Question about GA-G31M-ES2L

[DMCDanteh]

Hello

I have a GA-G31M-ES2L motherboard and recently I see my graphics card is dying down. It's a 9800GT and I wish to change it to a 480, at the same time I want to swap my CPU Intel E5500 to a Intel Q9550.

According to some info I found on the net it should be able to support those 2 components but I'd love to hear from experts.

 

[clutchc]

As you may have already discovered, the CPU choice will be fine as long as you have (1) the right version of that board (rev. 1.x rev. 2.4rev. 2.3rev. 2.x) and (2) the correct BIOS update for that CPU. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3598#ov

The old, hot running 250W GTX 480 will require at least a 550W PSU w/2 x 6 pin connectors. And no cheap PSUs allowed.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-480/specifications
Of course, be sure your case has room for the card and good air flow.

 

[DMCDanteh]

It will be a used GTX 480, my current PSU is some old cooler master 500W (I have no idea how to check that). And my case has anything but a good air flow, basically everything in my PC atm is super ancient. I do not have any budget so I barely found an affordable used GTX 480 as well as that Q9550.

Also if I do said BIOS update will I have to format my HDD?

 

[clutchc]

No, a BIOS update (if needed) has no effect on the HDD. But if you are unfamiliar with doing a BIOS update, don't do it if you don't have to. Doing it incorrectly can brick your PC. Here is Gigabye's reflash methods. Give it a read: http://www.gigabyte.com/webpage/20/HowToReflashBIOS.html

As for the GTX 480, pull out the unused cables from your PSU and make sure it even has 2 x 6 pin cables needed for that card. If you can find the model number of that CM PSU, post it here and I'll let you know if there's a chance it will handle that gfx card.

 

[DMCDanteh]

It says product no. RS-500-PCAP-A3 incase the 480 is not suitable, can I get a 470 twin frozr II instead?

 

[clutchc]

It says product no. RS-500-PCAP-A3 incase the 480 is not suitable, can I get a 470 twin frozr II instead?

If this is your PSU: http://www.coolermaster.com/powersupply/extreme/extreme-power-plus-500w/
...it is a tier 4 unit, not recommended for stressful situations: https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true
It is over rated to the point of being the equivalent of a much smaller PSU. It will not last (and may not work) with either card.
Can you afford a GTX 750 Ti? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500348
It's equivalent to the gaming power of the older GTX 470.

 

[DMCDanteh]

I already agreed to buy the 470 of a seller on my country's ebay like site. The 750 TI new costs too much for me. The 470 I got for 160KM which is about 90 USD. I guess I will have to get a new PSU aswell since according to that site I only have 1 6-pin connector and the 470 requires 2 according to the nvidia page. The 750 Ti costs 300KM which is 166 USD, used. A new one is 450KM which is 250USD. So yeah.

 

[clutchc]

You should be able to at least test out the card when you get it to be sure it works. Originally, it came with Molex to 6 pin adapters. if the used one doesn't have those you can pick one up cheap online or locally. If your PSU has the guts to start the card, it can be used as long as you don't max it out with that PSU.

 

[DMCDanteh]

I am sorry I don't quite understand, what do you mean if I don't max it out. Would running games be maxxing out the card?

 

[clutchc]

If you want to test the card or if you want to use it with the small PSU, I would not run any graphically demanding games as long as you have that current PSU. At the very least, the PC may shut down or restart when it gets heavily loaded. At the very worse, the PSU may die and take something else out with it.

 

[DMCDanteh]

Well that means a new PSU I ain't letting it up to chance considering I could barely afford these replacements, as sad as it sounds.

 

[DMCDanteh]

Well after receiving the ordered parts, I guess everything works. The CPU is a nice boost from my E5500 to Q9550.

But the graphics card (GTX470) is sorta weird. Sure it is much more powerful then my old 9800GT, but the display drivers are prone to occasional crashes. The screen turns black for 5 to 15 seconds and fires back up, it even resumes gameplay if I was in a game. Now I am not sure if that is due to the fact I use a 500w PSU instead of the recommended 550w or simply due to the fact it's a used card I have bought (like 70USD).

Another thing about the card is it's really loud, and I mean REALLY LOUD. As soon as fans kick it up from 40%. At 50% I have to use headphones otherwise it's too loud. In games like Far Cry 4, at stock settings of 600Mhz core clock and 1600Mhz memory clock, the card runs at 90ish degrees celsius and I notice black spots on the screen like random tears or flickers.

I used MSI afterburner and turned down the clocks to about 450Mhz and 1200Mhz and the temps stay at 71 degrees, no weirdness on the screen.

Could all those symptoms be that of a weak PSU or just a very worn and used Graphics card.

P.S. Since this topic is still titled about my motherboard, does my motherboard support 8Gigs of RAM? I know it supports up to 1066Mhz DDR2 and it has only 2 slots. So if it did support 8 I'd have to find someone to sell 2x4Gb of DDR2 (pretty rare in my country lol)

 

[clutchc]

The video problems may be due to 1) low PSU power, 2) hot card, or 3) defective card. The first thing I'd do if it were mine is remove the heat sink/shroud and clean the old thermal paste (TIM) off and replace it with new.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Silver-Thermal-Paste-Arcticlean/dp/B003VRBPAI
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-MX-4-Thermal-Compound/dp/B0045JCFLY
You will want to use lint-free cloths or papers to do the cleaning. I use coffee filters. The high temps are probably due to the old TIM being dried out. The video glitches are probably due to the heat. If your case is poorly vented with poor air flow, that furnace of a card is going to give you problems forever.

Check the revision number of your board to be sure. But it appears to only support 4 GB of memory: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3598#sp

 

[DMCDanteh]

I guess RAM is out of question, finding single 4GB DDR2 RAM cards is nigh impossible here lol. So I'll just stick to 4gigs.
The card seems to work no problem at the underclocked frequencies I stated above to play games like Smite or skyrim.

But if my card gives up would you recommend me getting a R9 270x that requires 2 6pin connectors and a TDP of 500w, or a GTX660 that only requires a single 6 pin and a TDP of 450w. Both cards are stated to be brand new and cost about the same at 210USD.

My PSU is stated somewhere above but even if it's not sure, treat it as if I have a low quality 500w cooler master that is about as old as ancient greece lol.

I know this seems rather redundant and it would be better to get a new PC, but if I were to get a new one I'd need atleast 1000USD to get something like a 4690k, 16gigs of RAM and a 970 or maybe the new upcoming AMD cards in the same price range like the 970. So I am just trying to make sure I can atleast play some games on low settings at 30 to 40 fps at 900p. Atm the GTX470 at the underclocked values runs far cry 4 at medium settings (textures turned up to high and AA to SMAA) at 40fps.

 

[clutchc]

Why would you want to buy another 4GB stick of RAM? You already have 4GB you said, and your board can't recognize more than that.

I can't recommend any card that requires 2 x 6 pin connectors on a low quality PSU that only has 1 x 6 pin connector. Even Cooler Master must recognize that the PSU is over-rated @ 500W, since they only put a single 6 pin in the cable selection.

You shouldn't have to under clock that card to run it. If that is the only way to keep it stable, that is the system telling you something needs attention.
See if you have software issues first. Run DDU from safe mode and have it remove any old Nvidia and AMD driver remnants it finds. Re-boot and install the latest driver for that card and your OS.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/550192/geforce-drivers/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu-v12-9-3-4-released-06-09-14-/
http://www.geforce.com/drivers

Then run CCleaner and do the Clean and registry portions both: http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER
Then see if you can run the card at its default clock speed. If not, and you're sure the card is not overheating, I'd suspect the PSU.

 

[DMCDanteh]

After I installed the new CPU and GFX card, the system was full reformated, a fresh windows install. Then I simply updated to the latest drivers and that was it.

What I meant by 4Gb ram was this, my mobo only has 2 slots which accept up to 1066Mhz, so DDR2. So I looked and looked for 2x4GB DDR2. Which is non existant. Only 2GB sticks of memory are available for sale around here. So I am content on 4 GB for now.

Since I already paid for this GFX card I'll keep it running at lower clock speeds until I get enough money again, and get that GTX660 that only requires 1 6-pin.

Then down the road find another used mobo that can accept LGA775 and up to 4x2GB of RAM and a brand new PSU so I have a stable system.

Now I have looked at the tier list of PSUs on this site and litteraly every single tiered PSU is as expansive as said GTX660 lol (my country is weird). I have seen PSUs on the site I shop that aren't tiered at all. The most popular and affordable ones are from Chieftec and LC Power, both unreviewed brands of PSU. I was thinking of getting this one http://www.olx.ba/artikal/17491878/lcpower-lc-power-lc600h-12-600w/ I hope you can make out what is shown despite the different language.

Now, I am sorry to bother you so much, but I wanna ask for your opinion. After getting said 660, I was thinking, a bit down the road, to swap my mobo. Now I am satisfied with the q9550, but if I were to swap my mobo I thought I'd get one that supported DDR3. Now I dunno if there are LGA775 mobos that support DDR3 (atleast 8GB). So my question is, are there any and could you list them if you knew any?

 

[clutchc]

As to the PSU...
I believe it is this unit: http://www.lc-power.com/en/product/netzteile/standard/lc600h-12-v231/
I can't vouch for its quality, but it has +12V specs that would put it in the 500W category. So treat it as such. The +12V rail is the one that does all the heavy work in the system. It powers the CPU, GPU, fans, drives, etc. That is the important rail to be aware of when looking for a PSU. It would be adequate for the GTX 660, but a bit marginal for the R9-270X. http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

Yes, there were some 775 boards made with DDR3 memory systems. That was a time when the transition from DDR2 to DDR3 was taking place. Here in the US, new 775 boards with DDR3 are pretty scarce. They have been obsolete for years. The only high-end boards that would be suitable for the Q9550 would have to be found used. I would suspect the same is true in your country. Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock, MSI, are some of the better names. But me picking one out for you here and expecting it to be available in your country would be hard to do.

Your board is still adequate for satisfactory gaming with the Q9550. And the Q9550 is still a capable quad core for gaming with a good card. The GTX 660 would be a good card to use with it. As would the R9-270X. But anything faster would be bottlenecked by the CPU.

But I'm still confused by your statement on the memory: "I looked and looked for 2x4GB DDR2". That would be 8GB of RAM, which you couldn't use. The most you can use is 2 x 2GB. And if you have 32 bit Windows, that is all you can use anyway.

 

[DMCDanteh]

I meant I was looking for 2x4GB before I learned I couldn't use it, so I settled on 2x2GB. After I get the 660 a 775 motherboard with 4 slots for RAM which will turn to 4x2GB should be enough for low end gaming.