Need new mobo

[peter~SPARTA~]

Looks like my motherboard is starting to go down.

Im not keen to buy new setup but only mobo and o OC'it

My current setup is:

 

Processor

Name Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200

Codename Yorkfield

Specification Intel® Core2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33GHz

Package (platform ID) Socket 775 LGA (0x4)

CPUID 6.7.7

Extended CPUID 6.17

Core Stepping M1

Technology 45 nm

TDP Limit 95 Watts

Core Speed 1994.9 MHz

Multiplier x FSB 6.0 x 332.5 MHz

Rated Bus speed 1329.9 MHz

Stock frequency 2333 MHz

Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, EM64T

L1 Data cache 4 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size

L1 Instruction cache 4 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size

L2 cache 2 x 2048 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size

FID/VID Control yes

FID range 6.0x - 7.0x

Max VID 1.238 V

 

2x DIMM # 1

SMBus address 0x50

Memory type DDR2

Module format Regular UDIMM

Manufacturer (ID) Patriot Memory (7F7F7F7F7F020000)

Size 2048 MBytes

Max bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)

Part number 6400EL Series

Number of banks 2

Data width 64 bits

Correction None

Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts

EPP yes (1 profiles)

XMP no

JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency

JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-6-12 @ 200 MHz

JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-8-16 @ 266 MHz

JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-12-23 @ 400 MHz

EPP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)

EPP profile #1 (full) 5.0-5-5-12-22-2T @ 400 MHz (1.900 Volts)

 

and motherboard is ecs g31t-m1

 

video ATI 4850 with 1Gb

and 6 HDU's, mix of sata and eide

 

What MB should i get so its not cost me arm and leg?

[NoScream~SPARTA~]

 

Package (platform ID) Socket 775 LGA (0x4)

 

 

Cheapest solution is another 775 MB for intel chip CPU

 

Around $40 USD

Asus P5QPL-AM Motherboard

Asus P5G41T-M LX Socket 775 Motherboard

 

 

On a performance base without upgrading anything.

 

Asus Maximus II Formula, iP45, S775, PCI-E 2.0(x16), DDR2 1066/1200/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

Asus P5E DELUXE Socket 775 Intel X48 ATX RAID SATA Gigabit LAN crossfire DDR2 1394 firewire, SupremeFX II HD audio Motherboard

Gigabyte GA-EG41MFT-US2H Motherboard Core 2 Extreme Socket 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Gigabit Ethernet (DDR3)

GIGABYTE EP45-DQ6 SOCKET 775 INTEL P45+ICH10R 4D.DDR2-1200MHZ SATA,1600/1333 ATX socket 775 motherboard

Gigabyte GA-8ANXP-D, Socket 775, DDR2, PCI-E x16, LAN, SOUND, SATA, OEM Motherboard

 

But all this 775 tech is 3 years old (2008)

 

Gigabyte GA-EG41MFT-US2H (DDR3 board)

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3225#sp

 

 

Staying with DDR2

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 Full of PORTS

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2008/06/18/gigabyte-ga-ep45-dq6/1

 

Only thing I mark down with this board is 4 LAN PORTS !!! why ? I use two max, but it's there.

(I use one to connect my router to the computer to get the internet & one for local lan to my storage units (NAS).

 

 

 

Support for socket 775 Intel Core 2 Extreme, Quad, Duo and Pentium processors with 1,600, 1,333, 1,066 or 800MHz FSB

Intel P45 north bridge

Intel ICH10R south bridge

Four DDR2 DIMM slots supporting up to 16GB of memory at 1,200, 1,066, 800 or 667MHz

Realtek ALC889a audio codec supporting 7.1 channel High-Definition surround sound including Dolby Home Theatre technology

Four Realtek RTL8111C PCI-Express Gigabit Ethernet connectors including dual and four way teaming

One PCI-Express x16 2.0 slot (x16 or x8 electrical)

One PCI-Express x16 (x8 electrical)

Two open ended PCI-Express x4 slots

One PCI-Express x1 slot

Two PCI slots

Six SATA 3Gbps ports including support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5

Four SATA 3Gbps ports from two Silicon Image 5723 chipsets

One IDE and one floppy port

Three IEEE1394a Firewire sockets

Twelve USB 2.0 ports (eight on rear I/O and four via pin-outs)

Gigabyte DualBIOS, @BIOS, Q-Flash, QuadBIOS, EasyTune 6, DES Advanced, Ultra TPM, XpressRecovery, XpressInstall and Q-Share features

[peter~SPARTA~]

Thank you very much. I will now look for them.

I dont feel i need to upgrade performance untill summer 2012(arma3).

I'm using this box for photo and arma only. So for that purpose my PC is just fine.

I may actually kill it yesterday by bumping FSb from 333 to 400 yesterday. Probably MB reset will restor it. Im on the road today and will chk that later evening.

 

From what i read i should be able to bump FSB onthis cpu up to 475(450).

Not sure what can i do with memory.

Windows performance meter rate cpu-video on 7.6 and my hdd's on 5.4. Not sure if there is way to improving it without hardware upgrade.

As for now i have 1T drive as main and rest as photo storage.

[Donziboy2]

What mobo and ram are you running peter, not all boards will OC well and memory can cause issues also.

[EL_n00biachi]

What mobo and ram are you running peter, not all boards will OC well and memory can cause issues also.

 

its all in his opening post.

 

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=812&CategoryID=1&MenuID=16&LanID=0

 

2x DIMM # 1

SMBus address 0x50

Memory type DDR2

Module format Regular UDIMM

Manufacturer (ID) Patriot Memory (7F7F7F7F7F020000)

Size 2048 MBytes

Max bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)

Part number 6400EL Series

Number of banks 2

Data width 64 bits

Correction None

Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts

EPP yes (1 profiles)

XMP no

JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency

JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-6-12 @ 200 MHz

JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-8-16 @ 266 MHz

JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-12-23 @ 400 MHz

EPP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)

EPP profile #1 (full) 5.0-5-5-12-22-2T @ 400 MHz (1.900 Volts)

[Donziboy2]

Well then what specific things are happening to make you think your mobo is dying?

[peter~SPARTA~]

I had power up problems before.

If my USB cables are re-arranged after unplugging them and plugging back in random slots. My PC is working for couple minutes and reset itself or just froze. I do have additional USB PCI card with 4 slots.

My screen is becoming black or in green vertical patter and not respond to anything but hard reset.

Its not my video card, cuz i had same signs with my previous video card. I thought it was their fault. But after change i had several crashes with same pattern.

My PSU is 500W witch should be more then sufficient for my setup. It's 5 yo old but never let me down.

Time to time i do maintenance and clean all dust from inside fun's/radiators, unplug and clean PCI slots and change thermal compound between CPU and heat sink.

It seams like helping for 2-3 months and same story with crashes start again.

 

I can suspect my PSU but i already had other PSU (less powerful, like 400 W) and problem repeats.

What i have left is heat sink witch came with CPU (original intel)

Motherboard, RAM

 

If my RAM would be bad my PC should be very unstable all the time. Its not so its not a case

Mobo and CPU heat sink is only things left in my setup i have not change yet.

After each crash i chk my CPU temperature and its not overheating.

So my conclusion is cheap MB fault witch came with this CPU when i got it from Fry's

Edited August 25, 2011 by peter~SPARTA~

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

Peter,

 

from your description, you are checking out your PSU as NOT a problem, but to me, it seems a Power issue indeed.

 

You said you have issues when you connect randomly your USBs devices. USB uses power. If your PSU failed, from now on you will have unstable power management and that can compromise all of the other components. Maybe already compromised them.

 

A few tests you should perform:

 

1 - Have a very clean start up, NO USB devices of Any kind, if you use USB Keyb and mouse, find a way to test with a OS2 keyboard and mouse. Start checking the PC behavior with standard internet surfing and then fire up an intensive game to see what happens under stress.

If this test fails, meaning doesn t matter what at low and high stress your PC fails, that means your MB could be compromised, however you cannot rule out the PSU. - If the PSU is damaged, will ruin also a new MB as soon as you install it.

 

2 - Besides how test 1 goes, get a new PSU around W600 and test it. Test first no Extra USB devices and then if steady, add ure USB devices.

 

You might be lucky enough it turn out to be only a power issue with no extended damages to other components.

 

In my opinion, you should start buying a PSU, being sure you can return it if not needed (although I think you will end it keeping it) and a MB being sure you car return it for a refund if not needed (that depends how your testing evolves)

[peter~SPARTA~]

I'm not ruling out PSU, but there is no way to buy and return in my country if you open the box. There is only minor chance they will take it back if not opened.

Problem is i have this kind of signs every 2-4 months, so if everything work again i will know after his time period.

 

I did test my USB ports they way you suggested. If they are plugged in to PCI Card everything seams to be ok. But 4 ports is not enough for me, so i have to use those on MB.

[peter~SPARTA~]

I rethink everything again and i have to agree PSU could be week link. My is 5 yo and that can ba a problem even if it says 500w.

I will start from this side.

My question is how much power do i need?

As i state before have Q8200 , 4 gig of ram ati4850, 2x 1TB drive, 3x 500 GB, 1x 250, DVD-R drive (currently disconnected)

wireless KB/mouse on USB, wirelesses radio mouse, wacom tablet, eizo monitor with USB hub, 2x epson printers px660 and pro 4000, USB headset.

Occasionally i use USB card reader and charge my iphone using hub in monitor.Wirelesses USB WIFI card im not using right now.

It never happens my PC quit just after connecting any of those devices , even if all of them where hooked up at once.

It refuse to start up, or went down when i play arma or use web browser.

 

For sure this PSU will stay with me when i move to I7 CPu next year.

 

600W or more?

Edited August 25, 2011 by peter~SPARTA~

[Donziboy2]

Whats the amp ratings on the PSU rails, you could be overdrawing from one of the rails.

 

 

Disconnect everything but the OS hard drive and anything else you don't have to have to start the pc, then fire up a game and see what it does.

 

 

One of your add in cards could be faulty also.

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

Donzy is very right,

 

if you overload a trail, doesn t matter what is the total output, your PSU will fail.

 

You should get a 650 W at least, so it will be durable in the future too. be sure when you connect the internal prongs you keep it fair, well balanced.

Do not have too many power connection on a single trail, spread it on both.

 

Understanding you will use a lot of power for many devices, I strongly belive your old 500W gave up. you need a new one, possibly SLI or CF certified, not really because you are gonna use that, but because that certification is important on the output consistency.

 

For what you got you do not need to go above 800W, so don t waste money on super fancy 1000W killers..

[peter~SPARTA~]

That's my PSU

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ULT31556

 

Power Specifications:

115V, 230V switchable power supply

+3.3V, 28A

+5V, 30A

+12V, 34A

-12V, 0.8A

-5V, 0.3A

+5Vsb, 2.0A

 

Now i know what do you mean.

If my video draw more then 34 A my system will fail.

 

I can play Arma for several hours without crash but as i mentioned every couple months trouble starts. I disassembly box put it back together and runs ok for another couple months.

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

ok, look, you need to change that PSU, ASAP.

 

I am afraid that is a Single +12 v rail, very bad for your system. All of your power is drained thru 1 only "pipe" if you wanna call it like that.

 

you need something like this:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159111

 

this is 750W with 4 +12v rails, meaning that you can keep nice and balanced the power on 4 pipes, without overloading.

[peter~SPARTA~]

thx, will order new PSU.

 

Q. can i expect faster graphic performance after new PSU? Or just more stable. I assume it will not affect performance at all , just stability of system.

[Donziboy2]

The number of rails does not make a difference.

But most things in the PC draw from the 12v rail. Including newer HDD, they used to use the 5v but mainly the 12v now.

And those numbers are max draw, you will never see max draw since the psu looses some of that.

 

Before we can find if its the PSU we need to see if anything else causes it.

If we reduce the total draw and it still happens outside of gaming it could be something else. (which would really make it a bitch to find)

 

Make sure you have windows set to show BSOD instead of just restarting also. If its restarting it might not be PSU. Usually the safety systems shut down the pc if power is insufficient and it doesnt restart, you have to manually start the PC.

 

BTW according to the amperage on the rails it could pump 700W, which is a bad lie. Usually they can handle a lil more on 1 rail but thats kinda high. My 750 Ultra Pro has max amperages around 820W.

 

Just an FWI, my I5-2500k, W/EVGA GTX285 on a 24" LCD only pulls about 400W gaming.

 

Edited......

 

Also I dont recommend that PSU Batwing posted, according to the amperage postings that thing would be 900+ Watts, but the 12v rails are not impressive at all...

Edited August 25, 2011 by Donziboy2

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

well,

 

The PSU I do suggest is an example, there are many out there at different prices and again a lot depends on how much you are gonna put on stress your PSU to support a myriad of other devices. True, the single rails are not impressive but are 4 and that allows to handle probably in a better way the "balancing" I was talking about. you have to divide the many Devices intelligently on the 4 rails. It will work also with only 2 rails and higher Amps.

 

There is no performance improvement of any kind from PSU. Just power stability, which involves longevity in your electronic components.

 

Donzy, about your example on your Wattage, i don t know if that helps that much, because Peter seems to have a bunch of extra devices connected and working (using power) at once. his wattage may exceed yours, easily.

 

Somewhere I had a wattage calculator online, but I m not home. Probably you can find it just googling it Again Wattage is a part of the issue, then how you overload the rails is the other part.

 

Also, testing also at minimal power consumption "now" is not a dependable test. Fact the PC may work or not work, actually doesn t help much. If the PSU is compromised, is compromised, period. It will be unstabel and not dependable.

 

Approaching this solution a new PSU is a mandatory move to rule out a very possible culprit. For sure that old 1 rail 500W is not a component you wanna have anymore ona PC handling so many devices.

 

Once you change your PSU with something more solid and dependable, then you go ahead with your testing. Crossing fingers your MB is not compromised as well.

[peter~SPARTA~]

I had no BSOD since win XP, no idea how to turn it on in W7.

 

W had several different signs of crashes.

MOst common was . I push power button and can hear system tarting but nothing on the screen. HDU's are working and load OS, after a minute my monitor is powering off.

I do reset and sometimes it help sometimes not. It happen with Nvidia 9600 I had and with 4850.

Last crashes was during playing arma, green screen with vertical black lines or just powering off with power button on the case staying on(under-light on power button). IIRC with nvidia it was pink/magenta screen.

I got it also when i was browsing net with latests firefox beta. Unplugging unnecessary USB connections seems working for a moment and system is stable, i will test it with arma tonight.

 

How about this PSU?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371047&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Power+Supplies-_-Antec-_-17371047

it 2x more expensive in my country but , well

 

 

edit

 

Batwing,

Back in US. When i had no printer at all, just headphones and KB connected same thing was happening.

Edited August 25, 2011 by peter~SPARTA~

[Donziboy2]

Wattage calculator is an estimate, and sometimes its a very bad one.

 

Unless you plan on SLI or CF you will never need a 600+W PSU.

 

With rails in general its not really a matter of balance (unless its a really crappy PSU). Large rails have a larger buffer, small ones will have an equally smaller buffer. But the main difference is the number of components needed. More parts equals more things that can fail. And the fact that the rails aren't the same means they used different sized components for each rail. You also have to remember they have to cram those extra components into the same casing. 3+ rails and it starts to get a little tight for air flow.

 

Peter

 

The PSU you posted doesn't look good or bad, the US price looks about right, but if its going to cost more then its not worth it.

 

Here is a more popular Antec, it's not single rail. But 5 stars with over 300 reviews its pretty good.

 

Let me finish my Associates in Computers and Electronics Engineering Technology and maybe ill just start making my own PSU's

 

And as for BSOD

Right click on my computer, go to properties. In the Advanced tab, click startup and recovery. Then uncheck automatic restart and the blue screen will now stay on the screen without restarting.

 

The hardest thing is figuring out if its the PSU or something else.

[peter~SPARTA~]

No Antec available for me

 

How about Thermaltake TR2 500W 80+ Bronze or 600W ( TR-600PCEU or TR-500PCEU)

OCZ is quite popular brand

[Donziboy2]

Those 2 Thermaltake TR2's seem to be newer models and there aren't any reviews on them. They are none modular and they are not branded for dual GPU's.

 

As for OCZ this one stands out, its modular, may not be branded for SLI/CF but it looks good, it is dual railed.

 

Where are you shopping from btw?

[peter~SPARTA~]

Its local place called allegro. Something like cross between ebay and amazon, but not that good. It safer this way and i can get warranties on most stuff since online stores sell there.

http://allegro.pl/zasilacze-typu-atx-4561

I can search in other stores but i don't trust most of them.

 

 

Another weird thing today. I shut down my PC yesterday using standard shut down from windows and today morning it went in to recovery mode. Its kind of common.

Yesterday i try arma and everything was fine with most of stuff unplugged from USB's

 

how about coolermaster?

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=5924

Edited August 26, 2011 by peter~SPARTA~

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

So,

 

Testing on heavy duty (arma) with low power (no usbs) seems going better, meaning you may be lucky and your MB may still be good.

 

Go ahead solving the PSU the best you can and you might have it straight

 

Good luck

[peter~SPARTA~]

I ordered OCZ Danziboy suggested

THX guys

 

now shopping fro mobo and mby memory, i will sell my current ram to offset costs

 

I got fix on Gigabyte GA-EG41MFT-US2H motherboard, if i change my ram to DDR3 8GB , box should be faster then with DDR2 pc6400?

Edited August 26, 2011 by peter~SPARTA~

[Donziboy2]

1066 and 1333 DDR are pretty cheap.

 

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH These are about the fastest DDR3 1333 they have. They are also 1.5V so they will run cooler. Not to bad for $65, if money is tight you can get CAS9 stuff for like $50.

 

One other thing came to mind, do you have the PC on a UPS or just a surge strip?