Question Need advice

ljsejones

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I need some advice.
I bought two Intel QX6850 processors from China for $70.00. I lost my BIOS trying to upgrade BIOS and run these processors.

My MB was a 32 bit ASUS P5W DH Deluxe using DDR2 RAM. ASUS offered to fix the BIOS if I sent them the board, I think it's time to move on.
My only income is Social Security, so I have very little money to throw at the problem.

I need an older board, 64 bit, DDR3 RAM, 775 LGA Socket to support an Intel QX6850 and an Intel Core Duo E6600 processor. If this board also supported my Nvidia 7950 GTextreme Graphics card that would be good. USB 3 is not an issue since I have a USB 3 PCI Card.

Since not all boards are going to be available at any given time, a list of two or three good choices would be helpful.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 

clutchc

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As to your older board, why do you think it is 32bit? It uses 64 bit CPUs.
Btw, if the BIOS chip on the board is socketed, it is easily replaced if you can find one somewhere.. like these on ebay.

On to the question itself...
If you can wait again for it to come from China, there's this one.
Without knowing your max budget, I'm kinda flying blind. Here are several that are US based sellers, but be aware that many from that era need low density (DDR3) RAM.
 

ljsejones

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As to your older board, why do you think it is 32bit? It uses 64 bit CPUs.
Btw, if the BIOS chip on the board is socketed, it is easily replaced if you can find one somewhere.. like these on ebay.

On to the question itself...
If you can wait again for it to come from China, there's this one.
Without knowing your max budget, I'm kinda flying blind. Here are several that are US based sellers, but be aware that many from that era need low density (DDR3) RAM.
While I'm aware the CPUs I'm using support 64 bit MBs, every hardware utility I've tried tells me the ASUS P5w DH Deluxe board is 32 bit.

Since DDR3 RAM would be an upgrade from my current DDR2, and I need to be very frugal fixing this problem. I'll look into the BIOS chips, but if every attempt to run my Intel QX6850 CPUs ends in dead BIOS, it feels like wheel-spinning to me.

If I'm missing something obvious like the OS's I'm running are 32 bit but the board is capable of 64 bit, I'm unaware of this. Again, I know the processors are 64 bit capable.
 

clutchc

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Yes, that was going to be my next question; is your OS the 32 bit version? Win 7? 10? Either way, it isn't he board that is limited to 32 bit hardware or software.

How did you determine that the CPU killed your BIOS? Let me back up... what symptoms are you getting that appear to indicate a dead BIOS?
 

ljsejones

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Yes, that was going to be my next question; is your OS the 32 bit version? Win 7? 10? Either way, it isn't he board that is limited to 32 bit hardware or software.

How did you determine that the CPU killed your BIOS? Let me back up... what symptoms are you getting that appear to indicate a dead BIOS?
The CPU didn't kill my BIOS, my existing BIOS wouldn't run the QX6850 CPU (there's another thread devoted to that problem).
When I downloaded the correct BIOS from ASUS and tried to install it using the EZ Flash from the ASUS BIOS utility's "TOOLS", the process froze. I tried three tried three different BIOS downloads from ASUS for my board, the BIOS Recovery nfailed on all three. Yes, I did clear the CMOS before each try.

I just order a BIOS chip on EBAY, I expect the same sequence of events with this second chip. Basically, I can stick with my Core Duo E6600 or go through the unwelcome process of rebuilding my machine around the QX6850.

Most of the software I've installed over the years has been both 32 or 64 bit. These installs have always defaulted to 32 bit. This include Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (I trashed Win 10 as pure crap).

Oddly enough, I've never used Win 7. I went from XP to 8.1.

As to symptoms, I downloaded P5W-DH-ASUS-Deluxe 3002.ROM Ver 1.0, Used EZ Flash to install, the install stopped about 2/3rds of the way through erasing BIOS. I let the machine sit for 12 hours before restarting.
I called ASUS (they have the worst phone quality I've ever heard).

As a result, I also downloaded 3001.ROM and I think it was 2950.ROM with the same "Reading File..." then nothing result after another 12 hours.

If I've been running 32 bit software on a 64 bit platform all this time, I probably haven't missed a great deal. On the two occasions I got the QX6850s running, they were everything I had hoped for.

I really like my existing ASUS board, I made sure it was able to run the QX6850 before I ordered. If there's a fix for this problem...I'm all ears.
 

ljsejones

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This is the OP:
I just want to anticipate questions.
I cleared the CMOS by unplugging the machine, removing the coin battery and letting it sit overnight.

I could get both QX6850 CPUS to boot using the same trick clearing the CMOS. I tested both using Prime95 CPU tester for four hours each at 100% load. #1 passed at a temp of around 60C for all four cores: #2 passed the same test, but ran about 10C hotter at all cores 70C.

Currently, I have the known good Core Duo E6600 installed.

The RAM has been fully checked using MEMTEST on a different machine. The E6600 I ran through Prime95 a week earlier (I was anticipating the arrival of the QX68550s).

To the best of my knowledge, all is perfect.

But the quote Albert Einstein is credited with keeps dogging me:..."Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
 

ljsejones

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I just brought my BIOS back. How? I read the owners manual. It turns out the CD that came with the board has a recovery function...THAT ACTUALLY WORKS!

I still have a new chip coming from the UK, but I'll try the BIOS Flash again. The manual said to use a USB drive under 8 GB, I was using a 16 GB stick.

I really appreciate the info and help. I do have one more question, I mentioned above that one QX6850 ran 10 C hotter than the other during a Prime95 100% load for 4 hours test. I intend to overclock when I finally get one of the QX6850 CPUs going...Do I want the hotter or cooler CPU?
 

Sgt_Sykes

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The temp difference may be just caused by your installation, e.g. the amount of thermal paste (or its quality if it wasn't the same).

I wouldn't recommend overclocking such an old cpu; it probably won't be stable. But if you have to, try both and use the more stable one. Why do you need 2 copies of the same CPU in the first place? Just for backup?
 

ljsejones

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The temp difference may be just caused by your installation, e.g. the amount of thermal paste (or its quality if it wasn't the same).

I wouldn't recommend overclocking such an old cpu; it probably won't be stable. But if you have to, try both and use the more stable one. Why do you need 2 copies of the same CPU in the first place? Just for backup?

I bought two used CPUs because I anticipated one being bad or at very least iffy. If both tested good, selling one for $50.00 and keeping the other for a total cost of $20.00 for the upgrade seemed like a reasonable plan.

Actually, I just installed the cooler of the two CPUs; cores hovering in the high 50s C. But I have the same problem as before...No reboot unless I clear the CMOS.

I'm running the most current BIOS for this board: P5WDH 2003.ROM. While the CPU install is always a potential variable, this reinstall seems correct.

I just started Prime95, The temps are now in the high 60s C, load shows 100%. But something strange is going on, this test showed four cores being tested the first time around, now only two are showing. The only change is a newer BIOS.

Also, the first time, the CPU acted very differently. CPU-Z correctly identifies the processor, but Core Temp sees the CPU as an E6850 Core Duo (my E6600 Core Duo was installed when I flashed the BIOS yesterday). So I see another BIOS flash on the horizon.

I remember reading a book where the author called computers "comfuters", I tend to agree. The "comfuter" was an evil denizen of his fictional World...What was the authors name? It will come to me.

I went off on a tangent here, I was going on a quest to find the magic BIOS I obviously need. I'm still considering a different MB, but that would almost certainly be exchanging one can of worms for another.

Thanks for the response!