GA-965G-DS3 different versions?

I see different versions of this motherboard. Some of the online
retailers have great prices but don't tell the version. What is the
difference between the versions? I thought it was just the BIOS
version but I've been told it's more than that.

Thanks,

Joel

The differences are greater than just the bios. I know that the Vcore
power supply had been beefed up to support quad-core CPUs in the later
versions, and the sound chip was changed to a later (and better, but
completely compatible) model. I'm not sure of all of the changes,
however. There are several 1.x models, plus at least a 2.0 and 3.0
model, and perhaps other 2.x and 3.x models. However, in the worst
case, 1.0 (which I have) is still fine for Core 2 Duo E6600.


WannaKatana wrote:
> I see different versions of this motherboard. Some of the online
> retailers have great prices but don't tell the version. What is the
> difference between the versions? I thought it was just the BIOS
> version but I've been told it's more than that.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joel
>

Barry Watzman wrote:
> The differences are greater than just the bios. I know that the Vcore
> power supply had been beefed up to support quad-core CPUs in the later
> versions, and the sound chip was changed to a later (and better, but
> completely compatible) model. I'm not sure of all of the changes,
> however. There are several 1.x models, plus at least a 2.0 and 3.0
> model, and perhaps other 2.x and 3.x models. However, in the worst
> case, 1.0 (which I have) is still fine for Core 2 Duo E6600.
>
>
> WannaKatana wrote:
>> I see different versions of this motherboard. Some of the online
>> retailers have great prices but don't tell the version. What is the
>> difference between the versions? I thought it was just the BIOS
>> version but I've been told it's more than that.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Joel

From what I've read, they're all good boards and there isn't a real reason
to pay different prices. I just got my Rev 1 in and will try it out later
this week since the C2D bulk price dropped today.
--
Phil

The version 1 boards (any of them) are fine for Core 2 Duo dual core
processors, but may not support quad-core processors.


Phil, Non-Squid wrote:
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> The differences are greater than just the bios. I know that the Vcore
>> power supply had been beefed up to support quad-core CPUs in the later
>> versions, and the sound chip was changed to a later (and better, but
>> completely compatible) model. I'm not sure of all of the changes,
>> however. There are several 1.x models, plus at least a 2.0 and 3.0
>> model, and perhaps other 2.x and 3.x models. However, in the worst
>> case, 1.0 (which I have) is still fine for Core 2 Duo E6600.
>>
>>
>> WannaKatana wrote:
>>> I see different versions of this motherboard. Some of the online
>>> retailers have great prices but don't tell the version. What is the
>>> difference between the versions? I thought it was just the BIOS
>>> version but I've been told it's more than that.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Joel
>
> From what I've read, they're all good boards and there isn't a real reason
> to pay different prices. I just got my Rev 1 in and will try it out later
> this week since the C2D bulk price dropped today.

I have a version 1 board, and I am running the F4 BIOS. Can the newer
bios's be used with the version 1 board, and do you think there is any
advantage is upgrading the bios For the next few weeks I can't afford to
take the risk of a system failure, so I'm going to wait (until school is
out) to upgrade.

Thank you,
Bill

Yes, the bios' are all compatible, I'm running F9 on a version 1 board.
You really should update, there were SERIOUS problems with the early
BIOS' for these boards. In fact, many, many people with pre-F5 BIOS'
had to return them due to memory incompatibility issues.


Bill wrote:
> I have a version 1 board, and I am running the F4 BIOS. Can the newer
> bios's be used with the version 1 board, and do you think there is any
> advantage is upgrading the bios For the next few weeks I can't afford to
> take the risk of a system failure, so I'm going to wait (until school is
> out) to upgrade.
>
> Thank you,
> Bill
>
>

By the way, after you update the bios, you will probably have an
"unidentified item" in device manager. It will do no harm, but
installing the "HECI" driver will make it go away. [HECI = Host
Embedded Controller Interface]



Bill wrote:
> I have a version 1 board, and I am running the F4 BIOS. Can the newer
> bios's be used with the version 1 board, and do you think there is any
> advantage is upgrading the bios For the next few weeks I can't afford to
> take the risk of a system failure, so I'm going to wait (until school is
> out) to upgrade.
>
> Thank you,
> Bill
>
>

"Barry Watzman" <> wrote in message
news:462eded2$0$27111$...
> Yes, the bios' are all compatible, I'm running F9 on a version 1 board.
> You really should update, there were SERIOUS problems with the early BIOS'
> for these boards. In fact, many, many people with pre-F5 BIOS' had to
> return them due to memory incompatibility issues.

Thank you for your help! Of course, I was one of the people who read the
MB manual before I bought anything and bought 1.8v memory for fear that I
would not have been able to boot otherwise. Do you think it's safe to go
straight from F4 to F9, or is taking "smaller steps" still good advise to
follow? I am guessing that any bios change could potentially cause an
OS-hardware compatibility problem, since drivers rely on the bios. Is this
line of thinking correct? Thank you also for letting me know about HECI (in
your other post)!

-Bill



>
>
> Bill wrote:
>> I have a version 1 board, and I am running the F4 BIOS. Can the newer
>> bios's be used with the version 1 board, and do you think there is any
>> advantage is upgrading the bios For the next few weeks I can't afford to
>> take the risk of a system failure, so I'm going to wait (until school is
>> out) to upgrade.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Bill

You don't understand how a bios update works. The new bios TOTALLY
replaces the old bios. 100.0% All at once. Lock, stock and Barrel.
Period. Thus, your question about upgrading in "steps" makes no sense.
Once you install F9 [or any other bios, later or even earlier], what
had been present previously becomes totally irrelevant.

[and, actually, the latest bios is F10, I think]



Bill wrote:
> "Barry Watzman" <> wrote in message
> news:462eded2$0$27111$...
>> Yes, the bios' are all compatible, I'm running F9 on a version 1 board.
>> You really should update, there were SERIOUS problems with the early BIOS'
>> for these boards. In fact, many, many people with pre-F5 BIOS' had to
>> return them due to memory incompatibility issues.
>
> Thank you for your help! Of course, I was one of the people who read the
> MB manual before I bought anything and bought 1.8v memory for fear that I
> would not have been able to boot otherwise. Do you think it's safe to go
> straight from F4 to F9, or is taking "smaller steps" still good advise to
> follow? I am guessing that any bios change could potentially cause an
> OS-hardware compatibility problem, since drivers rely on the bios. Is this
> line of thinking correct? Thank you also for letting me know about HECI (in
> your other post)!
>
> -Bill
>
>
>
>>
>> Bill wrote:
>>> I have a version 1 board, and I am running the F4 BIOS. Can the newer
>>> bios's be used with the version 1 board, and do you think there is any
>>> advantage is upgrading the bios For the next few weeks I can't afford to
>>> take the risk of a system failure, so I'm going to wait (until school is
>>> out) to upgrade.
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>> Bill
>
>

Barry,

I appreciate what you are saying. But I know I have read in more than one
place not to skip over too many BIOS versions at a time. I'm not sure of
the reason why; maybe it only applies to older hardware--or maybe you are
right and I am wrong about this. I'll try to locate a reference.

Thanks,
Bill


"Barry Watzman" <> wrote in message
news:46300fea$0$1413$...
> You don't understand how a bios update works. The new bios TOTALLY
> replaces the old bios. 100.0% All at once. Lock, stock and Barrel.
> Period. Thus, your question about upgrading in "steps" makes no sense.
> Once you install F9 [or any other bios, later or even earlier], what had
> been present previously becomes totally irrelevant.
>
> [and, actually, the latest bios is F10, I think]
>
>
>
> Bill wrote:
>> "Barry Watzman" <> wrote in message
>> news:462eded2$0$27111$...
>>> Yes, the bios' are all compatible, I'm running F9 on a version 1 board.
>>> You really should update, there were SERIOUS problems with the early
>>> BIOS' for these boards. In fact, many, many people with pre-F5 BIOS'
>>> had to return them due to memory incompatibility issues.
>>
>> Thank you for your help! Of course, I was one of the people who read
>> the MB manual before I bought anything and bought 1.8v memory for fear
>> that I would not have been able to boot otherwise. Do you think it's
>> safe to go straight from F4 to F9, or is taking "smaller steps" still
>> good advise to follow? I am guessing that any bios change could
>> potentially cause an OS-hardware compatibility problem, since drivers
>> rely on the bios. Is this line of thinking correct? Thank you also for
>> letting me know about HECI (in your other post)!
>>
>> -Bill
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Bill wrote:
>>>> I have a version 1 board, and I am running the F4 BIOS. Can the
>>>> newer bios's be used with the version 1 board, and do you think there
>>>> is any advantage is upgrading the bios For the next few weeks I can't
>>>> afford to take the risk of a system failure, so I'm going to wait
>>>> (until school is out) to upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you,
>>>> Bill
>>