Author Topic: Computer's broken, need ideas for motherboard & case  (Read 1021 times)

I went out today to go to Fry's Electronics, bought myself a 1.5 TB HDD, 4 GB of RAM and a Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 processor. I shut down my computer and connected everything, and it turns out I confused the socket number for my computer, but it still fit and whatnot. When I put everything back together, I turned on the computer and all the fans turned on at full speed, indicating the processor has an error. I put back in my Pentium 4, and now, my computer won't do the self-test when it's plugged in, so it thinks the processor still has an error (it works in my moms computer just fine, though, and also the core 2 duo did the same thing on my moms computer but it still works with the P4). I'm gonna guess that the CMOS on my computer's screwed over. (Both of these computers are Optiplex 320's by Dell)

So now I need ideas for good motherboards, and good cases. The motherboard MUST have a Socket 775. I was looking at the following:

[Motherboard | EVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW]
[Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 590 Black ATX Mid Tower]

If you post pictures, please post small ones, my Wi-fi card is acting awfully slow in my moms computer.
Also, please look at outpost.com, as I don't really do online shopping and I can go to a Fry's Electronics and pick up the items.

I only have $300 left, so that's all I can use for a case and motherboard. I don't need some ultra-nice case, because cases with side-windows would be useless to me (desk has a place for the computer)
« Last Edit: March 16, 2009, 04:20:21 PM by Miga »

I can't look anything up on my cellphone here. The dial up-like speed is lame.
But does your current(broken) mobo have a reset function? A physical one on the board itself
I now some do, I've fixed similar problems like that. Unless its actually shot

sounds kind of when I put in a new graphics card the first time and forgot to give it the power thingy so I tried putting in my old and it didn't work.

I can't look anything up on my cellphone here. The dial up-like speed is lame.
But does your current(broken) mobo have a reset function? A physical one on the board itself
I now some do, I've fixed similar problems like that. Unless its actually shot
You should get 3G if you don't already have it.
Also, yeah, it was a little jumper that I scooted over, pressed the power button, put the jumper back, and tried it, it still does the same thing.

sounds kind of when I put in a new graphics card the first time and forgot to give it the power thingy so I tried putting in my old and it didn't work.
Yeah, this has happened before when I installed my 8800GT, except it actually came back to life when I reset the mobo.

Yeah, this has happened before when I installed my 8800GT, except it actually came back to life when I reset the mobo.
Well now I know I'm not the only one that forget to do that :D

Updated top post, I'd still like suggestions though.

780i isn't a budget board and has a slight history of being unstable, mostly luck of the draw whether the board works or not. A better option would be to get a much cheaper, more stable P45 motherboard, such as one from GIGABYTE.

The Centurion line of cases are really good if you're on a budget. My first case was a Centurion, as was another one I used in my brother's current case. Easy to work with, well built, not too flashy or gaudy.

BTW, it isn't just socket type that determines compatibility, the BIOS version has to be compatible and some chipsets are not compatible with the Core2 lineup. Always do some research before hand to check for processor/memory compatibility.