Two Questions

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Andy F, Nov 9, 2008.

  1. Andy F

    Andy F New Member

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    Hi guys.

    I recently had a problem with the power supply in my PC and, in the course of sourcing the problem, realised my Processor was at a pretty low temperature. Since it was going pretty slow (1ghz :() I decided to see if I could overclock it just a little.

    As soon as I saved the setting in the bios, the PC restarted but wouldn't POST. According to the D-Bracket on the back it's stalling at "Initalizing Floppy Drive". I've tried resetting the CMOS jumper but it hasn't had any effect. Any ideas? I've read about actually physically removing the CMOS itself but I don't know how safe that is?

    It's an MSI 6570 motherboard with 1.5 gig of PC2700 RAM, don't know the make/model of Processor though, unfortunately.

    The other question I've got is about replacing it. Obviously, it's an old system anyway and I've been thinking of building a GOOD replacement for a while. The only problem I'm hitting is with TV Out. In the past I've been using an S-Video cable into a Scart adaptor but most graphics cards I can find now are using HDMI or DVI interfaces which are no good to me and my scart only TV.

    I was going to buy this barebones system http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146254 which has on-board graphics so obviously I'm looking for a card at least as good as a NVIDIA GeForce 6100. Anyone know any cards that would work for me?

    Anyway, thanks for any help you can give me. I'm getting really sick of having to use my Laptop all the time.
     
  2. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    What about taking out the cmos battery?

    also what spec is the PSU (wattage wise)?:blink

    Have you checked that all the power cables are connected to the Mobo and that there is a light on the Mobo (assuming that it has one?)
     
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  3. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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  4. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    You should move the jumper, turn on pc at power socket, this normally allows a small current round the PCs circuits that powers the on switch and the wake on lan etc.
    Wait 10 seconds, turn PC off at power socket. Move jumper back. Turn PC on at socket then use normal case power botton at front to turn on and boot.
    If you have a switch on the PSU at the back ensure this is on the whole time obviously or use this instead the power socket switch.

    If this fails you can remove the battery as stated, simply remove it, wait a few minutes, then put it back, do all this with the power off at the mains.

    A lot of places on ebay do mid range processor/memory/mobo bundles cheap, you could get one of these and whack it in as a straight replacement.

    Otherwise as stated you could do a new build with a barebones system from scan/ebuyer/novatech etc. You can get modern video cards with S-video or keep old card.

    You could look at media centres, the little ones designed to sit under your TV, usually in a black slimline case, they might have more AV connectors, they tend to be expensive though. Thermaltake/Silverstone do some nice cases.

    It might be cheaper just to thow out the TV ! :D LCD screens seem pretty cheap these days and are likely to give a far better picture, I could never get a decent picture on my CRT TV with S-Video from computer.
     
  5. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    Can't help you much on the fix for your current box except to second the suggestions above. As for replacing the box, the system you've linked to is a fairly basic setup without a lot of room for expansion/improvement and I'd be worried about heat with that case.

    Depending on the amount of money you've got to spend on a new box I'd suggest waiting about a month till the new Intel Core i7 processors hit and systems like this:

    http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?BB-Q6650I

    see a drop in price.

    graphics wise this:

    http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-96GT

    is a fairly decent mid range card with s-video out.

    edit:

    just reread part of Dmarsh's post, keeping the old card won't be an option mate, as far as I'm aware its now impossible to pick up a new mobo still with an AGP slot. (at least one worth owning)
     
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  6. Andy F

    Andy F New Member

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    Thanks for your help guys.

    I followed dmarsh's advice about draining the CMOS (I obviously wasn't doing it properly before) and now it's coming up that the "Processor is damaged or not installed properly" :( I've taken it out, cleaned it and reinstalled it but, still, no joy. I've got a spare Socket 462 Processor somewhere so I'll try installing that later.

    Josiahb - Good point about that system. I was going for a barebones largely out of lazyness, but now that I think about it I'd be better off just building something completely from scratch. I'm going to try and build the whole thing for about £200 so, unfortunately, that system you linked to is out of the question.

    UCheekyMonkey - Those shuttle barebones systems look pretty good. My mate's been asking me to build him a compact system like that for a while (to keep out of the way out of his kids, mainly) so I'll probably pick one of those up soon.

    Thanks again guys.
     
  7. greenbrucelee
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    Sounds like your overclocking has fried the cpu.
     
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  8. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    check the mobo hasn't been damaged aswell
     
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  9. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Yeah I guess I wasn't paying attention, he says its an on board nForce chipset, so either he keeps the mobo and just gets a new processor or ditches the lot really...

    If the case and PSU are any good keep em, same with the memory, but these are usually the cheapest parts in many standard PCs, so it might be worth replacing them also if they aren't up to spec.

    Based on the way old components devalue and new ones get faster every year I'd probably ditch it, plus greenbrucelee has a point, theres no easy way to be sure a chip on the mobo has not been fried too.
     
  10. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    Complete replacement is probably the only real option, the MSI 6570 is an nForce 2 chipset so its only DDR memory which your not gonna be able to use with a new socket AM2 or LGA 775. PSU and case are probably not much use either, a modern pc needs better airflow than the old socket A ever did and more power too.

    This is a pretty good starting point:

    http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-E122G

    Intels dual-cores are a far better prospect than AMDs current line up. and being LGA775 you still have a decent number of upgrade options available.

    If you want a good box to put it in then this:

    http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ANT-300B

    is a kick ass piece of engineering, I shifted my hardware into one and saw significant temp drops even under load.

    But as I said previously if your going for a new build I'd hang on until the core i7 launches as those buying at the mid/low end should see the potential bang per buck jump nicely.
     
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