Motherboard replacement (P45)

[Bev]

My computer is refusing to boot and sometimes even POST. After thinking it was my power supply and getting a replacement for it the problem is still happening, so I'm now replacing my motherboard. As far as I can tell there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between motherboards but I'm definitely no expert so I thought I'd ask here for recommendations. I'm considering between the following:

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo

I can afford up to ?100 and read the ASUS has better cooling, but have no intention of ever overclocking so don't really know if it's worth the extra money. Any advice?

I'm also a bit nervous about applying thermal paste to my processor, as I've never had to do it before, so would someone confirm to me that this (PDF) is the correct procedure for a Q6600?

Thanks all.

[kernow]

I've built about 5 pc's around the ASUS P5K/P5Q and its always been a solid, reliable board, not overclocked any of them either. As for thermal paste you just basically smear it over and sortof even it out with a bit of plastic or whatever, making sure its evenly distributed in a thinnish layer over the die of the CPU.

edit: Hmm, I've never worked with artic silver and it says to specifically NOT spread it out yourself. Damn these conductive thermal pastes.

[Hohum]

What's your existing motherboard? Have you tried refitting everything? (expansion cards, cable connections, etc). Any visible damage to the board?

Bit hard to recommend either of those boards if you're not overclocking, better to go for the cheapest board you can find if you have to replace. Having said that, maybe consider getting some thermal paste first, and try removing and refitting the processor on your existing board to rule out any potential seating issues. That guide you linked to pretty much covers installation, but all thermal pastes come with instructions anyway. I'd personally recommend:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=TH-001-AR < Thermal paste

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=OA-001-AK < Cleaning solution, excellent for removing the old thermal gunk prior to new stuff

Just my thoughts.

[sj33]

edit: Hmm, I've never worked with artic silver and it says to specifically NOT spread it out yourself. Damn these conductive thermal pastes.

The simple rule with Arctic Silver (and in fact, all thermal pastes really) is that less is more. You want to spread just enough to cover the surface area, nothing more than that. Thermal paste isn't actully a very good thermal conductor, and is intended to provide a consistant conductive surface between the heatsink and CPU core surface.

So you certainly should spread it yourself, put a small-as-possible blob in the middle of the CPU core surface area and spread with an old credit card or something... but care really should be taken to minimise the amount of thermal paste that is actually on there. I've seen so many examples of people sticking dollops of paste on there and wondering why their temps have been so high - because the heatsink can't act as a thermal conductor because the bloody paste is in the way!

The above paste and cleaning solutions posted by Hohum are excellent (though I use Arctic Silver 5, and use this for cleaning, both are probably as good as each other). Both should last you years because you use so little of it.

[kernow]

Yah, that sounds like what I do, using an old credit card or something. just a thin layer

[Bev]

What's your existing motherboard? Have you tried refitting everything? (expansion cards, cable connections, etc). Any visible damage to the board?

I have an MSI P35 Neo2-FR, and I've tried reseating everything except the CPU. I can't see any physical damage at all, but I know that the in-built ethernet port isn't working any more (a couple of months before this problem, Windows just stopped detecting it).

I'll try refitting the CPU on the current motherboard first. I've been pretty unlucky with hardware reliability in the past, so if I have to get a new board I guess I'll go with the P5Q then.

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations guys, much appreciated.

[abigsmurf]

tried resetting the bios? there's usually a jumper that will restore the defaults.

I had a PC that would boot for 3 seconds then turn itself off and resetting the bios fixed it.