[NTLUG:Discuss] PC Hardware Issue

Lenrek Xunil lenrek.xunil at gmail.com
Thu Dec 21 12:30:59 CST 2006


I built my own PC.  It's got an Abit motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 CPU,
1.5gigs of ram (two cards), dual graphics card, SATA hard drive, LCD
monitors,
oversized quiet CPU element/fan, etc.

This past month at random times, sometimes once a day, sometimes several
times a day, intermittently and for no apparent reason, the displays will
get all jagged.  The music will continue playing, then after a couple of
seconds it stops.

I would think it was the graphics card, but the whole system seems to stop
shortly thereafter.  I've switched out the memory, reseated everything but
the CPU, but it still happens.  I've looked at the bios settings, etc.

I'm thinking it's my motherboard.  What do you all think?


Some lessons I learned in all of this:

-Don't go cheap on the case.  I got an aluminum case and I regret it because
I just get this feeling that things aren't firmly seated.  Also the back
panel did not match the board so I had to cut it out.  It basically looks
like a skeleton, especially since I don't have the lid on to maximize air
flow.  Reminds me of the computer in that movie Pi.
-If you're building a computer, don't buy from CompUSA.  You're going to pay
50% more for equipment that's 6-12 months old.  I only got the motherboard
and the CPU there, but even though It's only been about a year and a half,
my PC is already outdated.  For the other components I scoured different
online stores and got great deals on good brands.
-Never upgrade.  Always buy all of your equipment at the same time.  (I did
this piece by piece).  Even after about 3 years, standards change, power
requirements change, and the cooling requirements change.

Thanks in advance for your help!


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