struck with lightning, need advice new cpu and mainboard compatible

orangpelupa

Elite Bug Hunter
Legend
hello,
my home struck by lightning and my pc broken. it use old ddr2 ram and Amd phenom 2 cpu.

is there still any mainboard that support am2 cpu and ddr2 and amd acc?

I need acc to turn my cpu from 2 core into 4 core. (hoping the cpu still alive)

or I better just put the pc to rest and built new one? I mean is there a way to know any negative effect in short term for my pc if I resurrect it by replacing dead parts?

currently I'm pretty sure mainboard and psu is dead.

thanks for any replies
 
If the board received enough of a jolt to kill it, I would be highly suspect of everything else connected to it. It is likely in your best interest to retire the whole system and replace it.l with a newer AMD rig.
 
For really old stuff like DDR2 and anything connected to it, try 2nd hand markets, including ebay etc. Don't expect to find any awesome deals on new stuff, unless some retailer is sitting on some unsellable stock they're willing to dump on you (might be hard to find).

...And you'll be just as stuck again next time something breaks, of course. I'd suggest following Albu's advice and getting something decently modern; buying old computer gear can easily give poor performance/cost ratio and a waste of money that would have been better spent on something recent.
 
thanks, I'll try checking what parts I can salvage and put it on my uber low spec htpc and try finding old mainboard.

if there none with reasonable price, ouch. I need to find a way to transfer windows 7 license from the broken pc to new pc
 
omg, just checked for old mainboard on online pc store here and the mainboard price still the same as 3 years ago :-/

if I built new pc, any idea what spec I should get?

the last time I tinker on pc is just last year to add a ram stick to this 3 years old pc so I don't really know the condition of today's pc hardware

especially on cpu and gpu. the ghz number no longer determine the real speed in apps right?

my lightning struck pc is
amd phenom 2 x2 550be. but unlocked as 4 core 3.5ghz
radeon hd 4770

I still have PATA hard disk and DVD writer
 
What do you normally use that box for? I see the 4770, so I assume you do some mild gaming? Anything else?
 
yeah it's for gaming. usually high at 1440x900 with very variable frame rate :p

other than that it's for anything. it's always on for media, file, http, and proxy server for the other devices that connected to my home network. and for storing my data from anywhere with hamachi.

then also used for productivity like office, video edit, photoshop, 3d rendering, etc.

and the worst part is that a lot of data still on PATA Hard disk.

the last ditch effort I can think is that buying external PATA to usb converter. then built the whole pc from ground up, complete with ssd.

the speed boost will be stunning but. . . *shudder, it must be cost a lot.

basically my budget is only 400 dollar and it really confuses me this whole day to get the right spec.

from reading Anandtech article about budget pc with Amd trinity, it confuses me more. to choose Amd apu or just a normal cpu with dedicated gpu.

btw, yes that pc is very slow to start up and shutdown but it almost never turned off so a new pc that slow to turn on / off it's not a problem but i think i still need 4 core to multitask that well.

thank you
 
You could do something like this link here -- scroll down a bit to see the combo deal for $260. It includes:
  • AMD FX-6300 six-core CPU
  • Gigabyte 970-based board
  • 8GB of ram
You'd still need a power supply (~$50 for a decent one), a SATA hard drive (~$70 or less depending on how much space you need), a SATA DVD burner (~$20 all day every day) and perhaps a video card (yours might still be OK but???). You can certainly reuse your existing case, keyboard and mouse. Hopefully your monitor avoided the jolt...

That parts list obviously puts you right at or slightly over the $400 limit. You can cut off a bit more of the pricetag by going for a slightly less featured motherboard, downgrading to a quad core CPU (FX-4100 series can be had for less than $100), getting a smaller hard drive, or getting "only" 4GB of ram instead of 8GB. The pricetag of these suggested changes are relatively trivial by themselves, but might allow you to buy more video card (a 6770 would be a sizable upgrade and can be found for less than $100).
 
the last ditch effort I can think is that buying external PATA to usb converter.

Why not pata to sata ?

ps: on a related note my p4 pc wont boot unless a pata drive is connected, I have a pata dvd and a sata hdd
if I disconnect the dvd I get a "drive is not atapi compatible" message
 
unfortunately i cant import stuff :(
this website good for estimating price http://rakitan.com/simulasi.php that available in my country.

AMD FX-6300 six-core CPU
Gigabyte 970-based board
8GB of ram

its totaled about 300 dollar.

hmm, i think with a bit more tinkering i can get nice spec with 400 dollar budget.
thinking about APU + GPU, or CPU + GPU.


@davros
pc is weird :p
btw its very hard to get pata to sata converter here. but a lot of external PATA to USB.


EDIT:
hmm, its 3 AM now... and i think i got the spec but confused about the GPU.

spec:
AMD FX 6100
8GB RAM
Biostar A880GU3

Biostar GTX 460 768MB 192bit (100 dollar)
or
zotac GTX 650 1GB 128bit (130 dollar)
pixel view GT 650 1GB 128bit (120 dollar)

looking at benchmark, GTX 460 is cheaper and should be faster. But 650 is a lot cooler, this open opportunity to overclock achieving higher performance than GTX 460?

then, there GTX 650 and GT 650? the spec looks same.
now i need to hit the pillow. goodnight (it's morning there? :D )
 
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Since your location is not specified in your profile, and your english is quite good, I simply assumed you were stateside. :D Since you're elsewhere on the planet, I understand that pricing will certainly be different.

And when I was first posting, it was after noon :)
 
If you don't care about the power draw, then gtx 460 is definitely value for money. gtx 460 TDP is 150w, gtx 650 is 64w. I can't find the spec for gt 650, so I assume that it is actually gtx 650 (or maybe an OEM only chip?).
I probably choose the 650 because my computer is always on.
 
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thanks rurouni.
most of the time when the pc stay on just running in low speed gpu so the watt seems not a problem.

been googling, 7770 seems a bit faster than 650 but same price

now i confused between
ati 7770
gtx 460 768MB

can't find any benchmark comparing them. there only 7770 vs 460 1GB.
 
There wont be a huge difference between 768mb + 1gb @1440x900 (obviously better to have 1gb)

One point the keep in mind is : is physx of any value to you ?
 
gtx 460 1gb vs 768mb have different memory bandwidth bus or something.

bout physics, I don't really mind. it tax gpu, if there phyx available, I'll still prefer to just turn it off and enjoy higher frame rate
 
thanks rurouni.
most of the time when the pc stay on just running in low speed gpu so the watt seems not a problem.

been googling, 7770 seems a bit faster than 650 but same price

now i confused between
ati 7770
gtx 460 768MB

can't find any benchmark comparing them. there only 7770 vs 460 1GB.

Since 7770 is generally faster than 650, I would say that it should be on par with 460. If you don't care about cuda stuff, then 7770 is the better choice. Basically you've got similar performance to 460 but low power draw like 650.
 
surprising things really happen.

Finally i get to narrow down the broken parts on my PC. It is just the Mainboard. so i just need to buy new AM3+ mainboard and DDR3 ram sticks.

Phenom II CPU, DDR2 RAM, GPU, PSU, Hard Drives (except one), all working (tried with other PC).

The problem now is it fine to just keep using this PSU? i mean it is still working but maybe it is damaged, if it fails will it damage new mainboad that i will put on? or like usual PSU, it will just die without killing other parts?

btw other than my PC, the lightning strike also kills my ADSL modem and WiFi router but if i can, i want to keep using that PSU at least for a few months.
 
It's a gamble to keep your existing PSU. It sounds like the voltage spike may have come through your network port, as other network devices appear to have similarly taken a hit. However, that isn't to say that your PSU still didn't take some blunt force trauma in the process.

I would be weary of any power supply component that survived a power surge significant enough to damage underlying components.
 
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