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What motherboard is this?

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by fuel_f2f, Mar 17, 2006.

  1. fuel_f2f

    fuel_f2f Regular member

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    I got stiffed by IBM. Thanks for all the help! Especially sam. You were great man, I appreciate the quick and helpful replys.

    Turns out IBM put a motherboard in that had 2 ram slots... 1 of them was messed up. So I'm stuck with only 1 ram slot now... Thats what my local Computer store told me. I just got back up and running and I'm just waiting to see if it will crash or not... I sure as hell hope not... So many parts replaced due to a stick of ram being in a bad slot... thats pretty dang annoying heh.

    Well thanks again. If I have more problems I'll be sure to badger you soon :p
     
  2. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Mmm, well I'm glad we've kind of received a decision, and thanks for the comment, I really appreciate it.
    I appreciate us folks like to look at things ourselves before hiring someone else, but unfortunately a quick inspection by a local tech company would have reaped better rewards for you this time around. A faulty RAM slot isn't something you're going to diagnose without spares to run and test, but it's not an unknown problem.

    Keep us posted how things go!
     
  3. fuel_f2f

    fuel_f2f Regular member

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    Because it has been so long and because IBM tell me they have only recent reports of my calling in after this, which is lies but I can't prove jack, they won't replace the board, they will however give me a discount on the board. But they want about as much for a 7-8 year board as I would pay for a REALLY good board. For a board with integrated audio and 64mb integrated vid, 3 pci slots, no agp or pci-e, 2 slots of ram(pc133) and a max of celeron 1.1ghz or P3 933 mhz compatible... they want $325 USD lmao for tht price I can get a high end motherboard...
    I thought a free computer was a good deal when I first got it... but its been a money pit and a peice of crap. Free isn't always better... But at least I can scrap it when I get my new system and get some money for each component on Ebay later. 2 stick os overpriced rare old ram, 3 CPU's, 2 Power Supplys, 1 rare but old, Creative Soublaster sound Card and a few other peices of crap.
     
  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Holy hell, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT take them up on that offer. I know of no motherboard for a single processor since ever that has ever cost that much money. The Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, one of the best boards out there costs less than two thirds of that ($210).
    Seriously dude replace the lot yourself. Grab a 754 motherboard & Sempron64 combo with maybe a stick of 512MB DDR. THe whole lot may cost you less than that motherboard quote. In fact there's no may about it. You can keep the case, optical drives etc, but you then have a nice AGP port to use.
     
  5. The_OGS

    The_OGS Active member

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    Too bad about the IBM thing!
    I've been following this (Sam's been lookin' after ya :^)
    Yes - total $$ for this is $180 bucks (Canadian).
    Maybe twenty bucks less, in Yankee money...
    Good deal eh? I can build a whole back-to-school PC for ~$400 bucks incl. DVD burner etc. LoL
    XP2800+ Sempron runs pretty good too (if you're used to a Celeron 800 or whatever...)
    L8R
     
  6. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    A sempron XP? I assume you mean a Sempron derived from an Athlon XP (Barton core). Personally I'd say stick to the Actual XP or go Palermo, the early semprons weren't the best of processors.
     
  7. fuel_f2f

    fuel_f2f Regular member

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    No no, I'm not dumb enough to invest any more money into this heap of junk. The only reason I got any new components for it is because I only had small amounts of money to waste in long gaps of time making it slightly useful to do minor upgrades.

    I'm not a fan of AMD 754 based computers... I'd much rather go for a 939 based computer to leave much more upgrade potential. That and for Dual core AMD processors... not sure what I want tho, Athlon 64 or those San Deigo's I've heard so much good things from.

    I'm just waiting on a cash settlement from Workers Comp and then I might get a Twister Pro customized from DigitalStormOnline.
    They seem to have pretty decent prices. I wanted a Newegg custom because they seem to have the best prices but they won't even do special orders to Canada. But I know a guy who has a PO Box in Maine so I might get the comp shipped there and drive up and get it, it would be very worth it.

    Anyone know a great priced site that delivers to Canada that offers prices that closely compares to newegg?
     
  8. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Living thousands of miles way I'm not one to ask, but you will be better off with a dual core if you can afford it, the speed will just increase with time until you end up with something that will blow the socks off a standard Athlon 64 (which will in turn blow all the underwear off a sempron which in turn yadda yadda celeron yadda yadda 486 etc.)
    In short, an X2 will pulverise a 486. Not sure why that's relevant but it feels satisfying because I'm gonna buy one.
     
  9. fuel_f2f

    fuel_f2f Regular member

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    Yea, I'm hoping to get Dual core AMD Athlon 64 4200+ or better, I don't know much about motherboards yet so I will do some research into finding a board with best bang for buck while leaving ample upgrade ability. I know a I want dual PCI-e Radeon Vid cards and minimum of 2GB Dual channel OZC ram. I would also like to go with WD raptor HD but they are so expensive with lower than average drive capacity so I might just go with a pair of WD Cavier 250GB drives or maybe even seagate or maxtor. I wouldn't mind setting up a dual monitor computer either, that would be fun. I also know Creative Sounblaster Audigy is the only real sound card to go with. I'm just trying to find a site that I can get all this stuff at a decent price... The DigitalStormOnline Twister Pro Custom I got is about $2100 USD
    Specifications:
    Case: Digital Storm Twister Series (Highly Recommended) (Black Edition)
    Power Supply: Enermax 535W (SLI/CrossFire Compatible) (EG565P-VE FMA)
    Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4200+ Dual-Core (1 MB Cache) w/HyperTransport Technology
    Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI (Chipset: nForce4 SLI) (1GB Lan / 10 USB / 2 Firewire)
    Memory: 2GB Super Talent at 400MHz (2x 1GB Dual Channel) (Lifetime Warranty)
    Floppy / Media: Sony 1.44MB Floppy (Black Edition)
    Hard Drive 1: Western Digital 250GB SATA II (7200 RPM) (16MB Cache)
    Hard Drive 2: Western Digital 200GB SATA II (7200 RPM) (8MB Cache)
    Raid Option: Setup hard drives in Raid 0 Stripe (Performance) (Requires two hard drives)
    Optical Drive 1: Sony 52X32X52 CD-R/RW (Black Edition) (Includes Nero Burning Software!)
    Optical Drive 2: Sony 16X DVD+/-RW 48X CD-R/RW (Black Edition) (Includes Nero)
    Network Card: Motherboard High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable and DSL)
    Modem: - No Thanks
    Video Card: 2x SLI (nVIDIA GeForce 7900GT 256MB (By: XFX) (PCI-Express)
    TV Tuner: - No Thanks
    Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (Up to 5.1 Channel)
    Cooling: Air Cooling (Blizzard Extreme Heat-sink and Fan (Stage 2 Cooling)
    Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
    Round Cables: - No Thanks
    User Manual: FREE! Personalized Elite Digital Storm Binder (Paperwork / Benchmarks / CDs / Manuals)
    Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
    Restore Kit: FREE! Digital Storm Restore DVD Recovery Kit
    Protection: - No Thanks
    Office: - No Thanks
    LCD Display: - No Thanks
    Surge Shield: - No Thanks
    Speakers: - No Thanks
    Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard & Optical Wheel Mouse 2.0 (Black Edition)
    Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
    Warranty: 2 Year Platinum Care Parts & Labor Warranty
    Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

    Thats what I'm thinking about.
     
  10. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    May I suggest the following amendments (should be cheaper)

    Case: Digital Storm Twister Series (Highly Recommended) (Black Edition) - OK
    Power Supply: Enermax 535W (SLI/CrossFire Compatible) (EG565P-VE FMA) - OK
    Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4200+ Dual-Core (1 MB Cache) w/HyperTransport Technology - OK
    Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI (Chipset: nForce4 SLI) (1GB Lan / 10 USB / 2 Firewire) - OK
    Memory: 2GB Super Talent at 400MHz (2x 1GB Dual Channel) (Lifetime Warranty) - Any other brands available? Lifetime warranty or not, it's better to not need it. Corsair, Crucial, Gell, OCZ or Kingston will do.
    Floppy / Media: Sony 1.44MB Floppy (Black Edition) - OK
    Hard Drive 1: Western Digital Raptor 36GB SATA (7200 RPM) (8MB Cache)
    Hard Drive 2: Western Digital 250GB SATA II (7200 RPM) (16MB Cache)

    Raid Option: No RAID configuration - you can't do this with two drives that aren't the same

    Optical Drive 1: Sony 52X32X52 CD-R/RW (Black Edition) (Includes Nero Burning Software!) - OK
    Optical Drive 2: Sony 16X DVD+/-RW 48X CD-R/RW (Black Edition) (Includes Nero) - OK, But Sony drives are just rebadged Lite-ons. Slow rebadged Lite-ons. You'd do better from LG, Pioneer or Plextor.
    Network Card: Motherboard High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable and DSL) - OK
    Modem: - No Thanks - OK
    Video Card: Powercolor Radeon X1900XT-X 512MB (singular) - Trust me you don't need two graphics cards, half the time they're detrimental to performance, and you're paying such a lot more for little gain.
    TV Tuner: - No Thanks - OK
    Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (Up to 5.1 Channel) - OK, since you're with an Asus A8N-SLI board
    Cooling: Air Cooling (Blizzard Extreme Heat-sink and Fan (Stage 2 Cooling) - seems ok
    Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) - We like
    Round Cables: - Yes Please, better airflow.
    User Manual: FREE! Personalized Elite Digital Storm Binder (Paperwork / Benchmarks / CDs / Manuals) - fair enough
    Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2 - OK
    Restore Kit: FREE! Digital Storm Restore DVD Recovery Kit - Fair enough
    Protection: - No Thanks
    Office: - No Thanks
    LCD Display: - No Thanks
    Surge Shield: - No Thanks
    Speakers: - No Thanks - All Ok if you don't need them
    Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard & Optical Wheel Mouse 2.0 (Black Edition) - Sure
    Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse - OK
    Warranty: 2 Year Platinum Care Parts & Labor Warranty - OK
    Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support - OK
     
  11. fuel_f2f

    fuel_f2f Regular member

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    The stuff listed isn't EXACTLY what I want, just a VERY close computer setup that DigitalStorm offers... If they don't have the exact parts I want I will buy elsewhere... I'm kinda particular about components... like I think Kingston, corsair and OCZ are the only good brands of ram I trust for high quality... I'll never go intel unless forces, AMD2Win. Stuff like that... Super Talent memory will never go into my computer... I shoulda deleted some of the names and stuff and just had the components size and quality listed as to not make any issues but I'm lazy sometimes heh.
     

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