GA-EP35-DS3L - POSTs With E6600 but not Q6600

[ShawMishrak]

Are there any known compatibility issues with using a Q6600 on a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L motherboard? I just put together a build with these, but it won't POST. It starts up and runs for 4-5 seconds, then power cycles itself and repeats this restart cycle. During this time, there is no video.

After some troubleshooting, the problem appears to be the Q6600 processor. If I throw in an E6600, all other components the same, it POSTs and starts to boot just fine. I updated the BIOS to version F6A but no luck. It boots fine using an E6600, but enters the endless reboot cycle using a Q6600. Just to make sure I did not damage the processor, I put the Q6600 in an nForce 680i motherboard I have lying around and it POSTs just fine.

I've tried clearing CMOS and I can't find any relevant options in the BIOS screen (when booting with the E6600).

Any ideas?

 

[Logan321]

Did you go into the bios and load bios defaults? I think this might be different than resetting the bios, even if it should accomplish the same thing. It's usually a good idea to set bios defaults regardless.

The other possibility is you're overtaxing your power supply... can you test with a different power supply?

 

[ShawMishrak]

Yes, I tried the Fail-Safe Defaults and the Optimized Defaults. I have not tried another power supply, but I used the same power supply on the nForce board to test the Q6600 and there were no problems with it.