Quad-core died

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

Hey.....what if my proc is just incompatible with this board and/or BIOS version??????

From what I can gather, I'm running BIOS version 12. The newest that I can find is 16.


Hmmmm.........

[kc8adu]

Re: Quad-core died

you could try the bios upgrade but if it shows its ass while you are mid write its dead till you write it manually or swap eepoms.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

BIOSMAN is just down the street. I've got an email in to him to see if he has access to the newest version. I'll just get another whole chip.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

Well....got the v14 bios chip. same thing.

since i had a few beers at the bar prior to arriving home, i got pissed and just pulled the bios chip out and tried to boot it. exact same behavior.

unfortunately, since i cut the heatpipe, i guess this board is toast. i might try to call abit, but i'm not real hopeful.

abit goes out of business and bites me in the ass at the same time. well...i guess off to newegg for the holiday sales.........

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Quad-core died

I hear ya.
The IP35-E that tested good 2-3 weeks ago has now decided it's going to boot-loop any time it has more than one stick of RAM.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

the thing that sucks is that i can't find a suitable replacement.

farking abit

asus has a board, but its getting crap reviews.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Quad-core died

One of these work?
http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...3/C2SBA+II.cfm
Have one that some dummy managed to smash a couple caps on in my 'to do' box.
It boots and passes memtest even with the busted caps.
Caps are all Poly or Sanyo.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Quad-core died

If that won't work then look through here and go hunting on eBay.
http://www.supermicro.com/products/m.../index.cfm#775

[370forlife]

Re: Quad-core died

Only problem is supermicro has never used anything other than intel chipsets, so no SLI or Crossfire.

Really hard to find a good board. They all either have no-name solids on the VRM then Chemi-con solids everywhere else, or they have Sanyo solids on the VRM and a mix of no-name solids and electrolytics everywhere else.

[Wizard]

Re: Quad-core died

This is why I bought this P5K. Fujistu (red markings) and good other polymer caps. Didn't realize till and was happy to find out.

Cheers, Wizard

[370forlife]

Re: Quad-core died

All the ones I was looking at had Chemi-con solids everywhere, and some knock-off Sanyos, logo was a oval with a T in the middle.

They were all the Nvidia made boards, the EVGA's and XFX and Zotacs.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Quad-core died

Only problem is supermicro has never used anything other than intel chipsets, so no SLI or Crossfire.

SLI and Crossfire are toys for gamers.
Not needed on a serious business system or server.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Quad-core died

The problem with the IP35-E turned out to be a glitch in Memtest86 v3.5.
Apparently that Memtest version can't handle the newer chipsets even though it says it does.
Had problems with that version with Intel 5000_ chipsets too. Would hang during test.

Memtest86[plus] v2.11 ID's the chipsets properly and runs fine. No reboot or hang.
.

[Pyrotech]

Re: Quad-core died

HI, there is a quick way to reflash a bios chip, but you have to be very careful. It involves booting up to dos with good bios chip. Then carefully remove the chip if in square socket, and insert the bad bios chip, or if old bios chip set it on top of the old one. Then flash the bios, and you will have another good bios chip. Don't short anything out doing it or you might need a new motherboard.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

yeah...i heard of that trick, but i'd just go with a bios savior.

problem is....i can't get far enough to flash anything.

i've been ignoring the stupid thing. maybe i'll get the motivation to mess with it soon...

[bgavin]

Re: Quad-core died

If you opt for another board, I am having fabulous success with the Gigabyte GA-P45-UDP3 from Newegg. I load it with an E8400 and Corsair Dominator XMS2 at 1066 /2.1v and it screams. 100% reliable over days of continuous testing.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

bgavin.......did you mean GA-EP45-UDP3???

if so...i might have to check it out....

[bgavin]

Re: Quad-core died

Sorry, blind eyes and fat fingers.
Yes, that is the board.

I've placed several already.
BIOS has no DPC issues, the 1066/2.1v memory is bulletproof, and so is the heat sinking on the board. It runs cool, fast and reliable.

I had given up on Gigabyte due to their chronic DPC problems. These are now thankfully absent in the EP45 boards.

BTW, this board is blazing fast. It is the fastest Intel Core2 powered board according to Everest 4.60. The quads bench faster, but those are really useful for computationally severe apps, such as games. Data transfer apps benefit from the fast bus. The quads still have only one FSB, so they have to wait for the bus anyway.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

i'm going to muck with the board tomorrow. if i can't get it running, i'll probably get that board.

the last gigabyte board i had was a P3 board I bought.....oh......8 or so years ago.

guess i'll give them another try as well.

[stretch0069]

Re: Quad-core died

well...just did a bit of messing just now......

i had the BIOS chip and the battery removed since I last messed with this thing.

i put the battery back in and installed the v14 BIOS chip. it just went to 9.0. and the fans spun up. it looked like it was going to work. but then it went to 9.0. and back to 9.9. , with a quick 8.3. between the 90 and 99.

so then i pulled the v14 chip and stuck in the original BIOS chip that has v12. it booted just fine and is running right now.

i'm getting the feeling there is some serious BIOS issues with this board.

any further ideas????