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Undertoad · 03-23-2006, 09:29 AM

Yes, Newegg overnight shipping rocks!

It doesn't make sense to isolate which particular chip is having trouble because A) they're all on the same board, and the fix is the same: replace the whole board; and B) the parts are so close together now, that heating one particular part without heating any other is nearly impossible. At the least it requires that the board be completely de-cased and set up completely differently.

So I've ordered a new motherboard from Newegg. It's only $102, so what the hell.

The problem is that my old board is too old and they don't sell it any longer. So I had to get a new board. But my processor is pretty old too and I sure would like to get something that supports SATA since I have a big old SATA drive just sitting here.

So I decided to get a much newer board with more capabilities. Of course that meant changing out the video card too, because AGP is now out in favor of PCI Express. There's another $150.

And of course the processor. Doesn't make sense not to buy a 64-bit processor today; and if you get one with 1MB of cache you get another speed increase, so that makes sense. $215.

And well, it turns out that modern motherboards have a new 24-pin power connector. And there's a new feature of video cards called SLI where you can tie two video cards together, if you have the power capability for it; SO I got a new $80 power supply as well.

And with the beauty of Newegg overnight and rush processing, it's on a FedEx truck right now, headed my way.

By tonight the old problem should be completely gone, unless it's something *really* funky in software. And then, I'll have an entirely new set of problems: making sure all the drivers are in line and updated so the thing runs right with the new hardware.

I think, at one point in this whole mess, I complained about people buying a whole new computer to fix their comptuer issues. This will be almost what I will have done. Of course it's mostly out of the urge/need to upgrade anyway, I rationalize.

03-23-2006, 09:29 AM	#43
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Yes, Newegg overnight shipping rocks! It doesn't make sense to isolate which particular chip is having trouble because A) they're all on the same board, and the fix is the same: replace the whole board; and B) the parts are so close together now, that heating one particular part without heating any other is nearly impossible. At the least it requires that the board be completely de-cased and set up completely differently. So I've ordered a new motherboard from Newegg. It's only $102, so what the hell. The problem is that my old board is too old and they don't sell it any longer. So I had to get a new board. But my processor is pretty old too and I sure would like to get something that supports SATA since I have a big old SATA drive just sitting here. So I decided to get a much newer board with more capabilities. Of course that meant changing out the video card too, because AGP is now out in favor of PCI Express. There's another $150. And of course the processor. Doesn't make sense not to buy a 64-bit processor today; and if you get one with 1MB of cache you get another speed increase, so that makes sense. $215. And well, it turns out that modern motherboards have a new 24-pin power connector. And there's a new feature of video cards called SLI where you can tie two video cards together, if you have the power capability for it; SO I got a new $80 power supply as well. And with the beauty of Newegg overnight and rush processing, it's on a FedEx truck right now, headed my way. By tonight the old problem should be completely gone, unless it's something really funky in software. And then, I'll have an entirely new set of problems: making sure all the drivers are in line and updated so the thing runs right with the new hardware. I think, at one point in this whole mess, I complained about people buying a whole new computer to fix their comptuer issues. This will be almost what I will have done. Of course it's mostly out of the urge/need to upgrade anyway, I rationalize.