computer tech help

[RAF74_SnakeEyes]

My computer wont turn on anymore from what I have read that it is a mobo or power supply issue. Since I dont know what it is I am going to make an earlier than expected upgrade and would like some advice. I have my two disk drives that I plan to keep the hard drive I think is still good and my video card I plan to keep wich is a gforce 8800gts my soundblaster audigy sound card and I have 4 gig of ddr 4200 that I dont mind reusing and I also plan on using my version of windows xp as my operating system. Basicly what I plan to do is get a new processor mobo powersupply and case but it seems a better value to get one of this kits. I was thinking on getting one of these two kits
-XFX nForce 750a SLI Socket AM2+ Barebones - AMD Phenom X4 9500 QUAD Core Processor, 4GB PC6400 Corsair XMS, 500GB SATA II, Ultra X-Blaster Clear Side Mid-Tower Case, 550 Watts PSU
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4387772&CatId=3508
or Asus M3N78 PRO Barebone Kit - AMD Phenom X4 9550 2.2GHz Quad Core, 4GB DDR2-800 Corsair, 500GB, Clear Side Mid-Tower Case, 550W PSU
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4387927&CatId=3508
Although one of the reviews says that one of them dosent work with windows xp I think he may only be talking about the dx10 ability of the onboard video. Any suggestions that could make the decision easyer or mabe something else I should consider may help.

[RAF74_Buzzsaw]

Salute Snake

I am not a real computer expert either. I usually wait till just before I am going to buy, then do a blitz of various hardware review sites to get an idea of what is the best.

Your video card seems pretty good, is it a PCI type?

I think the Intel processors offer the best performance, with AMD being less expensive.

From what I understand, a Quad core processor is an advantage with RISE OF FLIGHT, and likely will also be an advantage with SOW/BoB.

The best motherboards are those which allow the use of DDR3 RAM, (all Intel I believe) but of course they cost more, and in addition, the RAM is also a lot more expensive.

I think in some cases, the Phenom II AMD processors can be dropped into older AM2+ motherboards, ie. if you have one of those, you don't have to replace the motherboard. (but you are stuck with DDR2 type RAM)

Here's one site which seems to have a pretty good reputation for reviews:

http://www.tomshardware.com/us/

[RAF74_Winger]

Salute Snake,

They both seem to be decent kits and I think the memory you currently have would hamstring any newer processors, particularly the AMDs which thrive on high memory bandwidth.

Normally I'd caution you to be wary of a non-brandname PSU, but the reviews on that site and the ones I've found elsewhere seem to be positive. Alternatively you could look here (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2009/04/04/what-hardware-should-i-buy-april-2009/1) for another opinion.

W.

[RAF74_Bimmer]

Can't speak to those specs, but I can give one piece of general advice for any new machine or kit (except maybe high-end gaming boxes): buy extra fans. My Gateway FX4710 - quad core, pushed as a gaming machine - had NO exhaust fan. None. CPU fan, onboard video fan. That's it. Way too much heat buildup. Get an exhaust at least. I threw in a HD fan plate as well to help pull air from the front vent and create some flow. Heat kills components; fans are cheap.

[RAF74_Buzzsaw]

I can give one piece of general advice for any new machine or kit buy extra fans.

Good advice with the high consumption CPU's and GPU"s out now.

Unfortunately of course, that means your sound levels are higher.

I always err on the conservative side, my machine is by no means the latest and greatest, but it sounds like a damn Jet plane when it starts up with all the fans. Good news is that it runs cool. :)

[RAF74_Dharmaboy]

I built a gaming rig last year and it has held up well.



I have overclocked to 3.2Ghz and as you can see the gigantic Ninja cooler with a fan intake and out take right next to it. Get a exhaust fan with a speed controller as it will keep it quiet. With my current setup I cant tell if my computer is on unless I look for the blue glows or walk up to it.

I have an older AM2+ board which can take a Phenom chip but the board is weak. I will stay away from Asus boards unless I pay big bucks to upgrade to heavy duty gamer boards in the $300Cdn price point.

You have to buy for the next 3 or 4 years. not just for the next few months.

I upgraded to 4Gigs RAM, 8800GT SC 512 DD2 vid card and with the O.C from 2.8 Ghz to 3.2 Ghz Stable, its been great. The only unstable point has been my nVidia Drivers crashing my system from time to time.

[RAF74_SnakeEyes]

Well I orderd the 9500 kit since it had what I can use now and had what I think are the best options for me to upgrade down the line. I wont be there this Wednesday or Friday but looks that I may be able to make it next Wednesday.

I ended up getting two case fans the aerocool xtream turbine. I liked them cuz they had good reviews and look like the first stage fan on a jet engine :D

[RAF74_SnakeEyes]

It seems that there was some error in my logic about building this computer first one was that I could just take my old harddrive with everything on it and plug it into the new computer and everything would run good and that I could use my xp cd from dell on the new harddrive if I had a problem with the old harddrive. So now I am trying to figure the cheapest way to get a opperating system. About $100 is what I am willing to pay but I dont want to get an oem version of windows because the license gets bound to the motherboard and it cant be installed on diffrent computer and thats the problem im having now. $180 was the cheapest retail version I could find. Also I cant find any info on if I can use that dell xp cd as the base for a retail vista upgrade on a new computer and if it will limit my vista license to oem.

Here is a pic of the new computer ready to do nothing but look cool as of right now.

The camea that I used to take that pic was washed in the washing machine spin cycle and all and it still works unlike my old cell phone.

[RAF74_Dharmaboy]

What I have done in the past with XP after switching out the computer parts is throw in anyone XP pro CD. Do a repair not the recovery. This usually fixes the issues.

The recovery console is a black and white DOS screen. if you are there then you are in the wrong section.

You want a recovery and it will do the process of loading your files and will ask for you XP Key again.

save the issue of reloading all your files again.

[RAF74_SnakeEyes]

Ok I am up and running on my new computer I waited till today when the new harddrive showed up and installed in the computer on its own and did a xp install from my dell disk figured I would tell the tech person its the same computer witch it kindof is and see what they said. Well the install wint good I wint to enter the code and it said there was an error so I called the number and got a computer it had me punch in a large amount of numbers. After that it said there was a problem and they couldent install windows today so I called again and the computer on the phone had me change my code or what ever and now I am good. I installed the old drive as a slave so I am working on getting my files I want to keep right now also gona see how good this runs once I get track ir and my sticks working.