Motherboard BIOS and CPU support - Store responsibilities?

[IggSter]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice (on behalf of a friend).

He recently bought:

An Asus AM3+ motherboard (with Bulldozer FX support)
An AMD FX4100 cpu
2 x 4GB G.Skill RipJaw DDR3 memory
Nvidia GTX 560

When he built the system it didn't POST - no screen output at all.
At this point he phoned me and asked for some advice - I spent a good couple of hours making sure all connections were in the right place etc, had him reinstall all the components, and try powering up without RAM, without CPU etc.

Result - no POST, no error beeps....nothing (power light on mobo was on, hard drives spin up, GFX + Case fans all spinning up)

At this point I had a look at the ASUS site and noticed that the release BIOS DID NOT support Bulldozer FX and in fact the BIOS that provided that support was only released 2 weeks ago.

My conclusion: BIOS upgrade needed.

Problem: How do you upgrade a BIOS when you only have a Bulldozer cpu and cant get the system to POST.

Next day I spoke to the supplier (Ebuyer) and they said it was not there responsibility to upgrade the BIOS - I disagreed as all the components were bought from them and surely they have to actually take these things into consideration.

Long story short - they upgraded the BIOS and said that their FX cpu worked fine (so looks to me like the BIOS was the issue) - however they charged my friend £10 for the update and £12 shipping.

The motherboard will arrive back on Saturday and I guess we will see then if the non POST issue has gone.

My question to you fine folks is :-

Do you think they should be responsible for making sure that a Mobo that is being sold as having Bulldozer FX support - actually is shipped with the BIOS version that provides that support? (when all components are purchased from the same store)

I'd love to hear your thoughts

[mad1394]

Misleading title is misleading.

It is up to the buyer to make sure all the parts work together, you can't expect them to open the hardware your going to buy just so they update it, my guess is they have plenty other stuff to worry about.

[IggSter]

Originally Posted by mad1394

Misleading title is misleading.

It is up to the buyer to make sure all the parts work together, you can't expect them to open the hardware your going to buy just so they update it, my guess is they have plenty other stuff to worry about.

I'll edit the title - ooops sorry.

While I agree somewhat with what you say - it clearly states on the Ebuyer website that the mobo supports Bulldozer FX - when clearly with the release BIOS it does not. How is the buyer meant to make any further checks than this?

[brandonwh64]

Take a AM3 cpu then do the bios update = WINNING!

[IggSter]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

Take a AM3 cpu then do the bios update = WINNING!

He only has the FX CPU, otherwise that is exactly what he would have done

[cadaveca]

All of my local stores will flash BIOS to a board if requested at time of purchase. One retailer will even mount the CPU and make sure it POSTs before you leave the store. The key is that you need to request the service, as some do nto offer, but are more than willing if it'll make the sale happen.


While a sad situation, I don't find this too surprising. This is EXACTLY why I prefer to shop from local shops rather than etailers, as the sometimes higher costs are offset compared to running into issues like this one.

Also, there IS a warning in the FX CPU box about needed to update BIOS prior to installing CPU. I feel the retailer should have a disclaimer automatically when a AM3+ board and FX CPU are purchased, but that's just my perosnal opinion.

[IggSter]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

All of my local stores will flash BIOS to a board if requested at time of purchase. One retailer will even mount the CPU and make sure it POSTs before you leave the store. The key is that you need to request the service, as some do nto offer, but are more than willing if it'll make the sale happen.


While a sad situation, I don't find this too surprising. This is EXACTLY why I prefer to shop from local shops rather than etailers, as the sometimes higher costs are offset compared to running into issues like this one.

I've always purchased from Overclockers or Scan in the UK and always found them to be very reasonable and understanding when it comes to issues like this. I guess Ebuyer is cheap for a reason - lesson learned I guess

[brandonwh64]

Maybe have him pay you to take out your 955 for an hour and flash his board? I would if it was my friend.

[IggSter]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

Maybe have him pay you to take out your 955 for an hour and flash his board? I would if it was my friend.

Very good point and well spotted my friend....

One problem: I live nr Glasgow and he lives in London

[brandonwh64]

Oh well I dont know that distance but seems like a long ways

[IggSter]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

Oh well I dont know that distance but seems like a long ways

403 Miles or a 6-7 hr drive

[maleficarus]

They should have done it (BIOS floash) for free as that would have been good customer service. I would simply never buy from them again. Word of mouth goes along way when it comes to PC stores. Also buying brand new tech always has certian risks. I always wait at least a month or two before jumping into new release technlogy, this way most of the release bugs are all ironed out...