tool_462

Ok, I am looking to upgrade an older PC's motherboard and am just making 100% sure that it is compatible and that it will work. Here is what I have: Intel Celeron 2.8ghz 533mhz fsb, socket 478 Crucial PC2700 333mhz (2x512mb)DDR memory (Not Dual Channel) 2 IDE HDD: 120GB Western Digital (Running OS) 40GB Seagate(backup) No Raid format Ultra 500Watt X-Connect PSU Windows XP Home Will add video card when it is up and running Upgrade Mobo Can anyone verify that everything is compatible? I tried to install the mobo once before and was left with no video output, so I RMA'ed that old one and a new one is on the way. I just want to make sure that nothing is incompatible (I've looked over everything many times, but could have missed something) Note: This PC was originally an eMachines but the only thing left as stock will be the processor and the Windows XP. eMachines OK'ed the upgrade and sent me an XP CD-Key if I need it during install. Should it work? The previous attempt was tried with other memory sticks, processor, and any variations of the two

Great! Look forward to it, as do many others

Sortof off topic, but I'm sure no one will put up a fight. Roughly how difficult is it to run a Linux machine. I have enough leftover parts from upgrades and new builds that I can toss together a box that would surf the internet to death and make a decent file server or something if need be. I have a little knowledge of C++ if that helps and will be taking Intermediate Computer Science this fall. Is there any good guides that you guys use/ have used? I'm sure google will show me some but any recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thanks! And again: thumbs up on the merger.

Anyone with good design skills interested in showing off your work and designing a cool signature for me to use in various forums? I will email you a few pictures of my case and would like you to include whichever one you want and incorporate my specs into the sig. Of course, you will put your copyright or webname or whatever you want in the bottom corner to create an advertisement for yourself if you want. I have zero skills or I would do it myself:P Send me a PM and I will get back to you soon. Thanks very much in advance if anyone is willing to do this for me! I don't want it to be a chore, only PM me if you want to do it for practice/fun/or just to get your work out there.

bump

Originally posted by dosfreak: Quote: Quote: Things have become a little stagnant here Understatement of the century! I wouldn't call myself a big poster but I read through every thread on the "Latest Threads" daily and try to help when I can, with the limited knowledge I have (which was all nearly gained by reading threads here.) What I'm saying is that when I read through the threads there are about 8-10 names I see giving replies and many many times that asking questions. I think a merger would be a good idea to maybe incorporate a few more knowledgable readers to both sides of the site. This group of "computer nerds" (Myself and others) is the nicest and most easy going of any forum I am a member of and I always post my questions here first to avoid getting 5 flames and 1 real helpful answer the way I do on sites like Toms Hardware or a couple others. Turned into a long way to say I think a merger would be helpful for many people and I look forward to learning more from a larger group of individuals smarter than I.

Give this a shot: Start>Run: type in Regedit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft DirectX Version For 9.0c I have a version number of 4.09.0000.0904 Change it to 4.08.0000.0904 and windows (and direct X installers) will believe you have directX 8 installed. Try to install 9.0c again. It wont give you the "You already have this installed" message. No idea if it will help, but it's the only idea I have left right now and it is worth a shot!

Have you tried using an older driver for your video card? Sometimes up[censored] to a new driver will cause problems, just happened to me with the new Forceware 91.13 drivers from Nvidia. Kept causing BSOD and I reverted to the older ones and everything is great! I am not familiar with ATI drivers but it shouldn't be hard to find the older ones on their site and give them a shot. Make sure you uninstall your drivers first, then install the newly downloaded "older" drivers.

Check out www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com. Both of my favorite sites and I buy ALOT of computer stuff!

Yep, should be no problem. I played many games on the card and the only one that wasn't supported was Battlefield 2. Just let me know if you have any questions setting it up!

I have an older PC using the exact same card, and it will be able to run the game. I have used the PC for many many games up to Half Life 2 (all low settings ) which is still a very demanding game, even by today's standards. If you have any problems there is a huge thread about the MX4000 that is one of the most viewed threads on this forum. I started it a few years ago as skier_120 so you can take a look at that. If I had time I would link you but just sort hardware by views and it will be near the top.

I like that board also, I really like the layout of it. If you are using aftermarket cooling, (tower type) it is nice to have that fan blowing directly on the rear exhaust fan, also creating a more open space for many PSU fans to suck air in and exhaust it more efficiently.

You are right, that is an LGA775 socket mobo and you need 939. here is a good one for a good deal with the rebate. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127225

All looks good to me. Just do us or yourself a favor and post a link to the exact mobo you are looking to use. Just to make sure the processor is on the supported CPU list for that mobo.

Can you enter into your BIOS? Have you tried a repair install of XP on your OS partition?

Well if temp3 is reading accurately, it is resetting due to thermal shutdown. 262F is something like 115(ish)Celcius and that is well past boiling point! Do us a favor and boot her computer into the BIOS and head to temperature monitoring or something like it. Give us the idle BIOS temps for CPU and any others her BIOS reports. Also, provide some system specs including what case and case fans she uses. The more information provided the easier it is to diagnose and provide a solution to the problem.

of course

Yes that case will hold your motherboard with plenty of room. Your motherboard is called "Micro ATX" and the case supports baby, micro and standard ATX motherboards.

Yes an 11 inch tall case may be called a "mini tower" but dont confuse it with "form factor" they are the cube-like cases.

For some things, yes I suppose it would be "good" to leave your side panel off. A situation would be if you are having temperature problems and are using an outside fan or something to diagnose and solve a problem. Another would be if you were perhaps overclocking and trying to see your personal best benchmark or something to that extent. Other than that, the extra dust build up that having the side panel off and the obvious risks of something falling inside and harming components present might not be worth the few degrees you would gain. But I guess that would be a personal decision and would warrant a safe area preferably off the ground to keep your side panel off.

I guess what I would do is call the card maker's tech support and see what they think. A new card may or may not fix the problem but tech support would know more than I and it is your decision to determine if it is an annoying enough problem to warrant the hassle and uncertainty of solution that a return would provide.

/agree Relic

Yes, those temps are perfectly acceptable for a 6200. Especially the passive cooled one. I think we can eliminate heat as a cause and move on to other possibilities. I am beginning to think it is just a slight fault in the card itself. But I will continue to look around!

It isn't really possible that heat is causing the problem. Why then would it work solid in games when it is under load? 42C is a very reasonable temperature for a graphics card, I have 2 6600's in SLI and they are both overclocked to the max they can and only start showing signs of fragmenting at about 75-78C. GPU's handle heat better than CPU's and even a processor will run solid at 42 degrees. Let me look at a few sites and see if I can find anything about the problem. I haven't ever heard of something like this! Usually general usage is great but games show fragmenting and color inversion.

Sounds like you diagnosed it properly before you came here, nicely done! I wouldn't be surprised if the drivers fixed the problem. If not, just let us know and we will take it from there.