Help with Mobo Selection

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:59 pm

That's what I plan on doing when I build mine from scratch. Take my time, research, find the best deals, etc. Plus, if I kept up the "instant gratification" act, I don't think I'd be able to take the verbal abuse from Kerii!

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:03 pm

YES!!!!! The XP repair worked! Now just another 2 hours of hooking all the periferals back up.

BTW - Is cursing and mumbling a normal part of troubleshooting!?

And it's only been a bit over 30 hours straight since I started this project! (where the hell is my coffee)

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:33 pm

rofl, all normal. I'm surprised you didn't throw anything on the first one, lol. Or drink a 6-pack or curse tech support out or anything like that, heheh. But yeah, capper is correct, Abit doesn't make a good board in general. Have heard some horror stories, plus they're just generally not geared in the right manner toward us enthusiasts IMO. Actually, on my very first build, I sounded like Stephen Root did on Office Space, lol (I..I..I...just going to burn the building down, rofl)

Kerii · Post by **Kerii** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:12 pm

TX_Renegade wrote:That's what I plan on doing when I build mine from scratch. Take my time, research, find the best deals, etc. Plus, if I kept up the "instant gratification" act, I don't think I'd be able to take the verbal abuse from Kerii!

TX_Renegade wrote:YES!!!!! The XP repair worked! Now just another 2 hours of hooking all the periferals back up.

BTW - Is cursing and mumbling a normal part of troubleshooting!?

And it's only been a bit over 30 hours straight since I started this project! (where the hell is my coffee)

Oh you'll be taking verbal abuse from me regardless.

And yes, cursing and mumbling is very much normal. Though my first time troubleshooting it was more along the lines of "oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap". One reason being because it was the family computer (I didn't have my own), the other being that I was only 13, and the last because the computer wouldn't even boot anymore, lol.

Ahh... well... I suppose we all gotta start somewhere.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:19 pm

yeah, even if you thoroughly screw your family computer up, heheh. I screwed up a customer unit while working for Best Buy (back before they required A+, when I was first starting out) by forgetting to ground myself before going inside the case, and it was the butt-ass cold of Winter, so static shock was common. As soon as I touched the inside, and saw that arc come off my finger and hit the heatsink, I knew I was screwed, lol. let's just say someone got a write-up for that one, and the store took a 750 dollar hit to replace the tower. I had to learn everything the hard way, but well-worth it now that I know what I know (and it was very lucrative when the economy was ok).

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:50 am

Well, I have a saying I used to use for learing to Ski when I lived in Colorado which could easily apply for this hobby:

CRASH AND BURN IS THE WAY TO LEARN!

Fortunately, this is only 1 of 3 PCs I have in my office.
1. HP XW3200 Xeon - Used for work only purposes
2. Dell Dimension XPS Pro200n (200 Mhz with 128 RAM lol)- Used to pay bills and keep track of financial records, etc. Minimal Surfing. (This thing has been running for 6 at least 6 years now.) (Knock on wood)
3. The gaming PC - The good ol' Compaq

Computer #4.....Hmmmmmmmmmm.......Only time will tell!

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:54 am

ideas have already formed in my head about the 4th one, lol. if you get good at this you may want to delve into watercooling and have an uber-PC, and use the Compaq to replace the 200MHz machine you have. talk about getting something done fast, lol

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 10:04 am

OH yeah! Watercooling will be in the next one. Neon lights! Modded case! Awesome CPU and vid card! *TX starts to drool!*

I've already started preping the wife. lol She's seen the moded cases and thought they look 'cool'.

*TX looks into his wallet and a tear rolls down his face* Won't be seing much of that green stuff anymore! lol

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:04 am

Ok, another question:

I have a Logitech THX Z-5300 I was running on my old MB through a Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 Z5 card.

This Abit MB has an onboard 7.1 channel sound system. Would it be bettert to run the surround sound through the card or the onboard sys?

**Edit** The soundcard says it is a 7.1 channel, 24 bit Advanced HD card if that helps.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:19 am

btw, since you've already fell into the enthusiast loop, you'll be eating Ramen and bologna sandwiches from now on, all to try to afford components, rofl

. the Audigy 2 will work on the board, you'll just have to disable the onboard sound before you install it. Sounds like you have a good set of speakers to go with your card, so you're good to go

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:28 am

k thx killswitch

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:40 am

ummmmmmmmm, question.

Would I disable the onboard audio via the bios or the device manager? I seem to be having a prob locating it.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:54 am

you would do it under Device Manager, under Sound, video, and game controllers. The listing that's a brand name (like mine's listed as ESS Allegro PCI Audio) is the one you want to disable, and all you do is right-click it, and left-click disable, then it should either prompt you to restart or it will do so after you close the Device Manager window. Do not restart at this point. Rather, if the message comes up, hit cancel, and then shut down the computer. Install your sound card, boot er back up, install the drivers, and all should be fine afterwards.

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:29 pm

Has anyone heard of an extension (approx 6") for the 4-pin connectors that plug into your CD Roms, HDs, etc?

This Abit mobo has a power connection all the way at the bottom of the board for additional power to the PCI slots. Currently, all I have been able to find are 4-pin Ys that go from one 4-pin to two.

My work around will be to reposition the HD into the bay closer to the mobo and use the 4-pin Y as an extension.

I was just curious since the local retailers didn't have any and I wasn't able to locate any online quickly.

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 1:27 pm

Killswitch,
I disabled the onboard audio. However, everytime I retart the PC I get the "Found New Hardware" wizard for the Multi Media Audo Controller. I assume this is related to the onboard audio. Is there a way to disable this completely so the wizard doesn't pop up everytime I log into Windows? Would uninstalling it completely cause probs?

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 2:03 pm

You need to disable it in your Bios.... It should be in somewhere like "intergrated peripherals"

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 2:07 pm

Found it! Thanks Kenc!

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 3:51 pm

Oh well, some boards are like that I guess, lol. I know when I used to have to disable something I did it through Windows. Well, there's another knot in the belt of knowledge, lol

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 3:59 pm

You should always disable stuff you don't need from your bios... That way winblows doesn't know about it in the first place!
It will also give you a tiny performance boost ;)
It frees-up IRQ's + give more stability when/if overclocking, on-board devices are too sensitive, usb etc. are always the first to go flakey when you "stress" your board ;)

TX_Renegade · Post by **TX_Renegade** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:00 pm

I've got one final question regarding this little project. (No really!

)

I've noticed that Windows XP take 2-3 times longer to load now vs the old MB and chip. I have practically twice the chip power and memory now. I am currently defragging my HD and have run spybot to get rid of any spyware, etc.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions what may be causing this?