Buget desktop

[Ghost Lee]

Okay, I been using a laptop for all my needs and gaming for the past 6 months now. Now, since warhammer is coming about. It's time for me to get a desktop for gaming (still used to using a desktop keyboard and bigger monitor). Little while ago, I was able to get my old desktop ( now almost 6 years old). However, age is really on it p4 3.02ht,1 gig of ram, readon 9600 256 ram edition. Yeah, it's that old. Anyway, recently one of neighbors gave me one of his mother boards along with a intel duo 2 3.0 cpu as a moving away gift. After a consideration, I am now building a new pc almost from scratch. I will only be using the tower and hard drive, and dvd drive from my old comp. I will be using my laptop vista for the os thou.

Anyway, here is a budget list of parts that I placing an order for my next pay check.

Video card (however, the board that I am using only has PCIe1.0 so it won't be as fast)
Newegg.com - XFX PVT96GYDF4 GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

PSU
Newegg.com - HEC ACE580 580W ATX12V Power Supply 100 - 120V/ 200 - 240V cUL, UL, CSA, FCC - Power Supplies

Ram (just for now)
Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

CPU fan
Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU 120mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

The total comes around to be $315.48. So, any Ideas or suggstion anyone?

[Pwnzilla]

The PSU would not be my choice. It does not feature active power factor correction. I would opt for Newegg.com - Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Power Supplies. About the same power/price, good brand, and has active PFC.

The 1.0 version of PCIe is not a factor. Only the newest mobos support 2.0. Don't forget you will need some TIM (thermal interface material) to go with your CPU cooler. Arctic Silver 5 is always a good choice.

I don't know for certain (depends on the version/licensing tied to the OS), but I would doubt that Micro$oft will allow you to install your laptop OS onto a new desktop system. They certainly won't allow you to use it on two PCs simultaneously.

[Ghost Lee]

Originally Posted by Pwnzilla

The PSU would not be my choice. It does not feature active power factor correction. I would opt for Newegg.com - Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Power Supplies. About the same power/price, good brand, and has active PFC.

The 1.0 version of PCIe is not a factor. Only the newest mobos support 2.0. Don't forget you will need some TIM (thermal interface material) to go with your CPU cooler. Arctic Silver 5 is always a good choice.

I don't know for certain (depends on the version/licensing tied to the OS), but I would doubt that Micro$oft will allow you to install your laptop OS onto a new desktop system. They certainly won't allow you to use it on two PCs simultaneously.

Nah, I'm using xp and ubuntu for my laptop. Anyway, thanks for the pointer about the psu and good old reminder about the thermal paste.

[Pwnzilla]

If the OS is full version then moving it to a new PC should not be an issue. I believe full-version Vista licensing allows it to be installed three times in new configurations (Micro$oft is getting tighter & tighter on their licensing). I hope everything all works out O.K. Frankenstein builds (salvaged parts + new parts) are often more difficult to complete than new builds but you sound like you have it covered. Just so long as the components you got from your neighbor are not problematic.

[Ghost Lee]

Well, I got the parts from last week and built it just before the weekend. I encounter I/O grounding error for some odd reason. So, I spent a few days working on it. Eventually, I found out it was the memory controller that was giving me a problem. So, I toke out the ram and clear the cmos for 15 minutes. After that it work. So, I began installing vista today. But, right before it could enter into installation mode. It hangs at a blank screen. So, I tried installing x.p. However, as soon began installing boot files. It hangs at 2%. So, I tried running ubuntu after that. I lunch live cd version and it hangs yet again half way into lunching. I did a cd check to make sure it wasn't the cd. But, it turns up as fine under the check. I am bit boggle about this. Any ideas. Oh, it's a evga 680i mobo.

[Pwnzilla]

What brand / model mobo?

What make processor (Conroe / Wolfdale)?

What BIOS you running on mobo?

[Ghost Lee]

Evga 680i
wolfdale intel duo 2 3.0 frontside bus 1333
c31 (the latest bios)

Edit, my mistake the bios is p32

[Pwnzilla]

O.K. so your mobo does support your processor. Check and see if there is a firmware upgrade for your optical drive (doubt that is the problem but no harm in checking). Try installing with just one RAM dimm installed. If it still fails swap the dimms out and try it again.

You can use memtest Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool to check the dimms assuming you have access to a PC to install them.

If it still fails, check the hard drive. Usually hard drive manufacturers offer diagnostic tools on their support sites. If the HDD checks good, that narrows it down to the hand-me-down mobo or cpu as the primary suspects.

[Ghost Lee]

Okay, so I used ubuntu tools to run a memory test and within about 4 minutes into the test , the mobo just hang. After that tried different slots, and the same thing happen. So, I ask my neighbor if I could use the same memory he was using. And within few seconds into the test it freezes. Sounds memory controller issue again. I already tried under clocking them and even changing the power setting of the sticks. And I still get the same results from it. Well I guess I need a new motherboard after all.

[Pwnzilla]

Well, that just sux.

You going with Intel chipset or sticking with nVidia?