Advice needed

A

arf9999

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My 5 year old desktop has just died. The power supply seems ok but I get no post screen, no beeps... just a constant lit HDD LED.

I'm guessing that the motherboard is toast, but if there is a simple problem that I've overlooked please let me know.


I suppose I'll need to replace the old dinosaur (P4 3.2GHz), but that'll mean that I have to replace my (perfectly serviceable NVIDIA Quatro 1100) GFX card as the board is AGP.

What is the suggestion for a good compact and (very NB) quiet case, PSU, motherboard, CPU and GFX card and 2GB of memory. I'll buy a good HDD as well.

I don't game (as you may have guessed), and the only requirements of the GFX card is that it needs to be able to run two monitors at 1920x1200, and it needs at least one DVI-I output and one DVI-D or HDMI.

I'll also need a HDD enclosure for a 5.25" drive. (Actually I'll probably need this sooner than later, as I need some data off the old drive.
 
As long as the graphics card meets your requirements, it's a nice entry level machine. You could save a bit by going for a cheaper G31 motherboard if you don't need 4 RAM slots or Gigabit LAN (cheaper ones have 2 RAM slots and 10/100 LAN).
 
arf9999 said:
The power supply seems ok but I get no post screen, no beeps... just a constant lit HDD LED.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by 'seems fine'? Have you swapped it out? I've experienced similair symptoms from a dodgy powersupply.
 
ponder said:
What do you mean by 'seems fine'? Have you swapped it out? I've experienced similair symptoms from a dodgy powersupply.
Click to expand...
Nope... I don't have another PSU. When I say seems fine, it is supplying power to the HDD, and all fans... including CPU fan. Keyboard is powered, usb external power is working... but no post, no beeps, no display.
 
As an alternative to purchasing a whole new PC, is there any chance to get an AGP
LGA775 motherboard? That way I could salvage most of my parts... I'd just change the MB, and if necessary the CPU..
 
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Well I've been checking out what is available and it seems that AMD Quad core is available at similar prices to Intel dual core... why is this? Is there anything better about Intel? I've never been brand loyal..
 
arf9999 said:
Well I've been checking out what is available and it seems that AMD Quad core is available at similar prices to Intel dual core... why is this? Is there anything better about Intel? I've never been brand loyal..
Click to expand...

Then you're probably comparing a low clocked quad with a high clocked dual.

My advice is to get the phenom2 720. It'll give you the best bang for buck.
 
Ok... Help me out...

What's the advantage of a Phenom2 720 3 core over a Phenom 9600 4 core?

/arf goes to google...
 
arf9999 said:
Ok... Help me out...

What's the advantage of a Phenom2 720 3 core over a Phenom 9600 4 core?

/arf goes to google...
Click to expand...

Well for one the 720 will kick the 9600s ass. The 720 is newer tech. Has more cache and is clocked much higher.
 
you know there are mobo's that can unlock the 4th core of the 720?? then it would kill the 9600..by far!
 
arf9999 said:
Well I've been checking out what is available and it seems that AMD Quad core is available at similar prices to Intel dual core... why is this? Is there anything better about Intel? I've never been brand loyal..
Click to expand...

Both Intel and AMD entry-level quad cores are priced the same. And the Intel (Q8200) kicks the AMD's (9750) ass. In fact it also beats the 9950 (about R500 more than the Q8200)...

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

Intel FTW :rolleyes: :D
 
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