- Dec 30, 2008
- 15
- 0
- 18,510
Salutations,
Up until Tuesday, I had a computer that had served me admirably for the last two years. I started with an HP Pavilion Elite, added in a Corsair 650w PSU, an nVidia GTX 295 GPU, and an X-fi audio card, and it gave me the performance I desired. However, on Tuesday it failed to boot, freezing on the BIOS screen. I took it to a trusted professional who informed me that the motherboard had died, and after testing it separately, that the HDD had died along with it. He speculated that the HP lowest-bidder manufacture gave the board a low tolerance, and that the rather too-cramped casing I had crammed all that stuff in did not have sufficient room to breath. I always meant to install a side fan, but never got around to it, instead leaving the side panel open.
So I am in the market for some new parts, allowing me to build a new computer by recycling as many of my old and still good parts into it as possible, starting with a new motherboard. The professional recommended that I get an Asus board, as he trusts that brand, and I am inclined to take his advice on that. However, he said that it would be hard finding a board that accommodated my Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (LGA775 socket) and eight gigs of DDR2 RAM. Would anyone be able to advise me one that would be compatible? I am willing to throw out the processor and RAM and get some new ones if that would be a better long-term option, but the priority is on getting something that will take my other hardware.
I would also like recommendations on cases for this, preferably ones with built in support for supplemental fans. I do not need to keep it super-cool, but something that will keep the air flowing would be nice for my piece of mind. I tried shopping around online, but there seemed to be too much information given at once, without the ability to narrow down the context that human expertise might provide.
Up until Tuesday, I had a computer that had served me admirably for the last two years. I started with an HP Pavilion Elite, added in a Corsair 650w PSU, an nVidia GTX 295 GPU, and an X-fi audio card, and it gave me the performance I desired. However, on Tuesday it failed to boot, freezing on the BIOS screen. I took it to a trusted professional who informed me that the motherboard had died, and after testing it separately, that the HDD had died along with it. He speculated that the HP lowest-bidder manufacture gave the board a low tolerance, and that the rather too-cramped casing I had crammed all that stuff in did not have sufficient room to breath. I always meant to install a side fan, but never got around to it, instead leaving the side panel open.
So I am in the market for some new parts, allowing me to build a new computer by recycling as many of my old and still good parts into it as possible, starting with a new motherboard. The professional recommended that I get an Asus board, as he trusts that brand, and I am inclined to take his advice on that. However, he said that it would be hard finding a board that accommodated my Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (LGA775 socket) and eight gigs of DDR2 RAM. Would anyone be able to advise me one that would be compatible? I am willing to throw out the processor and RAM and get some new ones if that would be a better long-term option, but the priority is on getting something that will take my other hardware.
I would also like recommendations on cases for this, preferably ones with built in support for supplemental fans. I do not need to keep it super-cool, but something that will keep the air flowing would be nice for my piece of mind. I tried shopping around online, but there seemed to be too much information given at once, without the ability to narrow down the context that human expertise might provide.
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