PC fried, a dilemma ensues

[MoonKnight]

Ive been a long time reader of the hardware reviews here at hexus and now that half of my pc decided to give up on life i have joined this forum to seek advice . This is the situation, i have an amd athlon x2 6000+ with a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 still working but my am2 board and power supply are fried, i also managed to salvage my 7900 gto ( ) and 2 gb of ram. My friend happened to have a spare intel lga775 motherboard with a 3.2 p4 ( joy ) so im now using that with the rest of my bits and am debating the idea of going intel or just buying a board and a psu (and also a case since my front panel is hanging off after the case fell...altho id trade a new case for performance any day).

So id like to ask what you, the community, what you recommend. Also im on a super tight budget of...125 pounds.

Thanks in advance.

[SiM]

Did you use olive oil?

[SiM]

Unless you have a specific reason to go for intel, don't go for Intel now... the difference for most users is non existent... my dad's 5200+ is just as fast as my q6600 for general internet/office use... Just get a cheap AM2 board and keep that for another year or so... Then upgrade to Nehalem if you want more power...

Make sure you get a good brand PSU... bad PSUs are more likely to blow up!

[MoonKnight]

i suppose i should have mentioned, i tried another psu and it still wouldnt turn on, i mean i might be doing something wrong, it turns on for like a second then back off, ive been trying to find the reason and ive read it would be the motherboard,all the rest (except psu) work fine.

[joz12345]

i know youve decided its broken, but hav u tried simply clearing the CMOS on the motherboard. You might get lucky there. Did you say you dropped the case, cos on my mobo, it doesnt boot if any of the jumpers fall off. Maybe another simple solution? You should troubleshoot before deciding something is broken. Unless you have tried these, or it has snapped in half, then i strongly recommed you check over it. You may save some money. BTW, im assuming theres no beeps?? If there is then its a totally different problem.

If that fails, then i advise you to use your old cpu and get a new MOBO. You wont get a better CPU, MOBO and a decent PSU for £125. You should get another cheap AM2 board like the AMD 690 for £35 and a decent PSU like a Seasonic S12II-430 PSU for £45, and then youve got £45 for a new case or a gfx gard like an ati radeon HD 3650

[Mithrandir]

The turning on for a split second might be the mobo (or another component) was nudged off its seating and possibly touching a part of the case. Check cable connections as well.

[mercyground]

i know youve decided its broken, but hav u tried simply clearing the CMOS on the motherboard. You might get lucky there. Did you say you dropped the case, cos on my mobo, it doesnt boot if any of the jumpers fall off. Maybe another simple solution? You should troubleshoot before deciding something is broken. Unless you have tried these, or it has snapped in half, then i strongly recommed you check over it. You may save some money. BTW, im assuming theres no beeps?? If there is then its a totally different problem.

If that fails, then i advise you to use your old cpu and get a new MOBO. You wont get a better CPU, MOBO and a decent PSU for £125. You should get another cheap AM2 board like the AMD 690 for £35 and a decent PSU like a Seasonic S12II-430 PSU for £45, and then youve got £45 for a new case or a gfx gard like an ati radeon HD 3650

Grab a large piece of cardboard. Take all your components out of the case. Assemble them on the cardboard. Try firing it all up on the cardboard. This will eliminate shorts. Do be careful.

Initally just try mb/cpu/mem/vid card. Dont worry about cdroms/hd's for first boot. Add them in after u get the board running.

Grab a 4850 instead of the 3xxx range. It crushes most cards out there.

Definatly pay for a DECENT powersupply. There was a video done by a manufacturer recently that showed them destroying 6 cheap psu's at 75% of their rated load. They failed quite spectaularly.

Grab a 690G or a 780G motherboard. Has cheap onboard GFX and can deal with day to day stuff. Add a 4850 later if u short of cash.

[Thorsson]

I don't agree with getting a motherboard with onboard graphics. They're not designed for performance or OCing. Buying a cheap motherboard is like buying a cheap PSU - the core components are of lower quality and it will hurt you sooner or later.