Got my new computer bits but this has me baffled..any ideas?
Discussion
A short while ago you may remember when I mentioned my computer died a miserable death due to the meltdown of my PSU.
Well, it turns out it was just the PSU and mainboard that died, however after extensive searching, I couldn't find another decent Socket A mobo so decided on a cheap upgrade.
I've got a relatively new GeForce 6800 Ultra AGP graphics card so it seemed silly to go for another card, and as such I ended up buying an Elitegroup nForce3 Socket 939 motherboard with AGP.
It cost me just €31, so a bargain, plus on top of that I bought a new Athlon 64 4000+ CPU with 1MB L2 cache. The whole lot cost about 80 quid so not too bad, however after spending 3 hours putting it all together, it wouldn't boot!!!!
I took everything apart (again), and tested each bit one by one. Just the mobo alone....yes that worked, then memory....then cpu......then GPU.......then hard disks.....then cards......
Everything was eventually fired up, but I still have one pretty major problem.
If I turn off the computer, I can't switch it back on with the power switch without physically turning off the PSU on the back and then turning it back on. I then have to repeatedly press the power button to get it going!
I've tried everything I can think of to fix the problem but I've run out of idea. Have I got another faulty PSU????
Any help would help a balding 25 year old.......ta!
Well, it turns out it was just the PSU and mainboard that died, however after extensive searching, I couldn't find another decent Socket A mobo so decided on a cheap upgrade.
I've got a relatively new GeForce 6800 Ultra AGP graphics card so it seemed silly to go for another card, and as such I ended up buying an Elitegroup nForce3 Socket 939 motherboard with AGP.
It cost me just €31, so a bargain, plus on top of that I bought a new Athlon 64 4000+ CPU with 1MB L2 cache. The whole lot cost about 80 quid so not too bad, however after spending 3 hours putting it all together, it wouldn't boot!!!!
I took everything apart (again), and tested each bit one by one. Just the mobo alone....yes that worked, then memory....then cpu......then GPU.......then hard disks.....then cards......
Everything was eventually fired up, but I still have one pretty major problem.
If I turn off the computer, I can't switch it back on with the power switch without physically turning off the PSU on the back and then turning it back on. I then have to repeatedly press the power button to get it going!
I've tried everything I can think of to fix the problem but I've run out of idea. Have I got another faulty PSU????
Any help would help a balding 25 year old.......ta!
annodomini2 said:
Or a Faulty motherboard, something in the electronics is getting stuck and not resetting when shut down.
Need spares to check.
The PSU I can check with my MCE machine....but not so sure about the mobo....I'm guess it the PSU is ok, then definitely a faulty mobo then as you suggested.Need spares to check.
Everything else works as I've tried it on other machines....this is a total arse!!!!
Nevrer skimp on the mobo - this is the one part that usually stays in your PC longer than any other part, plus it enables all of the attached devices to talk to each other. Personally, I would invest in a better motherboard as it will save hours, perhaps days of frustration with odd things not working exactly as they should, like this on/off prob.
chris watton said:
Nevrer skimp on the mobo - this is the one part that usually stays in your PC longer than any other part, plus it enables all of the attached devices to talk to each other. Personally, I would invest in a better motherboard as it will save hours, perhaps days of frustration with odd things not working exactly as they should, like this on/off prob.
I'm a little short on money at the mo as I've just splashed out 1200 on a new TV, stand, cables etc, plus now I'm moving apartments so it was the only logical choice.....If you can suggest something better with my requirements, I'm all ears!
I need:
- AGP Graphics Bus
- Socket 939
- 4x PCI slots
- LAN 100 or 1000
Anything else is optional.....
Ta!
chris watton said:
That's a superb spec, but no good as my CPU is a Socket 939. (AMD Athlon 64 4000+). I'm also wanting to keep the price down on everything by reusing as much as possible including my memory. (DDR400). Unfortunately buying this board would mean new memory too....I'm looking at taking back the ECS mobo I bought and replacing it with this:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=825&...
Apart from the flashing LED's it looks ok and fits the bill. It also go a significantly good review in Hexus which is not bad.....
Ah, I even stated in the search that it must be 939! Should have double checked! The one in your link looks perfect, though.
(most of 939 AGP boards seem to be mATX, with only 2xPCI slots!
)
What about this one;
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/100512
(most of 939 AGP boards seem to be mATX, with only 2xPCI slots!
)Edited by chris watton on Friday 1st June 14:13
What about this one;
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/100512
Edited by chris watton on Friday 1st June 14:17
chris watton said:
Nevrer skimp on the mobo - this is the one part that usually stays in your PC longer than any other part, plus it enables all of the attached devices to talk to each other. Personally, I would invest in a better motherboard as it will save hours, perhaps days of frustration with odd things not working exactly as they should, like this on/off prob.
Definately!!!A decent mobo will have decent I/O controller chips and solid driver platforms. I/O on my desktop at work, particularly disk, is horrendous. Even with low CPU load it stops responding when it's busy with the disk.
Ok. If you have a spare machine try swapping the PSU's around. That eliminates that possibility once n' for all.
Elitegroup (ECS) are cheap n' cheerful mobo makers combined with the nForce 3 (please dear god tell me it's not a 3-250?) could be the issue. Try wiping the CMOS and tootling around the internet to see if they ever released a more updated BIOS for the board... it might help.
If it doesn't and it is the mobo, return it (if possible) for another.
Elitegroup (ECS) are cheap n' cheerful mobo makers combined with the nForce 3 (please dear god tell me it's not a 3-250?) could be the issue. Try wiping the CMOS and tootling around the internet to see if they ever released a more updated BIOS for the board... it might help.
If it doesn't and it is the mobo, return it (if possible) for another.
ThePassenger said:
Ok. If you have a spare machine try swapping the PSU's around. That eliminates that possibility once n' for all.
Elitegroup (ECS) are cheap n' cheerful mobo makers combined with the nForce 3 (please dear god tell me it's not a 3-250?) could be the issue. Try wiping the CMOS and tootling around the internet to see if they ever released a more updated BIOS for the board... it might help.
If it doesn't and it is the mobo, return it (if possible) for another.
Yup it's an nforce 3 250......did I make a mistake?!?!?!?! Elitegroup (ECS) are cheap n' cheerful mobo makers combined with the nForce 3 (please dear god tell me it's not a 3-250?) could be the issue. Try wiping the CMOS and tootling around the internet to see if they ever released a more updated BIOS for the board... it might help.
If it doesn't and it is the mobo, return it (if possible) for another.
I'm looking to change to a VIA 8KT800 as mentioned so i'm hoping that will be better....Why are the Nforce 3-250's so bad???
Cheers,
BB
beanbag said:
Why are the Nforce 3-250's so bad???
Dunno, they had Nvidia's usual excellent driver support, were exceptionally feature rich for their time and should have been utterly brilliant.But in practise they tended to be a little temperamental and I guess, due to all the nifty stuff, a little hard for the OEM's to implement. All the other nForce chipsets tend to be rock solid however.
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