EVGA 680i, new bios

Let me know how it goes and what it fixes :) I don't want to be the guinea pig this time :)

EDIT: Wow, looks like the update is going horrible for many folks... I think I'm going to wait out on this one.
 
bushdiverq said:
p24 killed the bandwidth the standard pci slot. So high bandwidth pci cards did not work. ie tv tuners, and wireless nic cards.

P25 seemed to fix this problem
Click to expand...

I see, I have my X-Fi installed and didn't notice anything, I did read about wireless NIC issues before.

I do see some people having issues with P25 as well....... I think I'll wait since P24 works fine for me right now.
 
Ockie said:
Let me know how it goes and what it fixes :) I don't want to be the guinea pig this time :)

EDIT: Wow, looks like the update is going horrible for many folks... I think I'm going to wait out on this one.
Click to expand...


I decided to wait as well however, have you noticed what appears to be the mean average builder within that group? For many of them this is the 1st or 2nd build.

I remember way back in the 8086 days accidentally deleting my config.sys file and thinking I had totally ruined a new computer. It’s funny now, but not at the time.

I’ve also noticed a bunch of them installed random drivers for Vista instead of simply waiting, they then tried to update over the crap they installed. Seems to be way too little experience there, and kids with more money then I ever had at that age.

On the other hand I would like to see a fix list before installing on a machine that’s running perfectly.;)
 
Have you noticed that some of the people are not running their machines at stock speeds when updating the BIOS? I alway go to stock speed because it is recommended to reset factory defaults anyways.
 
This is the reason I stayed the hell away from this board. It looked awesome and should be awesome but apparently EVGA decided to let down their user base. I hope they get this matter cleared up. If they do that would help the 680i chipset out with it's image.
SoulMan901
 
I am thinking about scraping this board and trying another one

The change log is complete BS. There is no way the pci wireless nic was fixed by improving memory preformance.

Aftewr updating the bios Vist 64 ultimate went crazy and required me to call Microsoft to reactivate.
 
This is my first build as well, but I'm not a kid with too much money. I figured it would be good for true SLI performance and also I can upgrade to QC when I am ready and the prices are much more reasonable.
 
BillR said:
I decided to wait as well however, have you noticed what appears to be the mean average builder within that group? For many of them this is the 1st or 2nd build.

I remember way back in the 8086 days accidentally deleting my config.sys file and thinking I had totally ruined a new computer. It’s funny now, but not at the time.

I’ve also noticed a bunch of them installed random drivers for Vista instead of simply waiting, they then tried to update over the crap they installed. Seems to be way too little experience there, and kids with more money then I ever had at that age.

On the other hand I would like to see a fix list before installing on a machine that’s running perfectly.;)
Click to expand...


As I'm reading that thread and keeping up to date on it, it appears those with the problems are ones using the windows utility update and also happen to be the ones who are also not resetting their BIOS either.


However, I'm still going to wait for the changelog so I can see what it actually fixes. If it's just going to fix like a wireless card issue then it's not worth the added risk.
 
The following was updated in release P25:

* Vreg fan header default set to on
* Memory performance improvements

Also includes these updates from bios P20, P21, P23 and P24:

* Vista WHQL Certified
* USB Floppy improvements for RAID installs
* Correct CPU temp and voltage system monitor displays in BIOS
* Correct default CPU multiplier setting
* Fix "Code 50" hang received under certain VGA configurations
* Fix for SATA disk drives
* Improvements to memory stability and overclockability
* Disabled spread spectrum tables for improved overclockability
* Improve POST screen CPU speed reporting
* Improves X-Fi and internal audio functionality
* WHQL Certified BIOS
* Improvements to overclocking
* Enhancements for Quad-Core CPUs
* Adds ability to enable splash screen
 
Ive been thinking about making a move to this board over my AW9D max

Are most of the issues worked out now? I dont feel the striker is worth the price, and the IN9 is a little too new for me to consider.

Basically I have this 1000Mhz Ballistix that I cant even run near that speed on this board, its just giving me issue.

So I have been leaning towards this eVGA board.

Thoughts?
 
Schmiggy_JK23 said:
Ive been thinking about making a move to this board over my AW9D max

Are most of the issues worked out now? I dont feel the striker is worth the price, and the IN9 is a little too new for me to consider.

Basically I have this 1000Mhz Ballistix that I cant even run near that speed on this board, its just giving me issue.

So I have been leaning towards this eVGA board.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

This may sound silly but most of the small leftover issues I had are gone after I updated to Vista Ultimate.

Those who keep saying Vista is just a repackaged XP with a pretty face are dead wrong it seems. I never had a crash with XP but with Vista I get no slowdowns or conflicts what so ever.

This makes me wonder if the problem at Nvidia is the software guys behind the drivers and the bios are walking a fine line between the two OS’s.

I also managed to find the full audio driver package for the 680i and Vista and that seems to fix a bunch of issues people seemed to be having in that area. When looking at the properties of the drivers in device manager they even say DX-10. I might also mention the drivers clear up the front panel audio issues as well, you can select between Mic or Line in, so apparently people simply are not reading.

At this point I am totally happy with my board and more then happy with EVGA.

Might even buy another when I get a few bucks again.

Hope that helps a bit.
 
BladeX said:
This is my first build as well, but I'm not a kid with too much money. I figured it would be good for true SLI performance and also I can upgrade to QC when I am ready and the prices are much more reasonable.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I was a bit too general in my post so if I offended you I’m really sorry.

What I have found as I read various forums including this one are a lot of people with little tech skill or basic computer knowledge and some are in way over their heads.

Obviously this doesn’t include everyone but I think the percentage is much higher then I can ever remember, and I’m old.;)
 
Ockie said:
As I'm reading that thread and keeping up to date on it, it appears those with the problems are ones using the windows utility update and also happen to be the ones who are also not resetting their BIOS either.


However, I'm still going to wait for the changelog so I can see what it actually fixes. If it's just going to fix like a wireless card issue then it's not worth the added risk.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I made the comment I did regarding inexperienced people, as you will see in the above post I apologized to those who were offended.

I too follow that thread daily and even after you take out the whiners and complainers there seem to way too many people with low-tech skills playing with higher end machines they have no clue about.

Too many posters at EVGA and many other forums are simply heaping bad advice on top of bad advice.
 
BillR said:
This may sound silly but most of the small leftover issues I had are gone after I updated to Vista Ultimate.

Those who keep saying Vista is just a repackaged XP with a pretty face are dead wrong it seems. I never had a crash with XP but with Vista I get no slowdowns or conflicts what so ever.

This makes me wonder if the problem at Nvidia is the software guys behind the drivers and the bios are walking a fine line between the two OS’s.

I also managed to find the full audio driver package for the 680i and Vista and that seems to fix a bunch of issues people seemed to be having in that area. When looking at the properties of the drivers in device manager they even say DX-10. I might also mention the drivers clear up the front panel audio issues as well, you can select between Mic or Line in, so apparently people simply are not reading.

At this point I am totally happy with my board and more then happy with EVGA.

Might even buy another when I get a few bucks again.

Hope that helps a bit.
Click to expand...

Excellent. That is my default OS as we speak any how, and I have XP for just testing and review purposes.

Do you have the link for the driver package just for future reference? I think I may even pick one up this week.
 
No offense taken, I understand the point you were making. I also do not have much tech experience, as I mentioned this is indeed my first build. Everything has gone well for me though, I flashed to P24 before installing windows, run @ stock for a couple weeks before OC'ing. Even now, I'm just OCing a e6600 to 3.15 ghz and my 800mhz ram to 840mhz (I believe that's right since I linked it to the FSB). I did lower my ram voltages to 2.1 instead of 2.2 stock due to the RAM thread.

So far so good, really happy with my purchase. Vista sounds nice, but I'll probably wait until a DX10 game is released though before upgrading.
 
Curious as to what you guys think on this.

I am due to recieve my EVGA 680i from Newegg about the middle part of this week. Would you suggest that I update my BIOS to this new version before installing windows, or should I try and install windows (XP Pro) in the stock BIOS and then flash?

Also, should I be using this revision since its so new, or should I search for P24, from what I can tell P24 seams to have worked for alot of folks.
 
Moto...original BIOS out of the box and P24 have been best in rig below...expect odd changes in the BIOS AI if you use any auto settings..make sure you reset to default bios before/after bios change...works best for me. I would use P24 unless you have any bugs with it.

Dave
 
Thanks for the response Dave. Given your post I think I will load XP and get all updates, then go ahead and flash the BIOS after that to version P24.
 
bushdiverq said:
p24 killed the bandwidth the standard pci slot. So high bandwidth pci cards did not work. ie tv tuners, and wireless nic cards.

P25 seemed to fix this problem
Click to expand...

Do you know if this affects the PCIe 1x slot? I am using this for wireless and when I am downloading stuff the speeds fluctuate.
 
Well, just upgraded from P23 BIOS to P25 BIOS. My rig has been pretty darn solid. . . but I thought it was time to update.

Flashing went fine. But when I tried to dial in my exact overlcock again, I would hang at (or before!) the POST screen.

So, clear CMOS, set up overclock, but this time leave RAM at default timings. First restart, I hung. . . but every restart from then has been fine. I'm now waiting to see how a few hours of Prime95 go at this point. Then I'll try to get my RAM timings back down via voltage tweaks, etc.

By the way, when I upgraded to the P23 BIOS, I had a blue screen of death going into Windows upon first boot. . . so the first reboot or two after a BIOS update on this motherboard just seems to be touchy. :D

Bottom line: This BIOS may be an improvement. But you may find yourself needing to experiment a bit again when dialing back in your overclock.
 
I read somewhere that Rev A2 had been released...anyone know when that happened? and have the eVGA boards been more stable?
 
Hurin said:
Well, just upgraded from P23 BIOS to P25 BIOS. My rig has been pretty darn solid. . . but I thought it was time to update.

Flashing went fine. But when I tried to dial in my exact overlcock again, I would hang at (or before!) the POST screen.

So, clear CMOS, set up overclock, but this time leave RAM at default timings. First restart, I hung. . . but every restart from then has been fine. I'm now waiting to see how a few hours of Prime95 go at this point. Then I'll try to get my RAM timings back down via voltage tweaks, etc.

By the way, when I upgraded to the P23 BIOS, I had a blue screen of death going into Windows upon first boot. . . so the first reboot or two after a BIOS update on this motherboard just seems to be touchy. :D

Bottom line: This BIOS may be an improvement. But you may find yourself needing to experiment a bit again when dialing back in your overclock.
Click to expand...
Judging from a few other posts over there on eVGA forums, this BIOS is an overclock killer. I downgraded to P24 and my OC is back to being stable. Will wait and see if P26 is also non-OC-friendly. Then I might consider getting another board. This board has gotten me through a few happy months at this point. But, I'm starting to crave something less finicky. Though I've moved to a USB keyboard, it just bothers me to know that there are things on this board that are flawed hardware-wise (apparently the only fix for PS/2 issues is a replacement motherboard).

Maybe if/when there is a new revision of the 680i chipset from nvidia (690i?), I'll jump on that from a maker like Asus or Abit.
 
reeeeallly.. ok, I loaded P25 last night and wow I can't get my OC stable.. going to try P24 now.. whew.. I was hoping something like that was it.
 
Personally my system runs rock solid stable with the P24 BIOS on Vista Ultimate 32-bit. At this point I think a lot of the hate toward the 680i is residual from the shaky launch. Many people who have RMA'ed for revision 2 boards (which most manufacturers are putting out now) have had few problems. I have the eVGA 680i board, and I had to RMA my A1 and they sent me a revision A2 and it's been solid since. I've kept my overlclock moderate with my current setup, but the system runs fast and stable, so I really can't complain.

I don't think anyone will disagree that the 680i had a shaky (at best) launch, but it's starting to stabilize quite a bit. If you are still having serious issues, RMA with your board maker and demand they send you the latest revision of the board if a new revision is available. I knew when I bought the board that I was going to be an early adopter beta tester. I lived with it, stuck with the board, got an RMA from eVGA and have been really happy with the platform since.
 
I'm so tired of this crap ass mobo. Mine gives me the "- -" at power on now, no POST. I've removed components one by one, and even with nothing on it, it still gives the same "- -" message. RMA time, then it's off to eBay.
 
whoa.. I guess P24 was the same for me as P25.. I lost 100mhz of stable cpu OC on this board.. well, the BFG variant.. but made up for it a little by running @ 425x8... linked/sync'd.
 
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