Classic British Flight Sim

Hi Ben..

Yes.. I just tried that.. one, then t'other, then none. As long as the ATX12v plug is in place.. the system will not fire up.

Having just been on the Crucial website.. I can't say I'm overly impressed at the remarks coming from Crucial Ballistix users, whether this is now relevant or not. Also, the part number on the 2 x 1gb modules does not appear on the Crucial database (BL12864AA663) which is a little disconserting

Bottom line.. with one, two or none installed.. the result is the same with the 12v ATX plug in place

Now.. where's that hammer??

I don't know if this is also relevant but both the CPU and memory are ex-RP and have been overclocked at some point. I never bothered.. I CBA with that sort of thing.

ATB

DaveB

Seems you have done some good checking there Dave, it does point to a duff CPU or possibly motherboard. Maybe someone on the forum has a spare old CPU you can test???
At least you will know which is the duff bit...

Dave -
I would listen to someone like Ben, before I listened to someone like me.
That said, another part of the saga referred to earlier has floated up from the memory bank.
I found a long (12x2 pin) connector which could only have been destined for a 10 x 2 socket on the mobo.
There was only room to insert it with the overlap to one end. That did not work, but in the process of unplugging it, I discovered an end block of four pins could just slide out of the main assembly, so I tied that off and inserted the remaining 20 pins, and it all worked.

Cheers
MikeW

Hi Mike..

Yep.. I've come across those before. As it is, the main pwr connector on the Gigabyte board IS a 24pin and both the connector on the old PSU and the new one fit like a glove. I've tried shorting the on/off as Ben suggested and to be honest, the only 2 things I've yet to try are
A) remove the mobo battery and reinsert (suggested by Ian) and
B) try a different cpu.
I CAN remove the battery but don't have access to a different cpu. That said.. I have a 486SX25 I could hammer into the same space but I doubt that would work

ATB

DaveB

Won't be the battery mate and the reason the fans come on when you unplug the 4 pin ATX plug the CPU is getting no juice so its not telling the PSU to switch off. I'm with TonyM, I "think" its probably the CPU

Well mate.. after testing every other bit of kit attached to the system.. I think I'm in agreement There can now be only 2 possible enemies.. the cpu or the board.

I've only ever had one board fail on me as far as I can remember and that was my fault. Rather than move the case to where I could get good access to it, I left it where it was and cracked the mobo fighting with a card! CPU's.. well, I've only ever had one of those fail on me and that was also my fault.. an intel slot 1 500mb. The heatsink required the dexterity of a concert pianist to fit.. a strange arrangement of a spring clip and pins.. I'd not located it fully and one end sprang out leaving the core without adequate cooling! Surprising just how long it worked before it failed mind you. I think it was probably ok until we moved pubs and the jarring our careful removal men gave it was enough for the heatsink to lift at one end

Having looked at mobo's yesterday.. I ended being completely flumoxed so will assume the mobo is still ok So.. plan B.. a new cpu. The Gigabyte board is rev2 and should, as far as I can see, take an intel 3gig dualcore (amongst others) straight out of the box so I might head for one of those. Can't see the point in going for a quad as I still use XP Home and have no intention of moving up in the near future FSB on the mobo is up to 1333Mhz. Not sure what a 3gig dualcore is so I suppose I'd better start looking. Now.. where's that Santa bloke gone

ATB

DaveB

Morning Dave, had a look at the dual core Intels, and I have read in the past some very good reviews on the E8400/8500/8600 series, the fastest dual cores from Intel, I was very tempted a while back to go with the E8600 but it was very dear however the 8400 is a 3Ghz chip and is highly thought of when reviewed:
- 3.00GHz clock speed
- 6MB L2 Cache
- 1333fsb Bus Speed (9x Multiplier)
- 45nm Process Technology
- Enhanced Halt State (C1E)
- Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology
- Intel Thermal Monitor 2
- Intel Virtualization Technology
- EM64T 64-Bit Technology
- Execute Disable Bit
- Cooler running technology, less heat and less noise!
- Supplied with Intel referance heatsink & fan.

I know your not a fan of O/Clocking but this will hit 3.6Ghz with ease and higher on decent air cooler. the nice thing is it has a lot of cache, cheap compared to a few months ago as well!! Here are a few links for prices etc.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... subcat=793

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=736334

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Inte ... _8280.html

The last link is the cheapest (I bought from them and they are good to deal with) and it states its the EO variant which is the one with unlocked clock, should you wish to "tweak" it up a bit

Hope this helps
TonyM

Hi Tony

Tks for that Now.. if only I can get one past SWMBO

I've seen both FS9 and FSX running in WinXP on one of these and it was simply staggering

ATB

DaveB

put a 1p on a pint that should do it

I think the E8400 chip will please you reading around it is well loved by by all that own them

I've not put the beer up yet but I HAVE ordered a new E8400 6mb retail for delivery on Monday. SHOULD it transpire that it was the other half of the 50/50 that had failed (eg, the mobo).. I know where you all live and I'll let SWMBO know too

ATB

DaveB