IX38-QuadGT and HD4870x2 card issues...

[vvulture]

Hi all... I am glad that i finally managed to join an Abit forum since the official US forums will not accept me.. I have registered several times with different credentials, but never recieve activation email... anyway...

I have started this thread in oder to get some feedback regarding this IX38-QuadGT board and the issues it has with Ati's HD4870x2 cards.
Would anyone here know if there is a new bios due to be released anytime soon to address the compatibility issues ? As it stands, BIOSE's 13 and 14 do not work with this card at all... period.
Bios 12 works, but only with a single card.. no Xfire support..
This leaves a very sour taste in my mouth ( and many others as well ), as my many Tech support request forms have fallen on deaf ears... no response from Abit at all...
So at the moment, i have a HD4870x2 card with no room for future expansion, as i was planing to purchasing a second card when prices drop in order to Xfire...

Anyone ??

[hokiealumnus]

Unfortunately this appears to affect the IX48-GT3 as well, though that's not to say it's a trend as that's the only post I've seen on the matter. FWIW, DFI X38 & X48 boards had the same problem. A BIOS update fixed their issue though. I'm hoping abit will update some BIOSes, but if the rumors that their BIOS staff have defected are accurate, I don't know how they'd go about doing it.

[vvulture]

if the rumors that their BIOS staff have defected are accurate, I don't know how they'd go about doing it.

Thats the first i've heard of this.... any links ?

[hokiealumnus]

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/9878/u...aff/index.html
http://channel.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15225

[shaithis]

Starting to look like the ABit forum representative here is also gone.

Over 2 weeks since his last activity.......No answer from their tech support email etc

Seems like we are going to be swept under the rug.

I am just glad they are still around to boycott their other products.

[hokiealumnus]

If you're referring to AbitNL, I heard he left the company.

[Clunk]

Why don't you just return the board to the retailer where you bought it and get a refund/replacement?

[BUFF]

shaithis has posted elsewhere that abit have sent him a BIOS that supposedly addresses this.

[vvulture]

Just got an email from Abit... it reads as follows :

****Dear Customer,



Thanks for your mail.



We are sorry very much to neglect your mail.

Concerning the HD4870x2 with the IX38QuadGT compatibility problem, we
already to investigating how to go to revise this problem, so dare not to
guarantee be to release the BIOS in recently this several weeks to revise
this problem.



Sorry to cause your harassment, is also thank you for supporting ABIT.

Thanks for supporting the products of abit.

****

Make of it what you will....

[vvulture]

shaithis has posted elsewhere that abit have sent him a BIOS that supposedly addresses this.

Where did you hear / see this ? A link would be nice...

[BUFF]

XtremeSystems

[shaithis]

And the BIOS still doesn't fix the 4870x2 problem.

I guess now we know we are going to get fobbed off until we give up....

*sigh*

As for returning the board.......That will still cost me around £100 due to needing a new copy of Windows to go with the replacement board........

[alsenior]

you can replace the board without getting a new copy of windows. as long as the board is similar Microsoft will allow you to reactivate if it is a replacement for a faulty board

[vvulture]

And the BIOS still doesn't fix the 4870x2 problem.

I guess now we know we are going to get fobbed off until we give up....

*sigh*

As for returning the board.......That will still cost me around £100 due to needing a new copy of Windows to go with the replacement board........

This may sound stupid, but at first Bios 12 didn't work for me until i removed all power and also removed bios battery AND short out bios jumper.

After doing this, Bios 12 worked. Maybe you didn't reset bios properly... happens to the best of us.

Try this with this new bios....

cheers

[shaithis]

BIOS 12 works for me, at least it gets the 4870x2 working........but it has some issues with 45nm CPUs.

[vvulture]

Sahithis, thanks for sending me a copy of the bios.

I also had no luck with it. No good..

I compared the file to all the other bios's ( ie 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 ) and it is indeed different. It's closest cousin is bios 14 which has the least amount of changes so i don't think they are trying to fob you off at all... i think they're using you as a guinea pig and we will eventualy see a working bios released into the wild....

cheers