Gigabyte Gives Lifetime Warranty to X79 Board Corrective BIOS Users, Isolates Problem

[cadaveca]

whoops.

here's the right one.

This record clock speed was reached using a never seen before 57x CPU multiplier configurations thanks to the F7 BIOS, producing record scores for the Super Pi 1M and 32M and PiFast benchmarks.

http://www.overclockingstation.de/n...-f7-bios-smashes-intel-x79-world-records.html

 

[EarthDog]

What the hell is that board with LCD displays (PCI/e slot) in the first picture?

 

[cadaveca]

PCI POST CODE display.

 

[EarthDog]

Thats what I thought, but I did not know you could buy those! Cool.

 

[HTC]

whoops.

here's the right one.

http://www.overclockingstation.de/photoplog/images/3/1_HiCookie.JPG



http://www.overclockingstation.de/n...-f7-bios-smashes-intel-x79-world-records.html

So: not only it fixed the problem but increased performance as well.

With this part of the problem out of the way, does anyone know what will Gigabyte do (if anything) about the damaged / destroyed components that were affected by the boards because of the original problem such as CPUs?

Say dude A had a 3960X in his rig when this problem occurred and caused his CPU to fry (no idea if this can even happen due to this): will Gigabyte refund dude A with the CPU value? Is this sort of thing covered in Gigabyte's board's warranty?

 

[cadaveca]

To me, from a legal stand-point, because all warranties are void when overclocking, Gigabyte isn't responsible for any problems caused when overclocking. Neither is any other hardware company.

To me, from a consumer-realtions stand-point, it would make sense to contact all registered users of the affected products, advise them to update the BIOS, and to issue a release advising unregistered users or prospective buyers that they need to be sure to use the F7 BIOS or future subsequent BIOSes. They have already done the second part, and are taking steps to ensure that boards in teh retail space ahve teh F7 BIOS or newer on them.

Again, non-issue. But it is still good to get the info out as a precaution, and I gotta commend Gigabyte for taking such steps as they already have, rather than ignoring the problem.

 

[HTC]

So they're putting the blame on the overclocker despite admitting they're @ fault: figures ...

I thought there were cases where the user who got his board fried wasn't OCing: am i mistaken in this?

multiple instances of this happening yep, and on the UD7's.. the model which wasnt mentioned in the CN press release at all even tho every GB x79 got F7 bioses to "fix" this problem..

To me, from a legal stand-point, because all warranties are void when overclocking, Gigabyte isn't responsible for any problems caused when overclocking. Neither is any other hardware company.

To me, from a consumer-realtions stand-point, it would make sense to contact all registered users of the affected products, advise them to update the BIOS, and to issue a release advising unregistered users or prospective buyers that they need to be sure to use the F7 BIOS or future subsequent BIOSes. They have already done the second part, and are taking steps to ensure that boards in teh retail space ahve teh F7 BIOS or newer on them.

Again, non-issue. But it is still good to get the info out as a precaution, and I gotta commend Gigabyte for taking such steps as they already have, rather than ignoring the problem.

OK: this means those that OCed are screwed (how can Gigabyte be sure the CPU was OCed??), but what about those that weren't OCing @ all?

 

[cadaveca]

If not overclocking, there shouldn't be any issues with the earlier BIOSes. Any failures at stock would fall into the normal percentile of parts that fail that any manufacturer is subject to.

That said, it's ultimately critical to provide proper cooling for your components regardless of the platform or OEM who produced the parts. I've mentioned that this is even more critical with the Intel X79 Express paltform when overclocking many times already, and will continue to do so.

That said, I personally haven't seen many users reporting failure in person, but a whole bunch claiming to have seen such. I pushed my own GA-X79-UD5 pretty hard, and did not encounter any problems, my CPU didn't die, and my board is fine. I do know of a few other others without any issues too, so again, I see all of this as a non-issue. Any parts that fail at stock will be covered by standard warranties.

Based on the info I have, this problem was only encountered in specific load scenarios, so Gigabyte would have an easy way to tell what caused the problem. Really, with them having gone this far with this, they obviously replicated the problem using other parts, and implemented a fix. That fix, as explained, means that any failures caused by this problem are either do to OC, or improper system cooling.

 

[HTC]

If not overclocking, there shouldn't be any issues with the earlier BIOSes. Any failures at stock would fall into the normal percentile of parts that fail that any manufacturer is subject to.

That said, it's ultimately critical to provide proper cooling for your components regardless of the platform or OEM who produced the parts. I've mentioned that this is even more critical with the Intel X79 Express paltform when overclocking many times already, and will continue to do so.

That said, I personally haven't seen many users reporting failure in person, but a whole bunch claiming to have seen such. I pushed my own GA-X79-UD5 pretty hard, and did not encounter any problems, my CPU didn't die, and my board is fine. I do know of a few other others without any issues too, so again, I see all of this as a non-issue. Any parts that fail at stock will be covered by standard warranties.

The only way out of this is if someone affected by this comes here and posts in this topic, sharing his / her experience on the subject.

As for the warranty, does it cover any damages to other system components or just the board?

When a board suffers this kind of "accident" while running @ stock, it usually isn't the only "casualty of war" and, since the problem lies with the BIOS the board comes with, it's the manufacturer's fault. As such, what compensation can a user affected expect: just a replacement board?

EDIT

You edited while i was replying.

Based on the info I have, this problem was only encountered in specific load scenarios, so Gigabyte would have an easy way to tell what caused the problem. Really, with them having gone this far with this, they obviously replicated the problem using other parts, and implemented a fix. That fix, as explained, means that any failures caused by this problem are either do to OC, or improper system cooling.

I see. If those 2 causes are the only possible ones then it's either the user's fault or the PC's assembler's fault: an affected system may not have been assembled by the user but by the store where it was bought or by someone else entirely.

 

[cadaveca]

Please see my edit.


Of course, I don't work for Gigabyte is any way, or any other hardware company, for that matter, so I really have no idea. On a personal level, I don't really see the BIOS(es) as a problem except in specific circumstances. Like I said earlier, I have one of the affected boards. I personally tested every release BIOS, from stock to the maximum overclock my CPU and cooling allows, and experienced no failure. I got my board before the launch and it shipped with a BIOS that never made it public, and I tried quite a few beta BIOSes as well.

That's why I'm confident in saying this is a non-issue. At the same time though, I do run fairly modest clocks, as I pay close attention to system and individual pweor consumption when testing for reviews. When the CPU I'm using costs a fairly hefty chuck of change, I can't exactly afford to replace it, but at the same time, I do purposely push a bit further than I maybe should, so that if there are issues like this, I encounter them. I ALWAYS push my CPUs to the throttle point. ALWAYS.

 

[HTC]

Please see my edit.


Of course, I don't work for Gigabyte is any way, or any other hardware company, for that matter, so I really have no idea. On a personal level, I don't really see the BIOS(es) as a problem except in specific circumstances. Like I said earlier, I have one of the affected boards. I personally tested every release BIOS, from stock to the maximum overclock my CPU and cooling allows, and experienced no failure. I got my board ebfore the launch and it shipped with a BIOS that never made it public, and I tried quite a few beta BIOSes as well.

I see your edit and raise you another ...

So you went the extra mile and tested several BIOSes: commendable, IMO.

That's why I'm confident in saying this is a non-issue. At the same time though, I do run fairly modest clocks, as I pay close attention to system and individual pweor consumption when testing for reviews. When the CPU I'm using costs a fairly hefty chuck of change, I can't exactly afford to replace it, but at the same time, I do purposely push a bit further than I maybe should, so that if there are issues like this, I encounter them. I ALWAYS push my CPUs to the throttle point. ALWAYS.

And you edited again ... are we playing poker or something?

 

[ensabrenoir]

Wow.....make a product designed for overclocking , highlighting these features, and then void the warrenty when overclocked...sweet ....not

 

[HTC]

Wow.....make a product designed for overclocking , highlighting these features, and then void the warrenty when overclocked...sweet ....not

Strikes me as odd that this sort of thing isn't illegal ...

 

[cadaveca]

I see your edit and raise you another ...

So you went the extra mile and tested several BIOSes: commendable, IMO.

I always do, with every product. It's "policy" to update to the most recent public BIOS available, but I like to try the beta BIOSes that are given to the extreme clockers too, to compare differences.

It's no big deal, really, just what I see as neccesary. For a memory review, I used 3 different boards with every BIOS available for each, and a few others with long-standing "good" BIOSes,nevermind swapping other parts in too. I wouldn't feel confident in the results I give if I didn't explore every possible angle.

And you edited again ... are we playing poker or something?

, sorry, dude. As I said earlier, I am working on a review of the UD5, so I'm dealing with all of this just as you are. Considering that I had already completed my testing, I'm pretty shocked by the whole situation. Now I've got to do a bit more testing, which I don't mind, becuase situations like this are ones that as a reviewer, I cannot ignore.

 

[Svobikl]

Hi,

so my Gigabyte x79 UD3 died after 6 years and it seems that Gigabytes promises was just a marketing. I tried to contact them via Support page and Twitter without any response...

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Hi,

so my Gigabyte x79 UD3 died after 6 years and it seems that Gigabytes promises was just a marketing. I tried to contact them via Support page and Twitter without any response...

How long did you give them to respond?

 

[Svobikl]

How long did you give them to respond?

2 weeks, but strangely just a few hours after I posted here, they have responded. But they tells me that the warranty is not Global and that in some countries it was just 5 years... That is also not what was in original statement from Gigabyte. Normally, I wouldn't care, but the PC was still powerful enough (i7 EE, 32gb ram...), the board was expensive and I would expect that it last longer. Also there is problem to find just a board now for sale, especially in my country.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

You should read their warranty policy just for clarification. But the problem with warranty policies id they can change at any time without notice and at the manufactures digression.

Check it anyway though. Because if they haven't changed it and you fall within its requirements then i would honestly go speak to s lawyer or file a claim in a small claims court for them trying to dodge their responsibility.

Some manufacturers have different policies depending on region

 

[Svobikl]

Yes, thank you very much for info and your respond, please do you have idea where can be found those warranty policies - based on the country? I cant find it anywhere public, there is just possibility to ask through the eSupport, which I did... But how can I be sure, that the respond is 'correct'?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Go here. Put in your location

https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Warranty

 

[Svobikl]

That is where I was already at the beginning, there are only 2 possibilities to choose:
1) Mini-PC Barebone
2) Enterprise

none of those option suits me... So that is why I have chosen the Gigabyte eSupport for further help, but...
For Enterprise there is a company from UK Stortec, but I think their responsibility is to take care about Enterprise customers...

 

[FreedomEclipse]

That is where I was already at the beginning, there are only 2 possibilities to choose:
1) Mini-PC Barebone
2) Enterprise

none of those option suits me... So that is why I have chosen the Gigabyte eSupport for further help, but...
For Enterprise there is a company from UK Stortec, but I think their responsibility is to take care about Enterprise customers...

View attachment 109146

I would just call them anyway. If they cant help you then at least they might know who can. Did you purchase your setup as part of a pre-made or did you build it yourself?? Either way. if you can speak to the retailer where you made your purchase from. Maybe they would be willing to help because they are a gigabyte partner/distributor.

Also. apart from a few articles on websites. I cannot find a source for gigabyte stating that they would give lifetime warranty. You may just be out of luck. but contact your retailer.