Gaming rig died - need some advice
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:10 pm
So, my gaming rig died
Specs:
Abit Fatal1ty AN8 SLI motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
3GB DDR400 RAM
PNY NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS 512MB
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 sound card
2 Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA HDD in RAID 1
Sony DVDRW
Windows XP Pro
Problem started earlier this week, the trackball stopped working about 15-20 minutes after booting into Windows. I could still get around Windows using the keyboard. At first, I could reboot and the mouse would be fine again, but eventually when I tried rebooting, it hung at the POST screen. If I let the computer sit overnight, it would boot up fine the next day, but then repeat the same sequence of problems. Eventually, it got the point where it would just lock up at the POST screen and not boot at all - sometimes I could get into the BIOS setup and it would lock up there. Tried clearing CMOS, same thing. Stripped it down today to motherboard, CPU, 1 stick of RAM, video card and PSU - same thing. Cleaned and reseated everything, including CPU with new thermal grease, also tried different video card - same thing. Also checked PSU voltages, seem OK.
So, I'm fairly certain that the problem is with the motherboard (especially since the problem started with a USB device plugged into an onboard USB port).
So, my dilemma is:
1) See if I can get an identical replacement motherboard. This would be the easiest way of fixing the computer. I found two places online that still sell it (albeit one is listed as refurbished). I like this motherboard, it's worked great until now. A simple swap and I should be back up and running.
2) Use this as an opportunity to upgrade my gaming rig. However, I don't really play that many new games - I mostly play FH1 for BF1942 and FH2 for BF2, with a handful of newer stuff like HL2, Portal, etc. So, I don't think I really need to upgrade that much, and if I did, I would probably need to get at least a new CPU and RAM also, maybe also upgrade to Win 7 since I will need to reload if I replace the motherboard.
3) Trash the whole thing and get a gaming laptop instead. This would be nice for when I travel. I already have a basic laptop, but it can't really run any games. However, I would like to have something with a full-size keyboard - I'm left-handed and have a funky keyboard control layout (or I would need to drag along an external keyboard). Also doubt I could find a modern gaming laptop with a game port, so bye-bye MS Sidewinder 3D Pro (don't use it that much, but still...)
So, which option? (options 2 & 3, post some examples of what I could upgrade to if ya want).
Specs:
Abit Fatal1ty AN8 SLI motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
3GB DDR400 RAM
PNY NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS 512MB
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 sound card
2 Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA HDD in RAID 1
Sony DVDRW
Windows XP Pro
Problem started earlier this week, the trackball stopped working about 15-20 minutes after booting into Windows. I could still get around Windows using the keyboard. At first, I could reboot and the mouse would be fine again, but eventually when I tried rebooting, it hung at the POST screen. If I let the computer sit overnight, it would boot up fine the next day, but then repeat the same sequence of problems. Eventually, it got the point where it would just lock up at the POST screen and not boot at all - sometimes I could get into the BIOS setup and it would lock up there. Tried clearing CMOS, same thing. Stripped it down today to motherboard, CPU, 1 stick of RAM, video card and PSU - same thing. Cleaned and reseated everything, including CPU with new thermal grease, also tried different video card - same thing. Also checked PSU voltages, seem OK.
So, I'm fairly certain that the problem is with the motherboard (especially since the problem started with a USB device plugged into an onboard USB port).
So, my dilemma is:
1) See if I can get an identical replacement motherboard. This would be the easiest way of fixing the computer. I found two places online that still sell it (albeit one is listed as refurbished). I like this motherboard, it's worked great until now. A simple swap and I should be back up and running.
2) Use this as an opportunity to upgrade my gaming rig. However, I don't really play that many new games - I mostly play FH1 for BF1942 and FH2 for BF2, with a handful of newer stuff like HL2, Portal, etc. So, I don't think I really need to upgrade that much, and if I did, I would probably need to get at least a new CPU and RAM also, maybe also upgrade to Win 7 since I will need to reload if I replace the motherboard.
3) Trash the whole thing and get a gaming laptop instead. This would be nice for when I travel. I already have a basic laptop, but it can't really run any games. However, I would like to have something with a full-size keyboard - I'm left-handed and have a funky keyboard control layout (or I would need to drag along an external keyboard). Also doubt I could find a modern gaming laptop with a game port, so bye-bye MS Sidewinder 3D Pro (don't use it that much, but still...)
So, which option? (options 2 & 3, post some examples of what I could upgrade to if ya want).