Help! Motherboard Information Help? Please?

MKeyes

I need to know, which mother boards do I need to purchase that could handle 24ram memory? And 4gb Graphics card? Going to repair my computer and upgrade it myself. I know how to put it together. But I need to be certain about the type of motherboard.

Also, what kind of motherboards would any knowlegibles KNOW of or where is the best place to get one?

I am going to up the PSU - the Graphics card, and the memory. I have 16ram memory now, and I want to take it up to 24, an NVidia of course.

Currently, I've put my big boy down because it keeps shutting down without warning. It's been doing it for a while. I'm planning to give it a good dusting with the dust sprayers, but I have a feeling I may need to replace the motherboard. This might get expensive... so I do want to consider motherboards with the Intel processor on it, yes the i7 pro. 

Any advice and direction given will be greatly appreciated. 

SlimerJSpud

I assume you mean 24 GigaBytes of DRAM on the motherboard? That means you need a mobo with 4 DIMM slots for memory. Newegg has a good candidate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188160

As for more general reviews of motherboards, the gaming sites are a good start. I got my current machine from ibuypower.com. They have a configurator for a custom build. You can use that to build your dream machine online, then if you are going to build it yourself, print out the config and go shopping. The things you need to make sure are compatible: Mobo and CPU, Power supply and Graphics card, memory speed and mobo, etc. The ibuypower site will check these when you "assemble" a system online.

As to why your current machine is failing, have you checked the temperatures? There are programs for that. Perhaps the chipset is overheating. All fans spinning?

Esemwy

I think pretty much any newer motherboard will fit the bill. Honestly, I'd go with 4x 8GB DIMMs for 32G. Most motherboards interleave memory access between matched DIMMs and may run slower in they aren't matched. I prefer Gigabyte and ASUS motherboards.

Do not scrimp on the power supply. If you're going to be running a higher end video card, like a GT 970 or 980, or perhaps more than one, they can suck a lot of power. 

MKeyes

Thanks guys... yep - - I definitely know about the PSU - gotta have the juice power to make sure all can run at their maximum. Very experienced in building, it's just the motherboard I need to be certain about.

Yes, my current one is overheating - I just don't know why. It's making me crazy. It's 16 gb ram - It has a new CPU well, less than a year old. A new Geforce gtx NVidia 740 I believe or 760 w/ 2gb ram on it. Less than a year. A new HD - and it's overheating and shutting down on me. 

I want to fix it - OR build a new one from scratch. Just have to make up my mind. Shop around. 

Subtropic Pixel

It's overheating due to one or more of the following:

1.  You have not enough air flow.  Could be that a fan has failed or is malfunctioning.  If your system allows you to set fan speeds based on temperatures, then you may want to investigate whether or not you have an incorrect setting or maybe a malfunctioning sensor.

2.  You have not enough contact between heatsink and chip.  Sometimes thermal compound dries out and makes less of a contact, and the best thing to do is remove the heatsink, clean up the crumbled thermal compound (It might be flakey or dried out like old paint), apply some new compound, and reassemble.

3.  Also bear in mind that a heatsink can only do so much by itself.  Ambient air temperature is your main limiting factor.  If the PC is in a hot room, then the heatsinks won't be able to do their jobs.

Remember, there is no such thing as "cold", so you can't create it (not even with an air conditioning system).  Only heat exists, and only heat "moves".  You need to move the heat from the chip to the heat sink, and then to the outside of the computer case.  I hope you find the problem, because it would be a shame if you spent money on a new system before this one is ready for retirement.

Edit:

I should also add that when you overclock (I don't know if you are; but this is something to think about), you are driving the overclocked chip outside of its best, most efficient range of operation.  Overclocking causes exponentially greater power usage, while generating exponentially greater amounts of heat energy.  So if you are overclocking, you might consider not doing that anymore.

nicstt

If you want to fix the over-heating, don't buy a new rig until you know why it's over-heating. Subtropic Pixex gives lots of good info; it is very important that you identify the problem, and not presume the symptom is the problem. It may be causing you a problem, but that is not the same thing.

Overheating is a symptom of a problem (or perhaps a process/procedure), don't treat it as the problem; you can't really fix symptons, only problems.

StratDragon

In addition to subtropics (excellent) comments it's possible to have too much thermal compound on a cpu and in those cases the cpu does not make full contact with the heat sync assembly causing a scenario were the CPU is not properly being cooled and will shut down to prevent permanent damage.

Shutdowns are likely cause by heat but it's not an exclusive condition for it to happen: In some cases you cabling or a component may have crept out of it's receptor. Check cables from the motherboard assembly to all internal connected components (DVD-ROM/SATA Drives, GPU) and reseat your RAM. Nothing should be forced and any damaged or broken components have no business in your rig, you will need to replace any you come across. GPU's generally come with their own inclusive cooling system, there is nothing for you to do but plug it into the correct slot on your computer and make sure the power is distributed as needed, some GPU's have more than one power plug adapter on the card, make sure they are connected as per the manufactures directions.  You can check to see if all fans are running by opening the side panel and turning the computer on. Any fans being blocked or not engaging should be checked to insure they have power. If the fans don't engage the berrings could be burned out and they should be replaced with known working replacements. 

Also it's not uncommon for most connectors to go in ONE WAY (the exception for the most part is jumpers on a motherboard) if a cable is not inserting check to see the pin arrangment and shape of the lead pin match what your trying to match up the other end with. It's not out of the question to get a damaged pin assembly that someone flipped over in a "eureka" moment but long after the cracked or bent some pin.

reelyor

I had a computer a few years ago that would shut down and restart for no reason. It was the power supply. If you are going to replace the PSU, you might think about doiing that first to see if it makes a difference. Be sure to buy one big enough to handle whatever you might add down the road.

   As said above, Newegg is a good company to go with. And if you replace the motherboard, make sure your CPU is a match, or else you will also need a new CPU.