OT: Computer Problem

[ulthar]

If you don't have it (or an equivalent), I can recommend cpuburn:

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/redelm/

It is specifically designed to maximize heat/power consumption.  With the cpuburn for K7 running on my AthlonXP, it ran for over ten hours at 60 C.  Running a "real" cpu intensive app, it ran about 4 degrees cooler than with cpuburn, so that utility is really stressing the system.  

cpuburn also includes memory burn utility, but for memory testing, I've been using

http://www.memtest86.com/

Both of these have Windows and Linux downloads.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Well, my wife and daughter were doing some shopping yesterday so I took the opportunity to throw in the new mobo and proc fan.  

And you know what?  

IT WORKS!

The Asus mobo feels so much much less cheap than the ECS board that I was using.  I threw it in the case, threw in the proc, proc fan, memory, vid card, etc and had everything wired in just about 30 minutes.

The Zalman fan was especially easy to install.  I hate the standard Intel fans that come with the procs as I always feel that I'm going to either break the clips on the mobo or crack my processor.  Zalman's fan has two bars that go under the clips on the mobo.  Then you sit the fan on the proc and screw it into the bars.  It only took about 5 minutes to install, and I couldn't be happier.  Now my PC idles at 50 degrees C and about 65 or so when gaming.

There was a huge problem with the mobo though.  I'm using a Hitachi Deskstar 80Gb SATA drive.  Well, I put in the motherboard and it booted to the XP Pro load screen.  After about thirty seconds, it would restart.

I figured I just needed to repair the Windows install, which I've had to do in the past after a mobo swap.  I booted to the Windows install disc, yet it said that no drives were found.  I called Asus's support and they said that I needed to install the SATA driver as a third party RAID driver when using the Win install disc.

But in order to make a driver disc, I would need a floppy drive.

I absolutely hate floppy drives.  For me they are a waste of space, so I don't bother putting them into any of the computers that I build.  So, now I'm stuck with my SATA drive out of commission until I can jack a floppy drive out of some old janky computer.

I happened to have a pretty new 40Gb Maxtor IDE drive sitting there that I bought as a spare a few months ago during a sale.  I plugged it in, installed Windows and everything there is going fine.

I immediatly installed Half-Life 2 which my computer used to restart with.  I kicked up the graphics to 1280x1024 at 32 bit with everything on high.  It played perfectly.

So, I installed the Battlefield 2 demo.  Once again, 1280x1024 - graphics on high.  I used to be able to play the demo with the old motherboard but with the graphics all the way on low.  I could never play the multiplayer option because it would constantly restart.

Well, I played multiplayer for about 3 hours last night with no problems.  Every now and then, the game would freeze and I would get that sinking feeling until it would come right back up.  A server running a graphic intensive game like this with 64 players has burps like that quite often.

I then installed UT2004, once again with the graphics all the way up and it played perfectly.  I was getting around 80-90fps constant.  I then installed 3dMark03 and it did fine.  No restarts whatsoever.

Tonight, I'm going to throw Doom 3 at it with the graphics cranked up.  It's so nice to actually having a working machine now.  With the new mobo, I'm not getting any CRC errors like I was with the old one.  It's nice to see the proc temperature drop right on down as well.

[ulthar]

"A server running a graphic intensive game like this with 64 players has burps like that quite often."

If playing over the net, could this be more network issue than actually the server?  You are, of course, at the mercy of every router between you and the server.  (I did not catch if you were running the server, or playing off a remote).

I'm glad you like the ASUS board.  I'm getting ready to order the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe with a Athlon 64 X2 (dual core);  I thought my next box(es) would have Tyan boards (I am historically an Abit man), but the specs/reviews of the Asus have been stellar.

By the way, I personally have never seen a Windows install survive a mobo swap; I'm sure it does happen, but it's outside my experience (I've done some work in a PC repair shop).

I'm glad it's working better. That sounds like a rockin' system for gaming.  And for posting on BadMovies.org.    ;)

[Mr_Vindictive]

Ulthar,

It was the server because as soon as the little freeze ups would occur, people would start complaining about it.

As for the Windows problem, it's fine.  I have a DVD-R drive so I backed up all of my music/movies/etc (16Gb) to a few DVDs cause I figured I'd lose most of it.

And, I'm quite happy with the Asus board.  They are top of the line, and mine is great eventhough it's a low end board.  Their support is decent, but outsourced (is it outsourcing if the company isn't American?), and their support is long distance.

I've never used Tyan boards, although I've heard good things.  I might consider them if/when I build a new PC - in the distant future.