Best new mobo for Q9550?

skeediddley

skeediddley

skeediddley

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Joined
4 Dec 2009
Posts
8
Hi all.

I have a system based around the following:

Intel Q9550
Asus P5K
4gig of Corsair CM2X2048-8500C7
Crucial M225 SSD (System)
3x Samsung F2s (storage).
MOTU 2408 PCI based audio card
ATI 4550 & NVIDIA 7600 (Yes, in the same machine!!!!)
3x 22" monitors.
Zalman Cooling
Windows 7 x64

Currently I am running this rig with an FSB of 400, and a multiplier of 8.5, so as to achieve 1:1 with Ram and 3.4Ghz overclock. I doubt I would need to push it any further, as I do not want to create anymore heat and therefore noise ( I use the PC for music).

The only real problem with the motherboard is its inability to switch on first time in the mornings, and it can sometimes take quite a few restarts before I get to post. This happens regardless of whether or not it is overclocked and I have also tried increasing voltages for RAM and N/B with no joy. I even sent it back to overclockers, but they just sent it straight back after having flashed it to the latest bios.

Also related to this annoyance, is the fact that it is totally unable to suspend to Ram (S3). It goes throught the motions, succesfully puts itself to sleep, but can never resume. Yet again I have tried removing all unnecessary cards/usb devices/drives and disabling all onboard devices with no joy. The motherboard itself, with one GPU, one system drive and one stick of ram is totally unable to either switch on first time, or resume from sleep.

So I guess you can say I have exhausted all possibilities for this board! As a result I am in the market for a new one & am looking for suggestions. Even though I have owned over 25 ASUS boards over the years, I do not fancy going down the same route for a while...

What are people using other than ASUS? I have heard good things about the Gigabyte EP45 series (altough there are quite a few of them to choose from) and Custom PC seem to swear by the Biostar Tpower I45. Any one have any first hand experience with these boards? I have had plenty of Gigabytes over the years, but hjave yet to break my Biostar cherry!!

Any help well and truly appreciated! Cheers!
 
that above, P45 are better for overclocking some say X48 are better with quads not sure if thats true probley not as P45 is newer than X48, also there is no need for X48 if no crossfiring

so something like the P5Q range
 
skeediddley said:
The only real problem with the motherboard is its inability to switch on first time in the mornings, and it can sometimes take quite a few restarts before I get to post. This happens regardless of whether or not it is overclocked and I have also tried increasing voltages for RAM and N/B with no joy.
Click to expand...
If that happens only at boot from cold then there might be some capacitors starting to fail either in mobo or PSU.
(caps at the edge of failing work better when warm... which is ironical considering higher temperature always shortens their life span)
 
EsaT said:
If that happens only at boot from cold then there might be some capacitors starting to fail either in mobo or PSU.
(caps at the edge of failing work better when warm... which is ironical considering higher temperature always shortens their life span)
Click to expand...

Thanks! I had exactly the same problem with my old E6600, when the board was nearly new and the first thing I suspected was the psu. I did try a few others, so hopefully that narrows it down to the board. Even more reason to upgrade! ;)

Thanks!
 
As Esat says that sounds like a hardware issue and my guess would be PSU most likely then M/board.

If you can borrow a PSU from somewhere try that before spending your money.
 
Domi said:
As Esat says that sounds like a hardware issue and my guess would be PSU most likely then M/board.

If you can borrow a PSU from somewhere try that before spending your money.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have tried three different psus and two different CPUs. As I said, it was the first thing I suspected too. However, If you google ASUS P5K and either sleep or boot you will see i'm not alone on this one.

Incidentally, my old CPU (e6600) and spare psu that would also exhibit these problems when partnered with the asus have been working faultlessly in another gigabyte based media center for over a year now.

I do agree, though, the fault sounds like it should be psu related.

Thanks anyway!
 
I've rarely seen a setup that works 100% with sleep/suspend functionality - in almost every case they either never wake/resume or on doing so certain devices refuse to wake up forcing a reboot anyway.
 
Rroff said:
I've rarely seen a setup that works 100% with sleep/suspend functionality - in almost every case they either never wake/resume or on doing so certain devices refuse to wake up forcing a reboot anyway.
Click to expand...

Ironically, my media center, which has the same spec as the first machine in your signature (gigabyte p35 + e6600) sleeps and resumes faultlessly! Whereas the asus with all the same components always failed, and continues to do so with new components. You are right though, more often than not, s3 is elusive.

Cheers!
 
If you want a reliable decent 775 board, I'd go with gigabyte every time. I've never had one fail on me, and they seem a lot more robust and less prone to failure than some other brands, including Asus.

However, with the market being as it is (kind of between all intel users being on a single platform), I'd go second hand if you could, as a lot of new 775 boards are expensive compared to their superior replacements, and there are lots of really good 775 boards on the second hand market from people who have upgraded. Bare in mind a lot of these also have 3 year warranties if the seller can provide the receipt.

A great source is on the trading section of this site. If you read the FAQ you can find out how to get access.
 
In the end I went for a Biostar TP45, as I could not find any crossfire Gigabytes in stock anywhere in the country. Glad I did!

All problems solved - I now have the luxury of starting the machine, and putting it to sleep & resuming when its not in use!!!! I also took the opportunity to stick another 4gig or Ram in there - so it is lightning quick at doing so. All other components are the same, so I can pretty much put the blame at the feet of the ASUS on this one.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers
 
I'm looking for a replacment mobo for a q9550, my main requirement is that it does 450+ fsb and has the gtl reference voltages in bios (I think all P45 has this?).
 
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