Have: GA-965P-DS3 rev 1.0, what CPU would you do?

[hovenas]

Have had an E4300 clocked to just a shade over 3.0 GHz but lately the computer will not boot windows 7 (32bit) if I clock it.

If you were to replace it, what would you go for? Would a quad processor work? They are cheaper than the high GHz duo's (living in Sweden)
These are the rest of the specs and I use it for general stuff and some gaming.

Intel Core 2 E4300
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 rev1.0, Socket-775
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Corsair PowerSupply (PSU) 450W VX ATX
Corsair XMS2 Xtreme 2048MB DDR2 XMS2-6400 800MHz
___________________________________________________________________________

On a side-note... The best option is to get it to operate at 3.0 again, would save me hassle and money. Have had a bad time with the computer.
Today marks the first day since 26th of march that I have had the system running.
had an error called bad_pool_header or something of the sort and in the end the computer wouldn't even POST. No beeps, no nothing. Just a black screen.

Home with a sick kid and I finally get to grips with it, trying to change into my old HDD running WinXP. Nothing, but when I switch back to my new HDD, it suddently works.

I get in and I start updating everything. Then as I re-boot and everthing is fine, i go into BIOS and up the settings to my former 3.06GHz tweak for the cpu and now win7 won't boot.
So, backing out I re-set the o/c and now after a start-reparation it works.
What would be your conclusion?
Would it differ from mine (CPU being messed and replacing it with a new one, as per the first part of the post)?

As always, any help appreciated.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Good day, sir. I would try this:

Go into the BIOS and reset everything to default values. Then reboot, and see how it runs @ stock (if it decides to play nice, that is). Due to its age, it's possible the board can't handle the overclock anymore.

Check the board for any bulging caps.

Remove old thermal paste, re-apply new paste and re-seat heatsink.

(Usually the board will go bad way before the CPU does.)

Godspeed

 

[hovenas]

Yep, I have re-set it to normal clock-speeds and it is running fine.
Now, what would you replace it with to avoid overclocking?

 

[hovenas]

I can get a E7500 (wolfdale 2.93, 1066Mhz, 3mb cache) for a good price, would this be a good one?
It is basically down to a new e7500 or a used Q6600.
Which one would you go with?

 

[alyarb]

I would get the E7500 and go for 4 GHz.

 

[hovenas]

Thanks alyarb!

 

[PCTC2]

Just make sure you have at least the F14 BIOS. Reset to factory defaults, update your BIOS, then clear the CMOS afterwards if you need to update.

 

[hovenas]

Good call there PCTC2. You do have a lot of computers there mate!

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I'd get the Q6600, if you can get it cheap...2 extra cores for multi-tasking & such, plus you could probably hit 3.0 pretty easily if you decide to overclock again and get a replacement board (make sure it's a G0 stepping).

 

[vailr]

I'd recommend upgrading the motherboard to a P45 (DDR2) chipset board, if finances allow & you can sell the GA-965 board for a decent price on the used market. Of course, a P55 or X58 (DDR3) board + CPU upgrade would be even better, depending on the finances.

 

[hkklife]

I'd vote for the Q6600 myself if finances permit. Otherwise, you cannot go wrong with any of the newer Wolfdales like you mention.

I have that exact same board in a backup rig and it's still working like a champ.

 

[yepp]

Don't think the GA-965P-DS3 rev 1.0 supports 45nm/Wolfdale/Yorkfield.

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=2314

 

[Fox5]

I've got the GA-965P-S3 rev 1.0, which I think is basically the same board without the solid caps. There's no official support for 1066mhz fsb or 45nm iirc. I put a 45nm dual core in mine though, and it works fine, though you may have to overclock to get to stock speeds with the 1066mhz fsb.
I don't know if a quad core would work. However, in most places the prices of core 2 quads are greatly elevated, and you could purchase a new motherboard plus i5 or phenom II for a comparable cost of just the processor.

 

[kalrith]

I'd vote for the Q6600 myself if finances permit. Otherwise, you cannot go wrong with any of the newer Wolfdales like you mention.

Same here. My Q6600 is 100% stable at 3.2 GHz with stock voltage. The Wolfdales are nice if you think overclocking is completely out of the question.

Have you gone through the various steps of testing your overclock to find out where the bottleneck is? You want to test for max RAM speed, max FSB, and max CPU speed all separately. Here's a guide that explains how to do all that. If you have any questions about it, just ask.

If you narrow down what's limiting your overlock, then you might be able to solve the problem. For example, your RAM might be having some problems and no longer function at the speed it once did. Replacing the RAM or giving it an easier ratio might allow you to overclock your current processor (or a Q6600) more.