I just got QX9650 when the sad truth shed a light on my misery. My Striker Extreme doesn't support 45nm quad... only dual core... =(((( So now I'm all setup with tight cooling (Thermalright 120 extreme and 5000rpm 200cfm fan ) but it doesn't boot! I went on asus website, and they just released the new BIOS update (1502 - feb 15th) but QX9650 still isn't supported...
I didn't try the update yet, I will, when I get home, but chances are very very slim... I guess I'll have to dig out more $$ for a 780i board... Or maybe x38...
If it wouldn't be for striker, this post would be filled with pictures of my new build and a sweet OC... but oh well...

Thats a shame, but think of it this way. The system will seem all the better once it starts

bummer, i would have thought the striker would support 45nm.

congrats on the qx9650 =D awesome
i am waiting for the q9450. would be nice if we can make some benching and oc'ng
comparision of' the two.

which board are you planning to get?

Thanks bro...

You know, I just found some forum topics where the new BIOS update worked for some people with QX9650... I can't wait to get home and try... If worse comes to worse, I'll have to look into selling Striker Extreme + E6600 + Zalman 9700cu + 1GB OCZ PC2-8000 combo...
As for the mobo for myself I have my eye set on Striker II Formula as it is the 'evolved' version of 680i chipset as well as it supports SLI (unlike Maximus Formula I was looking at).

Aww man that's not good I feel bad after playin that joke on msn too!

Tam-the-Bam said:

Yeah, it turned out to be true... lol... I must've done more research...
I will post tmrw after I try the 1502 BIOS as well as alpha 1503 (got it from asus support from taiwan)

Tam-the-Bam said:

Aww... you know Tam if you feel too much guilt you can always buy him the new mobo.

Nice CPU upgrade, if you don't need SLI/Crossfire you might want to consider just getting a P35 board, they are excellent if you don't need the extra features that X38 offers such as Crossfire and typically more SATA ports.

Asus lists what boards support Penryn based CPU's on their site.

Its been well documented that most 680i boards dont actually support it, though nvidia stated that the chipset can support it, its up to the board makers to implement the correct voltage regulation.

http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

Bummer alright.

Mark had a 680i board too, and he bought a DFI x38 board a few weeks ago since he too is getting a 45nm Quad.

Adam Kolak said:


Yeah, he had the evga, didnt he?

Hey _MD_


CONGRATS on your cpu upgrade !!!! Excellent choice !!!!

as for a mb.... how about one of these to go along with your QX9650 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128089

LOL MeatsofEvil!

nice buy on the Q9650!!!

personally, im waiting on my Q9450, GA-EP35-DS3P , 4GB DDR2-800, 500GB HDD, and my lite-on SATA burner before i start my new build. all of which is also wating on me getting a better paying job .

DublinGunner said:
Yes I he did, and I'm pretty sure he regrets it now. Personally I like to keep Intel CPUs on Intel chipsets, but that's just me.

Thanks a lot guys... as for the news with my current setup: well I updated to the alpha version of BIOS (1503) and the BIOS seemed to recognize the CPU, but only as X9650 (without Q which supposedly means only 2 cores). To add to that, BIOS did not allow me to make any changes to the CPU (can't set it to unlinked mode, can't up the frequency and can't up the multiplier - after restart, everything just goes back to the original state) and it is inadequately hot even on idle 55C...
Alright so I thought, let's boot with the factory settings... Vista booted alright, but right away said that it found an unknown device (under properties it detected ACPI\IntelProcessor) and needs drivers for it... I had no idea what drivers to feed it... Then went to my computer properties - windows sees it as X9650 as well, however, cpu-z clearly showed all 4 cores and QX9650. Ran wPrime 1.58, it found all 4 cores and did a 32M test in 15.5sec. HWmonitor showed 65C under load... that's horrible... I've seen some posts of people tried exactly the same thing (qx9650 on striker extreme with 1503 BIOS) and ran into heat problems as well.
I know that it's not gonna go on like this, and already allocated some cash for a new mobo (which most likely be striker II formula [I'm kinda of an asus fan]) but at least in the meantime, I won't sit without a PC.



I uploaded some pix from my setup, enjoy!


Box:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/box.jpg

CPU:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/cpu.jpg

Setup:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/setup.jpg

Now, the monster fan I used is 5000rpm, 200cfm fan which is loud as a jet:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/air1.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/air2.jpg

Before (with Zalman 9700):
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/before.jpg

After:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/after.jpg

Final:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/tr1.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/__MD__/QX9650/tr2.jpg

Don't worry dude, it's early days yet. Things'll will be fine before you know it

I placed an order for Striker II Formula.

Too bad if Vista will bitch about the new mobo+cpu and I will have to reformat... but meh...

You shouldnt have to format, just re-activate. You might have to give them a call, but its no problem. I've done it 3 times already


Of course, I'd always recommend a clean install when making any major hardware change like the motherboard (as you'll probably need a load of new mobo drivers anyway, best not to have a mixed soup of drivers on your system)

True True... I am mentally ready for a format... So we should be good.

Best of luck, let us know how it all pans out!