Hooray, it's upgrade time.

[Dezolat0r]

The re-applying paste is an absolute load of [insert word to be removed by swear filter here]!!!

The guy obviously doesn't know what he's talking about, and if the paste was meant to be constantly replaced, why would there be a "warranty" sticker thats broken when you remove the case on prebuilt PCs? The thermal paste only needs to be cleaned and re-applied once per time the fan and heatsink are removed.

If it was a prebuilt, however, the system is likely to only have OEM parts which will very likely only carry a 1 year warranty on.

If you still have the system, I could arrange to test some of the parts (memory, cpu and graphics) for you in a Sempron rig I've just built, as those kind of temps wouldn't burn out a chip, especially if its being run at stock voltage and fsb.

It might well have been just a cheap motherboard (read: PC Chips, ECS) or something else similar where a chip blew.

Stu

Yeah, i thought so

I doubt my dad would let me send out my PC parts to some person on the internet. Although I can see by your rating that you're obviously a trustworthy person, I don't think I'd be able to convince him, even if I said 'look dad, it's obvious, he has a 5 star rating on hexus!' he'd still refuse. Hell, he refused to let me buy Half Life 2 via Steam because he 'wasn't sure he could trust a site like that'

A cheap motherboard sounds likely. The PC came with an ASRock motherboard which I believe are the OEM arm of ASUS or something. But their website is in very bad engrish for a start, plus they sell for pretty cheap on most websites and ebay!

[DigiGuru]

Depends on where you're based mate, chances are you'll find a hexus member out your way that might be able to help out with testing.

Another option is to take it to a local Computer Exchange and say "could you test this please?" then, they say its ok... you say "how much will you offer?" then they say "bla bla" and you say "I think I'll take my chances with eBay for that price!" and take it back

Lol... 17 memory sticks I've tested for free there now

[Dezolat0r]

Hah, pretty sure its not the RAM though as I tested some spare sticks and its still buggered. I'd probably just take my chances on a new CPU, mobo and GPU. And perhaps PSU?

Assuming I do buy a new PSU, what would you recommend for the components BrandX suggested in his first post along with a DVD ROM and a 120GB hdd? Any particular model? Cheers

[DigiGuru]

I'd seriously suggest testing the CPU on a different system... worst case scenario you can sell it and get some cash back.

[Dezolat0r]

I have an old 800mhz Duron computer, but I doubt my Athlon 64 would fit into that motherboard. I had a thought though, couldn't I just format the hard drive that's in my older computer and use it to install my OS onto on the new computer? Then use my new computer's hard-disk as a slave drive like BrandX suggested earlier? Would that work? It would save my buying a new hard drive.

[DigiGuru]

Yup... you could use the hard drive and do things that way, that'd work.

Best thing to do is put the hard disk in the new system onto the old pc as a slave drive and copy/backup everything you need, then wipe it ready for the new system

[Dezolat0r]

That wouldn't work, my old PC's hard drive is only 19GB large Yeah, it's that old!

Anyway I've decided on my components, and I'm probably gonna order them tonight Thanks for all your help so far. I'll let you guys know if I need any more help (you lucky buggers )