Argh! hardware emergency - recommendations required...

[sub]

I've had a bad week with my development machine. A few days back my 8 year CRT monitor went "pop" and refuses to work. RIP. New 24" Dell LCD arrived today (awesome price).

This afternoon I fire up the PC to ghastly burning smell coming from my X800 AGP card (new monitor not plugged in yet). Since then, powering up the machine results in the fans spinning but not much else. Swapping out parts to other machines I've determined my RAM and hard drive are OK (and hopefully PCI cards). So its either the motherboard or CPU or both that have bitten the dust. I dont have any other socket 939 machines, so no way to confirm which of these is broken.

I'm working on the assumption I'm going to need to buy a new motherboard and CPU. I've been using an AMD X2 4600, but am thinking I'll pick up Intel Core Duo E6700 plus motherboard. Can anyone recommend a specific motherboard? ideally lots of slots, preferreably most being regular old PCI since this is what most capture devices use.

BTW, are there any fellow New Zealander's here that have wholesale accounts that could help out with cheap parts?

[sub]

I'm now blaming my X800 card for the "pop" that started it all...

[gkreis]

You might want to consider the e6400 and overclock it modestly and you will get terrific performance. I bought an ASUS and it overclocked very well (once I figured out how to do it) going from 2.13Ghz to 3.2Ghz and all without driving the RAM beyond its rated 800 Mhz. It really flies...

Here is an ASUS board that has four PCI slots (mine has only two or three as I recall).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131090

Does this machine need to be really quiet? I installed the Scythe Ninja heatsink and it really helps get rid of heat quietly. I am not sure, though, if it will fit on this mobo and in your case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835185038

[sub]

Thanks thats good advice. The price of the E6400 does seem appealing - reviews rate it well against current AMD chips. The ASUS board look like about the right mix of slots for me, and it does seem to be available here. I'll see what other advice appears overnight and buy "something" tomorrow morning.

[gkreis]

I did extensive research and found that folks said the e6400 overclocked was actually preferable to the e6700 (for reasons that were really technical and I can't remember now... ;-). I found MANY folks who said they OC'd it to 3.4-3.6Ghz and it was stable. I decided not to push it to keep heat down and to presumably make it even more stable.

Many said they could OC the DDR2 667 (PC5300) RAM to 800Mhz, but I decided to not risk it and bought the DDR2 800 RAM. It is only about $25 more per stick at Newegg.

This is the case I used (actually the P180B) and it is VERY quiet with a Seasonic 430W PS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811129154
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817151023

Good luck!

[psycik]

I've just replaced an old socket a system with an AM2 ASUS m2v motherboard with 4 pci slots and digital coax out.

As for the other question did know a chap that had wholesale prices, but pretty much gigabyte hardware, but found that if you looked around (pcpacific.net and supercheapnz.biz etc) actually worked out cheaper.

I just paid $475 for Motherboard (above) ATI x550 pcie video, 1 gb ram and AMD x2 3600+

[mobiusnz]

BTW, are there any fellow New Zealander's here that have wholesale accounts that could help out with cheap parts?

A - I know the feeling - my Hard drive just choked last night!!! Just this minute finished a fresh install on a new drive!!

B - I can get Gigabyte or Genuine Intel boards wholesale - If you see any you like the look of drop me a PM with a model and I'll get you a price. Likewise the CPU - Either wholesaler I deal with I can order it shipped direct overnight. Dove have a branch in Wellington so I could probably arange you to pick it up if you like.

One thing I like about the new Gigabyte boards is any with the D in the model number means DURABLE - They have All Solid Cap's so none of the swollen leaky caps (No this problem isn't history completely yet - still seeing boards comming in only 2 years old with dodgy Cap's).

Core 2 Sounds like a good move, lots of grunt - bugger all heat - makes for a quiet reliable fast machine.

[pastro]

You might want to have a look at the power supply too just in case.

I had a power supply in a previous system that lost regulation and the 5 volt went to about 8 and the 12 to about 20.
My wife describe the sound like the computer was popping pop corn.
I opened up the case and noticed a bunch of ics on the floor of the case. I didn't remember putting them there, but after inspection of the machine realized that they were the chips off the ram modules. A large hole in a mothernboard chip as well.
End result. Every component in that system bit the dust.

When something blows up in my computer now, I always test the supply before I hook it up to another motherboard.

[gEd]

I was thinking that the PSU could be the cause of this problem, especially if the X800 had a dedicated power connnector. I have never heard of a graphics card taking out a cpu and mobo but I guess it could happen.

AFAIK, the Gigabyte DS3 is the overclockers (wet) dream but like most mobo's today, you only get 3 x PCI slots

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduc...subcat=565

Asrock are historically a pretty low rent brand but have gained a lot of popularity by making new mobo's that use DDR ram and AGP graphics.

They do a conroe mobo that has 5 pci slots and you could get a cheapish 2nd hand agp card or a brand new uber ati 1950 pro agp card.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduc...subcat=565

[pastro]

Regulators on the video card to drive the front side bus? Seems possible.