s775 mobo/cpu conundrum

[Modred189]

I have a decision to make and I'm not sure what to do:

I have Q6600. It's been a great CPU for years now, once being in my primary rig, now it's in my HTPC. For those purposes it's PLENTY of horsepower. Probably overkill tbh. But the mobo is starting to flake out a bit, and it's making me nervous.

Right now, the system is:

CPU: Q6600 at stock.
Mobo: DG33TL by intel
5gb of DDR2
2X2TB WD Greens
A Sandisk readycache
GPU: Galaxy 650TI Boost
No optical drive
In a Silverstone Grandia GD04 http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=233&area=en

Here's the issue: I think a mobo replacement is in order. (Unless someone knows what it means when the mobo becomes randomly stuck at Bios loading with the 5A code showing) Thing is, socket 775 boards are becoming few and far between, and the price is kind of high. Even then, availability by good brands is kind of hit and miss.

On the other hand, upgrading to a newer setup would necessitate a significant investment (new CPU, DDR3 ram, new mobo). This is particularly true since the Q6600 is such a workhorse, I'm probably looking at $300-350 for those parts to match what I have now.
Unless, I'm completely wrong...

This is a consumption HTPC, so I'm not doing any transcoding or editing on it. Light gaming (thus the 650ti boost) on the attached 1080p plasma. Music server/media player, hulu box etc.

I guess the other option is whether there is a good option from AMD. I don't mind going that route, but I really would prefer not to give up the performance of the Q6600.

 

[Cataulin]

Have you tried resetting the CMOS or updating the BIOS to get rid of the error?

 

[Modred189]

Have you tried resetting the CMOS or updating the BIOS to get rid of the error?

The problem is its infrequence. It doesn't seem to happen every single time. Those are my projects for this weekend, though, to see if that doesn't solve the problem, but my unease will likely remain. The board and CPU were purchased together back when they were first released (both part of Intel Retail edge packages. The DG33tl came with a E6300 I think...
ANyway, the mobo has seen no less than 4 different CPUs in at least as many cases, and several coolers, so it has been around the block. It has been a test machine, a Windows Home Server and an HTPC.

I'm just not sure how much to trust it any more at this point.

 

[buttons]

Id keep an eye out for a motherboard in the classifieds or craigslist. otherwise you could sell the Q6600 which still go for a decent amount and get something newer, smaller, lower power like a G1610 for $110 with motherboard.

I just looked up reviews, looks like the G620 pentium beats up the Q6600 in most benchmarks except video transcoding and i think the G1610 is a tad faster then the G620.

 

[Modred189]

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/471/Intel_Celeron_Dual-Core_G1610_vs_Intel_Core_2_Quad_Q6600.html
That's actually pretty damn surprising.