CPU + Mobo & maybe more recommendations to get this PC running again.

[anishinaabeg]

Was looking at replacing my motherboard cheaply to see if I can repair my problem (no signal to monitor). Had this computer for a few years, stopped working after I switched the OV_DRAM switch from the left with the red light on, to the right with it off. When I started my computer the monitor wouldn't display anything, and couldn't get it working anymore. Tried buying a GPU since various old forum posts on the net made it seem it could be the issue, but it didn't work.

Tried sending it into Futureshop for a diagnosis but they couldn't determine if the CPU was a problem since they didn't have a compatible motherboard to test with, and weren't sure if the PSU was an issue I think because they couldn't detect if power was reaching the mobo. They did seem to think the mobo was faulty though. They recommended sending it in to be looked at at another place like NCIX where they have more parts to compare with, but on NCIX's website I could only find ONE motherboard that's Socket 1156 for sale, so I'm not sure if they can help me either.

Went searching for compatible motherboards with my cpu and I noticed the prices were pretty high including shipping even on ebay. I'm not sure if I'd be better off getting a new cpu/mobo combo. If it's at least as good as my current CPU for as little money as possible that would be good. I was able to overclock this cpu from 2.6GHZ to about 3.7GHZ on all four cores I believe, just by selecting a single option in the motherboard's bios, and temperatures were great. Used an aftermarket cooler and Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal paste which I still have some of. Would be nice if the new mobo is able to OC the CPU too though I guess not necessary.

Was thinking before of ordering a speaker to attach to my motherboard (the one that beeps differently depending on if there's certain things wrong with it, don't have one on this mobo) so I can try to diagnose the issues, and a wristband to reduce risk of damage during installations. Maybe I should get one of those and see if I can determine what's wrong before buying anything else or sending it in for a diagnosis? Not sure what the best term is to search for those motherboard speakers. Should these two items work?

Belkin ANTI-STATIC Wrist Band for Computer Repair:
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=57843&vpn=F8E093&manuf...

Found this by Googling "Motherboard Speaker" without quotes.
APEVIA CVTCSPK 2" Case speaker cable for computer cases that connects to the motherboard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

If getting a new CPU+Mobo is the best option, it would be nice if the motherboards suggested are compatible with all/most of what I currently have, other than the CPU I guess. I'd also like the mobo to have 4 slots for RAM since I've wanted to upgrade to 8GB. Should additional RAM be the exact same model for best performance? Don't know if my current RAM would work with a new model mobo.

Here are the parts I've right now:

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

D-Link DWA-556 PCI Express Xtreme Desktop Adapter

ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model

SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact"

And a SATA HDD I believe.

 

[anishinaabeg]

I should maybe add in addition to the computer not sending a signal to the monitor there were two other issues.

Since I bought the PSU it's made some weird noises at times, but it worked so I never bothered fixing it.

And very recently, within the last few months I guess, it started freeing for about 1 second, always the same amount of time, and the sound would stutter/repeat whatever sounds were playing during the last small fraction of a second quickly. This would happen less often during normal desktop usage (sometimes many hours between events), and more often during gaming.

In Planetside 2 which I started playing recently it would happen fairly often, though sometimes not for a half hour or so. At other times, usually in the most hectic areas it would freeze sometimes a few times within a minute.

The game would also crash because of these freezes, rarely though if I had VSYNC turned on. It would crash every time it freezed if I'd VSYNC off.

 

[anishinaabeg]

Maybe I've been posting at a bad/slow time of day. Don't always have a computer available during the day recently.