No net, no puter, no fun - a desperate cry for help

[Richard]

Hello everyone,

I've been netless and between houses for the past four months and, as fate would have it, I am now computer-less at home as well. Aside from the fact I've seriously considered purchasing a shotgun and going postal I'm looking for your help with my latest problem.

This past weekend my computer failed to boot with my mobo shouting "System failed CPU test". I kicked the case er.... checked the problem and the computer booted again. Next day when I hit the power switch same problem. I took the PC apart, cleaned all the dust, and put it together from scratch - no go. Since most of my stuff is packed in a warehouse I couldn't properly diagnose the problem so I took it to a store and have them find the problem (yeah, I know). My system is:

P4 3.2Ghz Northwood (sck478)
Asus P4C800 Deluxe (i875)
2gb DDR400 (4x512)
850XTPE AGP

Now, I haven't heard back from the store yet but from what I've gathered it's either the CPU or motherboard (or PSU). The problem is of course that Northwood is rare to find and so is any socket 478 processors (or motherboards). My solutions boil down to this by order of preference:

1) Buy another 3.2Ghz Northwood and/or Asus P4C800 and carry on as usual. Like I said, I haven't been able to find either of these (new) at the usual places. I was able to find some equivalent Prescott CPUs however, these gave P4 a bad name and I like my PC to run cool.

2) Buy a hybrid board (like the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA mobo based on the VIA PT880 Pro/Ultra chipset) + a Conroe CPU. From what I've been able to gather this board has both AGP (8x) and PCIe (4x) slots and also supports both DDR and DDR2 (2 DIMM slots for both generations - only one generation may be in use at a given time - which limits me to only 2 DIMM slots and thus 1gb)

3) Buy a whole new PC which would mean giving up the 850XTPE and paying a hell of a lot for an equivalent PCIe card and buy another 2gb of ram along with mobo + cpu. I've very short for cash right now and wouldn't consider this at all if I was still sane.

Here's where I need help. If anyone can answer these questions and/or provide alternatives I'd appreciate it very much.

Is anyone aware of stability problems with the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA board and/or the VIA PT800 Pro/Ultra chipset? I really don't care about overclockability, RAID, Firewire and all those kind of fringe features. The most important thing to me is rock solid stability and reasonable performace at stock speeds.

What kind of PCIe card would I have to buy to get the same level of performance of my 850XTPE (if you say a PCIe 850XTPE you lose

If I do go for the hybrid mobo and get a E6600 Conroe with my DDR400 memory how much will I suffer because of the FSB/mem not being in sync?

What's the best value Conroe right now? (as in I consider the E6600 my upper limit). I was considering the E6400 however it is 333Mhz slower and has 2mb of L2 cache less than the 6600. Are these two worth paying roughly 100 euros more?

Thanks in advance guys. I've missed you guys both here in the forums (I'm only able to check the site once a week or so) and on the irc channel (Uni admin doesn't like irc) /me sniffs. I don't even have time to read all the going ons (AMD buying ATI, GF8800, etc.) with all the classes/papers/exams/etc. The plan of record is for me to move to my permanent home in December, get a new internet connex and have my new puter all ready to go by then.

Missing you dearly,
Richard

 

[Ateo]

I toasted an Asus P4T-E, a P4 2.4 400FSB Northwood and 1 GB of RDRAM.

I opted for an Asus P5P800SE(AGP, LGA775), A Pentium D 950 and 2GB DDR400 RAM as replacement.
I have one of those Gainward 7800GS Bliss(7800GT core) so it had to be AGP again.
But I don't know if Asus makes that board anymore though.

I won't go PCI-E untill G81/R600 and Vista SP1.
Don' have the need for SLI/Crossfire, since I have a CRT(Trinitron) and can change my resolution as I like.

 

[Blazkowicz]

if it's the CPU that is dead (could it be the mobo, CPU rarely fail when you don't do excessive o/c, overvolt, let them overheat.. but it indeed can happen) :
you get get some crap $40 celeron (based on prescott but running 2.26ghz or such).

else, yeah there's that asrock motherboard. or, there's another asrock hybrid motherboard for socket 939, with AGP 8x and PCIE 16x slots, but four DDR1 slots. that allows for an athlon X2 and keeping your 2GB RAM and radeon.

here is it :
http://www.asrock.com/product/939Dual-SATA2.htm

it's cheap but reported to be stable (hell, that's the bare minimum we demand from motherboards, right? . as long as the PSU and RAM are decent)

also, conroe doesn't suffer from DDR1 RAM (I even think, being in sync means working in DDR 333 / PC 2700 mode)
but upgrading to dual core and losing half your RAM.. well, that doesn't fit well in the same sentence

 

[digitalwanderer]

I got a PCIe 7600GT I could kick you if'n it'd help.

 

[Geo]

Heya, Mord. We've missed you. Buy yourself another mobo with a PCIe slot and I'll send you a Radeon X1900XT 512MB to populate it. Only condition --you have to pass on the 850XTPE AGP to some other worthy B3D member for whom it would be a decent upgrade. :smile: PM me your address if you're interested.

 

[digitalwanderer]

/me hates it when Geo just has to out do me!

 

[Geo]

Well, he's our site ISV rep! Can't have him being laughed at by the other kids for sporting a midrange gpu, now can we?

Besides, you bought lunch, so the Cadillacs are on me. (old Texas joke).

 

[digitalwanderer]

I actually know that joke.

Nice offer Geo, you're a kind man who's always helping out his friends. Me likes that.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

I might be able to help out to. If the shop cant' find the problem, I have a celeron I can ship you to help trouble shout and a mATX S478 I use for trouble shouting.

EDIT. Check the CMOS batery. A dead or weak CMOS batery can cause the problems your haveing. If its the problem, its a cheap fix.

 

[Blazkowicz]

in my opinion the X850XT AGP should go to someone who has a geforce 6800, so that I get that 6800 please

 

[digitalwanderer]

I'd trade a 6800GT for an X850XT in a heartbeat!

 

[Geo]

EDIT. Check the CMOS batery. A dead or weak CMOS batery can cause the problems your haveing. If its the problem, its a cheap fix.

Y'know, that was my knee-jerk reaction too. So maybe worth a shot. Easy/cheap anyway.

 

[ANova]

I've got an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe, P4 3.0 Ghz Northwood and AGP X850 XT if anyone wants to trade for a Core 2 Duo and X1900 XT. :smile:

 

[Richard]

Thanks a lot for your input guys. Blazkowicz, thanks for that mobo link, definitely something to think about as I'm really disliking the prospect of going back to 1gb ram.

geo, show off! Seriously, your generosity stunned me and I might take you up on that but since it would probably take some time I'm still going for a hybrid board as I just can't go on without a 'puter at home any longer than absolutely necessary

Digi, {Sniping}Waste your kindness is noted too guys. I talked to a friend of mine who has a spare 2.4Ghz northwood and he is willing to let me use it as troubleshooter so regardless of what the store tells me I'll be checking it top to bottom again.

/me is counting the days.

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

yeah when my mboard fried (i correctly diagnosed it, but didn't have the guts to go with my gut...did PSU first cause i heard about problem with my PSU on the web)...ended up taking it to store (since i guessed wrong) when i spent a week in san fran. it was mobo. DOH! still i had my backup P4 1.4Gz, 1G rdram, 9700 pro rig (played a repeat of deus ex in the meantime). but i missed my uber rig.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Glad to hear about the troubleshooter, having a working PC to work on a busted PC with helps a WHOLE LOT!

Hope to see you online soon, don't be shy about posting up if'n you need something as you never know who might just have it laying around in a drawer....and we loves ya and want you back online soonest.

 

[zsouthboy]

I can vouch for that ASrock board. Running one in my server farm now, with an E6300, and 1 gig, DDR.

No problems, stability OR performance.

But it looks like you have quite the offering for help

 

[poopypoo]

he's a popular (and well-deserved, a smart level-headed) fella! good luck mordenkainen, glad to hear you'll be back fairly soon.

 

[Skrying]

I can say that the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA is a highly recommended motherboard, I'm using one right now paired with a Core 2 Duo E6300, 1GB of DDR 400, and a AGP 6800GS. If you want you can check out my site (in sig) and read a few reviews of the motherboard and the processor.

Besides that can't really offer much advice that hasnt already been said.

Hope to see you back soon!

 

[Sxotty]

I might be able to help out to. If the shop cant' find the problem, I have a celeron I can ship you to help trouble shout and a mATX S478 I use for trouble shouting.

EDIT. Check the CMOS batery. A dead or weak CMOS batery can cause the problems your haveing. If its the problem, its a cheap fix.

Did you ever do this man? It most likely is the problem. I had this on 3 motherboards in the last two weeks. One was an asus p4t-533c one a shuttle m31n one a hmmm I forget anyway you get the idea.