Motherboard suggestions
By
BurningChick,
Posted on: 2010-07-24 02:29 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Quote:
If the motherboard is well and truly fried, you have a CHANCE that the other stuff is okay. But in my experience, you're usually screwed.|
Originally Posted by Zikar
So... I turned on my PC and the electrics tripped. I turned to power back on and my PC wouldn't start up. No reaction at all. Ordered a new PSU, hoping it was just that, but alas, it is not. Nothing works at all. So, I guess my motherboard is fried.
So, I'd like suggestions for motherboards. From www.overclockers.co.uk if possible. Also, what is the likelihood that my other components have been blown? Such as CPU, GPU, drives etc. Thanks for your help everyone  |
You wanted to build yourself a new rig anyhoo, right?
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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This was my new rig |
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
You wanted to build yourself a new rig anyhoo, right?
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I might be able to get some stuff on warranty, but I dunno what caused the problem... if it was the PSU or external problems.
I've had exactly one mainboard go out in a blaze of... well, it certainly wasn't glory. Fortunately, IIRC, nothing else fizzled.
That said - can't recommend a mainboard without knowing some things, like the type of CPU you're using (AMD or Intel, socket type, etc.) It does me no good to say "I'm using an Asus P7P55LX and happy with it" if you're running a Phenom, for instance.
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I have an Intel CPU, an E8400. Might be irrelevant if it's fried.
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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
I've had exactly one mainboard go out in a blaze of... well, it certainly wasn't glory. Fortunately, IIRC, nothing else fizzled.
That said - can't recommend a mainboard without knowing some things, like the type of CPU you're using (AMD or Intel, socket type, etc.) It does me no good to say "I'm using an Asus P7P55LX and happy with it" if you're running a Phenom, for instance. |
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Ai. I don't see mentions of the other rig components elsewhere in previous threads.|
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
I've had exactly one mainboard go out in a blaze of... well, it certainly wasn't glory. Fortunately, IIRC, nothing else fizzled.
That said - can't recommend a mainboard without knowing some things, like the type of CPU you're using (AMD or Intel, socket type, etc.) It does me no good to say "I'm using an Asus P7P55LX and happy with it" if you're running a Phenom, for instance. |
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| I have an Intel CPU, an E8400. Might be irrelevant if it's fried. |
Not a whole lot to choose from on your preferred site:
Just 3 P45 boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=5&subid=1155
4 P43 boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=5&subid=1485
and 5 Gxx boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=5&subid=1490
Honestly, right now, I'd go as cheap as possible since we don't know WHAT went wrong. Also, the 775 is a pretty much aging architecture. If your processor and memory went along with the motherboard, which is likely, you can get a good bit more performance from a new rig base.
What I'd suggest then is grab one of the cheap Gigabyte boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-221-GI
If everything else in the computer IS fine, which I'm inclined to believe is probably not likely, you'll save some cash out of pocket that you can put towards a more powerful rig.
If everything is NOT fine: say the processor is gone, the memory is gone, or it's a malfunctioning power supply... again... you won't be a whole lot of cash out of pocket.
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This happened to me back in the summer of 2009. The only other thing that I needed to replace was the PSU (it was rather weak anyway). Everything else was okay. I replaced those parts only because I wanted new ones. |
Originally Posted by Zikar
So... I turned on my PC and the electrics tripped. I turned to power back on and my PC wouldn't start up. No reaction at all. Ordered a new PSU, hoping it was just that, but alas, it is not. Nothing works at all. So, I guess my motherboard is fried.
So, I'd like suggestions for motherboards. From www.overclockers.co.uk if possible. Also, what is the likelihood that my other components have been blown? Such as CPU, GPU, drives etc. Thanks for your help everyone |
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-anim.php
Can't come up with a name? Click the link!
Can't come up with a name? Click the link!
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I agree with this (generally,) but if everything else is fine... well, if you have four sticks of RAM, that board only takes two. |
Originally Posted by je_saist
Ai. I don't see mentions of the other rig components elsewhere in previous threads.
Socket 775... hmm Not a whole lot to choose from on your preferred site: Just 3 P45 boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=5&subid=1155 4 P43 boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=5&subid=1485 and 5 Gxx boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=5&subid=1490 Honestly, right now, I'd go as cheap as possible since we don't know WHAT went wrong. Also, the 775 is a pretty much aging architecture. If your processor and memory went along with the motherboard, which is likely, you can get a good bit more performance from a new rig base. What I'd suggest then is grab one of the cheap Gigabyte boards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-221-GI If everything else in the computer IS fine, which I'm inclined to believe is probably not likely, you'll save some cash out of pocket that you can put towards a more powerful rig. If everything is NOT fine: say the processor is gone, the memory is gone, or it's a malfunctioning power supply... again... you won't be a whole lot of cash out of pocket. |
Crack the case open, see how many sticks of RAM you have, how many add in cards, etc. (and which you use - if you're using a separate network card, f'rinstance, most current boards have one built in, etc.) and find a board that will fit all of it. (If you don't want to - which, given the thread, I doubt is the case - programs like speccy can also tell you some of this.)
But yeah, try to save some cash on it, too, in case more is wrong - if you start looking at CPU, RAM, etc. being out, start putting it toward a new system.
If you guys think there's a high probability of the whole system being fried, then I may just get a whole new system (or rather, buy all of it's components ) and try and resell anything that actually isn't.
Mainly because it's just easier and quicker to build a whole new system rather than actually trying to found out what is and isn't broken.
The single thing I'm most worried about is my Hard Drive, since I hadn't backed anything up in quite a while (I know, I know, my fault). I'm just looking for a bit of reassurance that that won't have been fried.
Okay. Change of plan. Going to make a whole new rig.
Need mobo, processor, GFX card, ram, HDD suggestions.
I want a very powerful rig, don't worry too much on price. The mobo needs to be futureproof so to speak, so it should have connections that will be around for a while.
I prefer Intel and nVidia by the by.
Thanks for any assistance you can offer, you guys are always really helpful in here
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Well, you kind of just knocked Intel out of the running. Intel already has a new socket on the way for next year. Neither the 1366 or 1156 sockets will have that long a shelf life. |
Originally Posted by Zikar
Okay. Change of plan. Going to make a whole new rig.
Need mobo, processor, GFX card, ram, HDD suggestions. I want a very powerful rig, don't worry too much on price. The mobo needs to be futureproof so to speak, so it should have connections that will be around for a while. I prefer Intel and nVidia by the by. |
AMD's Bulldozer processors are supposed to launch in a Socket AM3 format, and have been demonstrated running against the AMD 890 chipset.
Problem is, the same thing may happen with Bulldozer that happened with Socket AM2+. Yes, Socket AM3 processors will run in an AM2+ socket, but there's a dramatic difference in performance between DDR2 and DDR3... Bulldozer could be a dog stuck in an AM3 socket and really require it's own socket to shine.
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Thanks for any assistance you can offer, you guys are always really helpful in here
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I guess I'll go with whatever is good now, I don't want to wait until next year to get a gaming rig again
I won't worry too much about the sockets then, as long as the processor will be useful for a while.
By the way, good news, my HDD isn't fried So I can get all my files off it.
Will I just be able to use that HDD and it's install, to save all my files, games etc, or will it throw a hissy fit because the mobo (and everything else) has been changed and I'll need a fresh install?
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Won't be able to just plug in that HD and go - Windows will puke all over the new chipset, etc, etc, etc drivers. I don't even particularly trust repair installs. |
Originally Posted by Zikar
I guess I'll go with whatever is good now, I don't want to wait until next year to get a gaming rig again
I won't worry too much about the sockets then, as long as the processor will be useful for a while. By the way, good news, my HDD isn't fried So I can get all my files off it.Will I just be able to use that HDD and it's install, to save all my files, games etc, or will it throw a hissy fit because the mobo (and everything else) has been changed and I'll need a fresh install? |
Get a small, fast drive (not necessarily an SSD,) install your OS, transfer from the old drive - depending on the size of the drive, you may use it as a data drive. Might be able to do a parallel install, as well... I'm just "eh" about that, as well.
And don't say "price doesn't matter." I have the Aug. MaxPC with a dual-six-core-Xeon, triple-water-cooled video card, 24 Gb RAM, etc... $15,800 or so. >.>
New build - start with FatherXmas's lists.
Have my system around as well, but as an 1156, you're not going to be able to grab a six core processor (if one would be useful to you - look at your usage, not just 'wants' for that.) and I *believe* i'd max out at 16 Gb. (Of course, running Win7x64 Home, I'd max at that anyway without a version upgrade.)
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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
And don't say "price doesn't matter." I have the Aug. MaxPC with a dual-six-core-Xeon, triple-water-cooled video card, 24 Gb RAM, etc... $15,800 or so. >.>
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Okay, when I say price doesn't matter... I meant within sane limits
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Sane is just a state of mind... wait... |
Originally Posted by Zikar
...
Okay, when I say price doesn't matter... I meant within sane limits |
Anyway. Good starting points:
- Other than COH, what's it to be used for?
- What are you keeping? (Getting info off a HD. KB, Mouse... case, I assume...)
Look into getting a SSD for your system drive.
They're freaking terrific -- we have a netbook that boots into Windows 7 in ~ 10 seconds ... and its battery is good for 8+ hours. I /know/ it doesn't have the same juice as a modern desktop, but the netbook is more responsive than almost any desktop I've ever touched. Unless ... it also has a SSD.
Generally speaking, the 160 gig drives have enough space for Windows and apps, but you need to keep data (like movies 'n' music) off on a second drive. Which, for you, might be perfect, anyway.
SSDs perform great. Downside is you can buy a good 7200PRM 1TB (1000GB) drive for $80-100 but only get a 30-32GB SSD for that price. A good 160GB SSD is around $400-450 today.
SSDs aren't inexpensive, there performance varies widely and they are evolving at a rapid pace. If you can afford one, please at least read the current reviews to find out which ones are the best right now.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
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... which currently seems to be "Still the Intel X25 and almost anything based on the Sandforce controllers." |
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
SSDs perform great. Downside is you can buy a good 7200PRM 1TB (1000GB) drive for $80-100 but only get a 30-32GB SSD for that price. A good 160GB SSD is around $400-450 today.
SSDs aren't inexpensive, there performance varies widely and they are evolving at a rapid pace. If you can afford one, please at least read the current reviews to find out which ones are the best right now. |
They have (as sort of mentioned above) been creating "SSD Boot drives" at about 40 Gb (including one from Intel that's literally half of one of their X25 drives - I'd say there's a minor performance hit, but with how these run, you aren't going to notice.) Downside being you put on Windows and watch to make sure almost nothing else goes on there.
I still haven't been able to bring myself around to purchasing one. Then again, I can't get myself to pay a premium for a 10k VelociRaptor. Give me a WD Caviar Black-series drive and I'm happy.
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Gaming in general. Having it run any FPS at a good clip is a good idea and I enjoy having my games at 1680x1050 with all settings at max. I also do art with photoshop and like watching dvds/blu-ray while I work.|
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
Anyway. Good starting points:
- Other than COH, what's it to be used for? |
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| What are you keeping? (Getting info off a HD. KB, Mouse... case, I assume...) |
Plenty of USB slots are always welcome on a mobo as is an ethernet socket.
As for SSDs, I think they're just a bit too expensive right now to be worth it for the amount of space they have. I'll wait for a few years until their tech catches up
I've been looking at Father Xmas' list and ben making my own based on that.
I've decided on this ram and this processor.
The site I use doesn't have your mobo that you suggest and I'm still unsure as to what graphics card I should get... I realise the ATi cards are better (and cheaper) at the moment, but I still worry about compatibility issues with games and the like... I like things to "just work" y'know 
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well... easiest way to figure this out is to go here: http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_tw...gameslist.html|
Originally Posted by Zikar
The site I use doesn't have your mobo that you suggest and I'm still unsure as to what graphics card I should get... I realize the ATi cards are better (and cheaper) at the moment, but I still worry about compatibility issues with games and the like... I like things to "just work" y'know
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If a game is on that list, there's a small chance it will have broken Anti-Aliasing; broken Crossfire support; or will intentionally use a lower rendering path on ATi hardware than the rendering path the ATi hardware supports. Sometimes it will be all three.
That being said, I'm unaware of any games under Nvidia's program that won't work at all on ATi hardware.
Okay, so a Socket 1156 motherboard. Do you care if it's SLi and Crossfire (nVidia's and ATI's multiple video card standards) compatible, just poor Crossfire compatible or is single video card support fine with you? Do you care about USB 3.0 or SATA 6Gbps? Those are the usual differences between the various motherboard models.
USB 3.0 is the new USB standard at 10x the speed of USB 2.0, being embraced by the external hard drive market as we speak. Older external drives had around a 30-40MB/s speed limit, USB 3.0 allows external drives to reach very close to SATA internal speeds.
SATA 6Gbps is the new SATA standard by conventional hard drives aren't even getting close to SATA 3Gbps speeds so it's a tad ahead of it's time. However the SSD market is starting to look at this as their drives are starting to bump against the SATA 3Gbps limits.
And when I say just poor Crossfire compatible, I mean motherboards that combine a x16 video card slot with one that's only wired as x4 (and half speed at that). Doesn't really provide a worthwhile boost sticking a 2nd video card into that half speed x4 slot.
On 1156 motherboards that do support SLi and Crossfire with two slots, they run as x8/x8 with two video cards present, x16 with one video card. Yes, it won't be a fast as two x16/x16 slots but you don't really loose too much performance (compare 2-way Crossfire between X58 at x16/x16 and the P55 at x8/x8).
Warning about Gigabyte and their Socket 1156, -P55A series of motherboards. Enabling USB3.0 or SATA 6Gbps support on the GA-P55A-UD3R, the primary video card slot is downgraded from an x16 to an x8 (lose about 5% in video performance), no SLi or real Crossfire support. Using SLi or Crossfire on either the GA-P55A-UD4 or -UD5 will downgrade the USB3.0 or SATA 6Gbps ports to USB 2.0 and SATA 3Gbps. Gigabyte were being "cheap" on how they wedged in USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gbps support into their motherboards.
Overclockers UK do have two of the older GA-P55-xxxx motherboards still available (don't have this option stateside, everything is -P55A). The GA-P55-USB3 has only USB 3.0 ports and a single fully functional at the same time x16 video card slot. The GA-P55-UD5 can do either SLi or Crossfire but has no USB 3.0 or SATA 6.0Gbps ports at all.
Now looking at the Asus models at Overclockers UK it's either full SLi and Crossfire support (P7P55D Deluxe or Pro) or USB 3.0/SATA 6Gbps support (P7P55D-E or -E LX) but not both (well, not unless you pay through the nose for the Asus Maximus III Extreme (should be called Maximus Ridiculous being over twice the price of the others).
Yes, it's all rather confusing.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
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If the only difference with USB3.0 is speed, then no, I'm not to bothered by it.|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
Okay, so a Socket 1156 motherboard. Do you care if it's SLi and Crossfire (nVidia's and ATI's multiple video card standards) compatible, just poor Crossfire compatible or is single video card support fine with you? Do you care about USB 3.0 or SATA 6Gbps? Those are the usual differences between the various motherboard models.
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Nor SATA 6Gbps.
The only problems I'll have, if I get either and they aren't back compatible with USB 2.0 peripherals or "older" SATA drives.
So, either way is good.
I'm not bothered by SLi or Crossfire.
je_saist. If you think that list are the only games that may have problems, but said problems. Are those problems you mentioned, big problems. I don't mind not having AA or Crossfire support, but how big a problem is the rendering thing you mentioned, and how prevalent is it amongst games?
Is it something that is actually noticeable most of the time?
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The guidance groups for both SATA and USB try to operate on a backwards - forwards compatible scheme. What this means is that they try to design devices so that older devices will work with newer hardware, and that newer hardware works with older devices:|
Originally Posted by Zikar
If the only difference with USB3.0 is speed, then no, I'm not to bothered by it.
Nor SATA 6Gbps. The only problems I'll have, if I get either and they aren't back compatible with USB 2.0 peripherals or "older" SATA drives. So, either way is good. I'm not bothered by SLi or Crossfire. |
e.g. : if you have a SATA 1.5 drive it will be read on a SATA 1.5, 3.0, and 6.0 controller. It just will run at at the SATA 1.5 speed.
e.g. : if you have a USB 1.1 controller it will be able to "access" a USB 3.0 device. The USB 3.0 device will just run at the USB 1.1 controller speed.
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je_saist. If you think that list are the only games that may have problems, but said problems. Are those problems you mentioned, big problems. I don't mind not having AA or Crossfire support, but how big a problem is the rendering thing you mentioned, and how prevalent is it amongst games? Is it something that is actually noticeable most of the time? |
In some games, such as Batman Arkham Asylum, Need For Speed: Shift, and Borderlands, the Nvidia-caused problems are fairly noticeable, which is why I reference them the most.
Is that the list of games that have issues? Pretty much. Thing is, I'm not aware of any commercial game released under ATi / AMD's Get in the Game program that was deliberately sabotaged at a code level to run poorly on Nvidia GPU's. I've had no off-the-record or on-the-record comments from any game developers that ATi/AMD has told a developer to insert code to detect Nvidia GPU's and run in a lower graphics mode.
I am directly aware of several on-the-record comments by game developers who released games under Nvidias The Way It's Meant to be Played program that state that Nvidia has withheld advertising money unless the developers met certain conditions: some conditions which have included the stunts I have outlined above. Some of these statements have been made to my face during various events at previous E3 conventions.
Now, is it a big enough problem to actually impact the playing of your game? Well, depends on the game.
I can not flat out tell you that it is a big problem, or that it is one that is absolutely noticeable.
Things like broken AA, or lower shader modes of operation (say forcing DX9 when a card supports DX10), are simple things to get away with since you might not ever notice a difference unless you are doing a side-by-side comparison.
Just look at the people here on these forums who have been running Geforce 7900's in high resolution with hot Windows Titles not realizing that they were running in lower shader modes. We had quite a few who went "but Crysis works fine on my 7900!" when they tried to run UltraMode in CoH and found themselves unable to leverage the new graphics mode. If you don't have a comparison point for what the image is supposed to look like, you probably won't notice.
There aren't very many commercially released games that make it to market either either outright rendering sabotage intact. Publishers really dislike angry clients calling on the phone. The last that I'm aware of was Borderlands, and Gearbox got around to correcting the game-code issue on Windows Xp with Radeon cards.
Okay.
Here's what I've decided on.
Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair Dominator 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 12800C8 (1600MHz) Dual-Channel
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache HDD
Any suggestions or amendments before I order this? Bare in mind that I already have a new Corsair TX 850W PSU too.
Does this look good, are all the components good quality and will it all work together and make a strong machine and is there anything I've forgotten?
So... I turned on my PC and the electrics tripped. I turned to power back on and my PC wouldn't start up. No reaction at all. Ordered a new PSU, hoping it was just that, but alas, it is not. Nothing works at all. So, I guess my motherboard is fried.
So, I'd like suggestions for motherboards.
From www.overclockers.co.uk if possible.
Also, what is the likelihood that my other components have been blown? Such as CPU, GPU, drives etc.
Thanks for your help everyone