Thanks to a very helpful Devon Kerr I now know what parts of my PC were causing my prior trouble.
I was running a Core 2 Duo 3.0GHz LGA 775 in an Asus Striker Extreme mobo with 4GB of DDR2 800 RAM.
I played around with every possible video card and ram combination (since I had multiple’s of each) and had pretty much ruled those out.
Devon was kind enough to provide a Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz CPU, some XMMS RAM, and an ASUS P5B deluxe.
I swapped out my RAM for his RAM, no go.
I swapped out my CPU for his CPU, no go.
I swapped out my motherboard for his motherboard, CPU, and RAM – system fires up.
I put my CPU into his motherboard and RAM – no go.
Put back in his CPU with my RAM – system still works.
Problem identified: 1 x Bad Mobo, 1 x Bad CPU. Really unexpected, but that’s what it looks to be. My mobo won’t work with a known good CPU, and his mobo won’t work with my CPU, even though all compatibility checks out.
Now what to do? I have enough components now for a slower (but working) desktop solution. Maybe instead of buying replacement / upgrade parts I’ll just leave things like they are until something else dies. Either that or go all out with new CPU, Mobo, and RAM.
Thoughts?
Comments
One response to “Home PC – diagnosed at least”
Well, one might argue that the pursuit and achievement of knowledge, itself, is the reward you’ve won.
You could just pick up a cheap compatible motherboard and make yourself a second machine. Were I to advocate a purpose for what is otherwise a paperweight I suppose you could tackle the following in no particular order:
transparent ethernet bridge with NIDS
DR/BC host
covert PC hidden in some mundane object
build a touchscreen coffee table
build yourself an enterprise-class router
if you don’t like any of those ideas or don’t know how to do any of those things you can give it some public school or library and make a damn difference.
Me, I’d whip up a pair of HA load balancers, sell them to a development concern, and re-invest in Atlantic City.