Fried motherboard dilemma

[Skypix7]

Hi, hope some folks out there brighter than me (which would be a lot of people) can help me decide what to do.
I've built systems and know my way around the hardware enough to cob together components and get them to work.
Here's where I need help...I got a little too frisky putting memory back into my P5W DH Deluxe and probably cracked the board...it won't even post, no matter what I do, just powers up and sits there without even a bios splash screen.
I'd like to get a new mobo and faster cpu and bigger case (small case is why I had to reef on that memory in the first place...no room in there) but concerned that my Vista 64 OS will have to be completely reinstalled along with the dozens of programs etc etc....days and days of work.
I have heard that replacing with the identical motherboard will work, although reactivation might be required with MS. No biggie there except if I could get away with a hardware upgrade (newer, better mobo/CPU/memory) without having to go through those days of reinstalling everything, I sure would like to.
Corollary question: If I do put in another identical P5W DH Deluxe, but change the CPU to a more current one - I have a Q6600 2.4 ghz now - will that also kick off a complete fresh install of everything too? '
Thanks, I have no clue on how this aspect of computing works, I've never had to replace a board before, just built new systems every 3 or 4 years.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Puppies04]

I don't think you have much of an option here, buying an identical mobo and a faster quad from that range of chips is a complete waste of money as the CPU will cost you basically what a SB 1155 chip will. Even if you do you will have to convince microsoft to reactivate your windows instalation which i presume is OEM. At this point if it was me I would be looking at building a sandy bridge rig with my existing components and doing a fresh install.

P.s When you say dozens of programs are we talking 24? 48? 100? I really can't see it taking "days and days" to install everything and think you might be overestimating what you have installed but I may be wrong. Let me know

 

[Skypix7]

I don't think you have much of an option here...a SB 1155 chip....At this point if it was me I would be looking at building a sandy bridge rig with my existing components and doing a fresh install.

P.s When you say dozens of programs are we talking 24? 48? 100?

Hi Puppies04, thanks a lot, I think you're right and I've come around to the inevitable, it makes as you say more sense to build a new rig. I think subconsciously I've been wanting a new rig anyway but putting it off for the previously stated reasons...never enough time to do all the stuff. Guess that's why I fried that board, eh?

I'm a writer/photographer/editor and spend tons of time on the computer writing and imaging, and megasurfing/shopping,studying etc, like so many of us. Not a game player though so OC and all that game related stuff, not a factor.

I have probably 20 must-have programs (Photoshop, Lightroom, video editor, FTP and WordPerfect being chief) and probably another 50 that I use less frequently or not at all. Plus lots of little notes in the Vista sidebar on the desktop, just several years now of accumulated, mostly, garbage. As well as stored and backed up photos for my work...about 4 TB of them to date, plus another 10 TB on DVD (what fun that was).

I'm not sure, in fact I don't think, they'll all work with Windows 7 but what the hell, it's only money (especially Photoshop, but I have CS4 so should be current enough)

Yep, it's an OEM install of Vista 64 from the early, horribly screwed up OS days. Actually, I love Vista, never bought into the "it's a disaster!" hysteria... but that's another story.

I've got a Windows 7 upgrade I've never used, perhaps I could plug in my Vista C: disk and use that as the qualifier to install Windows 7, and maybe that would let me at least retrieve a bunch of that stuff jin my current system drive that I don't even remember. Then I could reinstall the OS after I pick off what I need and scrub the drive.

So I'll have to make time...and if you don't mind pointing me in a couple directions so I don't have to spend two days learning all these terms that have popped up since my last build with the p5W (which worked really well, I loved it), I'd appreciate it very much.

questions:

1. what is a "sandy bridge rig"? I'm thinking Intel i7 2600 ought to do it, I do like speed. And 16 to 24 GB memory, Photoshop likes that.
2. I want a big case, the mid-tower I have now doesn't cut it. I've got several TB of drives waiting to go in and dock externally that I just bought (installing one inside is how I fried Mr. mobo in the first place).
3. I've had good success with Asus boards. Have read up on asus p8z68 deluxe and other P8 boards but not enough to know for sure what's going to be most stable and reliable. I don't want to spend a lot of time endlessly tweaking things and troubleshooting...who does? I'm not a hobbyist that way. And I'm not interested in OC, just want to build a good and reliable, fast, powerful system.

I've got a good Radeon card, with nvidia chipset, pci-e 16 as I recall, 1 GB or 512MB memory which is only 6 months old, that should still work. Will get new memory, I think I have ddr2 but could be three, can't remember. OCZ with big honking heat sinks.
which brings me to ...

4. What's the biggest form factor? Every time I turn around there's more terms, ATX, ATX micro, then all these CPU pin numbers, 1155, 775 etc. It's confusing, I just want a board that's big enough for my Radeon card, fat heat sink memory (love the memory prices lately), and cpu without crowding and having to jam everything in around those big Corsair cables, and give me room for a decent fan, may go liquid so need lots of room and I don't mind a big tower case at all.

That's a lot to throw out at you, but if you don't mind helping me shortcut over having to pore over scores of forum posts to learn the "new" basics, that would help speed up my process so I can order some stuff like today or tomorrow. I was up til 1:30 last night as is boning up on the new gear and just starting to understand what's available and what it can do.

I've built 8 rigs over the last 27 years but I'm by no means in-depth savvy like a lot of folks here on this board. I'm an "ahtist", after all.

Oh, is Newegg still the best, if not the cheapest, place to get the gear from? I kind of need this sooner rather than later and that's worth a premium I guess, plus their customer service is tops.

Oh #2: Budget around $1000 or a bit more for:
mobo,
cpu,
case,
16-24GB ddr3 mem.

Everything else I've got in spades, including 750 watt Corsair about a year old and 850 watt sine wave Cyberpower UPS I just bought a week ago.

Thanks very very much, sorry for the long post but don't want to waste anybody's time having to ask me more questions, and I appreciate any help anybody can give.

 

[kbp]

Any Video???
If so get the Z68 ATX series motherboard. Other wise a P67would be fine.
As for the i7 2600 i think the best bang for you buck would be an i5 2500k. It's probably 90-$100 cheaper than the i7. Im an Asus man so i would think about the Z68 pro.
Mid tower ATX case
Cheaper good RAM ... may be Corsair XMS3 series. I prefer Patriot thou.
And YES..... all can be bought via NewEgg.

 

[Puppies04]

Ok to answer your questions

1. A sandy bridge rig is exactly what you picked already, the I7 2600 is SB along with any other "I" processor you see with 4 digits. If you aren't going to OC then 2600 is fine as the 2600k has an unlocked multipier (to overclock) that you wont use.

2. If you want a BIG case take a look at the one in my sig, the Coolermaster HAF X. Kinda a gamers case but it is very roomy has plenty of options for cooling and lots of drive bays. There are others of similar size made by silverstone, corsair etc etc. I know you probably aren't in the UK but take a look at this website under performance cases/full http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/cases-pc/performance-cases-large

3. The model down from my board is perfect for you the only thing you miss out on is 2 sata ports. If you only need 6 total hdds and dvd drives go for the Asus p8z68-v if you need 8 pick up the one in my sig asus p8z68-v pro

4. ATX is the mobo size you want, sandy bridge is the "1155" socket (the boards i suggested are both 1155) You could save a little money and go for the p67 instead of the z68 but you lose onboard graphics so you cannot run without a GPU which can be an issue for troubleshooting and the z68 also enables the onboard gpu part of the CPU which help do things like video encoding a lot faster.

Going to read the rest of your post now to see if there is anything else usefull I can tell you.

 

[Puppies04]

A few other things.

* there are brand new boards out (same model numbers but they have GEN3 on them) These are ready for the new GPU's that are coming out next year that double the avaliable bandwidth per PCIE lane (the ones you GPU uses). 99% sure you wont need this but to be properly future proof (I see you don't like upgrading that often ) maybe go for the P8Z68-v GEN3 or P8Z68-v PRO GEN3

* Your vista "c" disk most likely won't work as OEM licences are locked to the original MOBO not the HDD. Make the jump and go for windows 7 it is a lot more secure than vista (the last thing you want is to pick up a virus that wipes valuable data). By the way I never had a problem with vista either, all the doom and gloom surrounding it was hyped up to ridiculous levels.

*I'm not an expert on this but I think your none operating system drives (i.e everything but your "c" drive) should be readable if you just plug them into your new machine. You might want to get clarification on that though. On the HDD front, are you aware of the problems in Thailand at the moment? HDD prices have just about tripled in the last couple of months because of massive flooding that is effecting the factories that produce the HDDs. Reusing your old drives would be the smart choice for the moment until the drive prices settle down in a few months.

2. I want a big case, the mid-tower I have now doesn't cut it. I've got several TB of drives waiting to go in and dock externally that I just bought (installing one inside is how I fried Mr. mobo in the first place).

This worries me, there should be no way you can fry a mobo by installing a HDD (I thought you borked it installing the RAM) External drives data transfer rates absolutly suck compared to internal, if you arent sure about fitting it yourself then do you know anyone who would be willing to put the pieces together for you? 1 very important piece of information is to not skimp on your power supply. A cheap PSU will not only cost you more to run, you run the risk of it taking your whole system down if it blows. (edit just saw the PSU in your post, that is fine)

* No need to go liquid cooled on this rig, without overclocking (which you wont be doing) these CPUs run cool. If you want to go that little bit over the top fit something like the hyer212 aftermarket CPU cooler which a lot of people around these boards like. I can also reccomend the arctic cooling freezer 13 as I have the pro version on my gaming rig which runs nice and cool at 4.4ghz 24/7 (I would advise against the arctic cooling frezer PRO as it is slightly thicker and can stop you filling all 4 RAM slots, although at a push it would still be possible)

* Newegg seems to be the most popular place to buy components from, I don't use it personally as I live in the UK.

* One last thing overclocking the 2600k is way to easy, you dont have to go messing around with tons of setting in the bios to make it stable or worry about RAM compatibility like before you just up the multiplier and if you go high enough add a little vcore. But please do not use the standard overclocking included with the mobo they add way to much voltage and therefore heat. Doing it yourself is a 10 minute job if you want something good for a 24/7 OC like 4.2-4.4ghz.

Any other questions or anything I missed just ask away

 

[Puppies04]

And another thing... lol

The large cases you are going to be looking at, including the HAF X I recommended sometimes have something called a "hotswap drive bay" basically you hook the case up to a sata port and then you can slide a normal internal HDD into the front of the case as and when you need it. I don't know if this would be of any use to you but I thought I would mention it.

 

[Skypix7]

Any Video???
If so get the Z68 ATX series motherboard. Other wise a P67would be fine.
As for the i7 2600 i think the best bang for you buck would be an i5 2500k. It's probably 90-$100 cheaper than the i7. Im an Asus man so i would think about the Z68 pro.
Mid tower ATX case
Cheaper good RAM ... may be Corsair XMS3 series. I prefer Patriot thou.
And YES..... all can be bought via NewEgg.

Thanks much kbp, very helpful!

 

[Skypix7]

Ok to answer your questions

1. A sandy bridge rig is exactly what you picked already, the I7 2600 is SB along with any other "I" processor you see with 4 digits. If you aren't going to OC then 2600 is fine as the 2600k has an unlocked multipier (to overclock) that you wont use.

2. If you want a BIG case take a look at the one in my sig, the Coolermaster HAF X. Kinda a gamers case but it is very roomy has plenty of options for cooling and lots of drive bays. There are others of similar size made by silverstone, corsair etc etc. I know you probably aren't in the UK but take a look at this website under performance cases/full http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/cases-pc/performance-cases-large

3. The model down from my board is perfect for you the only thing you miss out on is 2 sata ports. If you only need 6 total hdds and dvd drives go for the Asus p8z68-v if you need 8 pick up the one in my sig asus p8z68-v pro

4. ATX is the mobo size you want, sandy bridge is the "1155" socket (the boards i suggested are both 1155) You could save a little money and go for the p67 instead of the z68 but you lose onboard graphics so you cannot run without a GPU which can be an issue for troubleshooting and the z68 also enables the onboard gpu part of the CPU which help do things like video encoding a lot faster.
.

Thanks puppies, appreciate you taking the time. Much clearer now, doing some research today helped also.

 

[Skypix7]

A few other things.

* there are brand new boards out ...... maybe go for the P8Z68-v GEN3 or P8Z68-v PRO GEN3

Will check those out, mostly I'm concerned about stability so I'll read reviews on Anandtech, Amazon and here to see what folks are saying.

* Your vista "c" disk most likely won't work as OEM licences are locked to the original MOBO not the HDD. Make the jump and go for windows 7 it is a lot more secure than vista (the last thing you want is to pick up a virus that wipes valuable data). By the way I never had a problem with vista either, all the doom and gloom surrounding it was hyped up to ridiculous levels.

Drat. Yeah, Vista worked fine...except for the occasional system freeze that I never could figure out.

*I'm not an expert on this but I think your none operating system drives (i.e everything but your "c" drive) should be readable if you just plug them into your new machine. You might want to get clarification on that though. On the HDD front, are you aware of the problems in Thailand at the moment? HDD prices have just about tripled in the last couple of months because of massive flooding that is effecting the factories that produce the HDDs. Reusing your old drives would be the smart choice for the moment until the drive prices settle down in a few months.

That is true, I've done that a lot in the past. It's just the stuff that was on my desktop that I'll need to retrieve...but hell, I'll forget all about those things in a week anywa, like the stuff in the garage you forget you have.

This worries me, there should be no way you can fry a mobo by installing a HDD...

sorry, I meant in swapping drives, which is why I went into the case in the first place, I had to remove the memory...which fried the board.

* No need to go liquid cooled on this rig, without overclocking (which you wont be doing) these CPUs run cool. If you want to go that little bit over the top fit something like the hyer212 aftermarket CPU cooler which a lot of people around these boards like. I can also reccomend the arctic cooling freezer 13 as I have the pro version on my gaming rig which runs nice and cool at 4.4ghz 24/7 (I would advise against the arctic cooling frezer PRO as it is slightly thicker and can stop you filling all 4 RAM slots, although at a push it would still be possible)

Cool, (lol) thanks!
*

Newegg seems to be the most popular place to buy components from, I don't use it personally as I live in the UK.

Who's the Newegg over there? Yeah, they're a great outfit, someone figured out a great business model and they've only improved on it...not sure about them going into jewelry sales and junk like that though...they want to be Amazon-like maybe?

* One last thing overclocking the 2600k is way to easy, you dont have to go messing around with tons of setting in the bios to make it stable or worry about RAM compatibility like before you just up the multiplier and if you go high enough add a little vcore. But please do not use the standard overclocking included with the mobo they add way to much voltage and therefore heat. Doing it yourself is a 10 minute job if you want something good for a 24/7 OC like 4.2-4.4ghz.

Not sure I understand this...I did mess a little with overclocking a couple years ago but didn't really notice much difference. By not using standard, you mean do the settings myself, i.e. bump ghz rate but no voltage or just a little?

Any other questions or anything I missed just ask away

you've been great, thanks very much for your help!

 

[Puppies04]

Who's the Newegg over there?

I use a company called scan, awsome delivery and for a tiny extra fee they cover any item against any accidental damage for 28 days with next day courier delivery of the replacement part.

Not sure I understand this...I did mess a little with overclocking a couple years ago but didn't really notice much difference. By not using standard, you mean do the settings myself, i.e. bump ghz rate but no voltage or just a little?

The ASUS mobos come with a new bios (looks prettier and you can use a mouse while in the bios) there are standard presets for overclocking you literally press a button and it will hit 4.5+ghz but they use way too much voltage. If you fancy a nice 30%ish overclock up to something sensible like 4.2-4.4ghz (from standard 3.4ghz/3.9ghz turbo) then build the rig and send me a message and I will talk you through what to do. As I said it will take 10 minutes max although these CPUs are very quick even at standard speeds.

 

[Skypix7]

That's a deal puppies, I'll take you up on that. I think I'm going for the pro gen 3, what the heck...cheap enough and looks like fun, plus solid 5 star reviews on Newegg.

Thanks again, appreciate your taking the time and I will get in touch once I get up and running again.

cheers

Jim

 

[Skypix7]

Puppies04, I went a little nuts and decided if I had to do it, might as well push the budgetary envelope a bit and get a really fast, powerful system. The only thing I would change from the list below would be 32GB of RAM instead of the 16GB I got, but I just couldn't see spending almost 5X as much, so I spent the difference on a 240GB Crucial SDD instead! Way cool, can't wait.
Thanks again for your help.
Oh...I decided to get the 13333 Ram instead of 16000 because it was lower timing, low voltage and several things I read said the difference between the two is negligible. I don't really care about overclocking the ram, but I will overclock the CPU, mayube to 4.2 or 4.5, meanwhile, I'm excited now, Christmas comes early to my house!

* NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case $124.99
* ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s $209.99
* Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W $319.99
* G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $94.99
* Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F240GBGT-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $359.99
* Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM $139.99 ea
* COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 cpu cooler $24.95

 

[Puppies04]

Puppies04, I went a little nuts and decided if I had to do it, might as well push the budgetary envelope a bit and get a really fast, powerful system. The only thing I would change from the list below would be 32GB of RAM instead of the 16GB I got, but I just couldn't see spending almost 5X as much, so I spent the difference on a 240GB Crucial SDD instead! Way cool, can't wait.
Thanks again for your help.
Oh...I decided to get the 13333 Ram instead of 16000 because it was lower timing, low voltage and several things I read said the difference between the two is negligible. I don't really care about overclocking the ram, but I will overclock the CPU, mayube to 4.2 or 4.5, meanwhile, I'm excited now, Christmas comes early to my house!

* NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case $124.99
* ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s $209.99
* Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W $319.99
* G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $94.99
* Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F240GBGT-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $359.99
* Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM $139.99 ea
* COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 cpu cooler $24.95

All good parts. You are right the difference betweeen 1600mhz and 1333mhz ram is negligible and tighter timing are better. I really think you are going to like the SSD, it was the best single upgrade I ever did. I really can't see you ever needing 32gb of RAM, sure that 16gb will be more than enough.

 

[Skypix7]

All good parts. You are right the difference betweeen 1600mhz and 1333mhz ram is negligible and tighter timing are better. I really think you are going to like the SSD, it was the best single upgrade I ever did. I really can't see you ever needing 32gb of RAM, sure that 16gb will be more than enough.

Thanks...excited about the SSD for sure...except I think I screwed up, since that memory isn't specifically listed on the Asus compatibility list...would you think it will hurt to try out or better to just order a kosher set and RMA (or cancel off the order) what I ordered? I'm not familiar with whether Asus in particular is very good at updating their documentation for specific memory compatibility and I sure don't need to spend time fighting with incompatible sticks.

thanks

 

[Puppies04]

As long as it is 1.5v or under (check the exact model number you ordered) it will be fine. If it is 1.6v or higher then it will work but you might run into problems down the line.

 

[Skypix7]

super! It's definitely 1.5 v, great, one less thing I have to do today then, thanks a lot.