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Hi everyone,
my comps playing up at the mo, not sure if mobo is on it's way out.
Anyway decided it's time to get a new one on the go. My thoughts are - Asus M2N32 SLI De-Luxe, AMD AM2 5000+ Black edition, Corsair DDR2 800mhz 2 x 1gb and HD3850 graphics card.
SATA HD and possibly a sound card. The comp will be for general home use with some gaming, surfing photo and video editing.
Think I may have to also change my XP Pro as it will only be 32bit?Trouble is I'm not sure if those components will gell together and I have a couple of questions if someone would please oblige.
Which if any of those components would cause a bottleneck?
What changes and why, would you make to this spec?I'm based in UK if that matters.
Thanks and looking forward to any advise.
JerryH
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My current system is (from memory, as at work now) Abit KD7 with an XP1700 Athlon and 512mb memory and an Abit Siluro graphics card.
The system has over the last year intermittantly not started up. My HD is in a removeable slide with power and HD activity lights on it. When the system doesn't start up the HD activity light doesn't come on and the screen does not even show any BIOS info as though the system isn't getting that far. All the fans are working etc as though it is trying, but maybe not seeing the HD.
Last time this happened I swapped graphics card from another system, changed the HD IDE cable (for a new one), installed the HD back directly into the case (ie by-passing any issues with the slide case), removed and re-installed the memory and swapped the PSU from another case. This was all done over a period of about two days or so. I then went to switch it on another day to try and get it working, but it switched on and worked as though it had never been faulty.
It is now displaying the same symptoms as on that previous occasion.
I can only make an assumption (probably totally wrong) that the mobo has an intermittent fault.JerryH
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Just remembered that when I moved the HD back inside the case, I used a different power plug for the HD as well.
JerryH
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A couple of FYIs.
The first thing to look for is the initial POST (Power On Self Test) single beep. That indicates that the bios has done a check of the motherboard and found it OK. If you don't get it, the motherboard is not working for some reason.
You do not need a working hard drive to get a display on the monitor when booting up. The motherboard/bios and CPU are all that is needed to do that.Also, a power supply puts out several voltages and just one being missing or out of spec can cause a problem.
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No, not getting the POST check on the monitor - I'm not getting anything on the monitor other than it's own display that comes on when switched on. That was why I tried a different graphics card last time.
So presumably you (aigis) are suggesting that one of the leads to the mobo might not be powered correctly?
Thing is I did try a different PSU last time but that didn't cure it.
So surely must be the mobo or CPU?Would appreciate some more ideas on this or views on my proposed new build.
Am going to check all other connections tonight, but don't hold out much hope.
Will check back tomorrow for any more responses - hopefully there will be.Thanks everyone
JerryH
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I assume that you didn't get the POST 'beep'.
"So presumably you (aigis) are suggesting that one of the leads to the mobo might not be powered correctly?"?
That 'could' be the case but there are other things that can cause a motherboard not to work.
"So surely must be the mobo or CPU?"
Not necessarily. It's 'possible' that a defective component that is connected to the motherboard can stop it from operating.
If you have eliminated the power supply. Then it's probably a flakey connection somewhere on the motherboard or on a component connected to the motherboard. It can be a connector or it can even be a connection inside an electronic component, like the bios or CPU. Of course, connectors are the most likely to have a problem.
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No it wasn't giving a POST beep, just appeared to fire up the fans.
Well, got home and tried switching on before touching anything and the damn thing switched on !!
This time it stuck at the POST saying something about the BIOS being changed. Looking at the BIOS the CPU had changed from 1700 to 1500.
I had forgotten to say earlier, but that has happened a quite a few times on previous occasions ie sticking at POST because the CPU had changed to 1500.Anyway it's on now, for the moment, but still looking at a new build if anyone would like to pass their views on the spec?
Thanks for the other words of assistance as well.
JerryH
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"still looking at a new build if anyone would like to pass their views on the spec?"
I hate to see an old rig put out to pasture before it's time.
Anyhow, the specs you listed in the original post are a bit mixed up. The components are good individually, but IMO, they don't fit well together. For example, you've selected an SLi board (& an expensive one at that), but you picked an ATI video card to go with it? And the board has great onboard sound, but you mentioned getting a sound card? Also, just because you'd be getting a 64-bit CPU, it doesn't mean you need to get a 64-bit OS.
I think you need to re-examine your proposed configuration.
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Okay Jam, thanks for your thoughts.
Looks like I need to go back to the drawing board ref the spec.
Will try googling to see what sites pop up that can help me understand the various specs and which complement each other. Thanks for your input.JerryH
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 noisy/slow hdd
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driver problem
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