- May 17, 2012
- 10
- 0
- 10,510
Sorry if this is a little long, I like to be thorough. Any help would be appreciated.
Alright, so it’s starting to look like my motherboard needs replacing. Recently I’ve been getting BSODs at random points, and the last time I had this issue it was being caused by two bad memory slots.
Here is a little background; I’ve had this computer for close to four years and its run fine for most of it. The only problems it’s had are a few hard-drive issues, and those have been fixed. A couple of weeks ago, I started having BSODs at seemingly random points. Sometimes while watching a video, during start-up, while shutting down, during startup repair, and while installing Windows 7 to another drive.
I tried numerous things, but removing two sticks of RAM and swapping them around showed that two of the slots were bad. Computer ran fine after that, until a couple days ago when the similar issues started popping up. So, I’m thinking that the cause is the same, except I have no slots left in the board to move the RAM into.
I’m pretty certain this means I need a new motherboard. Here are my current specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (was Vista, upgraded around a year ago. Still have the CD)
CPU: Intel Core 2 duo E8400
Motherboard: MSI P7N SLI-FI
Video Card: Gigabyte GTX-560ti twin frozr
Ram: 4GB DDR2 PC6400 (was 6GB before)
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm (x2), 320GB 7200rpm
Liquid Cooling: Asetek 120mm Watercooler
Case: Coolermaster Cosmo
Power Supply: NZXT 600 WATT
Getting a replacement board of the same model seems pointless to me. So along with a new Motherboard, I think all I’ll need is a new CPU and RAM. Current thoughts on replacements parts from Newegg are:
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k ($220)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 GEN3 ($122)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 ($92)
Total Cost: $434.97
My main questions are:
1) Will these parts work, or are there better options for a similar price? If I can get better quality for a similar or lower price, I’ll take it. As far as I can tell, these parts should work fine with the rest of my setup, but I’ve never replaced a motherboard or built a computer so I figure I might as well ask.
2) Can you recommend any good guides or tips for replacing motherboards? The most I’ve done with computer hardware is upgrading RAM, Video Cards, and installing new Hard-drives. I don’t know if doing something wrong could badly damage the new board or my existing hardware, so any help there is welcome. Or would just getting a new computer and adding my old HDDs and Video Card be the better option?
3) Will my water cooling system even work with the new board? And will it be a pain to work with? Again, I’ve never messed with it so I don’t know. If it needs to be replaced with normal fans, what parts would I need?
4) Will I have to reinstall Windows 7 even though I’m using the old drives? While I backed up after the first issues were fixed (including a system image of the C drive), I’d rather not have to reinstall. I wasn’t able to deactivate any of my software (Adobe CS4, 3ds MAX, a few others) and previous experience shows that having to reinstall those can be a real pain. I’ve heard everything from “It won’t work, you need to reinstall” to “It’ll start up just fine!” or “Just run startup repair and you’ll be fine!” Others have mentioned using something called a Hirens boot CD to fix it. What experience have you all had with this?
Alright, so it’s starting to look like my motherboard needs replacing. Recently I’ve been getting BSODs at random points, and the last time I had this issue it was being caused by two bad memory slots.
Here is a little background; I’ve had this computer for close to four years and its run fine for most of it. The only problems it’s had are a few hard-drive issues, and those have been fixed. A couple of weeks ago, I started having BSODs at seemingly random points. Sometimes while watching a video, during start-up, while shutting down, during startup repair, and while installing Windows 7 to another drive.
I tried numerous things, but removing two sticks of RAM and swapping them around showed that two of the slots were bad. Computer ran fine after that, until a couple days ago when the similar issues started popping up. So, I’m thinking that the cause is the same, except I have no slots left in the board to move the RAM into.
I’m pretty certain this means I need a new motherboard. Here are my current specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (was Vista, upgraded around a year ago. Still have the CD)
CPU: Intel Core 2 duo E8400
Motherboard: MSI P7N SLI-FI
Video Card: Gigabyte GTX-560ti twin frozr
Ram: 4GB DDR2 PC6400 (was 6GB before)
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm (x2), 320GB 7200rpm
Liquid Cooling: Asetek 120mm Watercooler
Case: Coolermaster Cosmo
Power Supply: NZXT 600 WATT
Getting a replacement board of the same model seems pointless to me. So along with a new Motherboard, I think all I’ll need is a new CPU and RAM. Current thoughts on replacements parts from Newegg are:
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k ($220)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 GEN3 ($122)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 ($92)
Total Cost: $434.97
My main questions are:
1) Will these parts work, or are there better options for a similar price? If I can get better quality for a similar or lower price, I’ll take it. As far as I can tell, these parts should work fine with the rest of my setup, but I’ve never replaced a motherboard or built a computer so I figure I might as well ask.
2) Can you recommend any good guides or tips for replacing motherboards? The most I’ve done with computer hardware is upgrading RAM, Video Cards, and installing new Hard-drives. I don’t know if doing something wrong could badly damage the new board or my existing hardware, so any help there is welcome. Or would just getting a new computer and adding my old HDDs and Video Card be the better option?
3) Will my water cooling system even work with the new board? And will it be a pain to work with? Again, I’ve never messed with it so I don’t know. If it needs to be replaced with normal fans, what parts would I need?
4) Will I have to reinstall Windows 7 even though I’m using the old drives? While I backed up after the first issues were fixed (including a system image of the C drive), I’d rather not have to reinstall. I wasn’t able to deactivate any of my software (Adobe CS4, 3ds MAX, a few others) and previous experience shows that having to reinstall those can be a real pain. I’ve heard everything from “It won’t work, you need to reinstall” to “It’ll start up just fine!” or “Just run startup repair and you’ll be fine!” Others have mentioned using something called a Hirens boot CD to fix it. What experience have you all had with this?
. I'm a pretty big gamer, I do graphic design and digital illustrations (a.k.a. lots of Creative Suite), I'm going into game design and do a fair amount of work in 3DS max and Zbrush. Does 16 gigs of RAM still sound excessive? I don't thinks so, but might as well ask.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram