SHOULD I UPGRADE?

[insidious1]

.
Youngster

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Hey everyone...

Well... i went ahead and got my 580GTX, installed, windows 7 installed... and now everything is all messed up!!!! I'll make this brief because i desperately need your help...

I took my computer to a guy that said he could do everything (he's older and has been building PC's since the 80;s)... I wanted to do a fresh install on Windows 7, Instal 580GTX graphics card, instal Corsair H80 CPU cooler, and possibly overclock is possible. He said it would be no problem, and that he has all his computers overclocked and he's a "pro"...

Long story short... I drop it off, and a day and a half later.. I get call saying "hey its ready for pick-up but there are some problems". Now here are the issues...

- I had 12 gig of Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 (CM3X2G1600C9D6)... running 6, 2 gig sticks (to fill my P6T motherboard). He tell me that my two of my sticks are "bad" and that the computer won't boot with them. He said the "timings are all off" and i should "send back to manufacturer." I questioned him bc Vista 64Bit was running 12 gigs just fine, no problems no blue screens, nothing! Now he says that 2 are bad. I got computer back and plugged the two "bad sticks" in (along with the 4 others) and indeed... the computer won't boot! BUT WHY!!!????? I questioned him, and he said "just buy more/better ram".

- Next... he said my "CPU was failing" when he ran IntelBurn on it. He said "Core 0" was failing and causing a blue screen.. but so long as i don't "stress it", everthing should run just fine. I know when i ran Prime95 Stress Test, the CPU got to 84 degrees Celsius... and he said that i "blew my CPU by letting it get that hot". I am fairly familiar with my CPU specs and the mobo would shut down after 100C. So why would 84C "blow my CPU?"!???!? I questioned him on that, and he said my computer shoudl "never run past 65C" and that "any more will ruin it". I told him that i didnt believe that to be true...

Long story short... I now have my computer back... and its running Windows 7... only 8 gigs of ram.... and blue screens everytime i try to install BF3!!!!!!!!!!! I imagine the blue screen is due to my memory (or perhaps my CPU).. So the first thing i will do is order new Ram... I also figure that perhaps i should just get a new CPU, since this one is relatively outdated...

The CPU i would buy must be Socket 1366 (to fit my Asus P6T Motherboard). I would likely get the Core i7 950 @ 3ghz ($249 on Newegg). I wanted to VERIFY that this wuold fit (it should considering its a 1366)... BUT... since i have never replaced a CPU (or even touched one)... i have one other question...

- Is it as easy as taking out the old i7 920 and dropping this one (i7 950) in? Will the computer just boot and run like normal/better or will i have to adjust bios, etc etc? Your input is greatly appreciated. As you might expect, i DONT want to go back to that guy who, i feel, just screwed me...

Thanks for your input...

 

[o1die]

cpus don't go bad; they either work or don't. Get the new ram first, it's probably your problem. If you have the same issues with the new ram, sell the replacement sticks and try another brand. I have used gskill and patriot ram lately with no problems. Also check your bios file at the post screen; write the file number down and check asus webpage for bios updates. Your board is relatively old and may have some newer bios versions available. Flash with asus "ez flash 2" flash utility program and read asus directions for flashing first. For the same money, I would change boards before getting a new cpu. Lots of folks selling 1366 motherboards for half their original price. Check anandtech's for sale forum for deals or craigslist. Make a offer; don't be shy. All they can say is no.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

As far as heat, he is right on that. I don't like to see my cpu's near or above 60 degrees celcius. My Athlon II quad core is at 28 degrees celcius just during normal use now, and I don't think it even hits 50 degrees celcius during gaming. My board starts giving you alarms when I get toward the 60 or 70 mark. But this is on an AMD chip, however I would be uncomfortable with my chip running that hot.

However, now, before you go sending things back. You need to reset your CMOS. Pull the ram out the guy says is not working, unplug the computer, and there is usually a cmos battery on the boards.

http://www.computer-hardware-explained.com/cmos-battery.html

There's a link in case you aren't sure. If it does not have one of those, there may be like a reset button, see your manual if not sure. but pull the battery out with the pc unplugged for about 5 minutes, this should allow the board to do a reset back to stock settings. After you do this, put the battery back in, and try to reboot, enter the bios and use the option for optimal settings, this should allow the bios to detect all of your hardware. Save the settings.

Reboot to windows, and if it works fine, great. Shut down. Add the memory back in that he says is bad. If it does not blue screen, good. If it does the memory could be bad. You may need to manually set the timings in the bios, but typically I find that if components will fail, they will do it in the first 30 days or so, at least things like cpu, ram, etc. Though it's not unheard of for them to fail b/c of heat.

Go here.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Download the iso file and burn it to a cd. Boot up from that, and run memtest 86+ I think is what I run, allow it to go overnight, so 8-24 hours. If your ram is bad, it should start giving errors. If you like, you can even do a stick at a time to test which sticks are or are not bad.

This gentleman you took your computer to, He may be reputable. I don't know. I've got an older tech friend who is VERY knowledgable and knows a lot about computers and does lots of tech work.

Though on the other side, I've heard stories, my aunts called a guy who was recommended, they had a system that I BUILT. I knew the system was in good working order, had been for years. My dad calls me up, dad knows enough to build systems, so he's not dumb about it, asks me about issues they are having with their internet. I told dad that with what they were having, exactly what the technician should have done to check for issues(I've got a Bachelor of Science in Communications--IE networking), have been doing tech work for years, and am currently a network admin. I also told him that they should not allow the technician to touch anything else.

I find out later that the guy had taken the computer apart, formatted the hard drives losing all data, and declared the motherboard was bad, and the guy didn't even have internet connection I found later. So you have to be careful, many guys are great and know exactly what they are doing. But some techs have been tinkering with computers, and know enough to be dangerous and really don't know what they are doing but they think they know.

But if the PC was running right at stock settings with all ram installed in Vista, my guess is that the guy you had working on your machine didn't know exactly what he was doing, and may have messed up a bios setting. I do not know that for sure, but with the fact he was attempting to overclock it, he would have been messing most likely with memory settings.

So to run down.

1. Reset CMOS to get back to stock settings.
2. Test to see if blue screens continue.
3. If not, add ram back into system with system at stock.
4. If system still boots, use ultimate boot cd, and use memtest 86 for 8-24 hours to test ram.

However, if your PC was running as hot as you say, personally I would address that. New cooler, and more fans, lots of them.


Also, you need to check your power supply to be sure that it's enough to handle a 580. But try to set and run everything at stock settings, if everything runs right at stock, then you can overclock. But you need stability first. I think once you get it all running right, you are gonna be happy. I know I did a gaming build for someone, he got a Phenom II x6 1090t, 4gb ddr3, and a gtx 570 card, and that pc screams!