Fried Motherboard?

[J!ll]

No bleep test, orange light next to the RAM as opposed to the usual green. The motherboard is very old. Model: GA 8PE667 Ultra2.

I have a Pentium4 CPU, GeForce FX 5200 GFX Card, ATX PSU, and what I think is DDR333 RAM. My current motherboard is a Gigabyte model. Any ideas on where to get the exact same, or one that would be compatible with all these components. 

[DorsetBoy]

Assuming this orange light is on the M/Board  the fault could be a number of things and a close visual inspection may show you where the fault lies.

Did you get any noises/smoke/smells?

Bios battery is the cheapest place to start, next would be the PSU,don't assume it is the Mobo you could replace it for no reason.

[DorsetBoy]

If it is the board that has gone it is a Socket 478,looking for that on Google uk reveals this site (out of many)  and they have boards which would suit.

                           PCUPGRADE

                            Asrock

The spares are out there but you need to know exactly what was on the old board and check compatibility.

[J!ll]

Assuming this orange light is on the M/Board  the fault could be a number of things and a close visual inspection may show you where the fault lies.

Did you get any noises/smoke/smells?

Bios battery is the cheapest place to start, next would be the PSU,don't assume it is the Mobo you could replace it for no reason.

No noise, smoke, smell, it happened after a lightening strike! did not switch pc off quick enough    Monitor was working, but it had taken network card out, bought another. Now Monitor will not work, and hear no beep tests, so assumed it must be motherboard.

My pc man is on holiday, son who built his own super pc can't work it out either as he says it's problems are not making sense.

Feel like I've had my arm cut off 

[Rik]

Hi Jill

It's hard to diagnose this remotely, but there's a chance the CPU has been taken out by the lightning strike, switching it off would not necessarily have helped - if your router was still connected to the phone socket there was a path to earth through the PC.

At this point, I'd suggest trying things like the monitor and graphics card with another machine, also the memory if you can. It's really going to be about diagnosis by elimination.

It might be worth looking at your insurance policy, you may be able to claim for a replacement. Good luck.

[J!ll]

Ok thanks peeps    Will try another monitor, nothing else I can try from this pc, as son would say it's too good for me! and mine wants throwing    Prefer to spend on cruises anyway, otherwise I would have one built even better than his! kids 

[Rik]

Would this be an opportunity to re-evaluate your needs, Jill? Perhaps a notebook might be a better solution for you (you could even take it cruising!).

[J!ll]

  yes is worth a thought.

[J!ll]

Jill's son here, she is useless at explaining events  . The whole computer is attached to a surge protector which is then obviously attached to the plug. I am doubtfull it is the PSU etc. However, the router is connected straight into a different socket (without a protector), this caused the network card to frazzle. We bought a new one which now works, im guessing the lightning went through the network cable into the card frazzled that and one would assume it will have hit the mobo too. Sound good?

Thanks Jack

[Rik]

Hi Jack

The chances are that the surge came through the phone line, into the router and then took the easy path to earth by going through the PC. It could be the motherboard alone, or it may have taken other components along the way, eg CPU, memory etc. The quickest way to check is going to be by substitution, switching bits to a 'known good' machine. Jill said that the fans still spin up, if they and the HDs are running it's probably not the PSU.

[Lance]

Prehaps a good reason to have wireless networking!

[Rik]

It's definitely a benefit, Lance. Ideally, we should move away from electrical connections and use opto-isolation but, like fibre to the home, I don't see it happening for a long time.

[J!ll]

Decided against a repair, not worth it! Gone for a reconditioned one, years guarantee, staying away from Vista 

Features for this PACKARD BELL IMEDI2569
-    Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Processor
-    1.86GHz, 1GHz FSB, 2MB Cache
-    Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
-    1GB DDR RAM
-    160GB Hard Disk Drive
-    Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD RW Drive
-    64MB nVidia GeForce 7300 SE Graphics
-    8-In-1 Media Card Reader
-    6 USB Connections
-    4 PCI Slots

Specification for this PACKARD BELL IMEDI2569
Processor Type    Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Processor
Clock-Speed    1.86GHz
Front Side BUS    1GHz
Cache    2 MB
Operating-System    Windows XP Media Centre Edition
RAM Memory    1024 MB
Hard Disk Capacity    160 Gb
Optical Drive 1    Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Plug In Removable Hard Drive    No
Built-in Digital TV Tuner    No
Remote Control    No
802.11g Wireless Network Ready    No
Graphics Memory    64 MB
Graphics Description    NVIDIA GeForce 7300se
Sound Card    Onboard
Soundcard included    No
Media Card Reader    8-In-1
Built-In HP Docking Station    No
No of USB connections    6
No of PCI Slots    4
No. of Firewire Connections    1
Keyboard    Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse    No
Mouse    Yes
Weight    6.5 kg
Height    385 mm
Width    180 mm
Depth    390 mm
Network LAN    On Board LAN
Software Titles Included    MS Works 8.0

[Rik]

Nice to see you back, Jill. I tend to agree that a repair was likely to be uneconomic. Now, for your new machine, we have some excellent go faster stripes... 

[DorsetBoy]

Sounds good,a much better bet than playing with the old board.

[J!ll]

Nice to see you back, Jill. I tend to agree that a repair was likely to be uneconomic. Now, for your new machine, we have some excellent go faster stripes... 

Well it's not new, but should be better than what I had, dont need anything fancy 

[Inactive]

Nice to see you back Jill, I like XP Media Centre above all other OS.   

[J!ll]

Nice to see you back Jill, I like XP Media Centre above all other OS.   

Thank you  not back, just logged onto Jack's PC while he is at work, he will go mad!

Was a little worried about XP Media, but was not paying for Vista. 

[Rik]

You can always pretend the media centre isn't there, Jill, and it will behave just like XP 'vanilla'.

Now about the extra RAM and second hard drive you're going to want... 

[J!ll]

You can always pretend the media centre isn't there, Jill, and it will behave just like XP 'vanilla'.

Now about the extra RAM and second hard drive you're going to want... 

It will arrive Monday, so will let you know what extras I need 

[J!ll]

Prehaps a good reason to have wireless networking!

Well tried wireless, but Jack could not get the speed he wanted, serious game player 

[Rik]

Seems like a lifetime away, Jill. Won't you get withdrawal symptoms by then?

[Rik]

Well tried wireless, but Jack could not get the speed he wanted, serious game player 

What was the problem, Jill? Wireless is more than fast enough for ADSL, was it latency issues?

[J!ll]

Seems like a lifetime away, Jill. Won't you get withdrawal symptoms by then?

Have them already, cannot get them to deliver any sooner 

[J!ll]

What was the problem, Jill? Wireless is more than fast enough for ADSL, was it latency issues?

Am not sure, he will have to explain. 

[Rik]

Have them already, cannot get them to deliver any sooner 

Well, you know where I am Jill - there's a spare machine waiting for you...

[J!ll]

Could have bought that one off you, am sure it would have been better than what I ordered 

[Rik]

No you couldn't, I wasn't disposing of it, merely offering you use...

[J!ll]

Very kind of you  will catch up on my work, so Monday will come round quick 

[Rik]

Don't forget that it's patch Tuesday, so you'll need to update the machine as soon as you get it.