Computer Jargon

[Cubes]

This is how I would try to diagnose.

Clear the bios via the jumper on the board and load fail safe defaults then save.

Jump in the bios and ensure all voltages are within spec.

Ensure the m/board is picking up the correct voltage for the cpu. i.e not under volting also ensure fsb and multi's are correct.

Ensure the ram timings are not out of spec/too tight. Some times the motherboard doesn't pick up the correct spd info from the ram resulting in timings that are too low/tight.

Try bumping up ram voltage and cpu volts a little but ONE at a time.

If you still cant get in to the computer for long enough to run a few tests (memtest for ram, prime95 for cpu/bus) then its time to rip the computer apart and reassemble then if still no go start swapping out ram and cpu's.

I generally start with swapping out the ram; if its generic crappy ram (that includes adata) that has been used, more often than not that's were the problem resides.

Its a long shot but you haven't stuck a hoover in your computer to suck out the dust?

Always use compressed air to blow the computer out as a hoover can apparently generate static as its sucking and zap shit.

I tend to believe this theory as I built a computer for my uncle. It was 100% stable.

He decided to clean it after 1 year of use, stuck the hoover in it, I received a call saying the computer is constantly locking up crashing etc.. The cpu and ram was fine, turned out the m/board was flakey. He won't be doing that again.

Also if the board is 1+ years old check the capacitors as already mentioned as a few company's (MSI included) have had big problems in the past as they bought cheapo capacitors. Generally a few stuffed capacitors will show as voltage droop/sway and can be seen on the bios.

[Pauly33GTS-t]

most likely ur uncle bob sucked up a capacitor or some inferior diode that was linking something that was important.

[Cubes]

No checked it all out.. Definitely nothing sucked up.

Would be pretty damn hard to do so anyway, unless the board had a manufacturing fault where something wasn't soldered in.

[Pauly33GTS-t]

yeah, this does happen, my mate did it and he sent the board to be repaired. technician managed to source problem to missing cap, and he replaced it. mate ended up finding the bastard inside the vac... also, jumpers DO get sucked up. most jumpers are very loose and if vacuum is close enough jumpers will enter the paper bag

[Cubes]

Definitely 100% nothing was missing.

Jumpers missing was the first check.

I've repaired quite a few motherboards during the bad cap escapade a few years back. I recently had to replace a set of caps on a MSI board that was only 1yr old.

Also performed vdd,ram and cpu volt mods in the past so I feel quite at home with a motherboard. Missing caps are easy to spot, missing jumpers are also however missing resistors are not. BUT I did give it a good look over and the board was definitely not missing anything.

Its well known vacuum cleaners create static and have killed computers in the past.

As I said.. unless it was a manufacturing fault to start off with there's buckleys chance a component will be sucked up by the average computer.

IF it were to be sucked up then the computer would have been experiencing stability issues as it would have shown signs of a very bad dry solder.

[Pauly33GTS-t]

I know because I worked at my uncles microelectronic engineering business for a year working on all sorts of cool gadgets. i only buy ASUS motherboards and never had any problems. 2 years ago I bought an Aopen motherboard and after 3 months of solid tweaking I found a equiliberum. too much hassle.

[Cubes]

You know? The cap must have had quite a bad dry solder for it to be sucked up. If thats the case then the board would have been experiencing some stability issues. Its just what dry solders do. We all know what a dry solder does to our Nissan AFM's. argg.

Is that what you know? Didn't quite follow your last post.

Asus are an excellent brand, however I've had caps go on an old Asus motherboard also.

Granted it was old... A7V133

All motherboard manufacturers had issues with bad caps at one time or another. The difference between a good manufacturer and a bad was that once bad caps were identified they immediately binned them and bought new caps. Bad manufactures kept using them.

Of the usual brands that are not completely cheap (cheapies are jetway,aopen etc) I steer clear of MSI and Epox.

Asus and Gigabyte as nice, generally Asus are better overclockers but Gigabyte feature rich. Then for a no fuss board the genuine Intel boards are a safe bet.

Its also wise to stick with a Nvidia Chipset for AMD and Intel chipset with Intel. Never go playing with VIA, they dropped the ball many years ago when they had issues with the 686B south bridge.

Skippy.. When your poking around have a quick look over the caps.

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6

and for pics

http://www.badcaps.net/ident/

[Pauly33GTS-t]

no i meant i know what a dry solder is.

lol dont mock me... i didnt mean one of the BIG caps near the CPU, those are always nice and snug in place. the smaller ones near the PCI slots and PCIE slots are the ones that usually get touched alot if you are placeing and removing cards all the time. they move a bit and it weakens the solder, then when some dum idiot puts a vacuum in there and it just happens to be weak enough.... OR the person knocks them off with the head of the vacuum... its always going to happen... use the ultra-compressed air. bottles for the office and electric compressor for the house. quick ezy, PSSSST done.

here at work all old EPOX (ULTRA SHIT) and FoxConn (ULTRA UTLRA SHIT), and finally Intel stock motherboards (ULTRA BORING). lol

Edited November 29, 2006 by SAZilla

[Cubes]

lol i'm not mocking you.

I honestly didn't understand where you were coming from as I've always got my hands in computers and know how much bending a cap takes before it becomes weak enough to break (which is a hell of a lot and actually harder with the smaller caps), even then the solder is still fine its the leg that breaks, even with one leg attached i can still lift a whole motherboard and until that second leg is broken there's no way its going to be sucked up.

My point was if a cap is loose enough to be knocked off or be sucked up due to a dry solder then stability issues will be there.

lol yes Intel boards are as boring as shit.. BUT they are rock solid and for a no fuss top quality board they are a good buy. Not something I would use for myself though.

[Pauly33GTS-t]

yeh intel boards are still cool, they are the ones that lead the way for the rest to release. but they are boring. and so is foxconn hence the double ultra.

yeh, on further thinking, nothing is wrong with the solder, its usually all fluxed n done properly on good brands. MSI is a growing reputation but it still sucks ass.

In regards to bulging caps its not the mobo makers fault.... its the manufacturers fault that make the caps. on my aopen mobo i detached all the caps and stuck on similar rating heavy duty good quality ones and all adverse effects have never been spotted.

Edited November 29, 2006 by SAZilla

[Cubes]

Yep agree'd its not the manufacturer.. Asus quickly stopped the use of bad caps when they identified them as being so.

Asus are a top brand.. Simple as that.

Epox/MSI on the other hand.. They kept using the caps.

For my own curiosity.. I damaged a perfectly fine working motherboard (but will fix later) to see how long it took me to rip a cap off. 50seconds.

[Pauly33GTS-t]

what form, low profile quality cap or big fat juicy electrolyte spilling son of a bitch cap.

[Madaz]

well i lean towards gigabyte cause ive had no troubles and like the colour of there boards...

i was leaning towards a DFI there for a while bt will prolly stick with giga

EDIT

WOW news on S.T.A.L.K.E.R

Edited November 29, 2006 by Madaz

[skipppy]

CHOPS

Is it is socket 754? and a athlon 64 3200?

sounds good

[Whiplash]

looking for a nwe isp at the moment,

considering the chariot connection $49.95 512kbs and 40 gig Dl limits

the main problem is the "no connection fees" I am currently with ozemail, there is some problem between the two in which they can't churn my account over, there fore i have to pay 110 to re connect with chariot. Not sure whether this is normal but doesn't it go against the "no connection fee"?

[Madaz]

how much downloading would your normally do in a month

[Whiplash]

?

at the moment we only have a 300mb limit so we are restricted to that. However i need to have access to a much larger limit (approx 10gig) as i need to be able to DL beta copies of the software and products that i am working on.

also the sister is getting into the mp3 dl's so she'll be doing a bit.

found a few (thanks maxx) will look into change over problems ect, ect...

[Madaz]

well since you can get ADSL i would suggest changing to internode or adam's ADSL2+ plan you can get a adsl2+ modem cheap on ebay or 100 ish dollars get more speed and little cheaper or dearer

Internode offer

HOME-Extreme-Value $59.95 Min: 1500k/256k 20 GB Shaped

Max: 24000k/1000k

http://www.internode.on.net/adsl/pricing/home.htm

Adam offer

Medium 24000k/1000k 10,000 MB 64K $44.95

Average 24000k/1000k 20,000 MB 64K $54.95

http://www.adam.com.au/products_home_adam_direct.php

i would say once your sister truely discovers the internet you will want as much bandwidth for your money and 20gb shared between users

[Whiplash]

thanks didn't think of adam,

going to show my ignorance again but the ozmail plans have a peak / off peak quota for the dl (below)

peak + offpeak quota

2GB anytime

does this means that you get a 2gig DL limit for the month? its on a 3000/1000 connection, it just seems that a 2gig limit is rather small for a connection speed like that.

anyone had any experience with these?

ozemail has treated us like shit ( upping the cost with nothing extra ect) and their lines are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow i have a 256 connection at the moment and dl at 3kbs.

Edited November 29, 2006 by Whiplash

[Madaz]

do you know how far your live from your exchange this will affect the speed which your maximum connection is