Build for a Friend

[redfish]

total: $403 from Newegg:
Had to downgrade HDD a little bit- Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Actually could upgrade RAM- LIAN-LI mid tower case and G-SKILL DDR3 1600 4GB RAM: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
BIOSTAR 785G chipset MicroATX mobo and Athlon II x2 AM3 3.2 GHz CPU- Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
And finally, could afford to upgrade PSU but had to downgrade GPU a little bit to a Radeon HD 4670- Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

Add on ODD for around $20 and that's just over $420. You could cut back even more on CPU if you had to and go with the cheaper 3.1 or 3.0 GHz versions and save 10-20 bucks. This is a budget build with decent graphics, fast RAM, and a decent low-budget CPU. The PSU isn't exactly cheap, either. OCZ Fatal1ty series 550W PSU. This should hold for some video editing as long as it's not used for any sort of serious multitasking.

 

[Fat.Clown]

is he still looking for that desktop?

I've got a

Antec Sonata 3 w/ generic power supply
Asus P5Q Pro motherboard (2 faulty ram slots closest to cpu socket)
Intel Pentium E2200 w/ stock heatsink
2GB G Skill DDR2 800 MHz
PNY 7900GS 256MB
Western Digital 400GB SATA
Samsung dual layer IDE DVD burner W/ lightscribe

$225 shipped?

 

[KSoD]

is he still looking for that desktop?

I've got a

Antec Sonata 3 w/ generic power supply
Asus P5Q Pro motherboard (2 faulty ram slots closest to cpu socket)
Intel Pentium E2200 w/ stock heatsink
2GB G Skill DDR2 800 MHz
PNY 7900GS 256MB
Western Digital 400GB SATA
Samsung dual layer IDE DVD burner W/ lightscribe

$225 shipped?

PM Sent. Just saw this response. Man i really need to learn to check my hardware topics, the one every 15 years that i happen to make. XD

Due to the kindness of Clown we got him this new PC. Thanks mate i really appreciate it. This is why i love being part of this community when you can find someone willing to part with a machine for such a low cost to help out a friend of someone they know. It truly is an honor to know such great people.

 

[Trotter]

Sweet!

 

[iPROTechman]

PM Sent. Just saw this response. Man i really need to learn to check my hardware topics, the one every 15 years that i happen to make. XD

Due to the kindness of Clown we got him this new PC. Thanks mate i really appreciate it. This is why i love being part of this community when you can find someone willing to part with a machine for such a low cost to help out a friend of someone they know. It truly is an honor to know such great people.

That's the exact reason I joined these forums, Nice one, Mate.

 

[KSoD]

Alright this is mainly just to confirm my suspicion. Got the PC, got it all together. Plugged it in. Saw the green light on the mobo. Stays solid green so i know something is happening. Hit the power switch....nothing.

Now i have remove the CMOS battery, i have checked all connections several times. I have reseated the RAM. I have tried just 1 RAM stick. I have tried every RAM slot. I am out of ideas on what to try next. I am thinking that the PSU is done for. Now if my suspicions are correct i will have to get a replacement. I am thinking something along the lines of this:

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 460 RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W ATX12V V2.31 Power Supply

CoolerMaster Elite 460W for only $30. Not a bad price. It will do the job since there is only 1 optical drive, 2 hard drives and the GPU doesn't need a power source. Replaced the 7600GS with my 8600GT and that doesn't require any extra power.

So can someone either give me a new idea to try or confirm my suspicions. I am going to tear apart my PC tomorrow to test my PSU in there to make sure i am right. I am just hoping that someone can confirm my diagnosis without me really having to tear apart my machine. Not really looking forward to that. But if i have to, that is what i have to do.

 

[Trotter]

My suspicion would be the mobo. Once a RAM slot goes bad the rest will soon follow. At least it has been that way on every computer I have worked on with that problem. You could try swapping out your PSU and graphics card for the one in the system to be sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion about it.

 

[KSoD]

Great that means trying to find a replacement mobo...My head *KABOOM*

 

[Trotter]

Maybe having to find a replacement. Try swapping the other out first to rule them out.

Double check the front panel connections, too. I have had fool me before when one was either off or not pressed good.

 

[KSoD]

Well i finally got it to power up. A connection was on that shouldnt have been. Oops. But now no video. Gravy. Going to try the 7900GS and my 6800 as well to see if maybe i killed my 8600GT by accident. I mean it gets power, i see all the fans spin up, i see the HDD light. Just nothing on screen now. Migraines here i come...

Who says persistance doesnt pay off. Got power, got video. Since i cleared the CMOS and that i have to update the BIOS now. No biggie. But from the looks of it, got it working!