OT: I need a new motherboard.

[Spoo]

I agree with Suicide Junkie. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague), the symptoms of bad capacitors have nothing to do with a noisy fan.

* Not turning on all the time; having to hit reset or try turning the computer on again

* Instabilities (hangs, BSODs, kernel panics, etc.), especially when symptoms get progressively more frequent over time

* CPU core voltage or other system voltages fluctuating or going out of range, possibly with an increase in CPU temperature as the core voltage rises

* Memory errors, especially ones that get more frequent with time

* Spontaneous reboots

* In case of on-board video cards, unstable image in some video modes

* Failing to complete the POST, or rebooting before it is completed

* Never starting the POST; fans spin but the system appears dead

[Fyron]

Well, an increase in CPU temp would lead to an increase in fan speed, thus noise... but yeah, its right about the last thing on the list relating to blown capacitors.

[Randallw]

Well they said the capacitors were leaking a chemical. If I had any idea what the capacitors were I could check. I am not a techie but I know someone who is. He would be the one to refurbish the computer if I had any idea it could just have something replaced (he lives in another state though and only visits). If he takes a look he'd easily tell me if it was the case or not. Not really worth the risk of being caught I'd think. We have pretty strict laws here about defrauding people. I don't know what it's like elsewhere.

It also was rattling, which they say is the Video card. They said because of it's design it couldn't be changed, which seemed odd to me. I always thought you could change video cards. I had no idea they got hard wired or something. I'm sure you all have something to say about that. anyway it was meaningless since I intended to get a new video card for a new computer.

I don't consider myself stupid. Naturally it occurred to me that it was suspicious, but I thought why bother. I told them I was buying a new computer in the future. If they had any intent to trick me they miss out on billing me to fix it, then selling me a new one later.

You'll have to excuse me, even face to face with someone I do not register friendly kidding or stuff. Maybe you mean to imply I was tricked or you're making cynical about sellers. I don't know.

I thought I had cleared up a problem whereby it would reboot itself randomnly, and I was wondering why the power supply flashed all night while the computer was turned off. Did I forget to mention that bit? There was also the mysterious increase in our power bill.

I thought about it and I don't feel I was fooled, but I could be wrong. There are maybe other aspects I can't think to mention. Anyway I feel less hurt that I could have been fooled than the insinuation that I am a fool. I don't know perhaps I am just overly sensitive.

[dogscoff]

I don't think anyone was putting you down Randall, they['re just suggesting that the diagnosis you've been given may be wrong.

If I had any idea what the capacitors were I could check. I am not a techie but I know someone who is ... he lives in another state

Do you have a digital camera? Take some pics of the offending hardware and send them to your friend. Maybe the damage will be evident from a visual examination (but maybe not- gotta be worth a try though). Hell, post them here, we'll take a look.

[Randallw]

I realised that, somewhat. I can find it difficult to understand humour sometimes so when I feel insulted I try to find out what's happening instead of getting angry. I have a friend who seemed to be jokingly blaming me for ruining everything for everyone last week. Now I didn't really care but the idea that he was trying to make me feel bad hurt more.

Actually I had the same thought earlier. I was looking at the inside of the old computer and I thought

"What I need to do is take a few photos and someone can tell me what's what"

I just took a few but I'm not very good with it and also my editing software is on the old HD waiting to get an external mount. Sure I could try to get a good picture or hunt down the disks but it's getting late. Thanks for the offer though.

of course I did fail to bring up the sparking system and reboots before.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I have a few concerns about the budget motherboard in the ars system guide: Link to stats

1) '4 x 240-pin DIMM, support max. 8GB DDR2 800/667/533 ECC and Non-ECC,un-buffered memory' - What is ECC and does this mean that memory speeds other than those listed won't work?

2) '6-channel Audio I/O' - This means what?

3) 'Integrated ATI Radeon X1250-based graphics' - From my own experience, integrated sound cards can be rather difficult to replace. The computer has a tendency to want to use the integrated card rather than the new one you plugged in. I imagine this problem may show up for graphics cards, too.

4) 'Maximum shared memory of 256 MB' - This means?...

5) 'Supports HDMI Technology with HDCP compliant with max. resolution 1920 x 1080p' - HDMI? HDCP?

6) '(It may not display 1080p smoothly when playing HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc due to current version player limit)' - That sounds like a rather vague problem. 'Current version player limit'?

7) 'Supports YPbPr component TV-out with max. resolutions 1280 x 720p and 1920 x 1080i' - Can someone decode that for me, please?

8) 'Supports DVI-D with max. resolution 2560x1600 (@ 60Hz)' - 'DVI-D'?

9) '1 x S/PDIF output connector' - The acronyms! They confuse!

10) 'Chassis Intrusion connector' - A rather vague and worrying name...

11) '1 x PCI Express x16
1 x PCI Express x1
2 x PCI' - Only 4 expansion slots? Plus, how do I know if my catweasel card will fit in any of them?

[Xrati]

Randall, you could replace the capacitors, if you can get any. Most computer companies want you to buy all new stuff. My neighbor brought his laptop over and wanted to know if I could replace two keyboard keys. I called Dell for replacement keys and for 45 mins., talking to 5 different people I was told I had to buy the whole keyboard. The same will be true of the capacitors AND they would have to be matched to your system power requirements. There are only a hand full of people that know how to do that anymore (soldering it and actually finding the right one). Nowdays they just want to sell you the whole unit.

[Fyron]

"1) '4 x 240-pin DIMM, support max. 8GB DDR2 800/667/533 ECC and Non-ECC,un-buffered memory' - What is ECC and does this mean that memory speeds other than those listed won't work?"

ECC has to do with error correction, and is generally only used in servers due to excessive cost. Don't worry about it. Also, don't bother with more than 4 GB physical ram unless you also plan to purchase Vista 64bit.

"2) '6-channel Audio I/O' - This means what?"

It means there are 6 ports on the back for audio; mic and line in, front and rear speaker, maybe a S/PDIF connector, a headphone jack. One of those might be an "aux" jack with configurable functionality, depending on who made the chipset.

"3) 'Integrated ATI Radeon X1250-based graphics' - From my own experience, integrated sound cards can be rather difficult to replace. The computer has a tendency to want to use the integrated card rather than the new one you plugged in. I imagine this problem may show up for graphics cards, too."

Such integrated chipsets are generally easily disabled in the BIOS. This is best done before booting into your OS after/before installing the discrete card.

Integrated sound cards, at least, have improved quite a bit in quality lately, and the one in this mobo will probably suit your needs.

"4) 'Maximum shared memory of 256 MB' - This means?..."

That is how much system ram the integrated video chipset can use. If you disable it and install a discrete card, it will be irrelevant.

"5) 'Supports HDMI Technology with HDCP compliant with max. resolution 1920 x 1080p' - HDMI? HDCP?"

That's the latest fad in the TV/Movie industry; HDMI is basically a combined DVI video cable and some sort of digital audio cable in one. HDCP has to do with the copy protection on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. You don't need to worry about these things unless you want to set the PC up to function as a media center.

"6) '(It may not display 1080p smoothly when playing HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc due to current version player limit)' - That sounds like a rather vague problem. 'Current version player limit'?"

Possibly an issue with the integrated radeon chipset.

"7) 'Supports YPbPr component TV-out with max. resolutions 1280 x 720p and 1920 x 1080i' - Can someone decode that for me, please?"

That is component video output, with three separate cables for different parts of the video signal. It allows higher quality output than the old composite (yellow cable on a VCR) out did. Also not relevant if you aren't setting up a media center.

"8) 'Supports DVI-D with max. resolution 2560x1600 (@ 60Hz)' - 'DVI-D'?"

I think that means dual link DVI; some higher end monitors have two DVI inputs, so they can display even larger resolutions over two cables from the video card.

"9) '1 x S/PDIF output connector' - The acronyms! They confuse!"

S/PDIF is a an optical cable used for digital audio transmission; unless you have a receiver and stereo speakers, you won't be using it.

"10) 'Chassis Intrusion connector' - A rather vague and worrying name..."

Some cases have a little circuit that will send a signal to the motherboard if the case is opened, presumably so the system can send you an email alert if someone opens your case while the system is on... Not really useful, but paranoia sells.

"11) '1 x PCI Express x16
1 x PCI Express x1
2 x PCI' - Only 4 expansion slots? Plus, how do I know if my catweasel card will fit in any of them?"

What does your catweasel card plug into now? I thought you mentioned something about floppy? If it uses an expansion slot, its almost certain to be PCI (I doubt you'd have any ISA slots ).

Cheaper motherboards generally feature fewer expansion slots; with all the integrated stuff these days (sound, lan, lots of sata ports, usb, firewire, etc., etc.), there is less need for 8 PCI slots, so they cut them out to save on costs.

[Suicide Junkie]

10) 'Chassis Intrusion connector' - A rather vague and worrying name..."

Some cases have a little circuit that will send a signal to the motherboard if the case is opened, presumably so the system can send you an email alert if someone opens your case while the system is on... Not really useful, but paranoia sells.


I've seen that in action.
If you open the case, it beeps at you with a message on powerup until you clear it too. It would have to be battery powered.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Thanks muchly for all the help.

I'll have to figure out what the card plugs into...Wikipedia should help.


Hmm...Doesn't seem to have built-in floppy support?

How do I know if it'll fit my case, or would it be better to just buy a new case?