Z68A-GD80 (G3) bricked?

hi,
once again i find my self in need for help, just flashed my z68a-GD80 g3 bios with the lastest bios (J00) from msi page (Bios.exe on a usb key as indicated) and once my system rebooted...well never came to live again... now when i turn it on ALLWAYS black screen, don't even post...
is my board bricked?
i've tried clear cmos, with rear button and with the jumper, removed graphic card, removed memory's and allways the same, computer turns on but no screen.
my computer hardware is the one on my sig

Give flobelix's recommendations a try, but what in the world possessed you to flash an Ivy Bridge CPU support UEFI/BIOS in the first place?
For mainboards with a Sandy Bridge CPU, version 18.8 would have been the correct and better choice.
If nothing works after the CMOS clear and trying with 1 stick of RAM, yes, the board is now a brick. Only way to restore it will be to take it to a pc shop that has an SPI flash programming device, or send it to an MSI Service Center to restore it for you. Be sure to have the secondary chip flashed as well.

Similar Messages

  • Z68a-GD80 b3 bios fail ?

    Hi,
    i recently bricked my p67a-gd65 b3 via bios flash (both bios corrupted), and i got the z68a-gd80 b3 in return from msi,
    now i do need to say when i first turned on my pc i immediately noticed the blue bios light was flashing, so i knew the first bios had failed and its now running on the second bios.
    So i figured, lets update the bios, and i downloaded the latest bios version 20.1. And so i booted into dos, started to update Intel ME and then it flashed the backup bios.... then it automaticly rebooted and the infinite bootcycle maraton began... everything powers on for 1 sec and it dies, powers on for 1 sec and it dies.. etc et, there are no blue bios lights on when powering on so i thing the bios is partly corrupted, enough to NOT boot, but also enough to not turn on the bios lights on the mobo anyone got any idea ? i really don´t want to rma the board cuz i just got it like a few days, and the RMA proces of the p67a/gd65 took almost 2 months :(
    Thanks in advance!

    All you can do is try a full cmos clear w/ a bare bones set-up. What you should have done when you saw the blinking light was enable multi bios update in bios to recover the bad bios.
    Probably the simplest thing to do is bring the board to a computer shop with an SPI programmer. It will probably cost around $50-$75 to get this fixed.
    If you have a Sandy bridge CPU, stick with 7672vH5.zip unless there are issues. If you absolutely need to flash your bios, use the forum flash tool and archives.
    >>BIOSes<<

  • Z68A-GD80(G3) Can no longer read external hd dock after flashing beta bios

    I flashed E7672IMS.J31 Beta Bios because I was on a very old bios that was not compatible with my GTX 970 card I just bought.  Flashing the bios fixed my 970 compatibility but in the process made it so my 2 external hd docks no longer worked (at this time on windows 7).  self powered usb harddrives still worked though.  At this time my sata mode was IDE which I thought might have had to do with it since it doesnt have hotswap. I assumed it was an issue with some drivers I installed after flashing the beta bios and I was due for upgrading/reformatting anyways so I enabled AHCI and hot swap then did a clean install of windows 8.1.  The external hard drives still don't read!!   I've used multiple different hard drives and different usb ports including usb 2.0.  The docks are usb 3.0 and I use them daily to edit photos from my work.  Any ideas of things I could try?
    My pc:
    intel 2500k
    16gb Corsair vengeance ram
    MSI 970 GTX GPU
    Corsair 750w power supply
    Z68A-GD80(G3) motherboard
    E7672IMS.J31 Beta Bios

    Could the issue be that I didn't download the Intel Management Driver after installing the beta bios I flashed?  Maybe I could try that first, which one from this list do I use with my pc setup?
    thanks for the help!
    Quote from: flobelix on 20-October-14, 00:38:02
    Try going back to E7672IMS.J20 OFFICIAL. Use the recommended flashing method with provided archive only: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=163870.msg1215101#msg1215101

  • PCIE 3.0 test with MSI Z68A-GD80 G3 :)

    The Z68A-GD80 G3 is MSI’s first motherboard with PCIE 3.0 connectivity. Currently there are no PCIE 3 devices available yet but later on we can test its performance by using a PCIE SSD. Aside from this, the board has also a new UEFI Bios named “Click Bios II” which for me is way better than the previous version. 
    Before we take a closer look on the board, let’s check out the package first.
    Box design is a bit the same as the GD80 B3 version before.  Once you open it up, all main features of the said board are enumerated
    Extreme Power Design, Military Class II Components (SFC, Hi-C Caps, Multi Bios), 3 PCIEx16 Slots, Super Charger and OC Genie II
    For the bundled accessories, you have the same old story – Manual, Software Disc, four SATA cables, two Molex to SATA power connectors & SLI Bridge. Then for some extras - PCI USB 3.0 two ports bracket, guide headers for faster and easy connectivity and lastly voltage check points.
    Next, the “Mainboard”.  By physically looking at it and by comparing it side by side against the Z68A-GD80 B3 motherboard. You won’t find any difference except for the PCIE X16 locks. It has also the same black and blue color theme, two vrm heatsinks connected by a flat heatpipe and  V-Check points.
    Moving closer to the board you have 8 Power Pins to power up the processor, 2 PCI slots, 2 PCIE x1 slots for devices such as TV Tuners or Audio Cards. 2 PCIE Gen3 & 1 PCIE Gen2  x16 Slots. With one VC connected at the top most slot, speed will be @ x16. If both top and middle are used, it will be @ x8/x8. Lastly, by using the 3rd PCIEx16 Gen2 slot. You have x8/x8/x4. It would also disable certain onboard devices such as eSATA Port, Sata 7, one onboard front USB 3.0, two PCI Slots and firewire. So if possible avoid using the last VC slot. 
    At the top most PCIE x1 area. You will find a 6-pin power connector. This will provide more juice/power for multi-GPU setups.
    Next, at the bottom part of the board. You have the Easy Buttons (Power and Reset) and the popular one button “OC Genie”. The red colored USB header is for the Super Charger while the blue is a regular USB 3.0.  For the SATA Connectors  you have a total of 7. 4 regular SATA 3GB/s, 2 SATA 6GB/s controlled by Intel chipset and another SATA 6GB/s by Marvell.
    Wrapping things up, we have now the IO terminal ports. Starting from the left we have combo PS2 port and SPDIF Optical Out. Clear CMOS Button, e-SATA port running under Marvell, 2 USB 2.0 and Firewire ports controlled by Via. Moving across, 2 Gigabit Lan by Realtek 8111E, 2 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 run under NEC D720200 controller. Next, we have DVI and HDMI output connections and 6 analog audio ports by Realtek ALC892.
    Once you are into the bios, you will find the new and improved Click Bios. Nice and professional looking, faster navigation and easier to use.
    To test the performance of the new PCIE Gen3 technology, we will be using this Photofast PCIE SSD device http://www.photofast.tw/comboproducts.asp?pid=1.
    We will be connecting the PCIE SSD device on the GD80’s Gen3 and Gen2 slots and compare the results using the disk benchmark software ATTO.  I ran the benchmark 9 times for the two set of tests.
    System Configuration as follows:
    Processor:  Intel Core i7 2600K at default stock speed
    Memory: Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 2x2GB DDR3 2133MHz
    SSD: OCZ Vertex 2
    Motherboard: MSI Z68A-GD80 G3
    Softwares: CPU-Z 1.58, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit with SP1, Latest Atto Software 1.47 I think.
    First test, Photofast running on Gen2 (third VC slot).  One screenshot from the 9 tests made
    Second, using the Gen 3 connectivity. One screenshot from the 9 tests made
    Below is the summary of all the tests done on the board with the Photofast SSD PCIE.
    That’s probably it. More forum posts to come 

    Quote
    I have a eSata hdd Seagate Freeagent Xtreme 1,5tb which cannot be recognized by win7
    Did you have your previous board's BIOS set to AHCI or IDE ? You need to set this BIOS the same.
    Firstly only insert one RAM module in the slot closest to the CPU. Remove the rest. Then do full CMOS clear >>Clear CMOS Guide<<  also remove the MB battery.
    What BIOS do you currently have ? The initial BIOS releases were plagued by CPU throttling which have been fixed in the cyrrent beta BIOS releases.

  • MSI z68A-GD80 (g3) "B2" error with ned gtx 970

    Hey.
    Hardware info:
    MSI z68A-GD80 (g3) - Bios version. V18.8
    Intel i5 2500k
    4x4GB kingston hyperX 1600mhz
    MSI 970 gaming g4
    PSU : Seasonic SS-500GB
    My problem is that when I'm trying to install the new GPU i get the error "b2" when i boot. If i chance back to my old gpu (560 ti) or the gpu on the CPU there is no problem. Also i have tested the gtx 970 in another PC and it works.
    After some reseach i found out that i need a bios update. I have tried this but with no luck, cant upgrade bios. I have use "MSI Forum HQ USB Flashing" tools with bios from MSI hp (I choose the (g3) bios) . I can get the bios on the USP stick but when I'm trying to install the new bios i got the error "Bios corruption detected !!" and stopped. I don't know what to do now, i hope that you can help me
    The usp stick is fat32

    I had the exact same problem as the original poster - same motherboard, same old graphics card (560ti) and same new graphics card (970 gaming) and got the same B2 error code and the PC not going beyond that.
    I flashed the bios and that fixed the problem - the exact version I used was on this page:
    Ok, this forum isn't allowing me to post a link to it, but just go to the official page for the motherboard on MSI's website - then click on Support and Service Location, which should open up the list of BIOS upgrades...
    The top one as of writing this is version 19.2
    To do the flashing of the BIOS  you must load the downloaded exe file onto a flash drive and run it from there. Don't worry if it seems like your PC is hanging, it just takes a while (while still in Windows). It then reboots and will finish up flashing the BIOS (you'll see a red bar with the warning on a black background with white text).
    After doing that, my GTX970 GAMING works like an absolute charm! I can now finally enjoy Minecraft like it was meant to be played haha (kidding, I played GTA 5 the whole weekend with EVERYTHING to the absolute MAX!)
    Hope this helps if you are experiencing this extremely annoying error.

  • Z68A-GD80 B3 Boot Loop and Failed BIOS LED Flashing

    I've been having "boot loop" issues with my system since it was built in June. Basically, when the system is powered on the lights/fans come on for around 3 seconds then it shuts itself off for another 3 seconds and repeats the loop infinitely. Meanwhile there are no POST code beeps and nothing shows up on screen. I also noticed today that the Dual BIOS control LED is flashing during boot loops indicating that the primary BIOS has failed.
    As this was my first build in quite a while I didn't initially worry about it too much, figuring that it was probably just a BIOS setting or improperly seated hardware issue. Shortly there after my son was born and needless to say there wasn't a whole lot of time to trouble shoot a PC for a couple of months. Fast forward four months later to today and the boot looping is driving me nuts. It seems to occur when the system has been powered down overnight and more frequently if the reset button is used. I've read a lot of stuff saying that the Gigabyte boards are prone to this issue, but can't find anyone else with the same issue on a MSI z68 board. I've check/done the following to try and trouble shoot the issue.
    1. Flash to BIOS 17.3 (twice)
    2. Installed system speaker to hear post codes. Got a whole lot of nothing.
    3. Installed one stick of RAM in slot one. Tried all four sticks. Nothing works.
    4. Set BIOS values to default.
    5. Tried disabling and enabling XMP profiles for the RAM.
    6. Upped the voltage on the RAM to 1.5V, since the board reports an under-volt around 1.48 on auto. No effect.
    7. Disabled PLL overvolt.
    8. Enabled VDroop (still not clear on what this is).
    9. Removed both video cards and used the on chip video. No effect.
    10. Unplugged all USB devices.
    11. Tried XMP enabled and disabled for the memory.
    12. Hard drive plugged in and removed makes no difference.
    13. Bare system with only one stick of RAM installed, no difference.
    11. Lots of other crap that I can't think of right now.
    Any help would be great as I'm at a loss here.
    System specs are as follows;
    Intel 2600K
    Corsair H50 Cooler
    MSI z68a-gd80 B3 with BIOS v 17.3
    PNY Geforce GTX 560 Ti (2x in SLI)
    Linksys Wireless G PCI card
    Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM (4x2GB at 1600 MHz XMP enabled)
    Segate Barracuda 7200 RPM Drive 500GB (2x in RAID0)
    OCZ Vertex2 64 GB SSD as system cache
    Corsair TX750 Power Supply
    Corsair 600t case

    More wierd stuff.
    I couldn't get the board to boot without looping last night, tried the usual unplugging and clearing the CMOS nothing. Boot loops at every turn.
    I wonder if maybe I've got some bad pins or a poor connection on my RAM slots. I removed the RAM and began testing one by one. First stick gave a boot loop. Second stick worked. On restart the BIOS LED wasn't flashing anymore, which is odd since I hadn't yet set the BIOS fix feature to enabled. I powered down again and put my RAM back in, set my BIOS settings as suggested, and then clocked the RAM to 1333MHz. Seemed stable last night through a number of restarts.
    As for the backup BIOS reporting v 17.3. Yeah, that is odd. The manual says it can't be flashed either. Maybe BIOS just reports what the primary version number is no matter which chip (primary or secondary) is actually active and being booted from?
    I'd like to think this is over, but I'm sure when I go home and power up I'll get another boot loop. I'd rather not be without a PC for a couple weeks, but I may just have to RMA so I don't have to deal with this anymore. It's quite frustrating to have fiddle around for 10+ minutes to get your PC up and running, plus with a RAID0 setup and SSD cache I'm just asking for a system failure with all these power on/off cycles.

  • Z68A-GD80 (G3) power loop

    Hi,
    I have an MSI Z68A-GD80 G3 motherboard stuck in a loop. When I switch it on the lights and fans are on for a second then they switch off. Then, they switch on again for another second and switch off, repeat. Hard drives and optical drive will switch off and on too if they're plugged in. During this the screen stays blank. The BIOS light on the motherboard doesn't switch on and doesn't blink. A few power phase lights across the top of the motherboard switch on and off. The motherboard's previous owner told me this problem started after a BIOS update.
    I read about a flash tool available from the forums. I haven't tried the flash tool, yet, but at this point I suspect the motherboard won't run long enough to do anything with a flash drive.
    I read maybe the current BIOS is having trouble with the CPU. I put in a Core i7-2600K. I don't know what CPU the previous owner was using before the problem started. I could try a different CPU but I'm not sure which one. I thought this motherboard was supposed to work with the Core i7-2600K when it was knew out of the box- no BIOS updates needed.
    There were a few bent pins in the CPU socket when I got the motherboard. However, I straightened them and now you can't see which ones were bent. I guess a pin not being connected properly to the underside of the CPU is possible but the pins look ok.
    Suggestions?

    Today I tried removing the RAM and CPU and powered on the motherboard. It behaves the same as earlier- powers on for a second, then off, then on and so on. Only the first two CPU power phase lights on the motherboard switch on when the CPU is out of the socket and the same when in. Seems like if one or two pins in the socket weren't connecting correctly with the CPU then I'd get different results with the CPU in the socket compared to having the CPU entirely gone. However, the specific pin(s) not connected to the CPU might make a difference.
    I have a different Intel Z68 motherboard that works, more or less, that I could use to check the behavior of a motherboard when a pin doesn't connect but not sure I want to do that to a Core i7-2600K CPU. I could put a tiny piece of insulating material on one of the CPU lands, put the CPU in my working motherboard, and see what happens- assuming both motherboards behave the same when having CPU connection issues. There are CPU socket testers but I'm not sure I'd understand the results on the readout from one.
    I noticed there's a header labeled JSPI1 on the motherboard. Looks like an SPI header for reprogramming the BIOS without desoldering the chip. I peeled the stickers off the BIOS chips. The labels were difficult to read. Looks like they are Winbond 25Q64CVSIG 1126. Any suggestions (brand name, model number) for a low cost SPI flash programmer that will work with those chips? What is the JCP1 header next to the JSPI1? The JCP1 header isn't mentioned in the manual.

  • Problematic Motherboard MSI Z68a GD80 (B3) and bad customer service

    I opened a support ticket at MSI's support site (http://support.msi.com/index.php?mod=questions&dop=reply_list&question_no=102573)  and still waiting for a response since last week.     Not only that, but there is no way you can talk to customer support and you can only submit tickets online.   What if your PC is not working because of the MSI motherboard?  How is then the customer able to talk to customer support?!  eh!!!?!?!???
    To describe the issues I experience I will copy-paste some of the info from my existing support ticket....
    Recently I noticed that my new PC's performance degraded considerably, without me having made any changes to its settings, software or hardware. After extensive testing I realised that the RAM was faulty so I replaced it with new DIMMs which I tested again and work correctly. However after replacing with new RAM  (memeory is in the "approved" list of the motherboard) the PC's performance is still very slow, especially when it comes to hard disk access. So I tested all, memory, hard disks (checkdisk, defrag, and also used WesternDigital utilities to check all disks) and all tests came back fine. I also checked all BIOS settings and re-installed all Motherboard drivers to ensure that the issue was not due to a damaged driver file. But none made a difference. So given that everything appears to be working correctly and all tests for individual components come back as normal, I uspect that it's the motherboard to blame.
    In addition to the above the PC has now started behaving strange too: when rebooting pc restarts..and then turns off and then on again and off again. ...or it restarts but then does not boot at all.  Just now i turned it off and then on again and the pc behaves as if it boots up but nothing is showing on the screen. not even the bios.
    Once, when i turned on the PC and when logged into windows I got a popup saying "you have booted from your second BIOS rom. Please update your BIOS using Live Update". I then went to live update and it said i am running the latest BIOS.
    The issues exist also outside the OS.  I also tried to boot from Norton Ghost DVD and take a backup from there and see the backup speed (which normally takes an hour). It took 2-7 times more, depending on the PC's "mood". I also tried booting from a DVD into Windows PE (pre-installation environment) and tried to take a disk backup from there too.   Same issue everywhere.
    I did various tests with Western Digital to eliminate the hard disk, and all come out fine.  I even formatted the hard drive (low level format) and reinstalled a fresh OS.  The problem was still there and the mouse pointed would stutter when the disk was active.
    Another thing I noticed which might help: sometimes disk to pc/disk-over-network file copying works at a reasonable speed. But local-disk to local-disk copying is very slow and affects the mouse pointer and overall pc performance.
    I use this PC for business so it's critical that this is fixed asap or that I am sent a replacement motherboard promptly before I send this one back so that I am not left without a working PC.
    Any suggestions?
    My spec:
        * CPU brand, model and speed:   Intel i7 i2600K 2.5 GHz
        * Motherboard model:  MSI Z68a GD80 (B3)
        * Memory brand, type/speed, size, number of sticks:   Kingston KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G  (2 sticks x 2 Gb each.  total of 4gb)
        * Video card brand, chipset type, memory size:  XFX 7600GT 256MB
        * Hard drive(s) brand, size, type, speed:  Westerd Digital Velociraptor 600Gb
        * Operating system and version (including if 32 or 64bit!):   Windows XP SP3 32bit
        * Power Supply Unit brand and output in watts and DC output (amps) - OCZ 650W

    Quote
    Well on the MSI UK website that is the only support which is listed for motherboards!  Global or not, that's the one listed there.
    Yes, I know.  But there is an E-Mail Contact listed for RMA procedures.  When you go to the Global support site:
    http://ocss.msi.com.tw/
    ... you'll find the same E-Mail contact address listed under the heading
    Quote
    If you live in the following country and have any request about RMA, please go to Online RMA Request:
    Quote
    Ok, I will contact both the reseller and send an email to the email address you mentioned and see what happens.  
    Quote
    In fact the reseller has an online system specifically for returns and as per UK distant selling regulations their system does not accept any returns and won't allow you to make a returns request after 28 days from the date of purchase.  ..and given that I've been dealing with these issues for 10-14 days weeks now I am not sure they will allow a returns request.   But I will contact them and see what they will say.
    Yes, contact them.  
    Quote
    But have a look at the returns policy anyway: http://www.ebuyer.com/help/returns#1
    Look:
    Quote
    Items Faulty in Warranty Period
    If any of your purchases develop a fault, and it's more than 28 calendar days since receipt, then provided your item is within its warranty period, you are entitled to a warranty repair.
    ... more:
    http://static.ebuyer.com/customer/help/index.html?action=c2hvd190ZXJtcw==&type=personal
    Quote
    9.  Our refunds policy
       9.1 When you return a Product to us:
            9.1.2 for any other reason (for instance, because you have notified us in accordance with clause 21 that you do not agree to any change in these terms and conditions or in any of our policies, or because you claim that the Product is defective), we will examine the returned Product and if you are entitled, we will notify you of your options to either repair, replace or refund via e-mail within a reasonable period of time. We will usually process your elected repair, replacement or refund as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day you confirm whether you opt for repair, replacement or refund for the defective Product. If you elect a refund of a Product returned by you because of a defect it will be refunded as per our refunds policy, including a refund of the part of the delivery charge which related to that defective Product for sending the item to you and the cost incurred by returning the defective Product to us. If you elect a repair or replacement of a defective Product we will not charge you for redelivery of the repaired or replaced Product.
            9.1.3 If you elect to return the defective Product to us using your own method of delivery, we will refund up to £4.00 of the costs incurred by you. This will only be refunded upon the receipt of proof of the carriage costs.
    Just for your record:
    Quote
    and still waiting for a response since last week.
    MSI Technical Support has responded to you giving you the following advice:
    Quote
    Dear sir/madam
    Thanks for contacting MSI technical support.
    Regarding your concern,if the issue appears when loading windows,we suggest you reinstall your os for a try.If it appears when post,we have to suggest you contact your reseller (The place you bought this MB from) and have them test the MB completely for you to check if this MB is faulty or not, then ask for some help.
    If the reseller for some reason cannot help, we have to ask you to contact MSI distributor or MSI office near your place to seek further help.
    Thanks for your cooperation in advance!
    Best Regards,
    MSI Technical Support Team
    ... and as I said before, this is precisely the next logical step in your situation.

  • Z68A-GD80 Lucidlogix Virtu upgrade from version 1.1.101 downgrades to Evaluation

    I am posting this because I have lost hours for searching for a solution and assume that other people may have this problem.
    I recently bought motherboard Z68A-GD80 mainly because of it's Virtu support. Upon installing Virtu from motherboard CD (version 1.1.101) a notification popped up for new version of Virtu being available. I upgraded to latest Virtu version 1.2.103 and went on to use the Virtu Control Panel. It became clear that something was wrong because of disabled features. I realized in 'About' tab that Virtu was in 'Evaluation Copy' mode!
    I went on in MSI's website to download the Virtu driver from their site (assuming a possible version problem). So went on and installed version 1.2.102 facing again the same problems.
    Only after deciding to try the CD version (1.1.101) I was able to have a working version of Virtu without the Evaluation restrictions. It is one of the rare cases where an upgrade is actually a downgrade!
    This is wrong and probably MSI has overlooked this based on the fact that their website has a version that causes Virtu to not read the license of motherboard properly (and revert to Evaluation). I would appreciate feedback on people that use Virtu and possibly if they faced the same problem upon upgrading Virtu's driver version. I am going to ask Virtu support if they can give an explanation about it.
    In summary I am going to treasure the CD version 1.1.101 because I thing it has disappeared from the internet.

    Maybe something in this thread will be of some interest; https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=148838.0 The 'as shipped' BIOS & the same on the Global Website, v17.0 is what I have, & Virtu worked as advertised right off the start with just using the utilities & drivers from the supplied install disk. Virtu seems to work fine with the install disk version, so no need to update to the newest driver far as I can see.
    Quote
    This is wrong and probably MSI has overlooked this based on the fact that their website has a version that causes Virtu to not read the license of motherboard properly (and revert to Evaluation). I would appreciate feedback on people that use Virtu and possibly if they faced the same problem upon upgrading Virtu's driver version. I am going to ask Virtu support if they can give an explanation about it.
    Any follow up on this? A ticket in with MSI Tech Support is also a good thing to do; http://support.msi.com/
    Have you downloaded from the MSI Global Website the downloadable 'Quick Guide' v1.3?

  • How do I set EFI mode in Z68A-GD80-B3 BIOS?

    I am trying to install Windows 7 64-bit onto a Seagate 3TB drive on a brand-new MSI Z68A-GD80-B3 motherboard but Windows keeps insisting on using an MBR style partition. When I connected the drive to another computer and used the Seagate utility to create a GPT partition, Windows refuses to install to it because it thinks the BIOS is in BIOS mode and not EFI mode.
    There is a complicated guide to force the EFI installer bootstrap here http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=184349 but having to do all this seems ridiculous for a motherboard UEFI BIOS that is advertised as having 3TB+ support.
    So where is the setting (as I have seen on some other motherboards) that tells the bootable DVD/USB device that the BIOS is EFI and not legacy? Thanks!

    Putting the system into RAID mode wasn't too bad since I was only experimenting with the setup anyway. However, after doing some research on how to use the EFI console it appears it is currently not possible to boot into a GPT disk when the ICH controller it set to RAID mode.  :(
    I tried wiping the drive, I tried installing the GPT boot and then installing Windows to it. Interestingly, the error message isn't a showstopper - it is merely a warning unlike the other error messages. If you click on the GPT partition and say install Windows will indeed go ahead and install to it. But when the BIOS tries to boot to it, it cannot. My investigation with EFI console shows that when the controller is in RAID mode the hard drive doesn't even show up in the list of available devices in the console. Also when using the console to list the available EFI drivers, they only have 2 IDE drivers (one Intel, one Marvell) and 2 AHCI drivers (same deal) - no RAID.
    Furthermore, we appear to no be alone. I also have a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 for evaluation and it too has the same problem, both confirmed by my own tests and a message thread much like this one that states the EFI BIOS manufacturers have not written the EFI RAID driver for the Sandy Bridge architecture yet.    (I don't know if this is true for any other mobo manufacturers besides MSI and Gigabyte.)
    Anyway, I'm giving up for now on GPT and have formatted the 3TB drive as MBR. I am then using a special driver from Seagate that makes the remaining space appear as a separate drive. I suppose it would still be possible to combine this space if one were to create a spanning volume in Windows or Linux and combine the real 2TB volume with the virtual drive that contains the remaining space. But I'm going to just leave it as a separate volume.
    The only troubling thing is when or if MSI finally releases a BIOS with an EFI RAID driver I'll feel compelled to format the whole system as GPT and start again. *grumblegrumble*
    Isn't being on the bleeding edge of tech fun? 

  • Z68A-GD80 vs Z68A-GD65 vs X79 boards

    Hello!
    I'm building a new computer. I intend to use i5-2500k, OC'd above 4.4GHz.
    A google search yielded no results, so I'm asking here.
    What are the differences between the Z68A-GD80 and GD65 boards?
     How do they affect performance in terms of gameplay?
    What are the differences between the Z68A-GD80 and an X79 board?
     How do they affect performance?
    Thanks a lot in advance!

    Quote
    That would mean that I can plug in 4 RAM sticks and get the most out of it? Is it a lot better over dual channel?
    In terms of memory bandwidth, yes, definately.
    Please keep in mind that an i5-2500K won't work on an X79 board (different socket).
    Quote
    It also supports DDR3 memory at 1600MHz (which is what I'm getting) without the OC tag. Is that any different from the z68 board, which has the OC tag?
    Different CPU/Memory architecture.

  • MSI Z68A-GD80 + Zalman CNPS10X

    Hello
    I have a question  
    My friend sent me a gift Zalman  CNPS10X Extreme. i think next months to upgrade the mobo choice  MSİ Z68A GD80 .  (my MSi P45 platinum is retiring old   )
    I wondered  CNPS10X Extreme CPU compatible   MSİ Z68A GD80.?  because CNPS10x Extreme big and heavy .
    Is it possible to first memory slot blocked ? or compatible with the direction of the case exhaust outlet .  Mobo Mosfet cooler make contact with the CNPS10 extreme ?.
    my english not good  but I hope you understand  
    Zalman CNPS10 extreme

    Quote from: Nelly. on 11-August-11, 23:36:15
    That Zalman  CNPS10X Extreme cooler should be fine, I have the Thermalright Silver Arrow and that is twice as big and it fits no problem at all.
    I have the MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3) and our motherboards are virtually the same except for different features.  
    Thanks for help guys,  now relieved

  • Z68A-GD80 use both PCIEX1 slots same time?

    Hi- can't find answer to this using the search, so:
    On a Z68A-GD80 motherboard, I am trying to use a PCI SATA3 card in PCIEX1_1 and PCIEX1_2 at the same time to add 4 extra SATA3 ports, but if both cards are in, only the top one is recognized. If the second one is in alone, both drives attached to that are recognized, but I cannot use all 4 extra ports at teh same time. Is there any way round this, or is this some limitation of PCI implementation?
    Thanks.

    Ok. Need a little clarification here. To end any confusion about SATA 6Gb/s, SATA III, SATA 6.0 being confused with SATA3 which is the mainboards #3 Intel SATA II controlled port.
    Is this mainboard the Z68 'B3' or 'G3'?
    Excerpt from the 'B3' manual;
    Slots
    3 PCIE x16 slots
    PCI_E2 supports up to PCIE x16 speed (when PCI_E4 is empty),
    or PCI_E2 supports up to PCIE x8 speed (when PCI_E4 is installed)
    PCI_E4 supports up to PCIE x8 speed
    PCI_E5 supports up to PCIE x4 speed ***
    (***due to the PCIE lanes limitation of chipset, when the PCI_E5 has been
    installed with a PCIE x16/ x8/ x4 device, 1 eSATA port, 1 SATA port (SATA7), 1
    onboard front USB 3.0 connector (JUSB4), 1 1394 port (back panel), 1 onboard
    1394 connector (J1394_1) and 2 PCI slots will become unavailable.)
    2 PCIE x1 slots
    When both of the PCIE x1 (PCI_E1, PCI_E3) slots have been installed, only the
    PCI_E1 slot is available, using one PCIE x1 slot is recommended.
    Quote
    I am trying to use a PCI SATA III card in PCIEX1_1 and PCIEX1_2 at the same time to add 4 extra SATA III ports, but if both cards are in, only the top one is recognized.
    A PCI card can't be used in a PCI-E slot.

  • Z68A-GD80 cannot get Control Center to work...

    Trying to get Control Center to work, keep getting the wonderful: "Driver cannot load" message... then it just stays on the loading screen saying please wait, control center is running. I've tried everything, deleting and re-installing. I'm absolutely positive it's the latest version from the MSI website. I run it as admin, i've got the latest .net version and all that... The only real reason I want to control center is for temps and checking out OC genie. If there's no way to get it working, anyone know of another way to monitor cpu core temps and have a really really really retard proof explanation or presets for overclocking?
    My Rig
    Antec 1200
    MSI  Z68A-GD80
    16G Ram *Gskill*
    i7-2600 @ 3.4Ghz BIOS: 11/01/11 4.06.04
    128 Kingston SSD
    Windows 7 64bit
    Corsair Gold Series 1200w
    1 nVidia GTX-580

    801greg,
    hey greg i went thru the same **** EXACTLY! finally called apple support and some smart fella finally figured it out...
    it took him awhile...
    at the point where you hit the 'apply' key instead hit the 'return' key... it will then activate your quicktime into pro...
    very sloppy work apple...
    btw, i'm having a dickens of the time trying to learn to edit movies in quicktimepro... do you know where the faq or a learning the basics of quicktime pro online manual can be found?
    thanks,
    tws

  • Please help with bypassing bootup selection screen. MB:MSI Z68A-GD80

    Hi Guys,
    I was wondering if you could help me bypass the boot-up selection choices screen and go directly into Windows.  
    My MB is MSI Z68A-GD80.    I want to remote control this pc, but with the selection boot option screen keeps coming up after rebooting, it might not work.
    Is there a setting somewhere to disable this and go directly to Windows?  I tried different setting in the Setting menu, but not working.
    Thanks in advance!
    Rich

    Enter BIOS 'Settings', 'Boot', enter (red arrow) UEFI & disable, enter & either leave alone or disable as to preference (blue arrow), USB HardDisk set as desired, etc. Then, in the 'Boot Option Priorities' (white arrow pointing at 1 thru 8 boot list in this example), start at the bottom & disable as you go upward until you have only set for #2 as example, CD/DVD drive, & for #1 boot device, your OS HDD. Hit the 'F10' key & the 'Enter' key & it should be set correctly to what you want.

Maybe you are looking for