WARNING!! Check the model number of motherboard after buying (in vendor's shop only)

[desiibond]

Hey guys,

Last week I bought Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H Ultra Durable motherboard in SP Road. Yesterday, when I tried to do BIOS upgrade on this, I was shocked to find that the motherboad that is given to me was MA78GM-SH2P, which is not ultra durable and priced less.

Strange thing is that the motherboard box is of Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H but the board inside was changed. I told to the vendor (Golccha) and he first told me to contact Gigabyte Service center (wondered why Service center will be responsible). Called the service center and they told me that the vendor should give me the actual board. Called Golchha again and they were telling me how can the board be changed and it is a sealed pack (I never saw any sealed mobo pack in SP Road). I strongly told them there is no seal and they told me to bring the board and that they will talk to Gigabyte dealer there.

So, folks, when you buy mobo, you make sure that you are getting the actual board and insist on sealed pack. Ask the vendor to connect the board and CPU and make sure you get the correct board by looking at BIOS.


Especially Gigabyte, these days is not printing the model number on the motherboad and this way it is easy to fool customers.

In my case, I clearly think that this is deliberately done by Gigabyte. Golchha guy ordered the mobo when I was there and he got the mobo and bill from the gigabyte dealer.

[The Sorcerer]

Maybe its a honest mistake of wrong packaging . Besides I am curios how did you realize that the board was SH2P after bios flash? Even the newer rev models have the same layout and the model number is imprinted on the board. Problem could have been avoided just by simple observation before taking the board out of the shop.

[asingh]

Do they both look the same...??

[desiibond]

could be. When I opened @BIOS, it was showing model number as SH2P. Then I ran Everest report and it showed the same. Opened the manufacturers pages and found that there is actually no difference in both the boards. The only visible differences are:

1) Just above the CPU socket, found "2 oz copper" printed in white.
2) Below RAM modules, it is written "DDR2 1200" for US2H and "DDR2 1066" for SH2P. Apart from this, the capacitors in US2H look lot better and PCB looks a bit more shiny

Update: Went to Golchha and they took the board to that Gigabyte dealer and got the right one. once again, would say "Golchha Rocks"

[desiibond]

As marked in Red in this image:

Originally Posted by desiibond

could be. When I opened @BIOS, it was showing model number as SH2P. Then I ran Everest report and it showed the same. Opened the manufacturers pages and found that there is actually no difference in both the boards. The only visible differences are:

1) Just above the CPU socket, found "2 oz copper" printed in white.
2) Below RAM modules, it is written "DDR2 1200" for US2H and "DDR2 1066" for SH2P. Apart from this, the capacitors in US2H look lot better and PCB looks a bit more shiny

Update: Went to Golchha and they took the board to that Gigabyte dealer and got the right one. once again, would say "Golchha Rocks"

and one more thing..
i found MA78GM-US2H written in between PCI and PCIx slots.

[desiibond]

awesome catch.

[Ankit]

All problem because of the Gigabyte's Product names. They all sound so similar and have minor spec variation between them. So it is not strange that even Gigabyte's packing person would have got confused.

BTW how much you paid for MA78GM-US2H? Seems that here in Mumbai MA78GPM-DS2H costs aound 5k.

And IIRC MA78GM-SH2P is one with onboard DTS na?

[desiibond]

True.

I paid 5.1k (4% tax extra)

MA78GM-SH2P has dts connect and not dts. dts connect not a useful feature. I preferred superior cooling and energy saving features of US2H over plain SH2P. Moreover, US2H supports overclocking of DDR2 to 1200MHz (which is not useful at the moment given the high prices of 1066MHz).

[squid]

Just out of curiosity want to know this
I have got Gigabyte 780GM S2h. Now the layout of both these models are same. I have installed HD4850 in this motherboard now I cannot use any addon cards as this 4850 just blocks all the PCI slots. As mentioned in your sig are you using both the graphics card and TV Tuner card with US2h motherboard is there any problem and whther there is any heating problem

[MetalheadGautham]

Whoa! Never realised you finished upgrading.
So.....

Did you find http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103672 @ SP Road ? I am looking at it as long as its under 2K.

[MetalheadGautham]

Whoa! Never realised you finished upgrading.
So.....

Did you find http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103672 @ SP Road ? I am looking at it as long as its under 2K.

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by squid

Just out of curiosity want to know this
I have got Gigabyte 780GM S2h. Now the layout of both these models are same. I have installed HD4850 in this motherboard now I cannot use any addon cards as this 4850 just blocks all the PCI slots. As mentioned in your sig are you using both the graphics card and TV Tuner card with US2h motherboard is there any problem and whther there is any heating problem

yes. Fortunately, HD4770 allowed me use one PCI slot and there is no heat issue as it runs lot lot cooler and take lot less power.

Earlier when I was using US2H drivers for SH2P, there were couple of freezes and restarts (more due to IRQ conflicts) and after getting the right mobo, it's super smooth and the GPU temp never crosses 60 degress

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

Whoa! Never realised you finished upgrading.
So.....

Did you find http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103672 @ SP Road ? I am looking at it as long as its under 2K.

Brisbane X2 4050?? I actually bought 7750BE.

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by desiibond

Brisbane X2 4050?? I actually bought 7750BE.

i know. but i wanna buy 4050 if its within 2k.

[desiibond]

ah okay. you were thinking of Phenom II right? anyways, I don't think that processor is available in India.

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by desiibond

ah okay. you were thinking of Phenom II right? anyways, I don't think that processor is available in India.

I was thinking of anything with good VFM or VFP(power).

[tkin]

Buy ASUS mobos, very short and different model name and nos, like P5Q /Pro/Deluxe.
Just Kidding..........., just check the model nos when the assembler boots up and opens the bios, i checked out mine there.

[The Sorcerer]

asus= sad bios.

[desiibond]

yep. I never liked that BIOS in ASUS boards. Feel that Gigabyte's award BIOS has lot more options

[MetalheadGautham]

I'm waiting for 785G AM3 boards to arrive before jumping in yet.

[desiibond]

that means you need to have DDR3 RAM

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by desiibond

that means you need to have DDR3 RAM

It keeps getting cheaper doesn't it ?

Actually, if I get over-impatient with waiting, I might ditch the idea of a Workstation and get myself a notebook. Infact, there is a 50-50 chance of things going either way.

[tcbtcb]

Anyone willing to exchange a S2HP for a US2H.
Boards just a month old, no problems.

Reason: tryin to use it as a HTPC and hence would like to use the DTS connect feature in the S2HP which isnt there in the US2H.

THnx