My PC Died - dammit

[Rochey]

Okay folks,

My old AMD 2800+ PC (that was running a gig of ram, 3 PATA HD's on an NF7-M motherboard) died on me yesterday, during a repair of the northbridge motherboard fan.
In my infinite wisdom, I decided to try and cut through the plastic leg that held the fan to the motherboard (so I could just push it through). In the process, I think I may have scratched one of the traces around the hole in the pc (they are traced *incredibly* close to the hole)
Anyway, all I get now is a slow beeping from the bios on startup.

The PC is probably 4 or 5 years old now, the case is fine, the PSU is fine, the hard drives are fine.

What I need is a new motherboard, new processor, new RAM and if it's not embedded on the mobo, new graphics card.

My needs: Office, Cadsoft Eagle, Some 3d rendering from time to time (new monkey island game... maybe some 3D enclosure design)
My OS: I will continue to use the XP installation from my previous system.
My Budget: around $200, preferably less than that.

as I haven't build a new PC in a while (4 or 5 years) everything has moved forward - AGP no longer exists it seems, memory has jumped ahead etc.

Please suggest the lowest cost, half decent performance system. Atom processors are a no-no, so are celerons.

Cheers

/R

 

[Rossi]

200 bucks won't get you a decent pc. The easiest way out is simply get a new mainboard on ebay (which would also spare you the trouble of a new installation). Save the rest of your money for a new pc in 1-2 years.

 

[Gus]

First thing I would try is to find a replacement board new or used of the same brand and number so you could just swap all the parts.  FWIW I have the same MB in a PC for years it seems to be a very stable board.

Intel or AMD?  how many core? L2 and/or L3 size, DDR2 or the newer DDR3 memory?  Power usage how many watts from the wall maybe you would want a lower powered unit that does not draw as many watts but has enough performance.

I would google etc things like "program used and chipset ,cpu issues"

If you want to use some of the parts you have things to be aware of.

Problem with some of the new MBs is some only have 1 PATA connector but they have more SATAs.  I would also check what type drive they boot from the PATA or SATA?

The Power supply 20 pin 24pin?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

 

[Rochey]

just ebayed the same motherboard that I currently have.

$80! - that seems a little much for an old motherboard like that.

I can't help wondering that for a little more - I can get a newer motherboard and processor with a little more memory, then reuse the case, the 24pin PSU and hard drives.

 

[Rochey]

Maybe something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$52

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
$119

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
$47


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132004
Rosewill RC-200 PCI IDE (ATA) Silicon Image RAID (0/1/0+1/JBOD) Host Controller Card - Retail
$15


Total shopping list of $230

What do y'all think? I can use all my old hardware and case with that.

 

[owel]

just ebayed the same motherboard that I currently have.

$80! - that seems a little much for an old motherboard like that.

I can't help wondering that for a little more - I can get a newer motherboard and processor with a little more memory, then reuse the case, the 24pin PSU and hard drives.

Your observation is correct. A newer mobo will be cheaper, better, faster.

But as someone already said, if you get a new mobo, most likely you'll need to reinstall Windows. And that's a bigger PITA than just getting a replacement mobo.  (different chipsets and drivers, etc. that might cause your Windows to crash, need to reinstall it, might even lose your data on your HD)

 

[Svart]

Here is what I just purchased last night to replace my computer that failed a couple days ago.  Got the stuff at newegg:



Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
Item #:N82E16822148395
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$59.99



AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor
Item #:N82E16819103648
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy

$99.00




GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813128392
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$79.99




Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820148150
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$58.99

Grand Total: $297.97

 

[iomegaman]

I build a new system every two years and it seems I can do it for about 40% less each time all the while upgrading speeds/processors/ram etc...I've kinda stopped upgrading video cards as much...anyway I'd say you were due.

I've always had very good luck with the Gigabyte stuff...

One thing I discovered last year that was a real expnsive learning curve...dirty power will kill a computer faster than a lot of other things...I went thru 3 psu's a bunch of ram, some video etc...before I started running the system on a power conditioner...since then we haven't had to replace stuff...its a bugger to decipher whats killing stuff...we went thru harddrives and ram and psu's like crazy...

 

[Rochey]

One thing I discovered last year that was a real expnsive learning curve...dirty power will kill a computer faster than a lot of other things...I went thru 3 psu's a bunch of ram, some video etc...before I started running the system on a power conditioner...since then we haven't had to replace stuff...its a bugger to decipher whats killing stuff...we went thru harddrives and ram and psu's like crazy...

I know exactly what you mean - you have to buy component after component, thinking "this'll be the the thing that fixes it!"

I effing hate that. That's why I was happy with this system. It wasn't the best in the world... but it worked... and it was reliable (until the fan went on the northbridge....)

 

[owel]

Older mobos tend to be more reliable than the newer ones.

I have a Dual PIII 1Ghz file server mobo still running... 9+ years now, running 24/7 - still original mobo/PSU. Only hard drives have been replaced through the years due to being worn out

(of course, connected to an APC SmartUPS)

 

[RAM]

I've had problems with a home PC recently too. A couple of weeks ago the hard drive had errors which I fixed easily enough and more recently the power supply and on board USB has failed. Time for a new Mobo I think. As others have said I'd salvage as much as possible. DVD drives hard drives etc. Check out the new i7 chips from intel. I've heard they are pretty good but I'm not really sure if the difference in price equates to a large enough increase in processing power.

Rob

 

[Rossi]

I just evaluated a Core i7 extreme system running at 4x 3.8 GHz from a German Shop specialized in DAW systems. It was more than twice as fast as my own Q6600 Core 2 Quad system at 2.4 GHz. Pretty quiet, too.

 

[kazper]

Stuff the motherboard in and plan on a couple 30 min reboots. best if you can boot up in safe mode and wipe all the device drivers out and then reboot. Then reinstall all the new hardware drivers.

Kaz

 

[Rochey]

KAz,

thats exactly what I was starting to worry about... What happens to my old XP install.  :-\
I'm beginning to resign myself to a new install of XP, on a new SATA drive, then setup the old drive as a spare, and copy all the files over.

That'll get me up and running as quickly as possible I think. I can't help wondering what I might lose in the upgrade though.

/R

 

[Svart]

I've found that sometimes XP doesn't care if you put new stuff in, sometimes it does.  I've changed motherboards in computers and never got a windows error at all.  Sometimes I added a memory stick and it balks.

IF you do have a problem, the solution is simple.  Boot with your install disc and choose install windows.  when it says that it found a previous installation, choose repair instead of new install.  this will reset all of the system files to those on the disc.  You will have to reinstall all the service packs and stuff again but it should keep you going just fine.

 

[Rochey]

thanks - thats good advice...

okay, here's the plan (and please confirm if this is what you would do  ;D )

1 - rebuild system
2 - only connect boot PATA drive & CDROM to the motherboard.
3 - "repair" install & install SP3.
4 - install the PATA controller card & add my old old HD's again.
5 - Live happily ever after.

sound good?

 

[Gus]

Did you look at the MB in the area that had the scratch with a magnifying glass?  Maybe you can fix the original MB.

 

[Svart]

sounds good on paper.

you are running pata drives?  if you have a card, you should be able to install it first and when the install disc starts up it will say to hit F6 to install a 3rd party disc driver.  You *might* be able to go ahead and enter that and get the card installed first or you can just wait and do it later as planned.

I'm going to be doing the same thing when my new parts arrive which will be monday. 

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Rochey,

4-5 year old drives are your next likely failure.  If I were you I'd try to rebuild the system on a new SATA drive, then install the old PATA and copy all the data over.  I also have a 4.5+ year old Athlon XP system which I'm considering upgrading.  For the past year or two it has done the periodic random hard restart on me which I believe is CPU temp related--it almost always happens on warm days when the CPU is maxed out doing something.  I periodically back up my important stuff, but even so I know it will be a pain if a drive fails on me.

I see someone else recommended Newegg--they are my usual source for parts as well.  They have some combo Mobo/CPU deals for around $300.  Unlike a few years back, Intel now has the best price/performance ratio going.  As much as I like supporting the underdog, I'd still buy Intel today.  Good luck with it!

A P

 

[Rochey]

okay, I've completed the order. I added a 500gig SATA HD.

wish me luck folks. I hope this works.