Change Motherboard (broken)

Well , i write this post because i have to buy a new motherboard for my pc , as my old one (only with 2 years) stopped working yesterday.

I think my mobo had problems , and yesterday trying a memory that i bought sometime ago , but not used (and useful for my win 7 system), my pc stopped working.

I only tryed start it with 2 x 2GB sticks (one the usually used , and the not usually used) , and as i see that when putting the old stick , the pc had problems , i decided to try different positions,using both sticks , only one , and there was one time , when using only the stick i usually use , that the pc started , but once i decided that the other stick was bad , when putting all like always , the pc never started again.

The mobo has a green light , the fans started , but the screen was dark, nothing happened.

In the shop , we tried with a new PSU , but didn't start , so it seems is the mobo that died, but they will try other memories (i tried with one 1GB , but nothing happened ) and see what could be.

But i am looking for a new mobo, but i don't know if select one with a x38/x48 chipset or one with P45.

I have read that P45 is very similar to x38/x48 chipsets but , x38/x48 is better for crossfire. As i don't use crossfire, i think a P45 is good no ?

In my system i have Windows 7 64 bit , and a Linux 64 bit distro, i use it for 3d design / CG , some game perhaps ,and for general things (I haven't been using windows for 4 and a half year , so i didn't use it much yet)

My pc have a Intel Quadcore Q6600 cpu, Nvidia Quadro FX 570, one OCZ Vertex 120 GB SSD (SATA) and 3 more hard disks (SATA) (one for backups,another for 3d projects/data , and other one for music and like).

The memory i use is one stick of Kingston ddr3 1333 PC1600 CL9 2GB, but i will buy 2 or 4 GB more (in 2 GB sticks), because is a bit tight with 2 GB for 3d and windows 7 (although win 7 with my 2 GB was fast,but not using 3d apps or like , nothing really) .

I am looking at asus and giga-byte (although i like asus more , i don't know) looking for x38/x48 or P45 mobos , but i am a bit lost.

I can spend in the mobo about 230 $.

Every mobo with 1333 ddr3 and 5-6 SATAs will be ok , or there are some better than other in that budget ?

I have seen in asus a list of Windows 7 compatible mobo's , i will look at it , because perhaps not all mobos useful for me , are compatible with Windows 7.

The advantage of buying a new mobo is that i will have a cd with Windows 7 drivers , and not need to look in asus (or only to see what new versions there are)

My died mobo is a P5e3 Deluxe wifi-ap mobo (X38 chipset) , but is too expensive. This time i will buy something cheaper.

It would be wonderful if someone can advice / help me a bit , because although i am looking in asus and other webs , i don't really know the differences between x48 and P45 , or if all mobos with dd3 and 6 sata's are ok or not.

I haven't overlooked never , i don't now how , but i don't know if is good to do it when working with 3D or similar apps.

Perhaps is not need to buy a mobo that have a lot of overlooking options , and better to look for other with other characteristics , no ?

The two top rated motherboard makers are Asus and Gigabyte. You can't go wrong with either make.

I have a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R. Excellent board. Has all the features you specified.

I'd recommend one with at least a 3 year manufacturer warranty, but I'm with Nibs, I've had plenty of ASUS products and all of them work great.

Can you get a hold of a pci error post card? Plug that in and it will give you the error codes to start looking at what is wrong. Generally speaking if the light on the mobo is on and green the mobo is good and if the fans come on and are working which means that the mobo is getting power and some other piece of hardware had caused the shutdown. My guess would be to look at the GPU, pull it and let the onboard graphics take over. Then again it could be a capacitor on the mobo that has gone bad. Look for any bulging or leaking from all the capacitors, look for any burned/blackened areas on the mobo. Those are tell tell signs of mobo failure. Check all you connections; wires are fully plug in and snug, all memory and pci cards are fully seated, check for any wires or any thing for that matter laying on or touching the mobo. This can cause a potential short of the mobo. Check behind the mobo for any obstruction (screws, wires, paper) that might have gotten wedge in there. It also could be an over heating issue of the CPU or hard drives or something simple as just clogged with a lot of dust. Blow out case and all pci slots, headers, ram slots, all the fans and give it a thorough cleaning.

I only use ASUS Motherboards for my own builds, present is Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard ... and its devastating !

My MSI-7309 (I think, check my stats can't remember off the top of my head) has AM2 socket and PCI express. Not sure if it's completely compatible for your current setup, but is very reliable, brill BIOS and can take any game and CADCAM I throw and it in it's stride. And it's easy to upgrade as the layout is nice and clear. Highly recommended.

Thanks for your help

I will remember it the next time. The computer is now in the shop , i went yesterday to the shop , and we tried with a new psu , but the pc does nothing.

I didn't try to remove the Nvidia Quadro , because i don't have onboard grafics, and because perhaps , i though was not that. I hope is not the Graphic card , because is quite expensive (550 $ ), and i prefer to pay a mobo that a Nvidia card ...

When i remove the memory from the mobo , and i start the pc , it should beep , make some noise , and it didn't.

I tried with a 1 GB DDR3 1066 stick i had , that should be ok, and nothing happened too.

This is why i think is the mobo , because i think is not normal to remove all memory and no listen any sound or beep , alerting you that you have no memory.

And so the psu works well , i though was something with the mobo.

I don't know.

Finally,was the mobo what failed, so i have bought a Asus P5E3 PRO , also of 2 x Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333 PC3-10600 CL9 memory sticks, so have 8 GB with the 4GB i have now

Glad you got it sorted out. I take it your up and running on it now. How are the components working for you?