Gigabyte recalls X79 UD3, UD5, G1.Assassin 2 mainboards

Posted on Wednesday, December 28 2011 @ 20:15 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck

TechPowerUp noticed Gigabyte has issued a recall of its X79 UD3, UD5, and G1.Assassin 2 motherboards on its Chinese website. The recall is a response to complaints from overclockers who found that even moderate voltage-assisted CPU overclocks fried the VRM:

Apparently, the issue is caused by a cocktail of bad firmware to complement the board's PWM circuitry, and bad quality PWM components. As an immediate remedy, Gigabyte issued a BIOS update for the affected products. This BIOS, however, will cripple the board's overclocking abilities. The new BIOS will throttle CPU when subjected to extreme stress, to save the VRM. The BIOS remedy is only for those who opt to keep their boards, or don't subject the board to extreme tuning. The other remedy, is to return the board to Gigabyte, for a free replacement when the "right" boards are available.

The BIOS updates can be downloaded at Gigabyte's website.

A video of a Gigabyte X79-UD3 going up in smoke during an overclocking session can be viewed at YouTube.

About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.

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