GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 A Crappy Board

[FievelJ]

http://forums.duke4.net/topic/6787-what-a-piece-of-****-gigabyte-ga-970a-ud3-review/

So I guess it's time for a new one.
I can say one thing for it, once you shut off certain features, it get hot. Not that that's a good thing.
It gets funny too fast, with even small overclocks. (Failure)

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I don't see anything in his thread about what case/fan setup he's using.
Also, you're talking about a different motherboard from that link.

 

[FievelJ]

Not much different.
And mine gets very hot.
Here's a link to the case, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119257 so now you can check how many fans there are. But it still gets too hot too fast, once certain things are shut off.
I will be getting an Asus Sabertooth 990FX. I will still keep the Gigabyte board, as I will down the road, do a rebuild for my roommate.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

No, actually quite a bit different in terms of power delivery.
The 970A-D3 has a 4+1 VRM, while the 970A-UD3 has an 8+2 VRM.

So.... two fans? That's not enough for an overclocked FX setup. At all.
Any motherboard will start to overheat with that kind of case fan setup, especially with a stock cooler.

You need to get some better (and more) case fans and a real heatsink, not a new motherboard.

 

[rescuetoaster]

I really don't understand people who bought the d3. When I bought my setup, the UD3 was like 7 dollars more for an 8+2 VRM and significantly better cooling.

That said, it is too bad they made further revisions worse.

Edit: Yikes, actually read that whole thing. Sounds like later versions are a LOT worse. I can attest to 1.1 being pretty stellar.

 

[Woomack]

When I bought UD5 then it was already a bad board with power section issues and PCB design flaws so I don't even want to comment any other, cheaper GB 990FX or 970 boards.

 

[FievelJ]

I already placed in the request. And I have looked at my board physically, it could have better heatsinks on some places. I'll get to other fans, once I replace the motherboard. This is just the beginning of a long road to rebuilding my system, and then rebuilding it for my roommate.
The system I have now that is. I will probably be getting him a slim case, so that it'll fit next to the TV.
If I need more cooling, I'll do it later. And there's actually 3 fans. One of those fans, keeps the HDs cool. I could probably stick a fan on the case door, without much mod. But for some reason, I don't think it'll help much. I placed a ordinary fan blowing into it, and it helped by only 4 degrees. We'll see I guess, once I get the Sabertooth.


Compare that to the heat sinks of the Sabertooth. There's quite a lot of a difference in the size of heat sinks.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

System cooling (CLEAN OUT THAT DUST, GEEZ) will benefit you more right now than a motherboard will.

A better motherboard can only help if you have good cooling.

FYI, even the heatsinks on the 970A-UD3 are bigger than yours.
You bought a budget board, and you're trying to overclock with it while having inadequate CPU or case cooling... What did you expect to happen?

 

[Mandrake4565]

System cooling (CLEAN OUT THAT DUST, GEEZ) will benefit you more right now than a motherboard will.

QFT!

 

[FievelJ]

Yeah, I will be cleaning that dust out of the fins.
Yes it was a bargain board, I got what I could afford at the time.
My ssi/ssd started getting to close to 2,000$, and if I reach it, they'll cut it off, until it drops below 2,000. We're not allowed to save anything.
So, every time I get close to the limit, I'll buy some other computer parts, until I have enough to build my roommate a computer. He's not a gamer, so he'll not even need the full 3.5Ghz. At most, most of the time, he'll probably not hardly need 1.5Ghz.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time for me.