB board and updating a normal BIOS was easy - just format a USB stick as fat 32, copy BIOS file across and use the utility in the BIOS to update. However when I needed to change to a EUFI BIOS I had to use the bootable MS DOS method.

The link below shows you how to make a bootable MS DOS stick (I know it for A Crucial SSD firmware update but just follow the first few steps, when you have done second bit and the Win 98 MS DOS files are copied across you are done)

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/How-...

I'll try and check this evening for you though to make sure you select the correct method.

•  

 

 

I have rev 3 (it was right where you said), I see the site has three different downloads FA, FB, and FC. I assume that its FC since its got the latest release date. I do see the autoexec.bat file you mentioned. This is what it looks like.

 

[LemonSpice]

look at the hyper link at the bottom to make a bootable usb stick and then just follow the directions

[Camcognito]

Thanks, I have an h100i on the way as previously mentioned in my other post.

no problem, thats a good choice

[LemonSpice]

look at the hyper link at the bottom to make a bootable usb stick and then just follow the directions

And if you accidentally brick your bios you have a second one according to gigabyte

[Paul_the_Hutt]

look at the hyper link at the bottom to make a bootable usb stick and then just follow the directions

 

I figured I just wanted to make sure.

[Paul_the_Hutt]

And if you accidentally brick your bios you have a second one according to gigabyte

Where is the "second" one you speak of? Is that in the files I showed you?

[thoristhebest]

 

This is my current setup and I was just wondering if I could make any reasonable improvements without going nuts and if they'd make a difference or if I should just sell it now and start over. What spurred this is I just got watch dogs and its not running well even on "low" settings and I think its just that my PC isn't capable of handling it, though I have heard of it not being optimized properly. Thanks everyone.

 

Case (NZXT Phantom 410 Gaming Case - White))

 

Processor (AMD FX-8120 CPU (8x 3.10GHz/8MB L2 Cache)))

 

Motherboard (Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 -- AMD 970))

 

Memory (8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - G.Skill Ripjaws X))

 

Video Card (AMD Radeon HD 7850 - 2GB - Single Card))

 

Case Lighting (Cold Cathode Neon Light - Blue))

Power Supply (500 Watt - Corsair CX500 V2))

 

Processor Cooling (Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink))

 

Primary Hard Drive (1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive))

 

Optical Drive (24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black))

 

Operating System (Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

 

i dont think its your processor. although getting a slightly better heatsink might be better. not to overclock. just for better running temps. might help cool the ambient case temp down and in turn your graphics card. your ram and storage are probably bottle necking your system. so think about getting a ssd or 16gb of ram. or you could just try a newer graphics card like a r9 280 which will have better software. thats what i found with my system andway  (its very similar to yours)

[Paul_the_Hutt]

look at the hyper link at the bottom to make a bootable usb stick and then just follow the directions

 

This is what I got so far, I think I might have too many files in the stick though. It said to put the .exe in but in that example I'm thinking it was part of a Crucial SSD firmware update like you said. I have two and some other file so I added them all. By the way once I get all this done should I flash my bios now or wait until I actually get and put in the new CPU?

 

[LemonSpice]

This is what I got so far, I think I might have too many files in the stick though. It said to put the .exe in but in that case I'm thinking there was only one. I have two and some other file so I added them all. By the way once I get all this done should I flash my bios now or wait until I actually get and put in the new CPU?

 

flash it now its just going to add features and stability to your bios unless you lose power in the middle of it it will just improve stability of your mobo

[LemonSpice]

Where is the "second" one you speak of? Is that in the files I showed you?

no it is a literal second bios chip on your mobo so if you brick the first one then you have the backup second one so you don't need to send in your mobo. There should be a switch on your mobo to change between the two bios's

[Paul_the_Hutt]

no it is a literal second bios chip on your mobo so if you brick the first one then you have the backup second one so you don't need to send in your mobo. There should be a switch on your mobo to change between the two bios's

 

I'm really sorry for all this but I have no idea what that means, I mean I know what bricked means but I had no idea about another switch and stuff. I'm normally pretty good with computer stuff but the bios and etc. is something I was always told to stay away from so I haven't picked up any of this kind of stuff until now. I'm really glad I didn't do what I thought was the right thing, which was just pop in the fx-8350 and fire it up.

[Paul_the_Hutt]

flash it now its just going to add features and stability to your bios unless you lose power in the middle of it it will just improve stability of your mobo

 

So the files I have on the drive are ok? I'm going to assume that when I flash the bios I'm going to want this file, mb_bios_ga-970a-ud3_v.3.x_fc.exe, it seems like its the right one to run, or either its all automatic. As you can tell I have no idea and I'm really sorry again.

[LemonSpice]

So the files I have on the drive are ok? I'm going to assume that when I flash the bios I'm going to want this file, mb_bios_ga-970a-ud3_v.3.x_fc.exe, it seems like its the right one to run, or either its all automatic. As you can tell I have no idea and I'm really sorry again.

yes it should recognize them automagicly after you select update bios in the bios and it might  ask you is this the bios you want to update to and select yes and just wait for it to finish without touching your pc and you should be good

[Paul_the_Hutt]

yes it should recognize them automagicly after you select update bios in the bios and it might  ask you is this the bios you want to update to and select yes and just wait for it to finish without touching your pc and you should be good

 

Update went well, I've had game installs that went worse. I verified what bios I had in the first place, I saved it to the drive just in case, I did have to pick what file I wanted and it was not the file I thought it was but it wouldn't let me use but one file, the correct one. I did have trouble on the restart however, it wouldn't go to windows, it just kept verifying the install and said press any key to shut down. After doing that twice I remembered the boot cycle and just removed the flash drive (oops). I verified the update before letting it go to windows. I assume I'll never really see these changes as they were minor but it might have had to be done anyway with the new CPU. I'm glad you helped me catch it before I put that new cpu in and screwed something up. Just out of curiosity what would have happened without the update? Major problems? Crashes?

[LemonSpice]

Update went well, I've had game installs that went worse. I verified what bios I had in the first place, I saved it to the drive just in case, I did have to pick what file I wanted and it was not the file I thought it was but it wouldn't let me use but one file, the correct one. I did have trouble on the restart however, it wouldn't go to windows, it just kept verifying the install and said press any key to shut down. After doing that twice I remembered the boot cycle and just removed the flash drive (oops). I verified the update before letting it go to windows. I assume I'll never really see these changes as they were minor but it might have had to be done anyway with the new CPU. I'm glad you helped me catch it before I put that new cpu in and screwed something up. Just out of curiosity what would have happened without the update? Major problems? Crashes?

without the update it either wouldn't have worked or you would have gotten a lot of errors and or it would have just overvolted the hell out of it as has been the case on some intel platforms when a new cpu is installed that is not the same generation hope you upgrade goes well and wish you the best of luck. 

[Paul_the_Hutt]

without the update it either wouldn't have worked or you would have gotten a lot of errors and or it would have just overvolted the hell out of it as has been the case on some intel platforms when a new cpu is installed that is not the same generation hope you upgrade goes well and wish you the best of luck. 

 

Thanks I plan on keeping this thread open until I'm done with the upgrade if I'm allowed to do that. All I'm waiting on is the CPU. I just need to find an 8350, the h100i and GTX 760 are already on the way. I guess if your doing a CPU swap you should know all this stuff already or do more research. I was thinking I was just going to plug the CPU in and move on with my life like I've done with GPUs and RAM but its not that simple and I could have really messed up my whole computer without you. I'm hoping I don't run into anymore problems after this. I've done GPU swaps before and the cooler looks pretty easy. The only thing I was worried about is the AMD CPU and the Nvida GPU not getting along with each other but I've heard that that won't matter. Of course now I'm worried about the CPU install now that I've learned all this new stuff. Thank you so much for all your help and I hope you can keep an eye on this topic for me until I can get this upgrade done. 

[Paul_the_Hutt]

Almost that time! I can't wait until everything gets here.

 

[TheShadyTiger]

 since linus talks about nvida so much I wanted to switch over. 

There is nothing wrong with AMD. I have an AMD card and ive had 0 problems so far.

[TheShadyTiger]

Almost that time! I can't wait until everything gets here.

 

 

 

Awesome man! The Hype is real!

[LemonSpice]

Almost that time! I can't wait until everything gets here.

 

do a build log

[Paul_the_Hutt]

do a build log

Should I start a new post in the build log area or just continue here?

[Laputacake]

I think it's software problem because i have a similar build and can run high settings around 30 fps in Watch Dogs, also what @Deletive said about upgrading.

FYI, resolution i'm playing at is 1680 by 1050

Another 1680 x 1050 :HighFive: