Can you answer two quick questions please?

[Sleepingforest]

The answer to that question will depend on what usage you had planned for this PC in terms of usage (what programs and games, if any).

[Turbonium]

Ugh, sorry to hear about the screw up.

I hope you get it sorted out. Just be nice to them when you go in, and they'll be more likely to help you out, regardless of their policies.

[Pinecallado]

Originally Posted by Sleepingforest

The answer to that question will depend on what usage you had planned for this PC in terms of usage (what programs and games, if any).

I was mostly going to be using this as a HPTC and maybe for the psx2 and dolphin emulators. I guess if i'm using emualtors though it would probably be better to buy a dedicated GPU then a integrated one.

Originally Posted by Turbonium

Ugh, sorry to hear about the screw up.

I hope you get it sorted out. Just be nice to them when you go in, and they'll be more likely to help you out, regardless of their policies.

Thanks!

I feel so stupid for not checking Motherboard compatability before opening everything. If I'm not able to retern it then I will have to pay $34.99 for a celeron cpu then figure out someway to sell it when I'm done with it.

Question for everyone do you think its possible for microcenter or some other computer shop to upgrade my bios for me just for like $25 dollars or something?

[Sleepingforest]

Hmm... yeah, you may want to spring for a 7770 or something--I'm sure those emulators can utilize it. If you do end up getting a dedicated GPU, you don't need to worry about the integrated graphics.

[Steltek]

Originally Posted by Pinecallado

I was mostly going to be using this as a HPTC and maybe for the psx2 and dolphin emulators. I guess if i'm using emualtors though it would probably be better to buy a dedicated GPU then a integrated one.



Thanks!

I feel so stupid for not checking Motherboard compatability before opening everything. If I'm not able to retern it then I will have to pay $34.99 for a celeron cpu then figure out someway to sell it when I'm done with it.

Question for everyone do you think its possible for microcenter or some other computer shop to upgrade my bios for me just for like $25 dollars or something?

A local shop can do it, though they might charge more than you'd want to pay.

You have nothing to loose by asking at Micro Center, as I think I recall that they do some tech stuff including system assembly and board post tests. If they give you a problem with a return, ask to speak to a manager and make sure you point out that it was one of their salespersons who talked you into this combo without telling you they wouldn't work together out of the box. Also point out that you'd be happy to keep everything if one of their techs could just flash that pesky BIOS for you....

If you go the Celeron route, make sure that you get enough new heatsink thermal material to apply to the heatsink after you've flashed the BIOS. If the Celeron you buy doesn't have a heatsink, you'll need enough for two applications (one for installing the Celeron, then one to reapply the heatsink to your processor once you are finished flashing). You'll also need some isopropryl alcohol and a lint-free cloth (coffee filters can work great) to use to remove the old thermal material from the CPU and from the heatsink.

[mfenn]

Microcenter will let you return anything within 15 days. You just have to stop by the "Knowledge Bar" and explain your problem to a tech.

What you should do to get the best value is to keep the i3 3225, but switch the board for a 7 series one. That'll let you keep your $50 combo discount. As for which board to get, the ASRock H77M-ITX is the least expensive board that will do what you need.

[Pinecallado]

Originally Posted by Steltek

A local shop can do it, though they might charge more than you'd want to pay.

You have nothing to loose by asking at Micro Center, as I think I recall that they do some tech stuff including system assembly and board post tests. If they give you a problem with a return, ask to speak to a manager and make sure you point out that it was one of their salespersons who talked you into this combo without telling you they wouldn't work together out of the box. Also point out that you'd be happy to keep everything if one of their techs could just flash that pesky BIOS for you....

If you go the Celeron route, make sure that you get enough new heatsink thermal material to apply to the heatsink after you've flashed the BIOS. If the Celeron you buy doesn't have a heatsink, you'll need enough for two applications (one for installing the Celeron, then one to reapply the heatsink to your processor once you are finished flashing). You'll also need some isopropryl alcohol and a lint-free cloth (coffee filters can work great) to use to remove the old thermal material from the CPU and from the heatsink.

Thank you so much for the great advice!!! I hope that they can just update my bios. From what I read they will only allow returns on motherboards if its defective.

Also you think that maybe there is enough thermal paste left on the heatsink just to squeeze one more application? I don't think I will be doing any heavy duty applications that will require a lot of power. Or maybe I should stop being cheap and spend the extra $7 on thermal paste?

Originally Posted by mfenn

Microcenter will let you return anything within 15 days. You just have to stop by the "Knowledge Bar" and explain your problem to a tech.

What you should do to get the best value is to keep the i3 3225, but switch the board for a 7 series one. That'll let you keep your $50 combo discount. As for which board to get, the ASRock H77M-ITX is the least expensive board that will do what you need.

Thanks also for the advice. I will make sure to stop by the knowledge bar first. I hope they are able to update my bios for me and I won't have to pay an extra $40 for a new motherboard. (Besides I like the pretty blue color more than the ugly brown one )

Please wish me luck everyone! My parents are going to take me to return this motherboard in a few hours. Hope everything is able to go smoothly.

[Pinecallado]

Okay everyone so the good news

I was able to successfully return the motherboard and get a new one with the same $50 off deal that compatible with my ivy bridge processor. If someone's interested though microcenter does motherboard bio updates for $30.

The bad news

After finally finishing building everything and plugging it in, when I connect it to my tv via hdmi.....I get NO SIGNAL. I thought it might of just been my hdmi connection so I connected my computer to a real computer monitor via vga and I still got no signal.

I was so close but now I'm stuck again. Anyone have any idea what the problem is? Also when I turn on my computer I don't think I saw a green light flashing on the motherboard. I remember seeing a green light flashing on my last motherboard.

Full system specs:

Motherboard: H77M-ITX LGA1155 H77 mini ITX Intel Motherboard
CPU:Intel Core i3-3225 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz
Ram:Microcenter 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory
Case:Cooler Master Elite 120
PSU:Antec VP450 450 Watt

[mfenn]

Go back to basics. Take everything out of the case and run it sitting on a non-conductive surface like a plastic or wooden table. Run one stick of RAM, no storage, no monitor, etc.

[Pinecallado]

Originally Posted by mfenn

Go back to basics. Take everything out of the case and run it sitting on a non-conductive surface like a plastic or wooden table. Run one stick of RAM, no storage, no monitor, etc.

I took my CPU out and found one bent pin on the cpu socket thing on the motherboard.

Here's a picture of it



I think this is probably the cause of the failed video. Do you know any good way to fix it back into place? If I break it I'm doomed.

[VirtualLarry]

Originally Posted by mfenn

Microcenter will let you return anything within 15 days. You just have to stop by the "Knowledge Bar" and explain your problem to a tech.

Sure you're not thinking of Staples or BestBuy?

Last time I purchased a mobo and CPU from MC, it was clearly printed on the reciept, no refunds for those items. (Although I assume that they would exchange them for me within 15 days if they were defective.)

[Pinecallado]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!!!! I FINALLY MANAGED TO MAKE THIS BOOT UP AND MAKE THE VIDEO SHOW UP!!!! WOOT WOOT HURRAY!1!!111!!

And you want to know what the big problem was? It was not the cpu, not the bent socket pin or PSU. It was because I didn't put the ram in the ram socket tight enough. Is there truly a bigger first time computer builder noob than me? I spent up like around 3 hours trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with this thing when I just had the put the ram in correctly!

Now to pray this windows 7 installation goes right....

[mfenn]

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

Sure you're not thinking of Staples or BestBuy?

Last time I purchased a mobo and CPU from MC, it was clearly printed on the reciept, no refunds for those items. (Although I assume that they would exchange them for me within 15 days if they were defective.)

I don't know about your MC, but mine has a big sign behind the returns counter that says something to the effect of, "If you're not 100% satisfied with any item, you may return it for a full refund within 15 days, no receipt required!".

I have returned all sorts of stuff for a refund (usually because it was defective and I wanted to try a different part).

[mfenn]

Originally Posted by Pinecallado

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!!!! I FINALLY MANAGED TO MAKE THIS BOOT UP AND MAKE THE VIDEO SHOW UP!!!! WOOT WOOT HURRAY!1!!111!!

And you want to know what the big problem was? It was not the cpu, not the bent socket pin or PSU. It was because I didn't put the ram in the ram socket tight enough. Is there truly a bigger first time computer builder noob than me? I spent up like around 3 hours trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with this thing when I just had the put the ram in correctly!

Now to pray this windows 7 installation goes right....

Glad you got it sorted out. See, back to basics!