Pain, Agony, and Sadness (Bad Computer Expierences)

Edgler Vess

Over the past 4 months ive been saving every extra dime I could get my hands on. Finally, I came into a nice pile of extra coin to put me over my "savings goal" so I could score my new case, components, ram, etc, etc. which are as follows:

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail

SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L - OEM

COOLER MASTER UCP RS900-AAAAA3 900W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Power Supply - Retail

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

The parts all come in on my day off (with today being the following day) which gives me plenty of time to complete the build, install windows (RC 7), and get everything running smoothly.

I spend about 4 hours double checking everything before I finally plug it in, hit the power switch all excited about my first "build it yourself" computer, with everything that I want in a gaming machine....and.....nothing.... Processor heatsink/fan combo does not start up, machine makes no noise.

I spend the next 7 hours of last night checking and double checking absolutely everything I can think of and then some things I hadn't thought of....still no dice....

Last night I pull the processor out to see if maybe i screwed up seating it...nope it was right and its to late to go get more Thermal paste.

This morning i get the new paste put the processor back in place and start looking again, after about 3 more hours of failure and pain with zero progress, I threw in the towel and called a local computer shop to see if they can figure out where Im failing, or what parts i have that did fail...

I guess the moral of the story is I guess there is a certain amount of frustration everyone is willing to put up with when it comes to technology, I gather that my threshold is about 10 hours of what should have been a great day. Whats yours?

tl;dr: Spent 10 hours building machine that still doesn't work, put it in the shop...wasted day...whats your threshold of tolerance for this stuff?

travathian

Given my extensive history with computers and specifically hardware repair, nearly infinite if I am on a budget. But I have an advantage that I have spares of a lot of common components which I can use to troubleshoot, not to mention a 50lb toolbox. If I'm not on a tight budget, I have no problem tossing components which I think are suspect.

Ego

Sorry to hear your build didn't go well.

I build a lot of machines, and one thing I've found is that it's always worth testing the CPU/motherboard/memory/video card before you actually start tossing things in the case. This confirms that everything is working right and gives you a chance to test with a second PSU if things don't seem to be working despite being hooked up properly. It also lets you easily confirm that you've got the right header on the motherboard for the power switch in a well lit place.

It doesn't help as much for people without a lot of spare parts to test with, but when you do have spare parts, it also makes testing with them just that much easier.

Edgler Vess

Good news on the pain front: Im now posting fromthe new machine and everything worked out well (the professional I had look at it cost me $53.50, worth every penny) turned out to be a wattage roblem, my cheap ass power strips were not supplying the nessesary voltage to get the machine moving:




All moves well....Im fast...watch out...

may as well post a "before pic" to see what I upgraded from....

Thought I would throw down what I threw down on my guild message board...

So i had this plan see, i was crashing on raids, melting down when it mattered most. Life was a miserable shell of what it should be, nothing but misery and pain could be had from playng on a machine such as this (Note the black tab hanging over the top, that's the hard drive)....nevermind the fact I had to "Jump start" the motherboard on every restart.



I saw the light.... "Build it and you will "Jizz in your pants"" but I had no coin.....4 months pass with me saving cash...eating ramen noddles at work.....drinking "chek cola"....getting made fun of by all the cool kids....all in the name of getting better, faster, stronger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

Finally I run into what I need....a way for an avation expert such as myself to switch modes and become a "computer geek" all thanks to the techreport...gives clear instructions as to how to put some crap together to join the cool kids

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/13671

Not only that but they threw down some basic guidelines for gamers on a budget, gamers that were middle class and good looking (such as myself) and gamers that were ridiculously loaded

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/17102

Heres what I finally decided upon...I needed a strong case with good ventilation (Im a smoker and my house is 85 years old)...all items were purchased on from www.newegg.com ....shipping is ridiculously fast and their service is terrific.


1 x COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
1 x COOLER MASTER UCP RS900-AAAAA3 900W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Power Supply - Retail
1 x SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail
1 x SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L - OEM
1 x GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
2 x Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2K2/4GR - Retail
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
1 x Crysis Maximum Edition PC Game EA - Retail
The theory being that this will give me speed, breatheability (is that a word?), and the.....operating system i need....wait......I have no copy of any operating system...after more searching...score.......here comes Windows 7...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/home?os=win7

download on your existing PC and love it.....for free....for now....gotta pay the normal cost come later but it works great (or i wouldn't be posting this now, its like Vista....on crack.....and not built by morons....

Finally after 36 hours (!) of waiting my parts come in....



I proceed to assemble the parts as per the Techreport....and......no dice.....the damn thing wont power up....im defeated...a shell of my former self....finally after much troubleshooting and pain, I learn....power strips are bad, not providing the needed wattage to power this 900W power supply...and away we go...were in business


Drop the burned disc in and install windows 7....and here I am.....fast, sleek, and powerful......as I should be........now make your own and don't get blown up by the clowns at dell for doing something you can do way better on your own....or the Hellhound Winston will come and steal your soul....

Dog

You should really do some dusting bro.

Edgler Vess

Thtas just it, I did, the house is 85 years old, the "dust" on the new case is just a reflection from the protective tape i havent taken off yet..

Ego

Glad to hear that the problem wasn't with your build at all, and that things are looking good.

Nice system!

Dark Shroud

I use this brand form history. But it's so worth to just buy a Surge suppressor with a long cord & a lot of outlets to handle everything. It can save a lot of time, hassle, and even your PC.

Example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812120406