What motherboard to replace a defective Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6?

[Krohling]

My GA-P35-DQ6 just passed from it's malfunction to being non-operational.

The rig is (or was):
Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 (Rev 1.0 BIOS F9)
4GB GSKill DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15 2T running @984MHz & 2.00V vdmimm
C2D E6750 @3.28GHz (8.0 x 410).
No overvolting of any sort. Keep the DRAM running under 1000MHz, so I need just 2.00V or less. CPU can go up to 3.36 without any additional Vcore, just kept it at 3.28GHz to give some "free room".
PSU: Corsair 650TX

I'm seeking advice as I need a replacement motherboard. I just don't know what to pick. Avaiablity of LGA775 boards aren't the greatest these days. I'm also very outdated on what would be best suited for my needs and what I should keep away from. I see a lot of G41M boards. I would like to keep at least the kind of overclock I had.

The problem: system was starting to load Windows, then a hard freeze happened. Power and HDD leds lit. Had to force shutdown via PWR button. When I attempted to power on again the fans are spinning and leds are lit, but there is not POST, no beep, no display, and the Power and HDD leds stay lit.

I tried to Clear CMOS, then it only got worst. It powers on and then starts cycling on and off, like 3 times, then it power on and keeps frozen. Also no POST/beep/display.

I've tried the CPU, video card, ram modules and PSU on another computer, and they work. Tried different CPU, video card, ram and PSU on my GA-P35-DQ6 and it does not start.

One thing curious is that I have a spare pair of Crucial Ballistix Tracer with those shiny leds, and when the PC powers on the leds from the top part of the Tracers won't lit. They usually do lit and blink when the system is at POST.

My rig is not new, it's from August 2007. Started to show some issues sometimes:
It would cycle one time on/off than lose all overclock settings.
FAIL to post - hard to turn off PSU, start again
Start and give no display image at windows startup.
Resetting PCI-Express speed to x1 instead of keeping x16.
Freezing during games or at Windows

The 8800GT isn't looking any good either. Sometimes it's not detected (1 long beep and 3 short beeps). Not only on this computer. When the card does not want to work, it doesn't work. It needs a little "sleep" then works

I think the BIOS of my board might have gone bad. The chip is soldered to PCB, and I doubt I'll have anyone to have a look or fix it. RMA is not really an option: actually I bought this board in Germany, it has 6 years warranty with Gigabyte DE, but the costs and time to have it shipped out and back, plus taxes will probably make RMA not a good option.

Thank you all!

[chinaguy]

You can go for any P43 or P45 board in my opion.

Gigabyte EP43 DS3LR or ASUS P5QL SE for examle.

[Krohling]

You can go for any P43 or P45 board in my opion.

Gigabyte EP43 DS3LR or ASUS P5QL SE for examle.

Thanks for the input.
It's not so easy to find P43 or P45 around here at the moment.

There are some P41 boards.
Would this chipset also suit my overclocking needs as well?

I have found Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L Rev 1.1, and ASUS P5QL SE (P43)
Considering the goal is to keep my overclock, and make sure the Scythe fits. Which one would you get?

The Gigabyte costs like USD 67 more. I do prefer Gigabyte instead of Asus.
But if both perform the same, I would get the cheaper one.

[chinaguy]

I have the same CPU E6750 on a P35 board, so a P41 board will be fine for a 10-20% OC. I now only drive my 6750 at 2.93Ghz to help prolong its life! The only way to check if your scyth fits is to check the threads in here using the search options.

I always use newegg so I can check the pictures of the boards I buy for the layout and also there are a lot of reviews that may have the information you want about OC. Even if you can not order from newegg the information is still there and free!

[Krohling]

Thanks for the tips.
I ordered a GA-P45-UD3L Rev 1.1

Scythe should fit, because it has the standard stock cooler push-pin retention mechanism and the size x height of the base should be enough for it to not hit the northbridge heatsink.

I couldn't find references to combination of cooler + motherboard. Anyway, I fitted the Scythe on my now dead GA-P35-DQ6 which has a very large heatpipe heatskink, I shall have no problems with the P45.