So my second 680i crapped on me...

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Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
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I think the north bridge went, I can't say for sure. It stopped recognizing perfectly good memory (memory that tested fine and worked in another machine), then suddenly stopped posting the video. In any case, it's gone.

I am not really keen to replace it with another 680i. As much as I love the chipset for it's flexability, I want stability now. If the Core 2 Duo taught me anything, it's that overclocking is just not worth the hassle anymore. It's fun if you have spare hardware, but I don't know that I will ever OC my primary machine again. To that end, I want some recommendations on extremely solid and reliable Core 2 Duo boards. I am probably leaning towards the P35 as I don't really have the option to wait for the X38 right now. My second 8800 will just have to sit in the closet, or in another machine, for a bit. I just want my Core 2 Duo/DDR2 system back. I really am not looking to get another 680i. Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me and all that jazz.

Again, reliability and stability are tops on my list this time around. I am even ditching my water cooling for a more standard air cooling setup. No overclocking of any kind, besides tightening down the memory timings, will occur in this machine. Any recommendations?
 
I say Gigabyte.
Def. do P35. (I got their mid range P35, the DS3P, and imma get their top end X38-DQ6 when it comes out)

Anyhow, you can go mid range with the DS3P or go with their flagship P35-DQ6.

The packaging is nice, the quality is amazing, this thing screams quality.
I've had more trouble setting up some Dell built sytems than setting up this thing. So easy!
Perfectly stable with a Q6600, and 2gb of Corsair 8500 ram, with the stock bios settings.
I'm sure core 2 duo will be the same.

I am running a mild 3.0ghz overclock on my Q6600, and am undervolting to 1.193v.
Soooo stable. Can run Prime 95 for DAAAYYSS! :D

Only con, the crayola box colors. ;)

I heard Asus and Abit have awesome p35 boards, but I'm just sharing my exp.
 
Gigabyte, Asus both have good boards, my old DS3 has been great for me.
But for my upcoming build I bought an Abit IP35 Pro. I liked the layout/features of it and the price was good. Things like the digital readout, remote cmos switch, onboard power and reset switches, and a replaceable bios chip:D
UGuru looks to be an amazing utility as well.
 
I agree with you on the overclocking and just posted same sentiments before this post. Actually, if I want to, it takes me a minute in the Bios to OC so I only do it when I want to it which isn't often. As to mobos the Gigabyte P35' do seem very well regarded. I have the Asus P5W DH which is now under $200. Its 975x and ICHR7 but its mature and doesnt need smoothing over. The remote is actually fun to have. I have a Scythe Ninja B on it and I can actually turn off the fan and the temps only go up a couple degrees (usually around 25C but can hit 35C on hot day with no AC on). I took all but one other fan out of case (I just have a 17 decibel Scythe fan for drives now) to cut down on noise. My pc hardly makes any noise and thats more fun now than stoking a cpu and blowing on it for no real benefit. I thought to move up to a X38 just for heck of it but it uses more juice and I just dont want that route. Penryn wont be any big deal either. P35's look nice still in that regard.

As an aside, I had some components fail and it turned out to be last thing I would have checked - my CyberPower surge protector/backup. I don't trust those things anymore.
 
Was yours an evga?

I'm kinda in the same boat as you. I am on my 2nd 680i as well. First one was actually fine but I swapped for the quad core update that evga was doing. I was going to go to the quad core but then problems started appearing (memory errors, usb issues, etc.).

I'm at least a bit lucky due to my mobo still working. i am hoping to get a new board (P35 probably) and then RMA my evga. When it comes back I will sell it for a huge loss but I do not want to fool artound with it anymore.

I never even overclocked that board either. I did have the first board running my e6400 @3.2 with zero issues. Now all I want is a stable board that I don't have to remove memory from and test it out and clear CMOS, etc, etc.

I am leaning towards teh gigabyte DS3P but have also heard good things of the abit IP35 Pro.

I'll be interested to see what you do.
 
Gentlemen

680i, P35 whatever, OCed or not OCed, on EVERY new board you ever buy, from now on, please redo the thermal paste under heat sinks on the board before you put it in the case and after you let it run overnight sitting in the bios menu screen. Your headaches will be reduced by 95%.
 
Definately check the glop under the heatsinks, including the MOSFETs. Also, when you take the board out of the box, use a magnifying glass to check the soldering on both sides of the board and look for little stray metal bits inside the memory and expansion slots. This is a great MoBo, but, they build them too fast at the factory.

This is the fourth 680i I have. The first three just plain wold not work right out of the box :(. I always got the " -- " cuz they were defective.

680i MoBo #4 is running stable and fast and flawless :D
 
i think with any board, as its new, wait atleast a year for all the issues to be sorted, then complain if it doesnt work.
 
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