DescentBB

Well Murphy sucks big time.

Just Friday I got new memory and a second Display card (Geforce 210) to add in on my aging server setup to boost the performance a tad, install win 7 and setup a triple monitor setup on it. All was going good until I tried to extent the desktop to the third screen but every time I did it it kept telling my it was unable to save the settings The motherboard "was" a K8N SLi Platinum but after a couple of slot switching of the cards to see if that could help the bloody thing just died on me Now I'm stuck with "new" DDR1 memory I can't use and no server either. I've tried to source a 2nd hand mobo of the same memory class but the only one I did manage to find that the guy said worked gave me the exact same problem as my mobo. It starts up but no display, the screen just stays in power save mode strange enough I did a forced error test by removing all the memory but even then the mobo wont give and error beep on the PC speaker . Now I've done all the tests I could think off but I can confirm my PSU and GFX's are all good. Tested them in an other pc and they work. So I'm left with what it would seem to be a dead modo

Well besides wasting money now on usable memory in effect I'm forced to get a new motherboard and the works. (on a side note I'll try to see whether my supplier would look at giving me a credit to the value if the DDR1 on my upgrade purchase if I return it to them as it is virtually unused). That said and done my problem I facing is deciding what route to go now for the motherboard.

1) I don't know whether it was the motherboard or not causing the 3rd screen not to save in win 7 and work or whether it was a compatibility issue between the 6600GT and Geforce 210 or drivers?
(I might just mention that I installed the 266.77 drivers for the 210 but then the 6600 moaned and I rolled the 6600 back to what win 7 installed for it and both showed in the device manager as working properly)
2) I'm looking at either the MSI 880GMA-E45 or 790FX-GD70 as a replacement board. This choice will boil down to whether one is able to enable the on board display with a PCI-e card to achieve a triple monitor setup or not if not I'll be force to go with the more expensive one that has 4 PCI-e slots that is a bit overkill for my current needs. (an other consideration why I'm looking at these two are they both support RAID 5 as my setup will later need to run a RAID 5 setup, that and costs as I'm trying to absorb the knock of this unforeseen little failure now )

Any inputs on the above choice or alternative suggestions please do as I need to contact my supplier by Monday as they only allow a limited time for refunding/crediting goods and then I need to place my new order as well.

Thanks in advance

You say you tested the PSU in other systems, but did you test it in other systems with the same or greater power demands? It could be the PSU is unable to handle the power requirements of the additional hardware, testing it in a system that doesn't require as much power won't get you anywhere.

Also it is always a good idea to try dusting everything off when you encounter problems like this.

My system was a AMD Athlone 3200+ 1gb upgraded to 3gb ram which it ran with no problem for a couple of hours till it died and the 6600GT. Reduced the HDDs too one but runs normally two, still no boot, to get a comparative test as my dads pc I tested it on is an AMD 4000+ 3gb ram and a 7600GT with one HDD

Booted his pc with my PSU which is a 400watt, tested his PSU on my system but his is only 350watt but its enough to power his system as well as a 300watt another bloke lend me but none of them would boot my system but seeing that my PSU would boot his pc I think I can safely rule out the PSU as cause

Also I tested both the 6600GT and the GF210 in his pc and both work so its also not a dead display card.

Like I said I did numerous tests dragging the system down to bare necessities only testing each memory stick at a time to see if its not a bad memory stick too, btw the guy that gave me the other mobo also tested it with his own components that he knew worked 100% after I took it back and he also got the same results, cpu fires up HDD spins up but no cmos screen or anything. Screen sticks to power safe mode and best of all no error beep either and that is when you fire it up with no memory installed

So wait, the guy tested your old mobo with his components and it didn't work, or tested the mobo he had loaned you and it didn't work?

Well it does sound like you have either a dead board or a dead CPU on your hands, unless you tested the CPU elsewhere and it worked, might be worth a try if you can but it is probably the board.

His mobo that he assured me worked that seems to be dead as well. Never switched CPU's between them thou but both give same symptoms, and yes my first thoughts was the odds of that happening is virtually nil then again what are the odds that the one board is dead and the one CPU, the only thing that was switched between the two mobo was the PSU, memory and HDD mind you I tested his board with all three PSU as well I even went as far as to use direct power instead of the power from my UPS thinking it could be bad power from the UPS, resetting the bois etc but nada. BTW he did say he'll test it more later to see if he gets it fired up and will call me, I'm still waiting on that call

So yea unless there is something else I can try I think I can say that this board or CPU is toast. And frankly spending all day on this and getting nowhere is my limit of patience so at this point I feel that I'd rather spend the $$ now that I was going to spend on my server setup a bit later then frustrating myself any further. That and I don't think it is wise at this point to through more $$ after old tech that can fail at any time and carry now warranty then coughing up more but have assurance of a warranty

[EDIT] one more thing "usually" if a CPU fails the modo should give you and continues or long error beep on the PC speaker and still load the cmos screen but neither of that happens on these boards.

I would ditch the PSU you used just out of caution at any rate, I've seen killer PSUs before that reduce good motherboards to scrap in seconds.

At least on old NF2 boards the real tell-tale was if the southbridge got really hot really fast (hot enough to burn you) then the PSU is cooking the board, and you can verify it even if the board is already toast. Was a fun experience with some of those stupid e-PCs.

Uhmm yea think that is a good idea, now I just need to find out how long that case I order will take to arrive as it has a 650watt PSU included so maybe I should get the mobo, cpu and ram now and just wait for the case with the PSU instead of getting a PSU just for a couple of weeks but then the case is on back order I think as the one they had was broken in transit and they need to source a replacement now.

Anyways I'll make that decision based on their indication of time delay in the order.

Back to the topic then, any inputs on the issue regarding the replacement mobo and running a triple monitor setup of a mobo with one PCI-e slot and the on board VGA or is it rather safer to go with the board with 4 PCI-e slots? Off course having 8 sata ports vs 6 is also an appealing reason to go with the more expensive one as this is going to be used as a mass data storage server running raid 5 at the end of the day and by the looks of it this way I'll be able to hook up 6 Sata drives in raid 5 and use the other two in Raid 1 config for the OS drive as only 6 of them can run in Raid 5 config vs the other one where I'll only be able to max out at 5 in Raid 5 as one will be used as the OS drive. Not that, that is going to be happen anytime soon either but the flexibility might be nice...

[Edit] For easy reference:

790FX-GD70
880GMA-E45