New mobo/CPU suggestions

footwo

footwo

footwo

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Joined
9 Jan 2005
Posts
84
Hi folks

After many days of trying to figure out why my computer will not boot I have narrowed it down to the CPU or the motherboard.

The thing only works when I turn it flat on its side which makes me think the CPU isn't sitting right or contacting right with the socket on the board, however I have tried re-seating it several times and replaced the fan/heatsink. Still the thing only works if I turn the whole case on its side so the motherboard is pointing to the roof.

Rather than waste more time I am buying a new mobo/CPU (there are other things wrong with the motherboard as well which I won't go into so its time to replace).

I only want to buy a new mobo/CPU and case, i will be taking all the other parts from my current box. These are as follows:

PSU: Corsair HX 520W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-520HXUK)

RAM: OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance CL5 (5-4-4-18)

HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)

GFX: BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB PCIe

Plus a dvd drive and a floppy drive.

Current mobo/CPU is a Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLi nForce 650 with a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB)

My machine is primarily used for gaming. I'd like suggestions on a new motherboard/chip combo that isn't ridiculously expensive ;)

Thanks in advance!
 
do you have an idea of budget?
you could try a new board and re-use the old cpu, assuming its ok, or if you want a new cpu then your options are e5300 @ £53, e8400 @ £127 or if you wanted to go for a quad then a Q9550 @ £180
Board options are Asus P5Q Deluxe @ £116 or a more budget option would be gigabyte p43 @ £60
Alternatively you could go for an AMD set up if youre not looking at re-using the cpu anyway and get a board from here, all good and pair with either a Phenom II 550BE dual core, 720BE tri core or 955BE quad core again depending on budget
Hard to advise without knowing a budget really
 
Thanks for responding, I'm actually looking through your guide here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18060182

Damn good read :D

I'm trying to stay under £350 and that includes a new case but to be quite honest seeing how far things have come since my last build I'm getting bewitched by all the new shiny tech and thinking about thrashing out a whole new system and selling parts from my older one :p

But if I do decide to just replace parts then I'd rather spend a bit more and get something a little more future proof (supporting DDR3 for example) and make do with the RAM I have just now. DDR 2 will still work in the new Intel i5 boards right?

I'm going to take another look inside my box tonight, take everything out and rebuild it from scratch to see if that solves the problem with the CPU not being recognized. That's the actual issue, I get no beeps when it is standing upright indicating the CPU isn't detected but as soon as I lay it down flat it works :rolleyes:
 
Its possible the mobo has bowed and is now shorting on the case, hence when you stand it upright and the weight distribution is different therees no short and it works
no DDR2 doesnt work in i5, youd need new stuff (DDR3), theyre not backwards compatible
tbh Id just get a new mobo for now (case if you want), the gigabyte is great value, see if it works with old cpu, if it does great, if not get a new cpu too, the e8400 probably best option tbh, rest of your system seems fine
 
95thrifles said:
Its possible the mobo has bowed and is now shorting on the case, hence when you stand it upright and the weight distribution is different therees no short and it works
Click to expand...

That's what i assumed at first, some kind of short going on but everything else seems to work fine. All fans come on and every power indicating LED on the motherboard lights up.

Like I said I'm gonna rebuild the whole thing again tonight and see if that makes any difference.

thanks for the advice!
 
Well after rebuilding it is now officially dead, the CPU is most definitely screwed, it even crashes in the BIOS (if i can manage to get it to boot at all).

I've decided to go for the following setup and just buy a whole new kit (I will keep my current 8800 GTS GFX card and hard drives/optical drive)

I've mostly followed your £700 build but if you have any suggestions for getting a bit more performance then please say.

Budget is £650, I'm currently at £529:

rig.png
 
I'd probably keep your PSU as well, will be fine for now and save you cash you could spend elsewhere.
 
Jargy said:
I'd probably keep your PSU as well, will be fine for now and save you cash you could spend elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Planning on going SLi in the future though when I recover from buying this rig :D

I'm thinking of spending a bit extra on a higher spec mobo/CPU which is why I'm asking for advice at the moment.
 
+1 keep your current PSU. Your GPU could do with an upgrade although it may be btter to wait for the 5 series to drop in proce/fermi launches if you can hold out. There are good cooler reviews at frosty tech; was thinking there must be something better than the 92mm cooler you specced for just a little more. The Akasa nero for example (not sure it will fit the socket though).
 
footwo said:
That's what i assumed at first, some kind of short going on but everything else seems to work fine. All fans come on and every power indicating LED on the motherboard lights up.

Like I said I'm gonna rebuild the whole thing again tonight and see if that makes any difference.

thanks for the advice!
Click to expand...


Your problems sound very familar!!!!

I started a thread yesterday:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=15186851#post15186851

My dad reckoned its perhaps the mounting screws that have come loose OR as you say the whole board itself is bowed and shorting somewhere - mine wouldn't boot at all laying down flat but did when I stood it up properly!!!!!

Mine now starts and loads Windows (XP) but only shows 1gb of ram - I have 4 in, which the Bios and CPU-Z sees but the task manager and computer properties don't!!!!

:confused:

all good fun eh!

:)
 
Fastra said:
Your problems sound very familar!!!!

I started a thread yesterday:
Click to expand...

I cant even get into windows, my system is not acknowledging the CPU at all (no diagnostic beeps).

Anyway I'm thinking of opting for the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5 Intel P55 mobo instead of the MSI one. It has great reviews. Also some slightly higher end RAM.
 
Last edited:
footwo said:
I cant even get into windows, my system is not acknowledging the CPU at all (no diagnostic beeps).
Click to expand...


I feel your pain.... I had exactly that.

Yeah, mine went through an hour or so not getting past the first F key option screen (I was messing about with ram sticks), but when I stood it up (rather 'hastily' I might add) it bloody fired up!!!

I think yours sounds like a more extreme case of what affecting me.
Although for your budget I'm be looking for a MB and cpu... :)
 
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