Brothers computer broken?

[blockers]

Hi.

Bro's comp:
xp1800 (pally)
Abit KG7-RAID
256mb DDR pc2700 (generic)
20gb hdd
4gb hdd
voodoo 5 PCI
Sound blaster! live
generic 300w PSU

*i know he should get a new PSU, gfx, mobo, more RAM*

He got a bit into overclocking (taking the dark side....) As i was installing win98 i said he could use my Sammy pc2700 as it goes to 200fsb.
Swapped it, turned on got one long beep after another. arse! Swapped it back for the generic. same thing. d'oh! Tried with the basic set up, still the same.

I think that for an Abit mobo its the RAM that is causing the error, but both work in my NF7-S (sammy and generic) so is it the DIMMS that are gone? *didnt hear any loud cracks when i put the RAM in.....*

Reset the CMOS lots, and taken the battery out

Any help much appreciated.

Will

[Zak33]

Reset CMOS (the BIOS memory) its normally a JUMPER that you take off two pins, put on the next two pins ,wait a few seconds,move back and then reboot......then reset all the BIOS settings to how ya want them

[blockers]

Sorry, thought i had written almost everything i coudl...hehe

reseted the CMOS about 5 times, and take the battery out... still no luck.

Oddly enough, when i plugged the power cable back into the PSU it turned on but didnt beep!? but it was still broken on the next go...

[Austin]

Abit KG7 RAID is AMD761 right? AFAIK that was only designed for PC2100 and 266FSB, certainly not 400FSB (2x200mhz) which even PC2700 isn't designed for (that's 333mhz). A Pally XP1800+ is locked (11.5x) and very hot without o/c'ing, expect it to top out at 1.7ghz and probably before (that runs about as hot as an XP3200+). If you were o/c'ing for gaming perf forget it as the Voodoo5 is around GF2MX/GTS and will be seriously bottlenecking gaming perf. Anyway if you tried 400FSB you will almost certainly have killed the mobo, CPU and possibly RAM. It's a matter of testing each part in a working PC to find out what's shot.

[blockers]

Yeah i know, i got it to 1.779ghz or something. Not gonna keep it at those speeds. it was at 1.750ghz when it broke. And yes it is damn hot!! the stock cooler that was on there for a bit, was hot after it had been competly removed from the system for about 10mins...:S (at stock!!)

voodoo was cheap so we got it and it runs bf 1942 in 800x600 with about 10-30fps which i think is pretty good for a card that is 5years? old.

Just wondering what the beep code was for. so i know which bit is broken, i suspect the mobo....

Will

[Austin]

Check the manual or Abit's site for beep codes, they are generally mobo specific. It's most probably the CPU although there's an outside chance it could be the mobo or PSU, gfx is unlikely and you've tested the RAM. Of course it could be a combination of them but I'd say the CPU is most likely.

[streetster]

you say that the only difference between it working, and not working, is swapping the ram? if so, then i doubt it is cpu/gfx... i had this problem on my kt333 board after i added some different ram, when i put my old sammy back in, it beeped at me... after about 30mins of swapping them over, putting them in different slots.. it eventually worked.. so i would fiddle some more today, and if its not fixed i might be able to pop round tomorrow and kick it a bit for you

mark

[blockers]

well it doesnt seem to work with either ram now...

will fiddle some more. CPU looks ok (not crushed) thought maybe with the gay 300watt generic case psu could have sent a bit surge of power through everything. He plugged lots of fans on. COuld that have broken something?

[streetster]

just give pete a big slap for breaking his computer, and tell him to buy a new one , i dont think the mobo is broken, as you say the fans spin up, and it just beeps... just keep trying the ram in each slot, tis what i had to do... eventually decided to work. also try to hold down HOME (or INSERT) one of the two, when you turn on, might clear the settings, tho i'm sure removing the cmos battery would also... you might be trying to run the ram at 333 or something at 2.5v and being the crap generic stuff it is, it might not like it..

mark

[Austin]

Generic case PSUs are total crap, only worth keeping if your PCs inards are cheap or you're on a very tight budget. I've seen quite a few PCs toasted by cheap case PSUs so it certainly is possible esp if you o/c heavily and stick a bunch of fans in.

[blockers]

£65 in all (i didnt charge him for parts i put in there that i upgraded from, just ones i had to buy

[blockers]

Problem resolved!!

He is such a meat head, the centre bit of RAM was not pushed in fully, although the ends were clicked in....

Works now

Will