Help diagnose my problem!

[Stan]

So I find this free computer on the side of the road (im serious).

JetWay K8M8MS Motherboard
1GB Crucial DDR2 single dimm (by DDR2, I mean DDR-400)
AMD 64 3700+
Generic 450 watt power supply.
PCI Ati Radion 9250


The machine wont even post, but I remove the front USB ports from their connectors, and it works great! The only issue is the onboard sound doesnt work (it is detected, but wont actually play sound). I installed a crap PCI Soundblaster I had laying around, and it works great.

So I have:
AGP: Empty
PCI1 - ATI
PCI2 - Creative
PCI3 - Dlink Wireless

So whats the issue? If I play videos full screen it works great. If I lpay them in a window it works great. If I move a web browser up and down with it in a window, or while playing an MP3 the audio starts to skip. If I move faster, it skips faster. If I dont touch the machine it plays videos/mp3s just fine.

Thoughts? Damaged motherboard? Bad PCI sound card? I thought video conflict, but it doesnt happen while I watch videos, but I suppose videos are done via a different mechanism than actual GDI objects on the screen.

It seems to skip more when I scroll with the 3rd mouse button than when I grab the scroll bar and shake it up and down.

I could try the onboard video.

 

[Stan]

Pulling the PCI ATI video card seemed to have fixed the audio issue (pci sound). Bad video card? or motherboard thats crap?

 

[Quiksilver]

sounds to me like the mobo got shorted out somewhere from water, static, or just about any other liqud that could have got spilled on it.

judging by the owner just threw it out, they didnt feel it was worth fixing the problem and just bought a new one it sounds like.

so pretty much to me at least spend about $75 dollars get a new mobo and everything should work just fine.

 

[Stan]

It seems to be working fairly well with the external sound card and onboard crap S3 video. Im just going to use it for Photoshop/webdev/watching movies.. pretty kickass for that, busted pci slot and onboard video or not.

Yay for good finds. It even has a working DVD burner.

 

[AmberClad]

I'm a little confused here. You said the board is a JetWay K8M8MS (a socket 754 board that takes DDR). The RAM is Crucial DDR2.

Are you sure all the specs are right?

 

[Stan]

No I just assumed. Its DDR1-400.

Pulled the ATI PCI Video Card and all seems fabulous. The onboard audio is fully functional, all USB ports work. New video card and I think shes golden!

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: Stan
No I just assumed. Its DDR1-400.

Pulled the ATI PCI Video Card and all seems fabulous. The onboard audio is fully functional, all USB ports work. New video card and I think shes golden!

Heh, ok. I was about to say...*this guy's trying to use DDR2 in that thing, no wonder things are crapping out* :laugh:. Nice to hear you it all up and running. Btw, did that thing look like a pre-built computer, or DIY job?