[vox-tech] new gaming computer

[Peter Jay Salzman]

Something is wrong with my gaming computer.  Abit NF7 rev2.

1. Installed gigabit ethernet card.  Turned computer on.

2. Got one long beep and no post.  May have been a short beep afterwards.
   Hard to tell.  From Googling:

      1 long - 1 short(Beep) DRAM ERROR

   There doesn't appear to be "one long beep" with no short beeps, so this
   must have been it.  I guess.

3. Removed card and rebooted.  System worked fine.  Reinstalled the card.

4. Rebooted.  Got the one long beep and no post again.

5. Removed card and reboted.  One long beep and no post.

6. Started removing devices.  Removed SCSI card and 2 plextor drives.
   Removed hard drives.  Still one long beep and no post.

7. Drained CMOS and rebooted.

8. Now I get a long continuous shrill squeal and no post.

Googled.  Closest I can come to "a long continuous shrill squeal" is:


      A two-tone siren, generally caused by overheating or out of
      specification voltages.


But I've heard that before.  This ain't it.


I guess the thing to do is to take the computer completely apart and rebuild
it step by step.  Ugh.  Not sure I want to do this.  No time.


Any ideas?


The mobo has known issues with the IDE, PS connectors and USB system.  The
mobo looked really sweet on paper, but has been the most problematic board
I've ever owned; it's caused nothing but heartache.  The PS is name brand,
but only 350W; I wondered if this was enough (I've seen gaming rigs with
750W!).  But after removing most of the peripherals, I still had problems.

Mobo problems:

For example, it won't boot if both ps2 mouse and ps2 keyboard are plugged in
concurrently.  Have to use a USB mouse.

Another issue is that sometimes it won't post out of the blue.  I have to
disconnect the pata drive (I have 2 sata and 1 pata drive), reboot, shut
down, reconnect the pata drive, and it'll boot.

I may just chuck the whole thing and build a new computer.



Next topic.

I've been so busy with work and school that I'm TOTALLY behind the times in
terms of what's out there.  My hardware knowledge is about 4 or 5 years old
(when I first built this system).  I don't really want to become an expert
right now.  Not enough time.

I was wondering if anyone here is thinking of building a gaming rig, and has
done the research.  I'm interested in knowing what your thoughts are for
your next system.

I'd plunk down $2000, but $3000 is my hard limit.

Has anyone been researching/thinking about building a new gaming system?

Thanks,
Peter

-- 
How VBA rounds a number depends on the number's internal representation.
You cannot always predict how it will round when the rounding digit is 5.
If you want a rounding function that rounds according to predictable rules,
you should write your own.
              -- MSDN, on Microsoft VBA's "stochastic" rounding function

Peter Jay Salzman, email: p at dirac.org web: http://www.dirac.org/p    
PGP Fingerprint: B9F1 6CF3 47C4 7CD8 D33E  70A9 A3B9 1945 67EA 951D