MoBoard/processor failure?

[wolfworx]

After much trouble-shooting, I am beginning to believe I have some sort of processor or motherboard failure. The system uses an Asus K8V (socket 754) with AMD Athlon 64.

Basic symptom: I cannot install an operating system. I have tried Win Xp, Win 98SE and even Linux 8.0. I have gotten it to begin the install but the install hangs before it completes. In the Xp install, the early phase runs normally but hangs shortly after the first reboot.

I have tried with different memory, drives and graphics cards, but get identical failures.

The drawback with replacing the processor and mothterboard is the fact that a new board uses DDR2 memory and does not use AGP graphics cards. Also, new boards prefer SATA drives. It appears my DDR memory and AGP card is worthless junk and it would be cheaper to buy a new computer (with Vista instead of Xp) than to try to get this one working.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Compiler]

Yep... that much is true. Socket 754 began phase out about 4 years ago. Its not exactly junk... its outdated. PCIeXpress is better than AGP and rightfully replaces it. PCIexpress costs less nowadays. There are no more new AGP techology coming out, ATI's 3850 card is it and does very well. To spend money on a "new" motherboard that supports AGP would be a waste of money... what happens when your AGP card dies 4 months from now? Buy another AGP? If games are low on ther importance area, you can pick up an AMD board by Gigabyte for $65~85 with onboard video (DVI too), toss in a $40 dual-core CPU that'll smoke your old chip. $20 per GB of RAM. So in a way, you're just spending $20 for memory and maybe $0~80 to replace an old gaming video card. I don't know what your current AGP card is.

Sell the old parts that are good... But yeah... you'd also need a new PSU unless yours is new enough with a 24pin ATX 2.x connectors.

A new system from HP/Compaq/Acer/whatever starts at $400 with a dual core CPU, 2GB RAM, 250+ GB HD, DVD burner (all SATA) and a weak 300watt PSU which is fine for basic users.


But yeah, the easist thing

 

[wolfworx]

I bought a new HP/Compaq with AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Processor 5000+ with 2Gb memory and a 500 GB SATA HD w/ Vista Home Premium for $425.

So I was right, the old system is junk!

 

[Compiler]

Yep... If you're not gaming, it should be just fine as is. Note, in Texas - that exact computer goes for $450 cash at Best Buy with a 17" LCD monitor and a junk HP Printer... $30extra makes it a 19" model screen.

 

[wolfworx]

First, thanks for your input.

I guess I like ti solve mysteries, so I playd around by tweeking the BIOS -- with no real success. I did manage to complete an installation of Win98SE, but not a very stable one, The system hangs -- no keyboard or mouse response after any attempt to add software.

Since this system had performed perfectly for years, I have been curious as to what component failed. Asus does not appear to have a board hardware diagnosis program that will run independent of the O/S, but I suppose there is some onboard chip or cap or diode that failed.

I could have don something more constructive -- like re-arranging my sock drawer!

 

[Compiler]

Well... I have PCs that are still operational after I built them 8 years ago... they ended up being donated to people who can't afford a computer. Well, out of 8 PCs, 6 were good as new (I guess)... the rest, spare parts.

Curious... after a week or so. How do you like the new PC and Vista?

 

[wolfworx]

Just moved a DVD drive from the old computer over to the new one and it is not working properly. I slaved it with an old ATA hard drive on the PATA port. The old ATA HD works fine. The original HD and DVD on the new computer are SATA.

As far as Vista... well, why fight it. Like it or die! It IS pretty.

 

[Compiler]

Yeah.. everything is SATA nowadays. Keep in mind, if your old PATA Hard drive (All drives are ATA) is more than a few years old, it will also be quite noisy. Perhaps create a partition or folder on the new HD and transfer all data to the new drive. Then pull the older drive out of the box. Todays HDs are almost silent.

In the pre-SATA days of HD, it has always been prefered to have the optical drive on a seperate channel than the hard drive.

Google vista tips... there are things you can shut down and/or uninstall to improve the performance. HPaq is still bad about installing a lot of crap on computers. Junk like "register with HP", "HP Games"(Wild Tangent), "Internet easy setup" and more.

Other than standard Vista install & drivers - everything else is pretty much removable. If you want MS-Office 2007(trial version is always installed), might as well delete the trial and install from a $90 CD. (Note: HPaq and other name brands store the installation files on the HDs)