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Tried to upgrade PC, no more video
El Guaco
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Original setup:
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo,
AMD 4200+ cpu
4GB OCZ RAM
7600 GT video card
OCZ 450W power supply
New gear:
Athlon X2 7850 2.8GHz
ATI 7570
CoolerMaster giant heat sink with 120mm fan
So, it was time to upgrade my system, and I figured as long as I was needing a new video card, it probably wouldn't hurt pick up a new cpu as well. I also grabbed the giant heatsink because I wanted to overclock a bit to squeeze out every bit of performance in my 4 year old computer.
So, installing the heatsink was a giant PITA, but I got it done and got the cpu in there as well. I pop in the new video card and boot it up. No video. Oh yeah, this new video card needs power. Duh. I fix that and restart. The bios complained about changes but I resolved that quickly.
Everything seems to be going well. It ran Borderlands for about 5 minutes on very high settings, then it blue screened. Yeah I got Win 7 to blue screen. I reboot and it seems to be fine and then same story it locks up this time and requires a hard reboot.
I boot to BIOS and check the temps and my cpu is only 30 C. That big ass heat sink seems to be doing its job, so I don't think that's the problem. It was then I remembered that ASUS recommended a BIOS upgrade to support that CPU. I download it and flash it and I can boot up again. But it doesn't take long before my system locks up again.
Things went downhill from there and soon I had no video at all at boot time. I tried swapping out the video card for the old one, and still no video. Both video cards couldn't be fried, I thought, so I decide to take everything apart and check the new cpu and heatsink. That looke fine, but to be sure, I reinstalled the old cpu and heatsink and the old video card and fired it up. Still no video. I am sure it the BIOS is starting up because it gives me the single beep, and because I've done it a million times at this point, I can hit DEL and ESC, ENTER and reboot the machine, and the BIOS restarts. Still no video.
The only thing I haven't tried changing is the RAM, but I don't think faulty RAM would cause a lack of video, it most likely wouldn't start at all.
My working theories:
A) Because I forgot to power the video card the first time, the card may have attempted to draw the current off the PCI Express bus, thus damaging the bus/chipset on my motherboard.
The 450W power supply wasn't enough and I damaged the motherboard.
C) I'm just unlucky.
So, now I'm wondering if I have a faulty motherboard or something worse. If I do replace it, do I get a similar model, or do I upgrade to something else and toss the new $80 cpu (which I'm 90% sure still works)? If I upgrade, I'll want to do a new mobo, cpu, and a much bigger power supply. If I replace it do I need a bigger PS to prevent the problem from happening again? The idea of the upgrade was to save the expense of building a new system, now I'm wondering if I should just go whole hog and do it.
Also, I have a IDE HDD that I use for data storage. Do newer mobo's still support IDE or are they SATA only now?
Thoughts? Suggestions?
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo,
AMD 4200+ cpu
4GB OCZ RAM
7600 GT video card
OCZ 450W power supply
New gear:
Athlon X2 7850 2.8GHz
ATI 7570
CoolerMaster giant heat sink with 120mm fan
So, it was time to upgrade my system, and I figured as long as I was needing a new video card, it probably wouldn't hurt pick up a new cpu as well. I also grabbed the giant heatsink because I wanted to overclock a bit to squeeze out every bit of performance in my 4 year old computer.
So, installing the heatsink was a giant PITA, but I got it done and got the cpu in there as well. I pop in the new video card and boot it up. No video. Oh yeah, this new video card needs power. Duh. I fix that and restart. The bios complained about changes but I resolved that quickly.
Everything seems to be going well. It ran Borderlands for about 5 minutes on very high settings, then it blue screened. Yeah I got Win 7 to blue screen. I reboot and it seems to be fine and then same story it locks up this time and requires a hard reboot.
I boot to BIOS and check the temps and my cpu is only 30 C. That big ass heat sink seems to be doing its job, so I don't think that's the problem. It was then I remembered that ASUS recommended a BIOS upgrade to support that CPU. I download it and flash it and I can boot up again. But it doesn't take long before my system locks up again.
Things went downhill from there and soon I had no video at all at boot time. I tried swapping out the video card for the old one, and still no video. Both video cards couldn't be fried, I thought, so I decide to take everything apart and check the new cpu and heatsink. That looke fine, but to be sure, I reinstalled the old cpu and heatsink and the old video card and fired it up. Still no video. I am sure it the BIOS is starting up because it gives me the single beep, and because I've done it a million times at this point, I can hit DEL and ESC, ENTER and reboot the machine, and the BIOS restarts. Still no video.
The only thing I haven't tried changing is the RAM, but I don't think faulty RAM would cause a lack of video, it most likely wouldn't start at all.
My working theories:
A) Because I forgot to power the video card the first time, the card may have attempted to draw the current off the PCI Express bus, thus damaging the bus/chipset on my motherboard.
The 450W power supply wasn't enough and I damaged the motherboard.C) I'm just unlucky.
So, now I'm wondering if I have a faulty motherboard or something worse. If I do replace it, do I get a similar model, or do I upgrade to something else and toss the new $80 cpu (which I'm 90% sure still works)? If I upgrade, I'll want to do a new mobo, cpu, and a much bigger power supply. If I replace it do I need a bigger PS to prevent the problem from happening again? The idea of the upgrade was to save the expense of building a new system, now I'm wondering if I should just go whole hog and do it.
Also, I have a IDE HDD that I use for data storage. Do newer mobo's still support IDE or are they SATA only now?
Thoughts? Suggestions?
El Guaco on
0
Posts
Your BIOS may have been reset in that last crash. Try hooking your monitor to the onboard video.
Yes, most new motherboards still have 1 IDE slot.
But I will try the onboard video. I completely forgot about that option. :^:
I'm pretty sure that the problem is that the PCI-E bus doesn't really handle time travel that well.
I don't know what you actually have (5770 or something?) but unless it has two PCI-E power connectors, any halfway decent 450W power supply should be fine.
That doesn't mean that their isn't a problem with yours, however.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
It only has 1 power connector on the vid card. My PS has special PCI-E rails, so I plugged into one of them.
Did you unplug your computer before swapping the parts?
GT: Tanky the Tank
Black: 1377 6749 7425
LOL
Yes, I did. I suppose you ask because someone somewhere has been that foolish.
Also, I couldn't check the on-board video last night because my LCD only came with a DVI cable. I have 3 adapters for DVI to analog but none of them are designed to work that direction. I think I threw out all my old CRTs years ago. I'm beginning to really feel the pinch of a 4 year old system. It's amazing how much changes over that period of time.
I've pretty much decided at this point to upgrade my motherboard and power supply at the very least. If I can find a mobo that will take that "older" athlon chip and leave me room for upgrades then that will be swell.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I looked at that one, and checked the Gigabyte web site to make sure it supported the CPU I just bought. It's not on the list. So instead I found this one. It has everything I want including support for the old CPU plus room for upgrades later, for only $99. I can also pick it up at lunch at my local Microcenter (I live in the Boston area).
I've also settled on upgrading my power supply to the Antec Earthwatts 750. It's funny how a power supply can cost more than a motherboard these days, but I don't want to take any chances on fried parts due to power failure. This has happened more than once to me now, so I'm not cutting corners this time.
I picked up that motherboard and power supply and installed all the new parts. Still no video! I dragged up my old 17" CRT from the basement and plugged it into the on-board video. Finally, some video. Plugged the CRT into the new video card, it worked fine. At this point I was pretty sure it was either the DVI cable or my LCD. I ran to BB right before they closed and got a DVI cable. The LCD still complained of no signal.
WTF.
What are the chances that my LCD would die suddenly while I had those crashes and lockups earlier in the process? Did one cause the other? Or am I colossally unlucky?
I now wonder if my old motherboard is fine. I am certainly glad I got the beefier power supply, and in the long run I won't regret having the new motherboard since I can later replace the CPU with a Phenom. But damn, now I'm probably going to have to buy a new LCD, too.
At least I can still use it now, but it doesn't look quite as sharp as it did with the DVI.
I think the initial crashes were due to insufficient power. The new power supply is big enough to handle two video cards, I'm sure. I could go back and test the old motherboard, but there's little point since the new one allows me to keep my upgrade path open. I was just unlucky in that the crashes were probably the trigger for the DVI stuck bug on my Viewsonic monitor.
I had one lockup on Borderlands with all the video settings maxxed. I dropped the AF a notch or two and it's been smooth ever since.
That lockup is odd. I wonder if it's a heat issue or just a bug in the game. Still I'm glad to see it was just a power issue. Those can be tough to diagnose if they don't show themselves immediately.
"Read twice, post once. It's almost like 'measure twice, cut once' only with reading." - MetaverseNomad