Hi,
 
I am gonna buy a Q9450 (found a store in my country where it should be in stock according to other ppl   ), but what motherboard is compatible with this CPU?
 
I have been looking at ASUS P5K/EPU, but will this support Q9450 out of the box? I currently have no old socket 775 CPU to boot up with to update bios.
 
I have looked at ASUS' site, and it looks like the support is there, but I just want to be 100% sure.  
 
I hope someone can clarify for me

Since the Q9450 was released after the MB was, a BIOS update may likely be required.  Chipsets that support the new 45nm Quads include the x48, x38 and P35 on the Intel side.  The AMD 790i supports the new quads, not sure about any others.

P5K EPU product support page.
 
http://support.asus.com/download/d [...] uage=en-us
 
CPU support list. The Q9450 CO stepping is supported out of the box.  BIOS rev 0401 is required for the C! stepping version of that processor.
 
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport [...] el=P5K/EPU

The main brand name of mainboard claimed 45nm Processor ready should support Q9450 while you may need to update the BIOS to latest version that shows compatible on CPU compatible list for Q9450. Be careful is to select a Mainboard with 8 phase / 12 phase Power Regulated that could provide more safety situation for your Quard Core CPU especially if you are intending to overclock your CPU.

Thanks for your answers
 
It's getting a bit complicated though, since I can't be sure if I get C1 or C0?
 
That would probably mean I need to buy a X38 board to be sure of it being compatible?  
On the other hand I heard X38 could overclock a bit worse than P35. Not that I'm gonna do heavy overclocking, since I'm first time builder, but I would like to have the opportunity of  some OC'ing

I have been looking at Gigabyte EX38-DS4 too, but according to this list, it doesn't look like Q9450 is supported natively, or am I wrong?
 
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support [...] uctID=2754
 
I have a hard time finding out what motherboards I can choose from which is compatible

no one able to help?

I'm getting a Gigabyte EP35C-DS3R
 
Allegedly supports 45nm processors, 8gb of DDR2 mem or 4gb of DDR3 memory (for the future)
 

To tell the truth OP, there is no guarantee that a mobo will support a certain CPU out of the box. You may get lucky and get a mobo with a bit newer BIOS or you might get screwed with one that has an older BIOS. Only the newer X48 will probably have guaranteed 45nm support out of the box.

The one I'm getting had reviews from other users with 45nm processors, and said it worked fine, a BIOS flash might be necessary though.

Shad0w,
 
If you buy the P5K and install the Q9450 It will bootup. It will say "Unknown CPU detected, BIOS update required to unleash its full power"
 
Then you can use EZ flash in the BIOS to update the BIOS after booting.
 
1Haplo

Wow, that's not bad. Some boards with old bios just won't POST, so you'll have to put in an old cpu to update the bios.

I installed my Q9450 in an Abit IP95 Pro.  
 
According to the mobo's box it is Bios version 1.1, the 45nm Intel CPUs aren't officially supported until Bios version 1.2.
 
However, the Abit IP95 Pro instantly recognized it. Odd, maybe a later version was put in the box. Anywaste I'm gonna flash it to Bios version 1.6 pretty soon.