Computer Has Went Kaputt?

[Tom Saurus]

Additional Information About My Computer:

I had my computer built by a technician who used to work at my local ISP. Here is a quote for the computer he built for me:

CPU: P4 2.8ghz, FSB 800 HT
MEM: 512 DDR400
MSI P4, I865PE,FSB800,DDR400,LAN/AUD/VGA,M-ATX Ms 6743G-LS
CASE: 313u (black)
MDM: Dial Up Modem
KB: Mitsuko (black)
HDD: 160 Maxtor ATA
MS XP Pro
Floppy Drive
DVD-Burner: NEC Dual Layer 16x (NEC 3500A)

Now when he shopped for the parts he ended up getting a 3.0ghz P4 Chip for the same price as the 2.8ghz chip.

Here are the prices for the components in Canadian Dollars:

CPU: $341.00
Ram: $148.00
MBrd: $156.00
DVD Burner: $148.00
Case: 50.00
Modem: 25.00
Keyboard: 36.00
Hard Drive: 182.00
MS XP Pro: 200.00
Floppy: 25.00

Sub Total: $1298.00
GST: 90.86
PST: 103.84
Total: $1492.70
Date of Quote: October 07th, 2004

Later on I had him add another 512mb of DDR400 ram, a hard drive for recording onto. I either had a C Drive that was an ATA, or a SATA, then I got the other drive which was one or the other. The two conflicted with each other and he exchanged me an ATA for the SATA. The computer wouldn't boot as long as the SATA was connected to the motherboard. So I think it was the original drive that was an ATA, and that was my C Drive. I remember him giving me instructions on how to disconect the other drive. When I did this I could then boot the computer and use it until he put in the other ATA drive.

This technician quite working at the ISP, and since I didn't have any faith in the new guy that took his place, as he was just learning at the time, I switched to the technician at this other place. Actually he works alone, and he has a bank of computers set up so people can surf the Internet, and he charges them by the hour for the use of the computer. People can also play games, ect on the computers. The first item I bought from him was the ATI All In Wonder 9800 Pro. The qoute page for the ATI All In Wonder was dated October 29th, 2004. Actually come to think of it the technician at the ISP, left after I did business with this new guy.

See the technician at the ISP told me that I had to pay $600.00 to get the ATI 9800 Pro, so I decided to shop around. I contacted my current technician and he was able to get me an ATI A-I-W Radeon 9800PRO 128MB DDR AGP8X (Retail) for $352.00 plus $20.00 shipping, GST $24.64 & $28.16 PST. The total was $424.80. Now he said to me I need you to send me half the total so I can order. He actually wanted that in cash. I told him I would send a money order, because it would of cost atleast 25 bucks for me to hire someone to take me up to town. He really was rather peeved at that, because he doesn't like to leave the shop, to cash checks and money orders. But eventually he relented, but only after I said I would pay for a currier to drop the money order off to him. He got the part, installed it for $30.00, and I paid the other half and took it home.

Another bit of info: When I first brought my computer home from the ISP, it was very unstable. The technician had forgotten to install a fan to cool the computer down. It would work fine for about 3 minutes and then shut down. It could of been that he didn't install a big enough fan, as well I can't remember all the details at the moment. He put a fan in or another one, and it never did this again.

I paid the current technician this spring to put in a new power supply, because he recommended I have one that would have more watts to handle everything. I think my power supply is 650 watts. I also paid for my computer to be cleaned, and since the case fan wasn't working any longer, I had that replaced. I also asked him to please install something to make the CPU cooler, but he just cleaned the heatsink, put some silver paste under there and said that it disn't need to be replaced. So I just left it at that. Though since I knew heat was an issue, I tried not to use DVD Shrink to transcode very often. When I did use I kept an eye on the computer temperature, and I would pause the program until it cooled down.

I got in the habit of doing several things at once on the computer, recording a tv show, surfing the net, downloading a file, authorizing and burning ISO files to DVD. I think I might of just wore the computer out. I hope I didn't do that, but I really used the machine alot. Thus my thought to have a new computer built to go with the one I have now.

To ease the burden on the original machine. I thought I had bought quality parts for the original and I really think I did. But looking back now, I wished I would of gotten a really good case at the start, additional fans, ect. I didn't know what I know now, sometimes it takes awhile for me to learn things. Thank you for all the advice and information you have given me.

I am leaving my computer at the shop until this Friday, if he hasn't done anything additional at that time, I am bringing it home or taking it somewhere else. I am hoping he can fix it, because compared to some of the other technicians, he might be the best of the lost.

[ahhaa]

Tom- if you look at your list, the most likely blown parts are not that expensive (any more). Unless the case was just too small (tower? mid-tower?) the fan in your PS should have handled things, if the fan on the CPU & the fan on the AIW were working. Something was definitely overheating... was the AIW connected up properly?

You did buy quality parts, altho a couple of the prices seem high, the HD & the DVD burner particularly...

While you are waiting, go online to a couple reputable suppliers and pricecheck replacing the mobo, the RAM, the ATI, the CPU, & the PS (worst case). For exact replacements, I think you will be agreeably surprised how cheap these parts are now, in comparison. Your 650 PS should have handled everything OK.

The MSI 6743G-LS I just found at this Canadian outfit for under $120...
http://www.altecmicro.com/Mainboards.html

[Tom Saurus]

The technician surprised me, and he finished my computer today. It seems to be working. He put in a new mainboard, and upgraded my power supply to a better one than I had. It has taken me awhile to get things configured. Right now I am testing the capture card by recording a Ma And Pa Kettle movie I recorded at SP speed on vhs tape. This will allow me to test the capture card, Womble Mpeg Video Wizard to edit out the commercials, Tmpgenc DVD Author and the DVD drive. If everything checks out, things will be back to the way they were.

Thank you all, for the great advice everyone. I have alot of work to do bringing stuff in from VHS, and also backing up alot of stuff to DVD that already is on the computer. Now to start planning my new computer. Also I must learn more about computing so I am going to be doing alot of researching.

[TBoneit]

The new AM2 socket Dual cores from AMD run cool and the new Core Dual from Intel run cooler than the older processors. If you build it yourself be sure and get the Retail box processor with the colling fan that has the three year warranty on the COU and Fan. Either one should work good for you and aleviate any heating problems you are having.

[Tom Saurus]

Tboneit: Thank you for your additional advice. From what you have said, and other posts I have read about Core Duo Pentium Chips, that seems like the way to go. If it faster, more stable and runs cooler, it look like I better start saving for a computer system built around this new type of CPU. It may take me several months to have enough to afford a new computer system, so in the meantime, I can research more about what I need to get. The technician said in that the prices should drop to more a more affordable price as time goes by.

This new computer is going to be dedicated to video capture and editing. Also to encoding, trancoding, and creating DVDs. It must be a powerhouse machine, that runs cool and is stable. The technician adviced me with the new ATI All In Wonder Pro, to go with PCI instead of AGP. He said that PCI is the way to go, and that is faster. That is something I have to do some research on.

Thank you once again Tboneit. It was kind of you to take the time to give me this advice. I also thank everyone who gave advice to me about my computer situation.

[Tom Saurus]

Computer Update:

Well it seems to be working fine for the most part. The technician installed a PC Chips motherboard. The only thing that has me a little bit concerned is that the MSI motherboard has a FSB of 800mhz and this one has one of 533mhz. The computer seems a little slower, and perhaps that is the cause.

There are a few quirks, that I notice with the MMC that have me concerned. Sometimes it seems to shut itself off of recording, yet the only way you can tell is that the numbers that display how many frames have been recorded have been frozen. It seems to happen when I am doing something else on the computer. This would rarely happen before my computer breakdown. It also seems to take alot less for it to drop frames now. So I better get saving up for that new computer, especially before Windows Vista hits the market.

To the positive side of things, the computer is running cooler than it did before. I am wondering if I should ask him to exchange this motherboard for one that has 800mhz FSB. There is a PC Chips motherboard with the same model number that has 800mhz FSB.

Thanks for the advice that I have received here. For the most part everything seems to be running fine.

[jagabo]

The CPU and FSB are usually drive off the same master clock. So in all likelihood your CPU is now being underclocked by 33 percent because of the lower FSB speed. Your repair guy is totally incompetent.

[Tom Saurus]

jagabo: Thanks for your input. It was kind of you to take the time to share this information.

I wonder what I should do. It doesn't seem my computer is really reaching its full potential now. Part of me doesn't feel like bugging the technician to get me a motherboard that is more suitable with the 800mhz, and part of me thinks I should insist on it.

I am begining to think my best bet, and meaning less downtime, would be to get a really good case with fans on the front, to bring airflow in and get either another MSI motherboard that is exactly like the original or get another brand. I am thinking that maybe a really good case would help with the issue of heat building up, that I have had in the past.

Any advice on the correct case to buy and what is a good quality motherboard would be appreciated.

[jagabo]

Right click on My Computer and select Properties. On that dialog you will see the clock speed your CPU is running at.

[TBoneit]

Plus PC Chips isn't the best brand of motherboard, it is inexpensive to buy tho.

What kind of technician, using the word tech loosely, puts in a slower motherboard?

Run don't walk away from this guy. Stop throwing good money after bad. It is locking up, hmmm, good repair work. Good shop will fix it right for free under warranty, bad shop will charge you again when you bring it back.

Running slower will make it run cooler. But then you don't have teh speed you paid for.

[Tom Saurus]

jagabo: I right click on "My Computer" and it says Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00Ghz, 2.0GHZ, 1.0GB of Rahm.

Tboneit: The technician said his chief concern was matching up the motherboard to the chipset. I didn't have the specs of my computer's parts when he ordered the motherboard, so perhaps it is my fault. I don't if it says on the msi motherboard what all its configurations are such as FSB or not. I will try to get a different motherboard. Should I go with MSI again or should I get a different type of motherboard.

I am assuming that the 3.0 Ghz chip has 800mhz FSB. See when my computer was built, the guy who built it substituted the 3.0 ghz chip for the 2.8ghz chip, because he said that the price had dropped to around the same as the 2.8 Ghz one. Though all I tell for sure is that is 3.0 ghz. Who knows maybe my CPU only has 533mhz on the chip and 800mhz on the motherboard, well the MSI board was 800mhz FSB. Maybe I was overclocking all this time and didn't know it. Would that explain the heat built up?

Thanks for the additional advice.

[jagabo]

A moderately priced case like this one should suit you:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068

[JerryB]

hi,
my 2 cents worth smile....
if it a strong pugent nasty smell it your power supply!!.. what is happening is that for some reason (voltage regular bad, or primary or secoundary coils are shorted, etc) you have extra high current which is melting the transformer installation, bottom line way too much current....
note: there is possiblity that some component is shorted out and drawing exccess current..

voltage can be looking good however it the current that important... too much current and it fry your mother board..... hopefully the issue in the primary windings...

your hard drive in generaly should be ok in most cases...

The motherboard and cpu chip..... won't know for sure untill it check out, if it has gone bad or not...

here some info... you mentioned that your system run hot... that not good... sounds like you have maybe a amd chip which are nortorious for running hot.... I know many people they strongly recommend with amd system to install a additional fan to keep things cooler....... other wise excess current is drawn and and amd chip are very sensitive to heat to where they blow..!!

a system that runs hot runs the risk of the heat forcing the voltage regulators not to control the current very well and may cause other componets to draw more cureent than they should..... hense blowed componets....

Last night I was recording with my computer as usual, and all of a sudden my computer screen went black. I thought perhaps that the hydro somehow had a surge or something. But it wasn't that. The hydro never even flickered it stayed on. I have an one of those battery backup power supplys that I plugged the computer, the monitor and my satellite reciever into.

Well anyway there was a burning smell in the computer. The fan was still working on the power supply, the case fan was still working, the fan on the videocard was still going. When I shut the computer off, and restarted it, all that seem to work are the fans. No sound or picture to indicate Windows has booted up. I can't even pop open the DVD Burner to put a disc in.

My computer tends to run hot, usually 50 degrees or so, when I am recording with the video card it is running at 60 or 55 degrees Celcius. I tend to use DVD Shrink and other programs that make my computer really heat up fast, sparingly. I have seen where the computer is running at 48 degrees and within a minute DVD Shrink has put the temperature up to 66 Celcius. Once the computer has reached 72 Celcius, I pause DVD Shrink, and wait for the temperature to drop. I am thankful for that pause button.

I hope my drives are still alright, I had tons of video files, and other data on all three drives. I am usually at my computer for hours each day. Often recording, burning a DVD at the same time, surfing the internet.

I am going to try to take it into the shop today, and I hope the technician can find out what is wrong. Does anyone have a clue what it might be? I am thinking my Pentium 4 ship got destroyed or damaged from too much heat. There was definetly a burning smell in the case. I thought my Mom had smilled something on the oven rage and the smell was coming from there. I thought my computer had something built into the mother board if it was getting too hot that it would shut itself down.

Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated. I am rather pathetic, the computer was a big part of my daily life. In some ways it was burdensom, because I am one of those people that like to record a whole series from there Satellite Receivers, to watch when it ever suits my fancy. I was recording an episode of Alias, and I am really getting hooked on that show.

I really hope that I can salvage stuff from my C Drive, I had bits and pieces of a storyline that was on one our Soap Opera's that has been playing out since January. If I can get past this crises with my computer, I am going to have a second computer built, to take some of the burden off of this one. I was thinking I could link the two together and record on one, and edit video footage and burn dvd's on the other. Of course this time, I am going to have it loaded down with fans, to keep it cool.

If anyone can give me some advice, please do? I am kind of guessing at what the problem is. I hope it is something simple that can be easily fixed, and that I can learn from all this and hopefully recover my data that I have spread over my three drives. Thanks in advance for whatever information you can give me on this subject.

[jagabo]

jagabo: I right click on "My Computer" and it says Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00Ghz, 2.0GHZ, 1.0GB of Rahm.

Indeed, your 3 GHz is running at 2 GHz because of the wrong FSB speed (3GHz * 533 / 800 = 2 GHz).

Tboneit: The technician said his chief concern was matching up the motherboard to the chipset. I didn't have the specs of my computer's parts when he ordered the motherboard, so perhaps it is my fault.

It's the tech's job to figure out what motherboard to order unless you insisted that you had to have a certain motherboard. Even then he should have advised you that you were getting the wrong motherboard for your CPU.

I don't if it says on the msi motherboard what all its configurations are such as FSB or not.

He could have looked at the CPU itself. Printed on the CPU is the model number, CPU speed, FSB speed, etc. If nothing else, when he set up the system he should have realized the CPU was running at the wrong clock speed and figured out why.

I will try to get a different motherboard. Should I go with MSI again or should I get a different type of motherboard.

That's up to you. Intel motherboards are usually high quality and decent performing, if otherwise boring and slightly higher cost. Asus has a reputation for good motherboards and more cutting edge features. MSI is average. Whatever you get, stick with an Intel chipset. Some P4 motherboards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010200280+1070509907&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=280

Note that not all in that list support 800 MHz FSB. The Asrock board looks like a good candidate for you:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157090

I am assuming that the 3.0 Ghz chip has 800mhz FSB. See when my computer was built, the guy who built it substituted the 3.0 ghz chip for the 2.8ghz chip, because he said that the price had dropped to around the same as the 2.8 Ghz one. Though all I tell for sure is that is 3.0 ghz. Who knows maybe my CPU only has 533mhz on the chip and 800mhz on the motherboard, well the MSI board was 800mhz FSB. Maybe I was overclocking all this time and didn't know it. Would that explain the heat built up?

That would explain overheating but it's clear from the My Computer -> Properties sheet that you have an 800 MHz FSB CPU that is currently being underclocked.

[Tom Saurus]

JerryB: Thank you for your input. It was kind of you provide this information.

jagabo: I am grateful for your advice. I am going to try to follow it. I have noticed when I go to Windows Task Manager and watch the graph and indicators that are revealed when one clicks on the preformance tab, that programs are taking much more CPU Power to run than they did before. It is clear, I am going to have to do something about this situation, while I still can get parts for my computer. That looks like a really nice case that you gave me a link to. I appreciate all this advice. My friends recommended a different technician, and I might go out to his place someday and discuss my computer issues. Once again thanks. It seems best to get a new case while getting a different motherboard, no matter who I hire to do the work.

[TBoneit]

I hate to say it but this person that rebuilt your computer probably out in the cheapest motherboard he could get not the proper motherboard.

If as you say it is running at 2 ghz then that explains why it is running coller, slower and why cpu usage is spiking higher, The cpu usage is running higher becaus ethe cpu is running slower.

Any body that know anything about repairs knows you look at the CPU and memory and then order the proper motherboard.

You need to go back and insist that this person fix your computer properly at no cost to you.

First just in case...

Print out the information where it says it is running at 2Ghz on a 3Ghz processor as well as what memory and hard drive you have.

Or talk to the officials in your town and see who they use for service on their computers.

For example we do maintanance for the Fire Department and other township offices as well as Police officers here in this town. We also give discounts to Police/Fire and Rescue Squad members and Armed forces members.

I hsate to say it but it seems you are not being treated right by this person.

[jagabo]

I am grateful for your advice. I am going to try to follow it.

Installing an inappropriate motherboard was your repair guy's mistake. If he was responsible and ethical he would replace it now at no charge. I get a feeling he won't do that and even if he did you'd likely be without your computer for another month!

Since you have talked about buying another computer, this one appears to be working now (albeit rather slowly), and it can be a pain replacing a motherboard (I find you usually have to do at least a repair reinstall of Windows), maybe you should save the $100 you would spend on a new case and motherboard and put it towards a new computer.

[Tom Saurus]

I have looked around the local area for a new technician to work on this computer. It seems that he is the best of the lot, so I guess it is best to keep working with him.

jagabo: I have decided to get an Asus motherboard, and I looked around on the Tigerdirect.ca website and found one I thought might be suitable. My harddrives are all ATA drives, so I don't know if this factors into any of this situation. I notice alot of motherboards are saying they have a SATA interface, so this has me confused. Here is a link to the motherboard:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1696716&CatId=1153

It seems to have FSB 800mhz on the motherboard, and it looks like my Pentium 4, 3.0 Ghz chip might match up well with this. The tech will be ordering from Canadian Suppliers, preferably here in Ontario. My plan is to get a new case, and that case you recommended at newegg.com seems ideal. They have alot of CoolMaster cases at Tigerdirect, but from what I can tell not that exact model. I really like the side vent with the duct, and the front and rear fan capability. I have to have a motherboard with the sound at the back, because I have gizmo that runs from my ATI AIW 9800 Pro that to the sound card so I can hear what is being captured. Though it says at Lordsmurf's DigitalFAQ website that one should have a seperate sound card for capturing, not one that is on the motherboard.

I am thinking I will have to backup all my data that is on the C Drive where Windows Xp and my programs lie and then perhaps have a complete Windows XP reinstall. I am hoping that I can get the new case and have him install the Asus motherboard, and then just bring my existing computer up and have all the parts such as the rahm, Cpu, hard drives put in and tell him I want the job done in two days max. He said that he might be able to give me a little something for my existing motherboard, so atleast I might recoup some of what I spent.

I really miss the speed that I had before, though having the chip running cooler is nice to a certain degree. I miss the stability that seemed to be there before. Now when I am capturing I disable my network connection, disable my anti virus, and shut down the McCafee Security Center. If I do stuff on the computer while it is capturing it seems to make the MMC freeze up and I end up missing some footage. This rarely happened before. I am accustomed to burning ISO files using ImageBurn 2.0, surfing the net, ect, usually without dropping a frame while capturing, and the MMC keeps on recording; but this is a thing of the past.

I am thinking of buying a laptop, so I can use the internet, for surfing and downloading, ect. and for my Mom to play Solitair on, she just adores playing Solitair on a computer. That might take some pressure off my capturing computer, and maybe getting a DVD Recorder, that will write to DVD+RW discs. This way I could take the data from that bring it into Womble Mpeg Video Wizard, cut out commercials and then go on and design a DVD on my existing computer. Then take the DVD+RW and erase it and use it again, but eventually retire that disc after a certain number of times.

I appologize for blabbing on and on. If I wasn't so sure that I would end up electrocuting myself or damaging the components that build a computer, I would build my own computer. I just have never been a very adept at building stuff. When I was in school, I don't know how I ever passed those tech courses that I took, automotive, welding, stripping electrical wires; I really suspect the teachers felt sorry for me and gave me a passing grade or else they didn't want me for another year. Sometimes I think that for the majority of my life I left my "Machizmo" in my other pants.

Any additional advice is appreciated, and I thank you in advance.

[redwudz]

SATA= Serial ATA
PATA= Parallel ATA (Also called IDE)

That motherboard is apparently only PATA. PATA is used for most all optical drives and probably the majority of hard drives, though SATA is taking over as the SATA drives generally use less power, run cooler and are somewhat faster than a PATA hard drive, depending on the drive and the motherboard controller used. Most newer MBs also have SATA and many of the newest MBs only have one PATA channel for 2 drives and several SATA channels. This can be a problem if you have more than 2 PATA drives.

I'm not a fan of SIS chipset motherboards, but that's just an opinion.

Most computer cases have places for a front and rear fan, but both may not be included with the case. They are easily added.

All motherboards I have seen have audio connections that are available to the rear of the case. Some also have internal connections that can be use for audio connections to the front of the case. A separate sound card can be added, if wanted. I just use the motherboard sound inputs.

You really shouldn't have to disable half the computer just to capture without problems. If that's what you have to do, I would look for a different capture setup. A Hauppauge hardware MPEG-2 capture card would be one way, or as you mentioned, a DVD recorder.

[jagabo]

Tom, the board you linked to is probably OK. It looks like tigerdirect.ca only has Via and Sys based boards. Neither has a great reputation but if you buy from tiger you don't have much choice.

That motherboard supports both PATA and SATA. I verified via NewEgg.com:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131527

So your current PATA drives will work and you're prepared with SATA if you want add or replace a drive in the future.

Some things I like about the case I linked to earlier:

1) Not only is it well ventilated but the rear fan is 120mm. That will blow a lot more air than the usual 80 or 90 mm fan. That also means you can install a low power fan (or a fan speed controller) for quieter operation and still have adequate cooling.

2) The case is deep (the distance from the front of the case to the back panel) and tall enough that a full sized ATX motherboard is completely exposed. In many cases the drive bays overlap the motherboard making access to memory slots, power connector, IDE connectors, etc difficult.

Regarding video capture, the Hauppauge PVR-250, 350, and USB2 capture directly to MPEG via onboard hardware MPEG 1/2 encoders. The computer resource requirement is so low that you don't need to disable everything and can continue to use the computer while capturing. I had my PVR-250 in a 2.8 GHz non-hyperthreaded P4 system similar to yours. I would often have VirtualDub encoding a file in the background and be browsing the web while capturing. Never a dropped frame or audio sync problem.

[Tom Saurus]

redwudz: Thanks for your input, you open up my eyes about what PATA and SATA are. All my hard drives are IDE Drives, I checked the properties in My Computer of the hard drives and displayed in the details tab that they are all IDE hard drives, two are Maxtors and one is a Western Digital. I didn't notice about the Chipset, so I must consider that as well. I want a good quality board. So I need to find a Asus board that has an Intel Chipset, that will have a FSB of 800mhz, and be suitable for a 3.0Ghz Pentium 4 CPU. I think I am just going to have to find a brand and tell the technician to check with his suppliers and see what he can come up with. I was just guessing he deals with Tigerdirect, I have no idea who his suppliers are. Thanks once again for the information. It was kind of you to take the time to provide it.

jagabo: Thank you for the additional information. Now I realize that the chipset's don't even match. I am going to try to get that case, it really looks nice. Hopefully the technician can track it down. I don't need to buy an Asus, it just seemed like it might be one of the best brands out there. I just need to figure out the ideal motherboard and see if the technician can get it. Well I better go. Thank you once again.

[jagabo]

Maybe something like this Gigabyte motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128305

I don't put Gigabyte in the same class as Asus but users rate the board well at NewEgg. Pickings are getting slim for Intel chipset based socket 478 motherboards.

[Tom Saurus]

jagabo: Between the Gigabyte motherboard and the original MSI Board, which do you think would be the best for my computer. Someone posted a link to a company in Canada that still carry that particular MSI Motherboard. Here is the link:

http://www.altecmicro.com/Mainboards.html

I am going to send a email to the technician and he is going to be doing some research to see what can be done with my computer. Thank you very much for the information you have provided. I thank you in advance for any further imput that you may have on this subject.

[Tom Saurus]

The technician finally got my email, concerning my computer problems and is doing some research to see if he can get me that nice Coolmaster case and the new motherboard. I am very tempted to get the exact same motherboard I had originally.

Would it be acceptable to create a thread concerning the new computer I want to have built to take the burden off my existing one? This one will become just a capture computer, the editing, authoring and burnng will be done for the most part on the new computer. Though I do want to put a capture card in the new computer so I can record another tv show while the other computer is recording another. Sometimes they have two shows on at the same time, and one must chose one over the other.

Thanks for any additional advice.

[redwudz]

Sure, go ahead and start a new thread with a different title if you like. You might put a link in it to the first post in this thread just for reference.

[jagabo]

Between the Gigabyte motherboard and the original MSI Board, which do you think would be the best for my computer.

The particular motherboard I linked to is no longer avialable at NewEgg -- and I don't remember exactly which one it was. Since your original motherboard had an Intel chipset and you were happy with it, that may be your best bet if you can find one.

[Tom Saurus]

I am having alot of problems burning and it could be possible that I just need a new burner. I use the geniune Taiyo Yunden 8x DVD+Rs, so it is most likely not the media. I put a head cleaner through it, might of helped for awhile doing that, but it doesn't anymore.

I am planning on having a new computer built. I was going to put it off to the end of January, or maybe the end of February. Well anyway with my computer underclocking, I am wondering is there much use putting a new DVD Burner in my existing machine. I was thinking maybe I should just raid my emergency savings and have my new technician build me the Core Duo System, with a new burner in it. Then see if its burner is having problems with this media.

If a computer is underclocking, can it cause problems with burners. This is really getting me bummed. There is alot of movies and tv shows coming up that I want to capture, and archive onto DVD. Now that my burner is having problems burning, things are going to slow to a crawl.

I am really thinking I should just go for it, dang the torpedoes, and spend the money and have the new one built. Or should I take a chance that a new burner, might help me get through to the end of January, or February. Does anyone know if underclocking cause havoc with DVD Burner. I have burned probably two thousand DVDs on this system, maybe as many as 2500, so could that mean that the burner is at the end of lifespan anyway?

What I was hoping was to have the other computer up and running and then having this one worked on at my leasure. My new tech suggested maybe taking my existing hard drives, and putting them in a system built around a duo core cpu and new motherboard. This would mean that I would loose the value of my existing ram, and the P4 3.0 Ghz CPU. But with P4 motherboards becoming rather rare, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

If I had him transfer my AIW 9800 Pro, my hard drives over to a new system and added in a hauppauge card could this be a better way to go. I think he gave me a quote of around $600.00 bucks to do this. I am sorry I should of put a link to my new topic "Tom Saurus Potentially New Computer", I didn't think of that until I started writing this.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me on this matter. It would be nice to think that simply putting in a new burner would do the trick so I could back stuff up and then delay the process of having significant down time having this computer rearranged. All three of my hard drives are IDE will they conflict with Sata Drives or was that just an issue with older motherboards, such as the one I had from MSI?