My pc broke down yesterday, after some strange error messages the last few days.
Well, ok, it's about 20 months old, socket 754, Sempron 2600, 1 GB, X850 GTO. Hm. Upgrade time! And, as I had my own internet access again today as well, I decided to go shopping instead of ordering online, and enjoy all my new and fast toys tonight.
After some browsing, I decided to go for an AM2 motherboard, with an Athlon X2 and a X1950 Pro, 2 GB and a better PSU. And all the harddisks and DVD burner from the old one.
Well, I normally only buy Asus, or other brands I consider AAA. But the only Asus MB available in the shops that met my specs was a bit expensive, and had the heatsink from the chipset cut out to make place for the videocard. It looked like a tight fit. Hm. And they all (but one) recommended me the MSI K9N Ultra or SLI (available in all but one of the shops).
"I don't like MSI, I really want an Asus board."
"MSI is fine, we never have problems with them. This one sells well. And you get a lot for your money."
The SLI did have the best specs, and was the cheapest as well.
The same went for the videocard: the cheapest was the MSI RX1950Pro, VIVO (?) and it came SLI ready.
"Well, for a videocard the brand shouldn't matter very much. Most manufacturers (except for the AAA ones) use the same reference board anyway. They all told me that MSI is fine. And it goes well with the SLI motherboard."
So, I bought them.
When I had assembled the pc, it didn't work. HM. I swapped the video card first, and with the old card (Asus X850 GTO), the pc booted fine. I installed Windows, rebooted a few times and all was well.
I replaced the videocard for the new X1950, and the pc was dead again. The fans spin up, the network led lights up, but nothing else happened. Just like the first time. Not even beeping.
"Grr. The videocard is DOA. Ok, I'll try to swap it for a new one tomorrow."
So I replaced the videocard again for the old one, and the pc is still dead. I swapped everything else as well, but still nothing.
The worst part is, that I bought bits and pieces in three different shops. And they probably all will (of course!) tell me that they will send the parts to the manufacturer for repair.
I never have had any problems so far with Asus stuff, and the first time I buy MSI (against my own better judgement), it does break down immediately. GRR!
So, the moral of the story: Buy Asus, and don't buy MSI!
Well, ok, it's about 20 months old, socket 754, Sempron 2600, 1 GB, X850 GTO. Hm. Upgrade time! And, as I had my own internet access again today as well, I decided to go shopping instead of ordering online, and enjoy all my new and fast toys tonight.
After some browsing, I decided to go for an AM2 motherboard, with an Athlon X2 and a X1950 Pro, 2 GB and a better PSU. And all the harddisks and DVD burner from the old one.
Well, I normally only buy Asus, or other brands I consider AAA. But the only Asus MB available in the shops that met my specs was a bit expensive, and had the heatsink from the chipset cut out to make place for the videocard. It looked like a tight fit. Hm. And they all (but one) recommended me the MSI K9N Ultra or SLI (available in all but one of the shops).
"I don't like MSI, I really want an Asus board."
"MSI is fine, we never have problems with them. This one sells well. And you get a lot for your money."
The SLI did have the best specs, and was the cheapest as well.
The same went for the videocard: the cheapest was the MSI RX1950Pro, VIVO (?) and it came SLI ready.
"Well, for a videocard the brand shouldn't matter very much. Most manufacturers (except for the AAA ones) use the same reference board anyway. They all told me that MSI is fine. And it goes well with the SLI motherboard."
So, I bought them.
When I had assembled the pc, it didn't work. HM. I swapped the video card first, and with the old card (Asus X850 GTO), the pc booted fine. I installed Windows, rebooted a few times and all was well.
I replaced the videocard for the new X1950, and the pc was dead again. The fans spin up, the network led lights up, but nothing else happened. Just like the first time. Not even beeping.
"Grr. The videocard is DOA. Ok, I'll try to swap it for a new one tomorrow."
So I replaced the videocard again for the old one, and the pc is still dead. I swapped everything else as well, but still nothing.
The worst part is, that I bought bits and pieces in three different shops. And they probably all will (of course!) tell me that they will send the parts to the manufacturer for repair.
I never have had any problems so far with Asus stuff, and the first time I buy MSI (against my own better judgement), it does break down immediately. GRR!
So, the moral of the story: Buy Asus, and don't buy MSI!